Lerman: Ever-changing music scene leaves out diverse tastes
New music isn't always necessarily the freshest.
By Jake Lerman (Contact)
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008
A consumer mentality is plaguing music, and I’m not talking about the satchels of money the record companies expect us to pay for 10 songs.
I’m talking about the continuous influx of new music that seems to appear out of nowhere every week. This obsession for the new robs many musicians of attention they deserve.
But now anyone can hear music from as recent as the ’70s and even the ’80s playing on oldies stations.
When a listener is always seeking what’s fresh, it’s easy to forget that for every new hit single, there are dozens of outstanding tracks that just got lost in the void over the years.
I’m not saying that it’s wrong to appreciate new material, but in that ephemeral chase for the cutting-edge, many people lose sight of all the great music that’s already been made.
Just because something is new doesn’t mean that it’s any better than something that’s been around for a while.
Oldies stations try to remind us of all the great music from bygone eras.
But if you listen to any one of these stations for a week, you’re bound to hear the same songs on endless repeat. The problem with these stations is that they rarely dig past the surface of the artists they feature. Sure, you’ll hear “Like A Rolling Stone,” but even with Bob Dylan’s extensive collection, the stations never go deeper than that.
The public is reducing great artists to solely their hits. That’s like seeing the Mona Lisa and thinking you know everything there is to know about DaVinci. It just ain’t right.
It’s getting even harder for oldies stations to give artists the time they deserve because the songs they play are steadily creeping up the musical timeline.
Oldies stations started out playing the jazz of the 1950s, and they gradually moved into rock and roll as the times changed.
But now anyone can hear music from as recent as the ’70s and even the ’80s playing on oldies stations.
How long before they make it into the ’90s and beyond?
If you ask people who lived through the “oldies” era, they’ll tell you that the music that’s on these stations is what they were listening to when they were young, but there’s so much that’s missing.
I’m worried for the future. Not only because of the tons of greenhouse gases we’re pumping into the air or the steadily rising sea levels that threaten to drown our coastlines, but because when the oldies become the music of our generation, there won’t be a separate station for each one of the distinct genres that we love.
Artists will be lumped together by decade regardless of where they came from.
Imagine Britney Spears playing after Nirvana on 108.8 F.M., “Greats of Generation Y”.
People want their favorite bands to be remembered when they grow old, but not just for that hit single that got airplay.
Take a break from what’s hot and look back in time to some of your favorite artists other songs you may have skipped over.
You might find something that you never knew existed.
If nothing else, you may learn that the bass line from “Ice Ice Baby” wasn’t written by Vanilla Ice.
It was David Bowie.
Lerman is a Highland Park, Ill., sophomore in journalism.
Discussion
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I find your articles very insightful, but isn't this an opinion page...I noticed that you have about seven other articles all on music. Write about something different, your articles are getting very redundant and are boring me when I see them in the paper.
I think you don't know what you're talking about. His articles are extremely interesting and if he wants to write about music, so be it. It's an opinion page, therefore he can write about whatever he wants. If they bore you then don't read them, no one cares. :)
Obviously hawktalk cares. As do I. These articles are redundant. Also this article is all over the place eventually at the end getting to the point where "Ice, Ice, Baby" is used as a shocker.
Radio has always been narrow. People listen to the entire albums of their favorite artists. Now more than ever the listener has an endless amount of options for finding new, old, or eccentric music.
The opinion page of the Kansan is my favorite section. I love reading about what students on campus feel like talking about. I am not an English genius nor do I have any influence with the Kansan, but I thought I would just share my two cents-- which is to have this author write about something different.
I understand people have passion and that they care about something, but it seems as though this author is just wanting to vent about the lack of so called "good" music within today's industry. All the other opinion authors have variance within their articles. I believe that the Kansan is a quality paper and articles like these are bringing them down. We have heard what you have to say about music--give us something new to learn about.
There are plenty of other options other than mainstream radio which will never be changed. You can listen to specific online radio stations that cater to your specific music needs.
This author needs to stop complaining and offer some real solutions if he truly believes this is an endemic in the music industry that we are watching right before our eyes.
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