We Need a Music Revolution 

Creativity is not the issue, it's the skills, the research, the dedication and the realistic introspection of oneself. I feel you bro. And yes i'm clicking and subscribing right now! a pleasure to virtually make your acquaintance.

The real musicians know what you’re talking about. I play keys live and it always sounds uniquely different every time we play. Thank you for doing this video, I’m a great fun of yours. Cheers

I write, produce, play every instrument, sing all the parts, mix and master. Is my music any good? Who knows? But I have I small core fan following and I love the work. Creators must create! There’s loads of great music being made and released every day, you just have to dig a little deeper to find it! If you’re expecting to find it on the radio, you’re looking in the wrong place.

You have very good points Barry. There have been a couple of other factors that have led to music being more homogeous. eg Global capitalism has led to a tsunami of mass production and consumption and a general apathy for consuming music when it comes to streaming. It's all about speed to market and piggy-backing off and milking the lastest hit idea or synth sound these days. This is fundamentally pervasive across many industries in our economies. We just download and consume like zombies. Less emotional connection with the artist as a result. Buying a cd or vinyl was an experience. The democratisation of digital channels via the internet, independence of artists with self-funding/promoting and the much higher affordability of equipment (result of software, attack of the clones etc) are also factors. These didn't exist in the 90s, 80, 70s, 60s etc. .... Andy Warhol did predict that everyone would get the 5 minutes of fame. So it is more of a level playing field to access the music market at the expense (tradeoff) of lower originality. The music industry was more elitist in the old days (cost a motsa for owning a studio in the old days and there were much fewer musicians accepted into the pop space). Now everyone can do music in their bedroom and express themselves in creative ways. This is awesome I as I love producing as a hobby. With globalisation, it is easier to publish and be discovered if you are a virtuoso or take some extreme or controversial to get discovered. At the end of the do, for most, it is harder to cut through all the clutter. The winner will be the promoter, music equipment manufacturer, and distributor etc.

Right on Barry! For me, the 80s are the magic decade, New Wave in particular. Keep fighting the good fight! ✊😎

We need musicians on the order of The Beatles to invigorate popular music. Today the most inspired music we have is cinematic which is probably the genre in which the most capable and talented musicians are working.

Barry, the days of producer/songwriter/musician are long gone. One great example (there are many) was Herb Alpert. He was part owner of A&M records. Not only was he a great musician, he was a great producer. He signed The Carpenters to his label. Richard Carpenter had a great ear for harmony and arrangement. He took songs written by writers like Paul Williams and Burt Bacharach and transformed them into gems. The icing on the cake was using stellar studio musicians such as those from The Wrecking Crew (Joe Osborn on bass and Hal Blaine on drums). The combination created some of the greatest music ever produced.

Rick Beato has done a good job covering what has killed a lot of the music industry. In the 90s, FCC regulations were changed so that most radio stations were consolidated to a few owners. A few people took control of all of the music programming in the country. They dummed everything down to a common denominator which eliminated new, creative things from getting through for people to discover. Now we do have RU-vid to share and discover new things but it's probably not at the mass distribution level that getting played on the radio used to be for artists. Occasionally one of the late night host will have a lesser known guest music group. Even back before the 90s, lot of becoming popular had to do with marketing, who you knew, and sometimes good luck and serendipity. I think we need you and then people with an even wider audience to share the good things that they find to help us distribute them. I hope Rick Beato starts having regular new artist videos. Would you consider such a thing? I occasionally post something on Facebook when I noticed that other people don't know about them. I don't have much of an audience though. 🙂

I've been revisiting soul music from the 60's and 70's lately -- especially the work of Thom Bell and the bands he produced (The Delphonics, The Stylistics). I grew mostly on the Beatles, the Beach Boys, CSNY, etc. So much good music from that time. One can only hope we'll have a new music reneisance.

To me, we have lost the excitement of finding new artist at the record store! Looking through all the new music was an experience. Now a lot of people just listen to streaming services. The don't hold that new record/CD in their hands and experience the excitement of hearing that new album as a whole. I miss my record/CD buying days! Now, if you hear something you like, you can just download the track! Online sites aren't set up to just browse for something, just buying it! So, now we have a lot more one hit wonder's! Oh, them good old days🤓

I agree with you for the most part, but don't forget that the 50's brought us some of the best blues ever made. The blues heavily influenced the music of the '70's. Much of the "pop music " of the '50's was pretty cheesy for sure but the blues of that era was fantastic. Blues will never go out of style. It's timeless.

Dude.. I absolutely love your videos. How honest and transparent you are is what makes you so interesting. I just wanna personally say... Thank you

Mr. Barry I got to say Im with you all the way in what you're saying. Being pretty diverse individual myself when it comes to listening to music I like. It's something hard to hear anything come across as new. I tend not listen who on top of the list. Cause I know it doubt it doesn't matter to me. All that I can do is try to evolve in the music I make without interference or influence that might interrupt me from finishing. Is it something new? I can't say.. but it reaches someone outside of my boundaries. I know at least I did my job. Regardless if it's 1 or half million people. The culture will grasp and take interests but only if you continuing to push it on through. (Music) & (Projects} I know that I will evolve cause in my mind I know it something no ones ever hear before. Will it reach the chart? Maybe not majorly... indie ok. lol

No apologies for hair metal. Still love it, always will. That and The sound of Philadelphia are my all time favorite genres and they could not be more different.

I think about this often also. I don't think musicianship, or a return to it so to speak, is the key. I think it's all in the guts and the attitude. When punk came along, it was all about the attitude and making as much noise as poss. Same with bands like My Bloody Valentine in the 80's who created a brand new movement, same with grunge etc. It wasn't the skills on the instruments. It was a commitment to an ideal, to an artistic vision. This is what is missing in my opinion. Artistic vision and committing to it. Musicians take into account too many external parameters: how spotify algos will view their music, how to get on playlists etc. And there is just no art, or very little of it. There are exceptions, but it is too fragmented, isolated. It doesn;t create artistic movements anymore. Yes, it needs a music revolution, that;s for sure. And it needs to come from young ones. It needs to be edgy and spit at the face of the sea of mediocrity we are all swiming in. But will it come again? I'm not convinced.

We are a recording studio, owned by a producer, with a songwriter parter, and we DO work with musicians to make better songs. We also own NOBODY'S music. All deals on royalty are up to the producers, writers, and musicians. We have produced entire series for musicians at NO COST and NO STRINGS. The indusrty is a hard one to get recognized in. We also host podcasts, often times at no fee. It takes a community who cares about music, we just have a divided community cause of choice paralysis.

It’s always time to strive for music that touches people

A lot of people whine about how bad music is when all they listen to is the corporate radio. That music sucks and always will. But there’s been an explosion of great music that has limited commercial appeal. Don’t expect great music to rise against the tsunami of crap commercialized garbage that people swallow so senselessly.

The 24track challenge. Pick a classical analog console format (sends and return limitations) and challenge the total recording inputs to 24 channels. It makes you choose everything differently in dramatic ways.

Barry. People connect with music on an emotional level. Popular music today (as it always has been) is targeted at the young, way outside your or my demographic. It’s why most people think the greatest music came from whatever era was when they were young. There’s great music out there, but you have to look harder to find it, and at our age, going by what’s most popular will probably lead to disappointment.

64/ Looking back, I can see my own youth and immaturity, sometimes to a point of nausea. lol. However, we move forward and all have a place on the escalator of life. The right balance of story, music and musicianship is a rare thing. That’s why we love it so much and do what we do. Chasing other people’s magic is one thing, creating our own magic is the ultimate. Great topic Barry! (Thank you for being you)

I agree with you on this. I’m listening to more music from UK and Africa just because it’s different hand has more life in it.

You are making fair, reasonable and important points. I'm in my 60's now and have been into music since I was 3 or 4 years old. I have this great memory of noticing the radio in the dashboard of my dad's early 60's Chevy!! Between the love I was feeling with him being there, the warm glow of the radio's lighting and dial markings... were the sounds of Roger Miller's, "King of The Road" coming into the car!! Although it was lo-fi, analog one-speaker sound... the music was clearly GREAT and my father and I were both entertained by it!! (If you know how the song goes then you'll understand, why I first remember my father teaching me to snap my fingers in those moments. LOL!! I suppose those fingers were my first instrument. Next for me... was Motown!!! 🙂) The whole point of that story, is to support what you've communicated overall. Sure, there were lots of other songs on the radio then ... but it's interesting for me to pick out, "King of The Road". I suppose, it's what you mentioned in the video, both my father and I could relate to and were moved by that song. 🙂

Gotta say Barry I was expecting a grumpy man yells at cloud moment, but I think you did a great job being nuanced and optimistic. Keying in that great music is still being made and not being pushed / received to the cultural forefront is a key difference.

It's really been the last 10 years or so. Even the 2000-2009 period was good ro rock music and other genres. When Spotify and streaming in general really started taking hold is when all of this started happening. If you have access to millions of songs, what does that even mean? It used to be your in house record collection and you bought what you liked. Even when the iPod came out I remember thinking this is great, I have 20k, 30k songs. But that was me (and others) manually doing that. Either by purchasing, or torrenting, I was creating my own library. Now, I have access to everything, but it's just not the same.

100% true, the music of the 70’s & 80’s was the best by far than todays junk…..

Spot on Barry, i write produce play every instrument (no loops no backing tracks no auto tune) and yea i guess i could just do it all with AI and a laptop and it would save time and effort but it gotta be about some integrity. Glad i grew up when i did with an appreciation for unarguably the greatest eras of rock music created!

I’m 68 and I feel your pain, Barry. And there’s nothing new under the sun. The vast majority of folks don’t care whether its Music or Muzak and they never have cared. There’s a reason they call it the Music 'Industry.' So I focus on small, live events. I write real songs that I can play live just as well as when I record them. That’s my rule: it has to sound just as good, or better, live. Of course I sweeten the recordings a bit here and there, but the acid test is the live audience.

I think your absolutely right music became to electrictronic today you don't even need to know how to play a instrument just push a button and cords magicly appear I hate to say it but I don't think the music we grew up listed to is ever coming back just because it's to easy to make music by the push of button No one wants to actually play a instrument when they can just download a instrument and press a button I don't like we're music is headed these days just my opinion you have great channel always educational thanks for your time and effort for what you do have great day always watching ✌️

Barry, well put. Even if there are new gamechanging artists you would never hear about them. They drown in the sea of information and free crap music. Everything is customized, times of mass movements in music are over. Art btw. is at its highest peak when a society is suffering most. Our world is saturated and throwing up. The Roman Empire experienced it...

Computers, autotune, alignment tools, etc have allowed the music industry to push charismatic, but mediocre talent for 20+ years now. That's not to say we haven't lucked out with some of the artists out there, but its not the same as it was. We have now found ourselves at a point where when these tools aren't used many people feel as though a recording feels rough and unfinished. These sorts of tools now show up in the genres of music I work in, like Classical Crossover and Jazz, where it feels so out of place. It's also the reason so many of these AI tools can feel so convincing. We've lost a lot of the humanity in main stream recording to make up for the lack of incredible talent. It's sad. There were a few years of early RU-vid, where you could really find interesting music and talent, but algorithms have taken that away too. So now we're back to searching for it. We're also living with a system that makes it harder to make a real living in the arts too. Music is practically free and gate kept by those who don't value it. Some of the most talented people I know; musicians, singers, actors, etc, will never achieve what they could have a generation ago. I agree with you. I hope things change.

I have to agree with you Barry. Although I am few years younger than you, but my music references are 50s and 60s jazz, 70s - 80s r/b, rock and jazz fusion. The 80s were great on r/b scene and to me was its greatest era. From the 90s onward I would love to erase, however compared to the present that time seems like masterpieces. The issue is multifaceted due to the ease of technology, lack of musicianship, imagination, laziness, over consumption and audiences unwillingly to allow an artist to explore and expand. I am in my late 40s and for inspiration I have to look to the past unless the artists I dig are still alive and making music. I recently saw Pat Metheny live in concert and my mind was blown and I came home ready to record. When I saw Prince, Stanley Clarke, Wynton Marsalis perform they had the same effect.

In the middle of your video, I saw an add for some "Bubble Gum" music production software... the tagline was "just press 'generate'" ... we will never see, for example, another Frank Zappa.

Hey Barry… I don’t follow what’s popular because I’m too involved with making the music I hear inside of me. I have a number of influences for my music for sure, but if I can remember a word or phrase that sums up art best for me, it came from a painting teacher that got it from Emile Zola - 'Art is a corner of creation seen through a temperament.' So, the sounds are in a way irrelevant as the start/intention for my work. Musicianship is super important for sure, but even the Beatles left in “mistakes” that they believed added to the song. Great topic!

Your right musicians dont have value like they used too! Nobody wants to fail they take the easy route copy and press music. Originality and authenticity have been muted.

We hit the curve. Everything that can be said has been said. Its time for machines to speak.

There’s a lot of individual showing off amongst younger musicians - but not many great groups anymore. Back when I was gigging on the London scene in the mid-late 2000s with my own group, I’d notice that each of the other bands was carried by one talented musician. I remember thinking it’s a shame that those talented guys couldn’t all get together to form better groups.

saw Alvvays a couple of days ago...blew me away

Barry, love yout content! But, i find these meters jumping on your background screen very distracting. My sight keeps going back to it. Maybe its just me,maybe the angle, no hate! Keep up, excelent job.All of your beautiful gear is enough backgroung, IMHO.💫💫💫

I am waiting on UAD gen 3/4! Hopefully Softube makes a Digital console controller and faders for the next generation of UAD's Dsp products!

We need to be able to read and harmonize a folkstune on spot and compose music for only two flutes. Tell me here below how many composers you know that can do this:

The barrier to entry is broken down.

@barryJohnsstudiotalk First of all, love the channel . Keep it going! I think you've stereotyped the 80 like many others have. There INDEED was some embarrassing stuff happening, but at the same time, the 80s brought out guitarists, singers.,etc at the top of their game. In ways that we've never seen, and we'll prob never see musicianship like that again. They also had the most passionate fan base I've ever witnessed. Just felt compelled to speak for my favorite era of rock, and the unworldly guitar playing, melodic hooks, and timeless songs that the 80s brought to the table. I don't see why you say you're embarrassed to admit you liked it? Are you embarrassed about the "beatmakers" that loop preprogrammed beats and chord progressions written by the plugin manufactures, and then are cut n paste 17 times in a row and just rapped over with a two note autotuned melody? Come on man... And HELL YES we need a revolution because as synthetic as the stuff is now (like I outlined above), it's only going to get worse IF society keeps embracing it. Younger generations need to learn instruments to create. Like they did in 80s.... Peace 🤘

Barry I agree but the music industry is got one thing on there mind Greed how to make money at the moment they don’t care about long term and as long as the big labels control the market nothing will change . I know exactly how they operate. Yes those old songs will never die especially the ones that have true meanings,like you said.

70's was the peak of rock. 80's had some great memories.

All great points Barry. Someone had to say it. Music today is definitely not what it was. I've gotten my son into some of the great music of yesterday and it makes me happy to see him enjoy it as much as I do. It seems like most of the kids today are listening to a lot of garbage. Gotta appreciate the little things. Thanks for sharing!! Much ❤️ BJ!!

Good subject, your right but i'll give a try to the bubble gums, maybe i can find a new idea or make a training for not to stop working.

Modern mainstream digital distribution systems are not built to elevate/expose quality new music. For those struggling to find good music, record shops are still great tools to cut through the garbage and find great new music of quality in every genre.

Thank you for this. This is so true, as you said there are so many great bands and artists creating amazing songs, but they will never get to the mainstream while we have this "fast song/fast food" mentality. A big part of the new generations want everything as fast as possible, and this reflects in the way they listen to music. I hope that the so called musical revolution comes, but I really think its gone take a while. Thank you my friend.

I constantly check out all kinds of artists from all over the world, on for instance youtube channels like KEXP and Audiotree Live, and there's a lot of talent out there, great original songwriters, great performers, singing for real and playing actual instruments really well . . . but they're not mainstream and not on the top 40. That's the big difference - in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s they would've been mainstream. I reckon the reason for the current state of affairs is a combination of streaming being the main means of consuming music, which requires no or very little commitment from listeners - actually buying a vinyl or CD album meant a financial commitment and a real appreciation of the music and artists; people seem to have a shorter concentration span; plus a huge amount of music is being released, much of it dumbed-down and totally forgettable. Not the same quality control as before. I have no solution to this - but the real stuff is out there, just not on the top 40

Just like the never ending war or good vs evil. Good music will always have to fight three times as hard just to be considered for resources (label resources). Never gunna be fair. This is the reason why I do what I do for the prices that I do it for. However, the industry has created a stage, extremely unconventional, to where, now, the unknown indie artist market will begin to thrive because the music industry recently gave too many skilled professionals the boot due to budget cuts. It didn't matter how much you went to school, how much talent or potential you have. If you're just getting your feet wet and the company didn't feel you're worth the salary, you got cut. Those professionals are grouping up and forming a coalition to go back at the industry. On the outside looking in, it may not seem this controversial but those professionals who have been let go are vexed and will get revenge, professionally 😉. They will make a statement and in the process, open up new resources and networking capabilities to the lesser known but very talented indie community.

Personal opinion, early 60’s was all about Pop, lat 60’s and early 70’s was the best of the best and diverse Classic Rock, late 70’s Disco began the downfall leading to the 80’s big hair pastel color again mostly Pop bands, the 90’s sprouted the Boy Band craze, again nothing like the Classic Rock days. From then on Alternative and Rap took over. As Don McLean once said; the day the music died. Again, IMHO music has never regained it height of Rock & Roll from 50 years ago. I know others will disagree, but like you Barry, just sharing my thoughts. 😬

How can I hear some of your music Barry

There is definitely something missing in mainstream music that makes me want for more. With the attention span of people online musicians are awarded for trying to go viral and that leads to all music sounding exactly the same. I will push back and say though that we are already in a revolution. Post COVID I'm noticing lots more people excited about music and going to live events. I'm noticing a lot of younger people also enjoying these 90's and early 2000's rock bands that I grew up on. I honestly don't think the next BIG bands will be viral one hit wonders. I think they will be found by people seeing them live and having their socks blown off over and over again.

I’m working on it Barry lol

Barry. I totally agree with you unfortunately. Technology has brought some great things to the table but it has also opened the door for people to press buttons based on the latest trend. In the 70 's epecially musicians were allowed to grow. Now its corporations using AI telling us what we need to listen too andccontrolling it for their quick financial gain. It vwill change again but perhaps people today do need to seek out music from the past to find a way past the current dross.

Totally agree. Not much exciting happened since the 90th. On the upside everybody is enabled to make music. I refuse to believe that there is less talent around today though. There is just hundreds years of experience with traditional music instruments and decades with analog gear and the pressure for an everlasting stream of new content. Today $2k gets you the equivalent of $2M of gear 20 years ago. In the end it will boil down to talent whichever way you choose to make music and the emotions a musician is able to convey. Which listener cares if something is played by a virtuous instrumentalist, played on MIDI controllers or just programmed? I currently study music and we listen to examples from the past. I have to say some of music is IMHO interesting academically, but I would not listen to it voluntarily. I call that music from musicians for musicians. There was always music touching the hearts of people and a lot of other music. The audience is the judge, not music purists. Even if somebody is making music that nobody ever listens to it is still better than being a couch potato. AI plays no role in that as it is derivative and not creative. Maybe you soon will be able to double the Beatles catalog of songs with material indistinguishable from the original, but all you got is more of the same. We've heard 200 years ago that machines will take all our job and it still did not happen. Even in EDM people want to associate with a person standing up on stage who made the music even if is technically not necessary. To summarize, the future belongs to talented, creative people who are able to perform and convey their musical idea...like it always was. I understand all that is not very soothing for anybody who intends to make a living as a musician. If anybody wants to do something people will demand no matter what it is better to make food or cloth then music, otherwise go, make music and enjoy yourself.

I have been playing keys 40+ years and composing for almost as long. I found out exactly what you are talking about when auditioned guitarists to play on my songs. It was painful. 1st: Worse than the skill level is the dishonesty. Claims of playing capability and musical understanding greatly exaggerated or simply lied about. 2nd: Over 90% did not under time signatures, arrangement, structure, etc. 3rd: Truth is aA lot of them just jam by themselves at home and claim to be a guitarists not understanding what that means in total. I have a colleague who I wish lived closer to me, he can do it all.

There is no genre or fashion. This is down to the “un-funnel-isation” of the creative industries. The record companies used to act as gate keepers but also curators. All barriers are gone now and everything is on a level so nothing sticks out, so there is no genre and no fashion and no movement or counter movement.

Viva La Revolution! 🤘💀🍻🔥

I'm tryin' to do my part, man. If curiosity strikes you, I've some music on my youtube channel. Trying to bring back the spirit of 1974 as best I can.

I think the problem is, there is great music out there now but when you try to speak about it to other people, they don't know it. Like Television, everyone is watching / listening to different channels, there's no mono culture like an MTV created. Those big TV moments when you used to rush home to capture a new artist, those days are gone

There is still amazing music being made constantly and consistently the bigger issue is the algorithms feeding us what they want reducing organic discovery and inflating marketing, making so much so obscure.

I agree, but its kinda hard when the insane control everything. You never change things by fighting the existing reality

A two cents : I don't think the problem is with the musicians, because there are plenty very good keyboardists, bassists, guitarists, etc, around. I think it's that somehow the industry has formularized everything. You reference the Rolling Stones, and The Beatles, but those guys wrote a variety of styles, and experimented with a variety of chords, subjects, and key modulation. Today, it seems that there are actually policies regarding the chord structure of songs, and surveys and polls about what songs the listeners will listen to. In short, nothing seems to be in favor of freedom in songwriting. I hope I'm wrong, but this is the way it seems to me. I don't think it's about the skill or lack thereof, of the musicians, but the song quality. The people who don't seem to realize that the music of Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, and Mozart, has survived for centuries, are the same ones who claim the music of the 60s, 70s, and 80s, is old, and they are the ones who are feeding us the crap we hear today. They are the gatekeepers of popular music. They destroyed the concepts of signing artists for longer terms, trusting artists with their creativity, and true artistic development. If it goes on like this, THEY will probably tell artists to write songs with certain specific chord structures, and keys. Or maybe the geniuses will distill their, "golden formula", down one chord per song. Not just, "Write a song in the key of D", but, write a song using just one chord.

All that good music is around more then it ever was. Just stop asking the algorithm made for causal listeners for it.

Truth

Hell yeah! Prince was the King and could play over 12 instruments.

Boomer truth regime strong in this one.

Willow's album is insanely good and has amazing players like Mohini Day.

We already had our "revolution" , a monstrous, huge never before in history gigantic revolution. The home recording studio, internet, RU-vid, publishing your own CD's. No longer are corporations controlling what we hear, I do a search and filter it, use quotation marks and find a fantastic musician on RU-vid every few days. Someone I never heard of. And what is most common is the fewer the subscribers the better and more original the music; they aren't clones of popular bands. So, you missed the revolution if you are looking in the wrong places. What is "good" music, I think we agree, it is those born with talent, develop it to a high skill, practiced, disciplined, creative, innovative, and if lyrics, highly poetic, melodic and articulate. Using a sequencer and twisting knobs is a DJ, not a musician. Seems the skill and expressiveness of performing on an instrument is being insulted today, and I don't know why....jealousy?

I was just pointing out ( in another channel's video ) , how punk failed cause was rac-ist, local and seg-regated and the 50s and 60s were comformist music ( in most part, which i suppose you very well reffer as bubble gum ) at its best...and how we should actually appreciate and be strangely thankful to hair metal cause boosted the urgent seek for good music again ( like early/mid 80s quality standard ).. and yes agreed, music is cyclic...Grunge was the real deal, the come back of the protest music ( on it own genuine, creative way ) that started in the 20s-30's with blues in the cotton fields and Dylan picked up so nicely. About the 80s, in terms of volume, no doubt the best modern musical culture decade ever ( 1980-1987,88, when hair metal took control ) and it's only flaw was that was kind a bit of comformist, not much but a bit enough to led the gate open for hair metal), but just like punk was quickly swallowed by the artistical diversity and universal language of the 80s , hair metal was just as much by grunge. So what i'm trying to say is there's a lot of parallels between punk and hair metal in that sense. Punk was legit in attitude but seg-regated and divisive...grunge was the universal punk , unclusive, not judgemental and diverse music, the real deal...so there are indeed cycles, i'm not sure in which we are right now ( probably poor quality comformist again?) I mean , not quite again, cause i see way more quality in the the 50s/60s ( the beatles, bossa nova...) but comformist still... anyways, hoping and best wishing for the next one, ( not being AI i hope )...but maybe AI will serve as a bridge just like punk and hair metal did , to a greater cycle, something like a new-grunge, i'd predict a decade from today, maybe? I don't know...

Barry I was wondering what your opinion is on AVID’s latest videos on RU-vid. They used an AI voice generator to talk about their Human Plugins Lite, replacing a real human doing the work their products are made for. Thoughts?

Bro, having a music revolution is probably gunna be impossible. Way way waaaaaayy!!! too many young kids/people just want to stay in their bedrooms and be an Instagram/ tic toc influencer. Rehash the same songs, have zero talent.(Most) They think they can be the next whoever they're wanting to be. So many current RU-vidrs and Instagramers, tictockers who are making money and making a living doing that are making THAT! seem way more appealing to do. Even super super talented musicians who should be in an original band rather just sit in their bedroom, make videos of themselves and build their channel for subscribers/likes/views, and to get paid that way. I personally think that's where their concerns are at. Not playing live, or trying to come up with fresh, or real people playing real instruments live or putting together an insane killer band, or writing killer original songs. There's absolutely no desire to be like a musician from 20 years ago, and absolutely no desire to be in a band and play live(for most younger Gen z). I'm 51, I'm just an old Gex Xer but that's what I'm seeing.

I think there is still a lot of great music being made, but it's just not what's on the radio, etc. For all the things I don't like about Spotify, I do like that I can find great bands with great songs and they play real instruments.

They need to bring back Disco/Rock. I Was Made For Loving You Baby.

How do you define "Serious Music" vs the bubblegum

Agreed

You're right about musicianship. BUT spotify is not the measurement of interest. It is simply not relevant at least to me. Why listen to that? I put a CD or a Vinyl in/on my player and enjoy music. I keep myself up to date with several radio stations that I listen to. If there is something I like I go and buy the album of that particular artist. But maybe I am old fashioned as well, Barry ;-) I will never understand how anyone could listen to an online source without having a real copy on either a harddisc or a physical audio medium. What when the internet is down? What if the streaming service goes down or changes their policy? Never ever will I go that online music route. Regarding musicianship I'd like to call on David Grohl....something like: go make f**** music, if it sucks don't care, just make f*** music. We did and became the most famous band of the world. We became Nirvana. So go and suck! (It's not what he really said word by word, but it was similar) 🙂

Also, it’s has to be said that Spotify isn’t helping by not paying royalties fairly. Don’t use Spotify, they are part of the problem

A music revolution requires the emergence of a generational talent. There hasn't really been any for at least 15-20 years. Prince, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Whitney. Where are the artist with the level of reach like these? Saw a video showing a George Strait Concert. Said it was the largest concert in music history....I can believe that. He's a generational Talent. Artist that reaches almost everyone from every walk of life Strong niche artist but not anyone of such note

Guitar rock bros like to blame the advent of drum machines, synths and samplers for the reason music has declined since 1979. But what actually happened was the technology allowed for the creation of new genres of music with new sonic textures and methods of musical expression. Rap, new wave, house, trance, techno, industrial, downtempo and so on. Fans of electronic music don't care how it was created as long as it slaps. Prince used an LM-1 drum machine and stacks of synthesizers to make hits. 100,000 songs being uploaded daily... must be something good in there somewhere! question is how do you find it.

You’re right Barry. We need a music revolution and it’s way overdue. Seems like every genre is just phoning it in. Wash, rinse repeat.

If Schools drop Music we are not enforcing the Basic Education Curriculum on how this country was founded in Public Schools.

Hi Barry. I have no musical talent as you put it and sold over 100,000 copies of my bubble gum :P Millions of streams on Spotify Amazon and my favorite Apple Music and iTunes. I can't read music. I can't play an instrument. But I can think and out thought people who can. I have a friend who has a jazz band and music label and he's spent $500,000 producing his 14 records to make just what I have. So who is savvy? The guy who out thought everyone and got lucky here and there or the millionaire who just keeps throwing heaps of money at his hobby? I enjoy your videos so keep it up. Just thought you should hear from the bubble gum side. Sgt Boudreau

There just isn't the motivation any more, we're drowning in a sea of music

The problem in my eyes, is the world has started valuing celebrities not musicians. Back in the 60s, 70s and even the 80s when music was played by ordinary looking people the music was good, most of the garbage today is manufactured celebrity culture that is fobbed off as music. I miss the days when musicians were valued for their playing and songwriting skills not what they looked like.

Hear me out: The reason that our music is stale right now is because technology phase dumbed everything down and made it to where you know need any skill to make music. Furthermore there has not been a new musical technology that gives us a new sound. For example a trumpet or clarinet is a technology that we use to make music. When is the last time that an instrument has been created? The last musical technology that we really used that went mainstream was autotune. Created in the 90s, used moderately and when Kanye west came out with 808 and heartbreak, auto tune went mainstream and we still are stuck in that sound. Technology is what furthers music not just creativity. There’s only so many instruments, so many notes and there’s millions of artist. Eventually music will overlap and the same things will be created over and over again until a new technology comes out that helps create a new sound. As a recording engineer This is a little theory that I’ve came up with over my years of experience. Tell me what you think.

We always prefer the music of our youth

These days, its remake, covers reboots. Not only its happening in the music industry, its happening in movies, tv and gaming. We need new tunes.

I keep saying that I'm just waiting for the resurgence of something like "punk", at least from approach though not necessarily sound, as a reaction to AI generation. Somebody is going to throw that crap out the window and change the world, and I'm all in for it.

You are making fair points but your problem isn’t with musicians; it’s a culture thing.

When I saw the drum machine arrive on the scene and embraced so gleefully, I knew it was the beginning of the end. The slippery slope was obvious 😆

Hold my Beer.

I understand what you’re saying. I don’t know if what you’re saying is accurate! There’s kinda been a music revolution. You mostly referenced rock music. Rock music is not the guage anymore for you here state of music industry. If we’re gona talk about the ENTIRE music industry there’s tons of amazing artists. More than ever. The problem is more with what’s being promoted. The young people that are actually gona buy all the songs and goto all of the events and buy all of the merchandise don’t care about any of this! They have a completely different mindset. That’s what mainstream artist/labels are catering to. Not anyone over 50 that likes “the eagles” or “the who”.

When it comes to lyrical content today you have to be very careful what you say or protest, you wouldn't want to offend someone with your point of view. Long live (gone) freedom of speech.

Im trying barry 😂

No personality no heart Artificial Intelligence has no emotion even garbage has a small

So many people get this wrong. The issue isn’t just with music, it’s with all forms of entertainment. There’s a degradation of everything around us. Politics is so heavily in entertainment, what do you expect. It’s politics over merit. IE Promote woman or a POC instead of just promoting who’s best. It’s a religion that no one can see. the religion stifles growth. Because the religion comes before any merit.

What is bubblegum music.