Why did western rock music die completely?

TheSadRanger

TheSadRanger

Banned
Simple question, in preference to the current monopoly which is trash(systemic racism). Even by standards of fifteen years ago. There were dualities where now there is nothing.

Brit Rock-Dead

Ameri-Rock-Dead









Wtf is going on here, this doesn't even make sense from a business perspective.
 
Rock had a great, long term run. I don't think it ever drove culture after the late 60s, it became more hedonistic and disposable, although I personally loved 70s rock. It briefly had a powerful influence with Nirvana, and could again if a revolutionary band were to appear, but I think it's unlikely.

My generation was probably the first to abandon rock. There were plenty of white kids like me that didn't think Poison and Guns and Roses were cool. Once hip hop came out I knew rock's days were numbered as mainstream music. My son is 17 and none of his peers listen to rock, none.
I don't think it will ever drive culture again, it's too white male oriented. Remember we ruined the world.
 
I think your question is 'where did Grunge disappear too'

House, Pop, Rap etc became the top40 music of choice. Rock is still very much out there
 
Tons of reasons I'm sure. Pretty interesting to think about.

1) Lots of rock fans graduated to metal when rock started stagnating. Rock stopped producing a lot of new styles and metal was more innovative in the 2000s and 2010s.

2) Less people are going to be learning to play music in general now. Back in the 90s, there were dozens of local bands playing all the time. People learning to play instruments, buying instruments, taking lessons, practicing with their bands in basements multiple days a week. Now, with the distractions of phones, internet, netflix, less people are going to devote time to playing drum rudiments, or learning chords for years on end when there is near infinite distraction available. Lots of people barely even socialize or have friends now. Less people learning to play means less bands. Less bands means less people going to concerts.

It then becomes easier for people with less skill to be successful musically because the standards are lowered, like people with minimal ability making manufactured songs with electronic tracks written by someone else.

3) No MTV. No rock radio playing music in a way that will catch casual audiences. Music listening has fully fragmented now into curated streaming lists. People will gravitate to easier genres like pop and dance. There isn't a pipeline to broadly expose people to rock music like MTV and rock radio did in the 90s.

4) There are no more subcultures. Know what a meme is? It's what normal people used to call an inside joke. Now everyone has the same jokes, the same exposure to everything, the same political protests, the same trending topics. With no subcultures, unique things cannot develop in isolation anymore unless they're completely underground and actively repel people like metal music does. So without subcultures developing uniquely, everyone will share the lowest common denominator culture - shallow pop / dance music, the same jokes, low quality movies.

5) Younger audiences like different music. 90s music fans hated 80s music. Same thing happening here. Everything goes in cycles.
 
Rock is an attitude and a lifestyle in many ways. UK and the US are pushing young people .... especially guys, lacking the testicular fortitude for the genre.

Also can you imagine a GnR or Motley Crue in tthis day and age? De-platformed (hate that fucking phrase) in a minute.


In terms of quality, best new "rock" I have heard the past while is Ghost.
 
Zato said:
Rock is an attitude and a lifestyle in many ways. UK and the US are pushing young people .... especially guys, lacking the testicular fortitude for the genre.

Also can you imagine a GnR or Motley Crue in tthis day and age? De-platformed (hate that fucking phrase) in a minute.


In terms of quality, best new "rock" I have heard the past while is Ghost.
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Rock artists were always pretty androgynous, wore makeup and women's clothes. Lyrically and attitude wise pretty macho, but let's not conflate rock with manliness. One of the reasons I didn't relate to rock as a teenager was the way the men looked, it was not something I wanted to emulate. Then you had metal which was masculine to the point of being a sausage fest. If the girls aren't feeling it the guys will eventually follow.
 
TheSadRanger said:
Agreed but in the American consensus it's still dead.
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when has rock ever cared about the american census? thats like, the complete opposite of rock and roll.

and no music is ever really dead. people said jazz died in the 50's and im still listening to and playing jazz today, 70 years later. as well as millions of others around the world. the lime light doesnt dictate if a person or art form is dead.
 
Kev Kev said:
when has rock ever cared about the american census? thats like, the complete opposite of rock and roll.

and no music is ever really dead. people said jazz died in the 50's and im still listening to and playing jazz today, 70 years later. as well as millions of others around the world. the lime light doesnt dictate if a person or art form is dead.
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Fuck off schill, clearly I struck I nerve and you have no logical answer as to why rock bands are the dinosaurs in the current mainstream and have been ostracized.
 
Tazzu said:
Coz like rap music is like trash yo. /s
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Hip hop is fine on it's own co-existing with other genres. But at the expense of other genres that have been dead for over a decade? ehhh...........

edit: I APPRECIATE THE WELL THOUGHT OUT INPUT THOUGH.
 
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highrider said:
Rock artists were always pretty androgynous, wore makeup and women's clothes. Lyrically and attitude wise pretty macho, but let's not conflate rock with manliness. One of the reasons I didn't relate to rock as a teenager was the way the men looked, it was not something I wanted to emulate. Then you had metal which was masculine to the point of being a sausage fest. If the girls aren't feeling it the guys will eventually follow.
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"Rock artists where always pretty androgynous"? ......... was hardly the norm at all.
 
Miku Miku said:
4) There are no more subcultures. Know what a meme is? It's what normal people used to call an inside joke. Now everyone has the same jokes, the same exposure to everything, the same political protests, the same trending topics. With no subcultures, unique things cannot develop in isolation anymore unless they're completely underground and actively repel people like metal music does. So without subcultures developing uniquely, everyone will share the lowest common denominator culture - shallow pop / dance music, the same jokes, low quality movies.
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Basically this.

Music as something that you spent energy and time on because it defined you compared to others is a gone thing.
 
Globalisation and it's knock on effects, in regards to the cost of marketing and promoting acts, has led to a need for cheap to make, easy to listen to, bland music that has a simple but catchy beat and generic, repetitive lyrics that will get stuck in your head.

Vaguely romance/sex based pop and sex or self aggrandising focused hip hop take almost zero effort or money to make, can be churned out rapidly and all sound similar enough to be like something else you know, which tricks your brain into thinking it likes it.

Add in to that auto tuning and digital music tools, as well as the ubiquity of sampling to add bits of old, good songs people know and like already, and you end up in the situation we find ourselves in today.

Why waste time and money trying to create something new and unique, that many people may not like, and could be bad, when you can create 50 generic songs that are 'good enough' to sell to the masses and are guaranteed to bring in a profit.
 
Stilton Disco said:
Globalisation and it's knock on effects, in regards to the cost of marketing and promoting acts, has led to a need for cheap to make, easy to listen to, bland music that has a simple but catchy beat and generic, repetitive lyrics that will get stuck in your head.

Vaguely romance/sex based pop and sex or self aggrandising focused hip hop take almost zero effort or money to make, can be churned out rapidly and all sound similar enough to be like something else you know, which tricks your brain into thinking it likes it.

Add in to that auto tuning and digital music tools, as well as the ubiquity of sampling to add bits of old, good songs people know and like already, and you end up in the situation we find ourselves in today.

Why waste time and money trying to create something new and unique, that many people may not like, and could be bad, when you can create 50 generic songs that are 'good enough' to sell to the masses and are guaranteed to bring in a profit.
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That's still not a good enough excuse as to why western rock died when it was very popular.

Yes your explanation applies to hip-hop and sampling, but that does not specifically pertain to Rock.
 
TheSadRanger said:
Fuck off schill, clearly I struck I nerve and you have no logical answer as to why rock bands are the dinosaurs in the current mainstream and have been ostracized.
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What the fuck is this? Someone gives you their thoughts and you come at them like that? Maybe you need to not post if you can't handle reasonable responses and opinions.
 
Jooxed said:
What the fuck is this? Someone gives you their thoughts and you come at them like that? Maybe you need to not post if you can't handle reasonable responses and opinions.
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Because his answer is a deflection, pure and simple Jooxed Jooxed . Motley Crue, Guns & Roses, Velvet Revolver, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, etc.

Questioning why there has been no modern day followups and why the genre has died completely without a sufficient answer is a completely valid request.

He provided no explicit details therefore I shall provide none.
 
Rock music represents a bygone era.

60s, 70s etc.. When the drum computer came and techno and house, that was the new generation.

If you ask me, rock music is like being stuck in the past. We've heard basically all that can be done with a drummer, guitar guy and bass and singer I guess.. It's all the same to me.

Electronic music has no limits.
 
Kev Kev said:
when has rock ever cared about the american census? thats like, the complete opposite of rock and roll.

and no music is ever really dead. people said jazz died in the 50's and im still listening to and playing jazz today, 70 years later. as well as millions of others around the world. the lime light doesnt dictate if a person or art form is dead.
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200.gif
 
TheSadRanger said:
Because his answer is a deflection, pure and simple Jooxed Jooxed . Motley Crue, Guns & Roses, Velvet Revolver, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice in Chains, Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, etc.

Questioning why there has been no modern day followups and why the genre has died completely without a sufficient answer is a completely valid request.

He provided no explicit details therefore I shall provide none.
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His answer was has opinion. And he's right on another thing, you are a fuckin' weirdo.
 
There's still good rock bands coming out with new music. It just isn't radio/TV popular.

The pop culture sphere is dominated by the tv variety show format. You're made and then you get played. There is no old school system of earning your chops in the local scene. Rock still works in that old school way, so it doesn't vibe with the people who produce pop culture.
 
TheSadRanger said:
That's still not a good enough excuse as to why western rock died when it was very popular.

Yes your explanation applies to hip-hop and sampling, but that does not specifically pertain to Rock.
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It applies to all music that's not pop or hip hop.

It's not just rock that's no longer part of mainstream music, anything that can't be made by a couple of music techs and an autotuned vocalist or two, is too risky and expensive to bother promoting.
 
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