What Is The Modern Musical Renaissance

Music is my religion

Photo Credit: [nati]

This is a general overview of where I believe the old industry failed, and where the new industry is headed.

A renaissance defines a period of time where there is a heightened output of music, literature and the arts. This so appropriately defines the musical landscape of the 21st century it could be called nothing less than a renaissance.

However to understand how this renaissance came about, we must take a look at the last century. So many things contributed to the freedoms musicians have now.

The Era of the ‘Hit’

For too long the music industry has sat stagnant. Taking formulaic ‘hits’ over risking the discovery of new exciting music. When you just look at numbers their approach makes perfect economical sense.

For example, if we produce a three and a half minute pop ‘hit’, spend x amount on a short term marketing campaign. Get radio and MTV airplay. Then we will sell x amount of CDs, and make an enormous profit.

Im not going to deny what a lovely cash cow that sounds like. But in reality it was never a good idea. Real music and traditional economics don't mix harmoniously. We only need to look back to before this methodology became, to see what we lost.

After all, the great music from the 60’s and 70’s was anything but formulaic and plastic. Remember Dark Side Of The Moon anyone? It’s well before my time (many decades), and yet I can appreciate the impact it had on the music of the time.

What Went Wrong?

This post is not an attempt at a blame game, so I wont name specifics. This is more a reflection on the industry and how it lost its way, only to be set free. Remember, there was, and is, always exceptions.

The industry undoubtedly started with musicians. For many years they played because they loved it. Many, like most bands today, would have earned a pittance. And couldn’t have cared less.

They were there, first and foremost for the music. For the music, was their life. It became many other peoples too. Some who lacked the time or energy to become a great musician began to follow them. And brought their friends. Soon enough people were playing big gigs.

Many people became involved, from promoters, to bookers, audio engineers to producers, and many more. Each required payment for their services, and rightly so. A lot of work had to be put in, and it wasn’t free.

A renaissance defines a period of time where there is a heightened output of music, literature and the arts. So it would be very appropriate for the current time.

However we, as an industry, seem to have lost our way somewhere around here. We became too focused on the almighty dollar. We started to find songs, and song structures that worked.

We began to analyse everything, and fine tune the industry. This is when our focus truly shifted. The highest powers of the music industry became obsessed with money. It was their job after all.

And what has resulted from this? Big, disposable, plastic pop acts. Carefully designed, often describe as manufactured artists. Think the Spice Girls, Britney Spears, and the Idol franchises (Australian Idol, American Idol, etc).

It wasn’t just pop though, all genres were affected by this in some way. From little things like changing a sound to sound more commercial, to big things like using carefully written songs, or worse rewriting songs and taking the guts and emotion out of them.

For too many years, we were stuck with what major music industry gave us. Most people couldn’t find other music. Often if someone you knew went traveling they would come back with a new band, that sounded nothing like what the majors were putting out.

The internet undoubtedly changed everything. With the ability to listen to whoever we want, whenever we want, the crap gets filtered out quickly. Word of mouth becomes more important than getting into a magazine or radio play.

A Modern Renaissance

A renaissance defines a period of time where there is a heightened output of music, literature and the arts. So it would be very appropriate for the current time. The high availability of home recording studios, and the relative inexpensive has given rise to a boom in musicians.

It was said that the late 60s were the Golden Era of music, and while that may very well be true now is still the best time to be a musician. You have a global audience. Far greater reach than has even been conceivable. Not to mention a much greater body of works to draw inspiration from.

So to put it another way, the Modern Musical Renaissance is a way to describe what is happening right now. The model that the Major Labels use is outdated and already superseded. The industry is changing, and it is only for the better.

You now have the potential to succeed in your niche on your own, if you apply yourself. You no longer have to subject yourself to the economic whim of the elusive Major. As an artist, you have never had so much freedom.

Which is why there has never been a greater time to be a musician. With so much music to draw influence from available at your fingertips, music can only become richer.

There is one very important thing to remember though, you need to be in it for the long haul. Building yourself up to be an artist takes time. Blanket promotion, whereby an artist practically spams every media outlet is not only outdated but often counterproductive.

If you can adapt to the changing musical environment, and accept the changes there is no reason you cannot be successful. You will probably be more successful than you would have 20 years ago.