"An Old Man's Perspective" on the Current State of Rock and Roll

“An Old Man’s Perspective” on the Current State of Rock and Roll

Posted on 27. Aug, 2009 by refe in MUSIC INDUSTRY

Woodstock 1969

I received this email yesterday from David Sherbow in response to a comment I left on a post he had written. I felt like his perspective was worth sharing, so I’ve included his message in its entirety:

Subj: An Old Man’s Perspective

Refe -

Thank you for your comment. I believe that you are one of the more insightful bloggers of your generation. Let me say this.

Since Napster, the music business I grew up with has basically imploded and through its own stupidity and greed has charted a course for almost certain self destruction. In case you haven’t read it, take a look at Steve Knopper’s brilliant tome, “The Appetite for Self Destruction” which gives a chapter and verse description of the breakdown of the music business since the advent of the CD in 1979. Technology and change has brought us enormous amounts of user generated music, its easy distribution and a music world that is wrought with extreme fragmentation. I agree with you that these changes have brought a certain amount of opportunity to a group of people that prior to 1999 would never have even been on the music map. For those who enjoy this increased popularity, it is a new day and the new music business is working for them.

I grew up in the three most significant periods of cultural change in American life over the past 50 years. First was the period from 1955-68 when post WWII America first started coming apart at the seems and baby boomers started to rebel against the All American image acceptable to my parents generation. Things changed soon after McCarthy fell in the mid 50’s and, in essence, parts of Texas and the deep south and its country, blues, and R&B music converged and rock and roll began to evolve. I got my first radio in 1957 for my 7th birthday and soon after became addicted to Top 40 radio then R&B radio. Elvis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Eddie Cochran, Hank Williams, Sr.,, Jerry Lee Lewis and Roy Orbison changed my world along with R&B groups like the Platters, 5 Satins, Smokey Robinson and Little Anthony and the Imperials and bluesmen like Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and John Lee Hooker. No disrespect meant at all, but you are much too young to have been moved by such amazing forces of music that changed my life forever and moved millions of others like me in ways that today are unimaginable.

Then came the Vietnam War, free speech movement, civil rights movement, the drug culture and sexual freedom all heaped upon my generation. Groups like the Beatles, Rolling Stones and the Who, Cream, Jeff Beck Group and Led Zeppelin from England, The Beachboys, Bruce Springsteen, The Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Doors, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan along with Otis Reading, James Brown, Temptations, Supremes, Four Tops and Aretha Franklin and many others changed the American music scene forever. Then there was Woodstock to bring it all together. It’s is impossible to understand how powerful this period was without living through the majesty of its immense political and cultural change. Then the 70’s brought unbelievable heavy metal music and Disco. The 80’s brought Michael, Jackson, U2, Madonna and the 90’s brought grunge with Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Every decade brought another group of artists that clearly articulated the feelings and moods of that generation. People were toally swept up in the music.

Then came 1999 and Napster and over the next 10 years music became diluted, homogenous, and less than inspiring. Today it is plentiful and ubiquitous. In my opinion, part of what truly makes music great from the days of Beethoven, Bach and Mozart to the present day, is the connection certain artists have been able to develop with the masses who then have a shared common experience they all can relate too. It is this shared experience which takes music to another level. Its is something that your generations feels and sees in bits and pieces in between video games, surfing the Internet and Texting. Music is ever present but it is no longer the focused force for change in our society. Music is still a part of everyone’s day to day life but it is no longer the focused cultural and political force it once was. A platinum artist is nothing more than a monetary designation that became the standard by which great bands were judged since Creedence Clearwater Revival was the first group to ship 1,000,000 albums in 1971.

Music has always evolved and changed without the help of the record business which has only been good at co-opting great talent and rarely developing it. I totally agree with you that it’s all cyclical and look forward to the next game changing music scenario. We are a world of many niche artists and very few genuine original popular artists. What American Idol continually tells me every year it maintains its immense popularity, is that is that the masses want artists to believe in and to connect with. So do I but I want them to be of substance, not manufactured by the remnants of the record hit making machine but instead I want my new music to emerge from the grass routes of the new American psyche motivated by meaningful cultural change.

I am by no means trying to say that my insight or love of music is deeper than yours or your generation. My perspective over 58 years is different than those in your generation. I truly miss discovering and sharing music the way I used to. I believe that eventually the Internet will develop a better mechanism for the discovery of popular music and I look forward to that day. I hope this wasn’t too much bullshit. You ought to call me sometime and personally share some of your thoughts.

David Sherbow

David is a music industry professional with over 40 years in the business. He has managed and booked major regional and national rock, r&b, and hip-hop artists, owned and operated a rock-n-roll booking agency, put out over 25 independent releases, made record deals and was head of promotion for WMG’s Asylum Records. Find out more about David at his blog or on Twitter.

Also check out yesterday’s post The Defining Sound of this Decade is… Undefined.

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Tags: ARTISTS, indie, mp3, Napster, record labels, rock

11 Responses to ““An Old Man’s Perspective” on the Current State of Rock and Roll”

Eugenia's Rants and Thoughts » Blog Archive » Is Rock all said and done? Part II

27. Aug, 2009

[...] wrote an article here, published a response from an industry veteran here, and that same veteran wrote an article of his own here. The consensus seems to be that there is [...]
Gabiel

27. Aug, 2009

I’ve had many great conversations with David and he is such a wealth of knowledge and experience.

Here’s a guy who has beenimmersed in the old school side of the music industry and yet has embraced technology and understands the implications new technology is having culturally and artistically. Imagine if more of the established, old guard industry players were as progressive and open-minded as David? Would the state of the record industry be better? I would think so.

Thanks for sharing his perspectives with us. I can only encourage people who care about music and artists to listen to people like David. These people have such valuable perspective, insights and experiences that will help us younger folks understand the history of the industry and guide us in the right direction.
thom ashworth

28. Aug, 2009

i can’t help feeling that this is a very well disguised piece of nostalgia from a man who feels that music is now passing him by.

there are thousands of people out there who are every bit as passionate about new music as he was 30 years ago. although the mechanisms by which we now consume music might have changed, the path of distribution between artist and listener is as difficult to walk as it has ever been.

nothing has changed. everything has changed.
- MusicBizGuy
  
  31. Aug, 2009
  
  Thom
  
  You are very astute. Music is passing me by to a great extent. Though my ear for good music is as sensitive as ever because I do have such a depth and understanding of what is good rock and roll, R&B and Hip Hop. The path of distribution between artist and listener is more difficult to walk than I have ever seen it in my lifetime. Music used to be released in quantities that could be digested easily by the average passionate music person. With hundreds and some weeks thousands of albums and songs being released from every corner of the planet, it is truly an impossible task to keep up with one popular genre like rock, let alone my 3 key genres and numerous other genres I find that I like depending on the songs i hear. I recognize your excellent point that today’s music listener can be every bit as passionate as those from my generation. The problem today is that there are no really good new music filters that can make the discovery process manageable for a guy like me or for anybody for that matter. Why don’t you help my discovery of new music by recommending 8 or 10 selections of artists of any genre that you think a guy with my diverse interests and background might like. Again thank for your thoughtful comment.
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28. Aug, 2009

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28. Aug, 2009

[...] "An Old Man's Perspective" on the Current State of Rock and Roll | creative deconstruction http://www.creativedeconstruction.com/2009/08/an-old-mans-perspective-on-the-current-state-of-rock-and-roll – view page – cached David Sherbow on the past, present and future of rock and roll in America and the world. — From the page [...]
Andrew McMillen

31. Aug, 2009

You’ve written a great talking point here David. I definitely appreciate your viewpoints.

I think it’s awesome that you embrace change and look forward to the industry’s next cycle, but I’m curious as to whether you can understand the skepticism of the current generation of young music fans (under 25s) when we’re exposed to the opinions of those with decades of experience in ‘the business’. This is an idea that I’ll happily expand upon, but I’d like to invite your initial response first.

Thanks very much for posting this, Refe.
- refe
  
  31. Aug, 2009
  
  My pleasure. Thanks for a great question.
- MusicBizGuy
  
  31. Aug, 2009
  
  Andrew
  
  From the time I was 25 myself until the present, my life in the music business has continually revolved around and been involved with people under 30. Throughout my life I have had to understand the need for change and to try and understand what the current generation was thinking and feeling. The majority of my working life, I have been in the street and have learned almost everything from the ground up. My experience can be a great source of wisdom for some and for others unfortunately a limiting factor. Currently, I have being forced to reinvent myself. I have spent the last three years building a music discovery web site and e commerce platform, that do to my own changing understanding of the digital landscape, has evolved into what has become LiveMusicMachine, a new user generated music booking web site. (See 5 minute video demo http://vimeo.com/6062251, I would like your support when we go live in a couple of days). My only partner has been with me for 5 years and she is only 26. I do my best to judge people on what they really bring to the table without labeling them as anything or anyone in particular. The way I see it, any 25 year old who has read my background, my blog, my tweets(MusicBizGuy) and seen my new website, who is skeptical because of “my decades of experience in ‘the business’” ought to have his or her head examined (not referring to you at all Andrew). It is unfortunate that guys my age or older are running and ruining the music business. I am distancing myself from these people who choose to see the business in a way and manner to which it will never return. I will be happy to continue this dialogue on the phone if you wish. Send me your contact information to musicbizguy@yahoo.com and we can engage in what I am sure will be a most inetresting and enlighten conversation.
  
  David
Marcus Carab

02. Sep, 2009

I enjoyed this piece a great deal but I’m not sure I like the implication that our generation has never experienced revolutionary music.

I would point to hip-hop as the most game-changing genre to emerge in our lives, and I think you can draw a lot of parallels between the rap movement and the jazz movement, the blues movement or the rock movement.
- Gabriel
  
  05. Sep, 2009
  
  You aren’t referring to commercial hip-hop from the past 10 or so years?
  
  I think hip-hop from the 80s to early 90s was probably the golden age of the genre. It was socially and politically conscious and gave many inner city youth a chance to creatively express themselves.