Current situation of Rock and Roll
Usually we considered Rock
music as a mainstream genre since 1950s. In 1960s, Beatles had taken the Rock
and Roll music by storm, and then from 70s to early 90s, bands like Led
Zeppelin, ACDC, and Queen started to dominate the radio and the sales chart as
well. In early 90s, people switched their preferences to Grunge due to the wave
swept from bands like Nirvana, Alice in Chains. Later, some pop punk bands like
Green Day and Blink 182 continued to attract audience’s
attention. However, until recently, people began to find it hard to see
any rock songs appeared in Billboard chart Top 20. According to New York Daily
News, there was not a single rock album made last year’s top 10 CD sales
lists. In 2010,
rock music even suffered a 16% sales decline. In UK, the scenario is even
worse. According to Daily Mail, in 2011 the sales of rock and roll music
reached its lowest in all time. There were only three best-sellers songs among
a hundred. Compared to the golden age of Rock and roll, rock is obviously going
downhill. With no doubts people began to question: is Rock dead?
(Source: Nielson)
Lots of people disagree
that the rock is dead. According to New York Daily News, even though rock and
roll is suffering a decline in sales, it is still the dominant power in Digital
Music sales, taking up 27% of overall sales. Why does Rock and Roll still
have its mightiest status in music industries? David Bakula, senior vice
president of Nielsen Entertament explained that it is because of
“back-catalogue sales.” Rock and Roll music has the greatest back catalogue
sales than any other genres. David also said “55% of [their] track sales came
from catalogue.” This explanation is reasonable because lots of people consider
some older bands such as Guns and Roses, Led Zeppelin, and AC/DC as classics,
and legendary bands that could not be exceed. People download or purchase the
songs though they are not popular like the ones on the Billboard Chart. The
classic rock band's name does not need too much advertisement and promotion.
Due to their old fashion, consumers enjoy the idea of vintage and would like
to store some into their iTunes. In the fast growing music market, many pop,
hip-hop songs sometimes are "easy come and easy gone" in audience's
memories. It is hard for consumers to go back and buy old pop and hip-hop
music. Rap music has the lowest catalogue sales in 27 genres while half of a
list of Top 10 selling Albums come from Rock and Roll Genre.
(Old Bands like Bon Jovi are still doing well on tour and sales)
“Zombified” Rock and Roll
However, Rock and Roll
cannot sustain by just catalogue sales, because the world needs fresh ideas.
According to New York Times, all the major label Rock these day are full of old
bands “spinning their wheels. The newer rock and roll could no longer make huge
achievement as their predecessors. Many Rock bands vanished in audience ear in
very short period of time. Rock and Roll music is now “zombified” and needs
“nutrients.” Indeed, they are neither score high in the sales chart, nor have
they become an irreplaceable icon in Rock genre. Rock and Roll
has so many subgenres like an aged gigantic tree with uncountable branches.
There are Heavy Metals, Punk, Post Rock, British Rock, etc. And the numbers of
styles and fusions grows rapidly with technology and audience's preferences.
Nowadays no such a band like Nirvana in the early 90s could massively alternate
the scene of rock music. A strong driving force no longer existed in Rock and
Roll. Though the variety of Rock is incompatible, like New York Times
said, it is stuck. It needs a little step forward to let audience know the new
rock songs are not ordinary and still "rocks". Now a rock band can be
great and popular, but its life cycle is relatively short.
Underground Rock
Because Rock and Roll's
subgenres are so unique and diversified, their popularity really depends on the
audience taste. Some rock fans actually enjoy that their music being
not so “mainstream” because otherwise rock would be characterized as
"Pop". Having a deep look into the rock and roll music itself, one
would find out that sometimes Rock music is about rebellion. They like to be
staying in underground and speak out something that the mainstream music
cannot. That's why so many people favor in underground music. So it is not necessary for
them to change because otherwise they are not Rock anymore.
Jazz used to be a
mainstream genre before the rock and roll rose. People would not believe that
couple decades after 1950s, rock and roll took over the throne of Jazz. But is
Jazz dead? No. Blues music is originated from Jazz and later inspired Rock and
Roll. Neither Jazz nor blues will die because it embedded in other music. Rock
and Roll will be the same if it no longer stands as a mainstream genre.
Sources:
Daily Mail Reporter (January 2011). Bottom of the pops? 2010 sales of rock music reach an all time low with only three songs among the top 100 best-sellers. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1346095/Sales-rock-music-2010-lowest-50-years.html
Mathias Brandt (January 2013). Top 10 Digital Music Genres 2012 in the U.S. Retrieved from http://www.statista.com/markets/6/sports-recreation/chart/819/digital-music-sales-in-the-u.s.-by-genre/
Chris Mugan (August 2012). Rock Bottom: Poor sales devalue music' Number 1 spot. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/rock-bottom-poor-sales-devalue-musics-number-1-spot-8053596.html
Alexandra Topping (January 2011). RIP rock'n'roll? Professor of pop reads the last rites. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/jan/10/rock-n-roll-read-last-rites
No comments:
Post a Comment