Yamisonic Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 (edited) How mainstream music has been on a gradual decline in the last decades. Good morning, students, and teacher. Today I’m going to talk about how mainstream music has been on a gradual decline in the last decades. 40 years ago, in 1966, music had become an important part of popular culture. There was a huge psychedelic movement going on, in the summer of love, an era in which music was fuelled by love, happiness and a feeling of hope in the world. In the late 60’s and early 70’s, the music movement was being pushed forward by artists such as Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Janis Joplin, Queen, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, names that are still recognized to this day. The level of creativity and complexity in these musicians’ work challenged that of classical music, and they, had something to say in their lyrics, they had a message to give to the world. Throughout the 70’s, music was only getting better. Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon became the longest-charting album of all time, staying over 241 weeks on the US Billboard Top 200 albums chart, and Led Zeppelin composed the worldwide acclaimed best-ever song, Stairway To Heaven, the most-played song on FM radio stations in the United States, and was accompanied by other all time greats such as Freebird, Imagine, and Bohemian Rhapsody. Also many bands from the 60’s, particularly the Rolling Stones, The Doors and The Who, were reaching their peak. From the 80’s onwards, though, music started its gradual decline. Disco and glam metal took over, and looks were starting to be more important than the music itself. Hits were not being written by the artists themselves, but by their producers. Michael Jackson’s Thriller became the biggest selling album of all time, however, he only co-wrote 5 out of the 9 songs in the album. The 80’s saw the start of one-hit wonders, artists that released only one hit song and then faded into obscurity. The 90’s seemed to have a comeback for rock music, however, by the late 90’s boy bands, like the Backstreet Boys and N’sync, and the massive success of arising girl singers, the most notorious example being Britney Spears, was bringing pop music down; music was now being mainly based on the choreography of the video. In the current decade, music is by far on its worse era. The mainstream is dominated by rap and reggaeton artists, giving a negative message to the kids that listen to them. Sure, they may be fine for dancing, but what impact will “shake your booty” have on young kids that listen to the radio? What happened to the messages of hope delivered 30 years ago? What happened to the defying, innovative musical characteristics of 30 years ago? Music is just not worth buying anymore. Album-making used to be an art, as it can be seen in Dark Side Of The Moon, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Exile On Main Street, or even Michael Jackson’s Thriller. Now, albums only have one or two hits songs and are full of filler songs. Artists only make music to gain money, forgetting what the original concept was in the first place. In conclusion, music is simply not the same as it was before; in fact it isn’t even the most important part of the music business.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Speech I wrote, and said to the class, for English. Edited October 4, 2006 by Yamisonic Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f**k_your_enemy Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Very true about the mainstream. Lucky for me I don't listen to it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bax Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Very true about the mainstream. Lucky for me I don't listen to it Exactly-very few good bands break through the image- conscious MTV audience. I think music videos are one of the major causes of the decline you speak of occuring. If you want to hear good music, I'd strongly advise you to dig a little deeper. I have satellite radio(XM), and there is a channel for every taste. The DJ's are not restricted by corporate playlists, so they just play what they like. It has really turned me on to a lot of things. This page has turned me on to a lot of stuff as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamisonic Posted October 4, 2006 Author Share Posted October 4, 2006 I know there's good music. That's why I put the 'mainstream'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f**k_your_enemy Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 What did the class think of this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JONEZY Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 What did the class think of this?..and what grade did you get? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.Seal Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 What did the class think of this?..and what grade did you get?If I were to guess I'd say the class hated you because most of them are emos, wiggers/wannabe rappers or trance/disco nerds And if I were to guess the grade Id say he got a quite good grade because it was good speech and the teacher is bit old so he/she likes the old school music meaning rock and he/she loves The Stones and Beatles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
worldwideboss Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 And if I were to guess the grade Id say he got a quite good grade because it was good speech and the teacher is bit old so he/she likes the old school music meaning rock and he/she loves The Stones and Beatles It's interesting you mention this. This morning, we had Spanish classes at the computer room. At the end of the class, I opened the GN'R official site to know if there were any updates and my teacher goes like "Guns N' Roses? I used to listen to them when I was on my 8th grade!". I ended up knowing my teacher was a big GN'R and Zeppelin fan back in the day... And that UYI 2 was the first record she bought. Moreover, I got to know that many guys in my class are also fans, they just didn't know they were still around... Anyway, he probably got a good grade. Nice speech. You're not a native speaker, are you, Yamisonic? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny gnr Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 Nice rant thereyou make a good point Metal-Rock will fight back though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jack_the_ripper Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 there is one consistency, that started in the 80's, and it's what is killing the music industry, and it's simply MTV. It's MTV and the MTV followers who are destroying music as we love it. Music shouldn't be a multi-million dollar corporation, it should be an expression of opinion, something that someone will hear, and like it, because they feel connected to it, or possibly even feel the song is reflecting there character. However, I'm sick and fucking tired of idiots blaming it on fucking emo. Emo is far from being the problem, atleast it represents something, it represents kids who are having problems, they feel connected and reflected by the songs, these songs have actual subject matter, unlike the pop industry... Know that Emo is currently the only mainstream music that holds some kind of credibility, unlike every fucking crappy alternative band on the air.So in the future, Seal shut your face when it comes to emo, thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adnan Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 You didn't mention Aerosmith anywhere in that speech. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamisonic Posted October 5, 2006 Author Share Posted October 5, 2006 And if I were to guess the grade Id say he got a quite good grade because it was good speech and the teacher is bit old so he/she likes the old school music meaning rock and he/she loves The Stones and Beatles It's interesting you mention this. This morning, we had Spanish classes at the computer room. At the end of the class, I opened the GN'R official site to know if there were any updates and my teacher goes like "Guns N' Roses? I used to listen to them when I was on my 8th grade!". I ended up knowing my teacher was a big GN'R and Zeppelin fan back in the day... And that UYI 2 was the first record she bought. Moreover, I got to know that many guys in my class are also fans, they just didn't know they were still around... Anyway, he probably got a good grade. Nice speech. You're not a native speaker, are you, Yamisonic?I'm not a native speaker. I got my FCE certificate today, Grade A. there is one consistency, that started in the 80's, and it's what is killing the music industry, and it's simply MTV. It's MTV and the MTV followers who are destroying music as we love it. Music shouldn't be a multi-million dollar corporation, it should be an expression of opinion, something that someone will hear, and like it, because they feel connected to it, or possibly even feel the song is reflecting there character. However, I'm sick and fucking tired of idiots blaming it on fucking emo. Emo is far from being the problem, atleast it represents something, it represents kids who are having problems, they feel connected and reflected by the songs, these songs have actual subject matter, unlike the pop industry... Know that Emo is currently the only mainstream music that holds some kind of credibility, unlike every fucking crappy alternative band on the air.So in the future, Seal shut your face when it comes to emo, thank you.Dude, I didnt talk about emo in my speech.You didn't mention Aerosmith anywhere in that speech. I was going to in the first place, but they haven't done nothing really innovative, I think. They're one of my favourites, but I can't put all of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adnan Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 I was going to in the first place, but they haven't done nothing really innovative, I think. They're one of my favourites, but I can't put all of them.Maybe they weren't all that innovative, but they didn't rip off a few thousand songs for their material like Zeppelin. And they're as influential as some of the bands you mention. Aerosmith set the template for 70's and 80's rock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swlabr Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 Pop music isn't so bad. The only thing is that it's very generic. But if you think about it, it's been like that since forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jack_the_ripper Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 yami, sorry if you felt targetted by that, my comment was targeted to .seal, which is what I said at the end of my post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GNR Rocks35 Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 good speech man,......but no GNR mentions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slashs_servant Posted October 5, 2006 Share Posted October 5, 2006 (edited) Man. why does this keep popping up? we know the mainstream sucks ok ? fuck get over it. go to your local pub, or a bar, and go watch a band. quit waiting for radio to play a decent band for you, go find it yourself. I mean personally im really happy with contemporary music. and i got plenty of ablums released in the past 6 years to prove it. Edited October 5, 2006 by slashs_servant Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.