Thursday, February 3, 2011

Independent music today

By Scott Walker


The 1990s gave way to an exciting time of fresh independent and alternative bands. Probably the most notable is Kurt Cobain of nirvana. This was a watershed time where alternative rock and independent music was making its way into the popular charts.There are many new popular bands today trying to top alternative rock stars and bands like Soundgarden and Kurt Cobain's nirvana. Will these bands be around in the next decade? Many of the classic alternative bands have stood the test of time. These bands are still seen in record shops, tee shirt shops, fan magazines and active within the social media websites.Probably the best way now to find new musical ideas that are independent of the bland tastes of major record companies is the Internet. Go into social media websites like facebook and search for alternative music.

Alternative music used to be interesting in the past few decades. The pop and MOR charts have always been to golden ticket and mainstay to record company sales but there was always an interesting alternative market for cool interesting bands. Just strolling down to your local alternative record shop you were able to find dozens of alternative bands pushing the envelope of new music. About the time of the late 60s decade alternative music began to emerge as new bands created weird sounds and concept records that defied description at the time. Even adventurous sounds by the Beatles and The Rolling Stones would be consider new alternative music now. Backward voices, odd production techniques and psychedelic song writing were all part of the scene before the term "alternative music" existed.

From the very beginning of popular music to the present computer generation there are notable differences in how music is marketed. In the present alternative music is so swamped with record companies and bands using the term "alternative music" there is no telling what the music is really all about or if it alternative music at all? with the advert of social media sites for music promotional stratagems like myspace and facebook many bands just label the music alternative for attention. if you spent days searching the internet for alternative bands you would come across hundreds or thousands in the category. Many music styles that would be categorized as retrograde or sounding like music of the past is now considered a form of alternative music.

The Icelandic singer Bjork is one of the very few artists around who is still creating genuinely alternative music. This simply means that she is seeking to break new ground and test the limits of style as we know it. Thanks to a consistent quality of output over the last two decades, she is in a sufficiently established position to have total creative freedom. One wonders how easily someone like her might get such recognition if she suddenly appeared on the scene in 2010 without any fan-base or reputation. Lady Gaga has been hailed for reviving a tired, hackneyed pop-scene but, despite her visually-challenging image, the music she makes could hardly qualify as 'alternative music' in any sense.

Taking the optimistic view, it seems impossible that somewhere buried in cyberspace are at least a few genuinely alternative bands and artists- but how can anyone find them? Aside from the net, there is always the live scene which, in recent years, has increased in size significantly. There are now more festivals worldwide then there has ever been. Concert ticket prices have rocketed accordingly as the major record companies seek to compensate for dwindling sales of CD albums. The free-download frenzy continues to grow and become the norm for most of the younger generation who obviously represent the largest percentage of the public who have an interest in popular music. So who is currently 'alternative'? Ask even the most switched-on twenty-something and they would be struggling to come up with a convincing response to alternative music.




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