Re: [ARSCLIST] OK - Does Anyone Know More About This?

["Steven C. Barr(x)" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bob Olhsson" <olh@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> -----Original Message-----
> >From Roger Kulp: "...We have entered a world where The iPod has become the
> new reference..."
> I'm afraid it's more like we've entered a world where live music is no
> longer the reference. Stop a moment and think about what the words "High
> Fidelity" mean. This is real basic stuff that we audio folk tend to lose
> sight of. Most of the recordings that we cherish were a sincere attempt at
> reproducing the experience of a live musical performance. 
> Something to be optimistic about is the fact that that record sales are in
> the toilet. I strongly suspect young people aren't buying recordings for the
> very same reasons we aren't buying new recordings. All of the talk blaming
> new technology is just an excuse because the sales of new titles have been
> in the toilet for over a decade. Enrico Caruso proved that it is about the
> content a century ago and Harry Potter just proved it once again.
> 
There is, however, one important fact that goes unmentioned here! Young
peoples' "musical tastes" (?!) are heavily influenced...in fact, are
essentially decided...by passing fads and other conformist things.
Most folks below a certain chronological age (which varies with
individials, and in many cases may approximate infinity...!) buy
sound in whatever form it is most usually distributed...which, of
course, can be either live performances or whatever forms of
sound recordings are/were available (after 1889!)...NOT according
to their own musical taste, but, rather, to be one with "the crowd!"

Although younger people MAY (this is uncommon) have some "tastes" of
their own...usually dependent on what has been available to them in
their childhood years...I would guess that 99.9% of those in their
adolescence base their choices on whatever their associates decide
is "cool" (or whatever their term is...!)

With luck, as they get older, they will develop their own musical
tastes (which often revert to what they heard as children...or can
suddenly take new turns...!). In my own case, I grew up listening to
my dad's (and my grandmother's) old 78's...but when I hit my teen
years I was just as much of a rock'roll fan as were all my contemporaries!
Since there were a few blues artists occasionally making the "Top 20"...
and since I was lucky enough to run across WLAC and its nightly blues
broadcasts...I also developed an interest in blues. Finally, in the
small Illinois village where I grew up, a lot of "hillbilly" could
be heard...even though I didn't become a fan then, I did develop
later interests in that area...!

Now, my opinion...one of the problems with to-day's youth is that
they have access to virtually all the music recorded since the
mid-twenties (acoustic recordings are very rarely reissued)...as
well, popular music has actually not changed substantially in the
last fifty years (the backing music to to-day's "hip hop" is
virtually the same music James Brown was playing c. 1962, for
example!)...! And even "rock'n'roll" wasn't that substantially
different from the swing music that preceded it, except for
the downsizing of the bands and the effective takeover of
electric guitars...!

What I am STILL waiting for (and it may never occur?!) is some sort
of totally and completely brand-hew form of "pop music" unlike
anything heard up to its appearance...

Steven C. Barr