Musical Musings From the Wild...A Response to Rick Beato's Recent Videos
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 2. 07. 2024
- Pete gives his take on Rick's 'The Real Reason Music is Getting Worse' videos.
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I feel sorry for the person who never got to experience lying in their bed, headphones on, new album on the turntable, and just staring at the back of the album or the lyrics and being taken away on a musical journey.
Amen to that.
i still do that
Iâm 27, and I honestly never got to experience up until very recently. By the time I was 15, streaming apps had taken over and my relationship with music was probably formed through that. And it wasnât until I began to collect media and force myself to listen to the album to its entirety that I realized I never truly listened to music.
But does it have to be vinyl to experience that journey? I think just really listening to a band and listening to full albums in their entirety is a journey no matter what media you are using and that is what I think is being lost. There are too many of the Sirius radio and Spotify people who are doing nothing but ingesting the same radio hits and not really listening to bands or albums.
@@metal_maniac_68 , I use my ipod (purchased another when thry discontinued it) for my daily morning walks. I have a car with a cd player so I try to use cds whenever I can.
Indeed, people in general now consume more social media publication, than they do art. It's a sad thing
I now spend more time listening to people talk about music than I do listening to music.
But that may also be because we have consumed an awful lot of music over the last 20-30 years...
There is much more contradictions for any quiestions today
truly ironic
@@heygringo7 Absolutely, and I suspect quite common.
Same here. The problem I have is the vast volume of music being produced now. It used to be fairly easy to keep track of what was new in the market. Now you need to listen constantly just to keep up to date. I donât know how Pete does it.
Re: physical media, in an attempt to pass the torch to the next generation I recently gave my CD collection to my 19 year old son (I felt like Andy giving away his toys at the end of Toy Story 3 :) and as he was going through & opening up the hundreds of old Floyd/Metallica/Zeppelin/etc albums & looking at the artwork/lyrics etc. he says "Damn, these are awesome" & he sent a picture of the collection to his friends. Rick is right - as soon as people started to expect to get digital music of any artist instantly/for free it was inevitable that we'd end up here, because there just isn't the pride of ownership that makes music as valuable & important as it once was. The good news, though, is that as Pete has often said, there is still thankfully a *ton* of great new music being made by very talented people, but it's up to each of us to find it & directly support those artists by buying physical media & their merchandise. Because taking the free/easy streaming road has only driven the music industry right into the cultural ditch it's currently sitting in.
I was about to say something about the roll parents play in the future of music and then i saw your comment. There is a problem across the board in society right now of a serious lack of parenting on all fronts.
@@SixBladesKojiro You're right, but I feel like most younger kids are always going to think the music their parents listen to is total crap (e.g. when I was a kid in the 80's I thought my parents listening to the Doobie Brothers, Simon & Garfunkel, Neil Diamond, & ABBA were lame...now I love all that stuff :) As pre-teens my kids loved Justin Bieber & Katy Perry pop...it's only been the last 4-5 years that they've broadened their horizons....maybe that's the key role for parents actually - be there to bond with your kids when their musical tastes get their shit together. :)
@@PlanetTerror406 my idea was more of helping the kids get interested in music not necessarily our music but music in general. My approach with my son has always been to try and keep my opinions about something to a minimum and focus on helping him be a critical thinker and figure things out and then be confident in his tastes or opinions so we have an open dialog on almost everything wether we agree or not.
@@SixBladesKojiro Ah, gotcha, & that's very true. I've tried to do the same, because the lack of critical thinking & the ability to articulate thoughts during a basic conversation has become one of the biggest problems in society, and has been for a very long time. It's just so much easier to stare & scroll than it is to think I guess. Hopefully your son and my kids can do their small part to help turn things around. :)
@@PlanetTerror406 if they simply understand even just one thing, again my humble opinion, that having opinions and developeing them over time is what life is all about and necessary to understanding yourself, but, everyone including me who is doing it right now :) feels its ok to voice those opinions at anytime. Its simply not. I like the approach of being a bit mysterious when it come to religion and politics for example and only when asked first do really talk about my stance on either. When i do i rarely give it all up. Thats helped me tremendously on not creating enemies or just simply avoiding the drama of working with someone who doesnt agree with me and gives me a hard time every day. Society is overun with the opposite of this philosophy and why i generally dont do what im doing right now but you are having a dialog with me and we are exchanging ideas so its a bit better. Most people throw opinions out as much as they can and it has become almost everyones identiy. I hope if our kids can changd only one thing in the future it would be that.
Hope SoT never stops with New Music Wednesdays. Love discovering new bands and albums.
Absolutely! New Music Wednesdays has introduced me to some great music I never even new existed.
Same here
As a 69 year old classic/prog . Rock fan,, I just want to thank you Pete , forwhatguyslikeyou , andRickB.and AndyEdwards, and even âpop goes the sixtiesâ-Matt Williamson -have done in turning Muso-listeners like me -onto soo many great new bands , andartists, [that I had no previous knowledge of!!![and even some old bands-that flew beneath the radar!], thanxbrother P. , ,KEEP THEMUSIC ALIVE!!!!!
Trump declaims that America would be great, so old-fashioned things might be too
Millennial here. At one point a year or so ago, I found that the first thing I would jump to would be YT videos/shorts of people talking about music, rather than music itself. I asked myself âwhy would I watch a video with talking instead of a great song (or album)?â
Iâm trying to focus more on listening and enjoying music again, and rebuild my noticeably shrunken attention span.
That's great. See if you can bring a friend or two along for the ride. How about weekly album listening party?
@@catsofsherman1316thatâs a good idea. I do do binges of artistsâ complete discographies with my cousin, so thereâs that.
Just gonna lend my opinion as someone who is 19
A lot of people still listen to full albums. In fact in the recent 5/10 years it has been quite high and a lot of artists are finding that full albums are more important than just a single
I find the idea that 'young people dont care about music' is a trope that just isn't true, but the issue is that physical media and the media in general aren't good at nurturing new bands or smaller artists, and it's the job of people to go out and find their own stuff, plus with physical prices of things being higher, a lot of young people can't afford the music
Everything you said i agree with. Id like to add if i can that the rapid nature of consumption, as in listening to something and before its done the algorythm has suggest eight more to check out, certainly has to make it an after thought to cherish what you are consuming. Going to a record store and spending hours picking one album and knowing thats it for a week or so was my experience in high school so i have experienced both and in a heartbeat would choose the record store over Spotify even if it means less overall music to hear over time. Just my two cents i know you didnt ask for i just liked seeing a sensible young man participating in this conversation.
I'm 26 and you have perfectly summed up how I feel.
I agree with you but I personally would not single out the younger generation in this regard because I see just as many older people have this mindset too. They have Sirius radio in their car and that is all they listen to. No albums, just strictly radio hits.
@@user-zq5eb2hj9o Pete literally mentioned his wife being one of these people. Pretty sure she's not particularly young. My 50 year old sister-in-law is another one. I had to delete TikTok so she would stop sending me 5 second videos. lol
Absolutely. I'm 51 but experience the same things and experiences that younger generations do.
Older generations experienced all that 'younger generations don't listen to any good music', but these days there is the internet so people can lash out against you anonymously with no repercussions.
As soon as I saw this response from Rick, I immediately wondered what the Pete Pardo's or the Martin Popoff's of the world thought about this. Maybe you and Martin should delve deeper into this, as it seems to have struck a chord with a few people out there. Anyways, it's awesome to hear your views on Rick's thoughts.
I appreciate your response to Pete and Martin's views on Rick's thoughts.
You and Rick are so right glad I grew up in the age of vinyl and cassettes
Your Wednesday new album reviews are the biggest reason I return to your channel over and over. Please continue this great service. I watch them all!
Look, I think the main problems are things we've all heard before: 1) Pop music is so auto tuned and processed that it's mostly unlistenable. 2) People don't seem to want to take the journey, and it is a long and hard one to achieve great musicianship and songwriting skills. 3) The business has completely collapsed, there's no structure, the powers that be aren't willing to take chances on new sounds and styles from new bands. 4) The demise of record labels and radio means there's no gatekeepers. Therefore, the market's completely oversaturated. 5) No record stores where you meet fellow music fans potentially form bands and Bond over music over. 5) Music, being a commercial media, is one of four things (the others being film, TV, and fashion) that shape and influence POP CULTURE. Something that since the computer emerged is just gone of the face of the planet now. Because music isn't powerful enough anymore to overpower computers. 6) Attention spans are slim to none, attentions are al in different places, everything is immediate, and all here today, gone tomorrow. 7) Solo acts are cheaper than bands, apparently. 8) Music venues in towns and cities around the world being closed down so new bands have nowhere to play. 8) We've become so woke as a society that no one's willing to be a shocking, Godlike, Imperial persona/character like... we know the list of suspects. 9) And within that, for it to reflect in the lyrics, or even to do as John Lydon says:"TELL THE TRUTH."
Finally, think about this, Pete, since 1993, or even 88, where's that band that, even after their passing, are or will be inescapable? Artists on the same level as Elvis, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, Prince, Madonna, Bruce Springsteen or U2. Even if you don't like them, they will be impossible to avoid or deny, even after they've stopped making music and maybe passed on. In fact, they become bigger when they stop. It's just not there, is it?
Everything reaches a peak - Music is no exception !
I also think bands/artists touring and basically just playing the record over a PA and lip syncing doesn't help matters.
@Scott__C I agree. It certainly does not. I highly commend Eddie Trunk for calling that out.
@@kylewong4349 Indeed. People can hate on Bret Michaels and Poison, but they play live. Stephen Pearcy as well.
Well I think Pearl Jam legacy will endure,same for the Red Hot Chili Peppers
You are absolutely right. We are living in a world of Media overload
Us older folk remember the old days, but the younger generation donât have that.
I donât know the answerâŠ.
New music comes and goes but nothing will give me the visceral thrill of hearing The Who's Live at Leeds on a mono cassette recorder for the first time as an 11 year old. Years later I have a hifi worth thousands, have Live at Leeds in 4 different remastered formats and can stream it at 24bit quality. The sound coming from my speakers is mind-blowing but nothing beats hearing my mono cassette recorder speakers overload and distort the Who's Holy Racket.
Right on man. Far-out man. Very groovy stuff man. Bitchin video. Like you, I know there is still some great music being recorded and released all the time. 60K albums a month are released these days, and many bands get lost in the mass saturation of releases. They may not be on the popular streaming platforms, but they are out there to discover. I appreciate you recognizing and acknowledging my new album, A Soul in Time, with Gary Husband and Hadrien Feraud, as a new and valuable, creative, and raw body of work that deserves to be listened to. Thank you for doing a CZcams segment interview with Gary and I, to let people know it's out there. It's people like you and your crew at Sea of Tranquility, that continue to let people know about new music releases, and reminding people to listen to the pioneers of some great genres, like prog, fusion jazz rock and rock. Keep up the great work there at Sea of Tranquility Pete. We all appreciate you all. Peace brother, James Morgan
SOT and Rick Beato were my first two utube channels I subscribed to . Appreciate your take on what he was talking about Peter đ
I agree with Pete đŻ. I am 45, so I am a GenX and I can recall the internet transition in society and the way music was influenced by that. Fast forward to today, and sprinkle in what seems to be âattention economyâ problems, and you get what Pete just described: no interest in chilling with records, and just enough patience to be receptive to virtual âtidbitsâ of entertainment.
I listen to albums; part of the reason for this is that I felt the âNapstersâ and âLimewiresâ lent themselves to song acquisition, but not as well to album acquisition. I also remember how albums would grow on me, and that a song you donât notice on listen 1 or listen 2 would reveal its glory a bit later in your experience with the record. So I wanted to preserve that approach to music so I wouldnât miss something. I also think album art is best viewed in the LP format, so any attempt to compartmentalize the same images into little thumbnails loses the plot for me.
Anyway, all I can say is that if it wasnât for SoT and their suggestions, I wouldnât have ever known how awesome Thin Lizzyâs catalogue is. đ
Thanks so much for reviewing and bringing attention to our band Thunder Horse and underground artists like us! We create music for people like you and your audience. Thanks for keeping us alive!â€
Ive been turned on to so many new bands just from watching this channel. Dozens. And Iâm grateful for that. That being said, the beauty of the streaming services , is that I can immediately go on Apple Music to check out these bands Pete talks about to see if I like them. To listen to the whole record and THEN I can make the decision to go buy them or see them live. If used correctly , these tools we have are very helpful to us and the artists.
Bill Bruford said that modern music listening is a series of interruptions.
I think we need to get back to a sense of ritual with music - a religious experience.
We need to rediscover what got us here in the first place .. how a love became a passion that ignited a fire inside of us.
yeah, there's a chunk of this that's about humanity/soul- bigger picture stuff. Lot's of crisis and unhappiness out there because people are conditioned to ignore the rudiments with in those issues
@@colinburroughs9871 Truly the undermining of the soul that music speaks to calming the savage beast. time to get analogue to save our souls.
Totally agree Pete, as I'm your age. I've been a life-long amateur drummer. The countless hours of collecting, listening, and practicing along to music was immeasurable and fun.
Making playlists on Spotify is VERY fun for me...its like when we made cassette mixes back in the 80s. Also, as an example: there are 7+ hour black metal compilations to be downloaded on Spotify which is both educational and plain fun. As a hardcore music nerd, I do vinyl, CDs, and Spotify...best of all worlds imo.
As a 62 year old man who works in a record store, I see the good and bad in all of this. There are a bunch of packs. One pack wonât listen to anything other than what they listened to in high school - doesnât matter when they graduated. A pack that wonât listen to anything old because it sounds corny and clichĂ©. Another pack that wonât listen to anything new because they canât relate to a young personâs lyrics and there are no power chords or solos. Itâs a hot mess.
Then I get young kids coming in and asking for recommendations on where to start with Frank Zappa and gray haired geezers asking if we have anything by Khruangbin. By the way, if you donât know Khruangbin, you should check them out. I am filled with equal amounts of hope and despair on a daily basis.
I'd really like to see a video of your store experience. It sounds cool- the human connection with music, good bad ugly etc.
Oh, it is cool. My love of music is the only reason I do it because record store jobs generally donât pay very well. Like I said, and I guess this applies to most jobs, you take the good with the bad. One minute I think weâre doomed, the next Iâm filled with hope.
Sounds exactly like the present car show scene and the people that stop and look at classics, imports, modern etc. I know exactly what you are saying in regards to the groups of people!
I'm 63. I was listening to some NEU! the other day and I thought "Hey these guys sound a lot like Kruangbin!"
@@willburr5929 Cool observation! Iâm willing to bet Khruangbin are Neu fans.
Hey Pete thanks for the chat. You and the gang at SOT have introduced me to so much great music. Please don't stop, we are listening and interested. I love discovering a new band/recording then supporting by purchasing a hard copy. Vinyl, but ately cds have been the format I buy. Thanks again.
I have no idea what the mainstream is doing as I've never run in those circles. In my world, I've got tons of great recent music by bands and artists most people have never heard of. I once brought a stack of CDs to listen to at work and someone riffled through them and said, "what is all this stuff? I've never heard of any of these bands. Don't you have any normal music?"
UghâŠyeah, I hear that all the time.
Iâve always loved collecting, and also want to support the artists I love.
I agree Pete, we know there are great artists out there making musicâŠgreat music! I do wish more of the music promoted on SOT got attention, I know people would love it. I still buy, even though I do have Apple Music, but I use it to sample music before I buy
I'm all about new music & new to me old music. I use CZcams to see if it's worth getting the real deal CD & your channel SOT has turned me on lots of great music. Your Album reviews on new music are great!!! But I will say not everything you review is in my wheelhouse but when it is I do all can to look for it to add to my collection. Your channel has enriched my mind & lightened my wallet in a good way. Thanks for all you do.
I remember back in the early noughties when I got a desktop pc and was able to tap into the likes of Napster, Soulseek, Limewire - and then subsequently newsgroups - to get access to all these fairly low quality mp3s of all the albums I used to own or never owned but wanted to hear. At the time it was a revelation. Before then I could never afford all the albums and cds I wanted. I'm not fortunate enough have a dedicated music room with wall to wall cds so it was amazing - I was like a kid in a sweet shop.
But after a time, I found that the ability to download a band's entire discography at a stroke devalued everything. I was no longer inclined to listen to it all - just a few seconds of each to see if something grabbed me. Fast forward a few years to streaming, where everything is available and I've pretty much given up trying to discover new music. I just focus on the music I loved from my formative years - it's rare that I find anything later than 2010 that interests me.
As record labels strive to find new ways of persuading the consumer to buy the same album all over again by adding "exclusive" tracks such as demos, out-takes, I find myself less and less inclined to engage. The times I've got excited by yet another Bowie reissue, only to play the "new" songs once and then never return to it again.
I guess my point is, I agreed with everything Beato and you say. It is true - technology has made everything available but has reduced people's attention spans to the extent that "serious music listening" has become a niche pastime. When the day comes that I finally buy a turntable again, I will buy my favourite 40 albums and be content to simply listen to them and nothing else.
You have to actively try and find new music. Or else the formative years and the "classics" are all you really need. I find new stuff every now and then usually from movies and TV shows.
@@DSGLABEL The same - I might hear a song playing on a film or a chance recommendation from someone, enabling me to research and discover. To be fair, the only "current day" band I've fallen in love with in recent times is The Lemon Twigs. But that's fine - I believe all the best music was made in the 60s and 70s anyway. And the Twigs' music is one long homage to The Beatles and The Beach Boys anyway!
Agree with both Rick and you. My reflections:
1. I'll try to listen to a new album three times before giving my opinion and deciding how I feel about it.
2. I'm a teacher, and I do see that this young generation in high school is appreciating classic bands, unlike the previous generation. And they are going to concerts of older artists with their parents in some cases. But...
3. I am 57, and my taste has expanded from just prog to other genres like metal, ambient, classical, and even Christian Contemporary. Not sure if that is the case for younger people today. They seem to just get into one scene, and don't expand to others, like only liking one sport or genre of show on TV.
4.I think our generation has so much to take care of so much domestically (raising children, health bills, keeping jobs, etc.) and is overwhelmed that we don't have the time to appreciate the new scenes. Fortunately, I have a friend who got me into Prog Revival bands and goes with me to Progstock every year in NJ to learn about new ones. I also found a lot of artists on Pandora when the stream of an artist I like introduces another artist I never heard of. And, sometimes in studying those artists and listening on You Tube, I then find another group of bands (That is how I found artists like Frozen Crown and Unleash the Archers when listening to some metal music on You Tube, or Trance Electronic like Delerium, Schiller, and Above and Beyond when listening to Enigma on Pandora)
5. I'm happy for the freedom to choose what I want to listen to when I want, but like turning on Netflix, there is so much to digest that it is overwhelming and I can't make decisions. It's such a weird dynamic.
6. And lastly, I miss having the "product" in my hand. I miss the gated fold sleeves, the album covers (i.e. Roger Dean covers for Yes and others), the lyrics, etc. I burn a lot of CDs from the library or online to save money, but it's just not the same. Sometimes i don't even know the name of the song that I am listening to, but then have to find lyrics online.
6:07 I'm the exact opposite. I absolutely LOVE going down rabbit holes discovering bands for the first time. Animals As Leaders is a perfect example of a band I found out about that way. Tides From Nebula, The Algorithm, Hacktivist, Pelican are other ones I found that way. There's a bunch more. But I always think in terms of "Who am I missing out on?". You Tube is a great place for finding new music. It's the new word of mouth kind of thing. It's no longer mainstream radio. THAT is what has changed.. If fans want to find it they'll seek it out.
Thanks for your musical suggestions I will go through them ,one by one.â
As someone who consumes tons of new music on a daily basis because the floodgates have opened, I often find myself obsessed with discovery and not so much listening to something enough for me to memorize. I remember as a kid, I'd play an album over and over again. Now, I feel like I'm wasting time on what could be a new discovery if I take the time to listen to what I already heard.
I'm not against modern tech when it comes to music as long as it's used to create quality stuff and not against having access to music past to present at the push of the button but honestly I think we need to stop and smell the roses before we go back to the journey to use an analogy.
Thanks for having this conversation. I would say most of the activity on social media is about generating content without regard to its quality. Content is not necessarily information..
Vinnie Colaiuta interviewing Bill Bruford (methinks): there's too much choice in media.
Bought a 300-album vinyl collection for $40. A couple rock/pop (Humble Pie & Joan Baez), a couple jazz/instrumental (Terry Plumeri & Kristian Schultze - both excellent) but the remainder are classical. Possessing music that has, despite being the result of very conscious and specific actions, been generally thrust upon me has been as psychologically liberating as listening daily to to Hindemith's Symphony: Mathis der Maler has been rejuvenating (in its best sense).
I have not seen Rickâs episode but I feel that when you look at the overall spectrum of bands there is always new bands and existing bands that fly under the radar from a majority of listeners. This is why Peteâs reviews of new and existing bands is vitally important to spread the word on and off-line of relatively unknown bands like Mr. Bisson, Celeste and others. I can see a future where most bands will produce their own labels and advertise that they did not use any AI technology. Looking forward to this episode.
My biggest issue with Spotify is when I listen to it the music sounds bad. I don't know if it's the recordings or their storage medium or the playback process, but it just sounds piss poor.
Iâm 67 and whenever I relax to listen to entire album I fall asleep! But damn it, I still try!đ (And I always will!)
Very well said Pete. I was streaming for years and now Iâve gone back to physical media. Please keep promoting new bands and albums too! There are people like myself that do buy them and gives them a chance.
I still buy physical media, but I can't imagine blind-buying an album without hearing it first anymore. Streaming is great for that. Sure I remember the days of going to the record store and buying an album based on the cover art, and it was awesome when it worked out and you felt like you "discovered" a new favorite, but I also remember the disappointment of wasting scarce money on a dud. Streaming is what you make of it. It's also great for when you want to listen to music but don't really know what you feel like listening to. Put all your songs on shuffle and you're likely to hear something you wouldn't have thought about putting on if you were staring at a wall of CDs.
I have a Spotify account and if there is any rock, heavy metal, prog rock artist that I find and listen to them, then I will go out and buy their album. So if my internet does go down then I have a digital copy on my hard drive, so I can still listen to them if I am working.
As one of the few Gen Zers in this channel's audience, I'd say the biggest thing now is that no one younger than me sees music as anything more than background music. No one's going to sit down and listen to Dark Side of the Moon or Selling England by the Pound front to back. They just want to hear a bunch of hits they can hum along too while focusing on partying.
100000000000% itâs sad
Gotta agree with you, I'm a believer in a front to back experience, putting on an album with the intent of listening to it in it's entirety. I listen to music primarily through streaming it, but I also will purchase physical copies where available, for example in something like Rhapsody, Sonata Arctica, Edguy, most of the albums I'd love to have aren't available on Vinyl so I just stream them. But the artwork, the stories told through the music, the band and it's members, the story behind how the album came to be... it's as if none of that matters anymore to our generation. It's few and far in between when I come across another true music enthusiast my age, everyone else is stuck up on think Swift is the greatest musician since sliced bread
as a fellow Gen Z I think you could say this for basically every generation? I doubt that many people were listening to prog albums in full in the 80s lol, in the UK at least lots of people just watched top of the pops and liked random chart music đ€·đ» Millions of teenagers are obsessed with music, just look at how huge stuff like BTS and Taylor Swift is, people are definitely listening to their albums in full. I donât think anything has changed in the way people act, just the technology. A lot of people complaining would be all over Spotify or Napster if they existed in the 80s đ¶ apologies for the rant.
That's always happened. But album listening is actually on the upturn especially with young people around late teens and in their 20's. Just cos it isn't the music i'm interested in a lot of people are listening to albums, and there's plenty of discussion about full albums
There is also a trend building in younger generations to buy vinyl ironically which is great.
Well said, Pete. I listened to Rick's episodes also. You both are a few years younger than I, and I like that you "young" cats are addressing this topic. However, to you both, this is how it is now. Those days of getting say, Captain Fantastic by Elton John on the day of release and spending three months of summer listening to it thousands of times. Those days are long gone, my friends. For better or worse, I continue to get physical cds and devour them. New or old music, I always make time to LISTEN. I applaud the efforts of you and Rick to speak to this, but really, it's not worth talking about. No one will ever be able to convince people to LIsten. It comes from within. Ya get it, or ya dont. Be well, sir.
I got Spotify mainly for the Dream Theater (Lost Not Forgotten) recordings and the European Symphonic and Power Metal. Spotify is good for suggesting music in a similar Genre, which I find helpful. But I don't think it will ever replace the quality of physical media. I still support the bands that mean the most to me. Would be great for you and Rick to have a conversation. I enjoy both the channel's emensly.
I agree with what Beato says. We used to know everything about bands and artists. Very little info was out there at the time. No internet only music press and info on the back of LPs. Very little in the way of groundbreakers anymore like a Hendrix, Holdsworth. They mainly sound like other famous artists. The tribute band economy is huge a nostalgia for the great bands who are mainly too old to play.
I find it sad about tribute bands - that scene depresses me and I made a decision decades ago to never attend a tribute band show. I don't mind cover bands where they put their own mark on a cover but once a band dresses up and plays note for note as the song and they believe they are that band then no!
I have a Spotify account that comes in handy in my office - I have a mixture of playlists and entire albums that I play on fairly good rotation. But, as with you & so many, I'm a collector. I LOVE physical media and have a healthy collection of CDs and vinyl. I don't think there's anything wrong with streaming in and of itself, but it's like you mentions, it takes away the attention span and time we used to dedicate to actually listening to music, not just having it as background. Last night, for example, I spun vinyl records by Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Big Joe Turner, Dion & The Belmonts, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and J. Geils Band. Nothing beats the tactile experience of listening to music that way.
I grew up in the 80âs and used to love going to the music stores at the mall to purchase cassettes and just take a deep dive into the lyrics, pictures, etc. I still own all my cassettes and CDs and Iâm a firm believer in owning the music. These are treasures that are worth much more than a streaming service, although I must admit I do stream old and new rock and metal on YT mostly, but I enjoy streaming full albums, not the greatest hits. There are thousands upon thousands of songs within albums that are just as good or better than the hits. Cheers!
I love Spotify. It allows you to save favorite bands and then you can listen to their whole discography. If ITPS or 4FF is doing an album study or 4square it helps a lot because chances are I don't own the more obscure albums. Then you can participate with the discussion. And because of this I wind up purchasing some of the physical media of the stuff that I really love.
Hi Pete. I've followed your posts for several years now and I stay because you talk so eloquently about your passion and experience with a variety of genres and have great clarity in response to many questions and comments. This post is no exception. Can I throw in my thoughts on this. I feel as if the past 25 years music has been turned on its head. What was less accessible and more underground back in the day has become more mainstream, and vice versa... Good music (to us old fogies) is still out there, but the majority of this has become obscure. It's channels like yours that help keep this visible and accessible, so many thanks to you and many others that share your passion for helping to highlight things that the ordinary listener would otherwise be oblivious to đ
I'm guilty of not being interested in "new music" for the most part. However, I am constantly discovering and exploring new TO ME music. Last year I took a deep dive into Brazilian music. I just did some research on the best Deep House albums and have several Discogs orders headed my way. I'm constantly filling holes in my jazz and rock collection. There is so much out there that no one will ever hear it all, and I prefer spending my limited listening time on things that have stood the test of time.
Hello Pete, I am a few years younger than you, but I also remember spending every dime I earned or received for my birthday and Christmas on music. I was into the BeeGees as a young kid, but that all changed in 1980 with Black In Black. AC/DC got me into hard rock and metal. I got into Maiden, Priest, Dokken, Ratt and many other bands of the 1980s. Like you, I am originally from NY---- the NYC and Long Island area.
I have been a metal fan since the the Summer of 1980. Of course, I heard other types of music on the radio growing up, including pop music. Most I did not like that much, but I could tolerate it while in mixed company. While away at a SUNY college in upstate New York, I even got into country for one hot minute. Country seemed to the dominate music on the radio in the early 1990s at college. I never really could stand club music and grunge was not doing it for me either. Nirvana was fine for 3 seconds until everyone began to claim that Cobain was a God. Alice In Chains were my focus back then.
I used to buy every albums from every band I loved and I collected ticket stubs of shows I saw live. Nowadays I cannot go to as many shows as I did just a few years ago, and we all know collecting the ticket stubs is over with everything done by cellphone. SoT got me into Saxon. Even though I saw them open up for Priest in 2018, I wasn't real knowledgeable of their work until their last album, which is great.
I do not think music is worse per se, but I can see why some may say that. The younger generations do not do anything that doesn't involve a phone or computer. And that leads to bad music. Today's pop music is garbage and and rap continues to destroy real music. Moreover, some good rock bands are being tarnished by the use of backing tracks and the possibly not singing at all during life shows. I will listen to new bands if they connect with me. They can play metal, rock or even country. I do not shun any music anymore. If the players can play, I will listen. I have really gotten into country since relocating to Florida a few years ago. I have found that I can no longer listen to classic rock radio for now. Hearing Pink Floyd 20 times a day while driving home is driving me nuts.
I will check out your programs on Wednesdays. I hope a new band will bring a new punch to today's music industry.
Thanks for the video commentary.
I think one of the big thresholds for me as far as digesting music was in the early 80's when my parents got cable tv and I began watching/listening to MTV. All of sudden there was not only great music to listen to but a visual component as well. Fast forward in time and I spend almost all my time dedicated to music on YT where I can either see bands live or the videos they put out. That visual piece is addictive and hard to give up. I think my record collection was gone by the late 80's and my CD's were gone by 2009-2010. Times change.
Thanks Pete for your 15 minute show on Rick Beatoâs shows. I watch them both Ricks and I watched yours. I agree with both you guys. Iâm also a physical media person.I do not stream music I have streaming television, which I donât really care for that much. As you probably know, I work with the Alman Betts band we just finished a month-long 22 city tour. we do not use any click tracks or pro tools. Itâs 100% analog music perform live. Our audience we played to is the classic rock audience if you know what I mean. As far as the younger generation, I think they were exposed to all kinds of kitty Rhyme kind of music or hip-hop stuff. Some of younger generation really donât appreciate music thatâs played live and sang live without digital auto tuning and stuff like that. Letâs just keep forging and pushing the rock music world. Appreciate the show you do and Rickâs show. I come from an analog world and the way I mix my Light Show is Live and as analog as possibly it can be these days. thanks again.
Keep on fighting the good fight: I love discovering new music through your channel. I just started my channel to introduce Spanish music to Dutch speaking people and I won't give up either. What people like you are doing, and the fans you have are the proof of thee fact that good taste and musical intrest will prefail.
We are the same age and have similar musical tastes. Iâm not a collector like you. Iâve had Spotify and Apple Music because I donât want to have all of the CDs. But, because of channels like yours, Iâve been introduced to newer music. I listen to them more than once. I give them the chance.
I watched Beatoâs videos and I agree with him about people not having a vested interest in bands or artists.
I only got Spotify to listen to at work but since the Wi-Fi at work is horrible I hardly ever use it lol.
The issue with "record companies" is that everything about music distribution, until streaming "just worked" was about controlling, on a per-piece basis, the distribution of copyright material. From publishing sheet music 200 years ago to selling downloads, it's about accounting for how many copies of what title were sold. When individual titles are not sold, the record companies have nothing to sell and the streaming industry has no need to support either the companies or the artists. T
I love the whole culture of music searching. My favorite store in the whole world is an old record store. Spent more hours listening and looking. That is slowly slipping away. But the internet has brought a new way to hear MASSIVE amounts of new music from them. Thats cool too. I enjoy music in all its forms and roll with it because everything is fluid, including music.
Iâve discovered a lot of bands through SOT. Most of the albums Iâve purchased recently are the result of watching Wednesdays reviews so I am really grateful for what Pete does. I still listen to albums from the 70âs as well. I do have a streaming account, which I use to determine whether or not to purchase the downloadable version from the same streaming provider. With regard to the other points raised by Pete, I think he is spot on.
I find it interesting that I prefer to consume media without using social media. However, I love searching for responses to a piece of media after I've watched, listened to, or read it.
I have TOO many favorite bands and singers, but I don't have much money or space, so I use Apple Music.
I also enjoy TOO MUCH TV and movies just as much, but I have to be careful when buying DVDs. I only purchase movies or TV shows that I know I'll watch multiple times.
I also love watching people play games.
I felt like you described today's consumer (me included) perfectly. I struggle with my attention span everyday whether it be watching movies, tv or listening to music. In my case I still own my physical media (CDs, Vinyl, DVDs, etc). I've started spending more time listening to music from my collection and less time streaming. This has presented a new problem for me. After more than 40 years of buying CDs and Vinyl I have a massive inventory which poses problems for storage and easy access. The other problem is trying to find the time to listen to music the way I used to. I also am still interested in 'some' new music. It's just too much music to digest at this point and I can't really do justice to all of it. To be honest, I probably have way too much music I will never listen to again.
Still collecting vinyl, listening to music I personally download to compile my own playlists, listening to CDâs in my car, and actually listening to SIRIUS XM stations that play actual music. Sure I like some indy stuff from emerging artists here in Canada, and many local Folk music from my home province of Newfoundland, and other non-popular stuff from the decades and today! To me itâs all about the music and album experience for the most part! Love playing albums and just sitting back and letting the music consume me.
He's talking about the change of listening, enjoying and physically having music. I'm a fairly successful drummer and have taught it also , played in a plethora of bands and the thing I noticed is how younger students are so used to instant gratification that playing an instrument is cool but it takes to long. That was a bit of a struggle to teach because the practice and repetition there of is boring. I've even tried to use new material to stay interesting but still it's not the same as when I was a burgeoning young drummer. I played to everything I could learn and feel all based on my record collection. It makes you focus. Now focus is a challenge. So yes this is sooo correct.
As someone who has always collected physical media (both LP and CD), i've learned to integrate streaming into my world of music. I can't tell you how many CD's i've purchased when i was younger, that no matter how many hours I spent with it, eventually just sat in my collection. The idea that "hard earned money" was only relevant 40 years ago is also horribly misleading. I use spotify to listen to as many new releases as I can from veteran and new artists. With the price of physical media these days, I would rather purchase an album I really enjoy. Spotify gives me the opportunity to try it out. I couldn't imagine not collecting music, and holding that vinyl cover in my hands, but collecting for the sake of collecting is way too expensive.
The key point about all of this, whether it was made here, Rick made the point, etc., is that it's way too easy to take it for granted because social media makes it too easy. No one is spending their allowances/paper route money/first job money/etc on music, so it's not special. I remember listening to 90125 by Yes for weeks straight at a time on my step dad's specialized stereo system and marveling at how it *sounded*. My college girlfriend also told me how great Siamese Dream was after she noticed that she had my cassette for a long while without me wanting it back. We listened to it together on my stereo system from beginning to end and I then knew what she was talking about as I never gave it a chance before.
People need to do that again to understand what an experience music is.
I really appreciate that Pete does the reviews of new albums. There is a tremendous amount of new music being created all the time. It's very unfortunate that those videos don't get much traction. For me personally, I don't tend to watch those videos because they tend to be outside my genre. I'm not really a metal guy. I'm a 60s and 70s rock guy from british invasion to psychedelic to 70s hard rock and power pop. I wish someone was on CZcams exposing new music in those genres the way Pete is for new heavy metal and prog. Metal and prog fans should watch Pete's new album reviews and give the albums a shot. We need to support new artists and established artists who are still producing new music.
I do like the cottage industry approach of creating the artwork and virtual package, even if the music only exists digitally. I do remember the 70s and 80s when albums were like artefacts, almost from another world, but available at Woolworths. Good times.
Nothing seems to stick the days in media. Music, movies, even mass world events, and 2 weeks later at most is on to the next movie, music release, or event. I don't know how it ever changes. It's sad.
Well said Pete.
I am 53 and so grateful for growing up in the time that I did.
I am totally a physical media guy.
Anymore the time that I make for music is for bands that I know.
I was once the guy that introduced new bands to my circle of friends, however, now I just listen to my bands.
Thank you for the sea of tranquility.
Cheers from Canada!
Rick overthinks things. You speak to us fan to fan and the reason I watch you channel is your enthusiasm for a shared love.
We own many of the same records, I sometimes disagree with you, but we have a shared experience.
I subscribe to SOT, I donât subscribe to olâ Rick!
Hi Pete - totally agree with both yourself and Rick, I love both your channels. As you quite rightly say, music doesnt mean anything to people today eg my children at 40+ it just doesnt mean the same. They dont follow the bands and look forward to their new releases - they stream, I collect. Everyone's apparently to busy to sit down and listen to a CD or LP - patience is what we need more of. The world is a crazy place these days, I think people need to throttle back and chill - again as you say, some albums do take a number of listens to click, but they are not getting that chance. Anyway - keep up the good work Pete. Cheers Doug (from Down Under)
Each successive generationâs attention span has narrowed more and more. They donât even need whole songs (âsinglesâ) anymoreâŠjust choruses that repeat. They tune out during the verses, then sing along during the chorus. Weâre dinosaurs. I put 5-6 vinyls on and sit 8 feet from my speakers in a comfy chair with a nice cocktail and listen intently to those sounds. It never gets old. I just hope my listening habits rub off on my daughter, and she learns to really appreciate music. After her K-pop phase that isâŠ
Iâm an album guy. A record is a basically two EPâs (around 20 minutes of music on each side). The perfect listening time. The CD changed all that. Albums became 50-60+ minutes long. Too long to consume in one sitting. Streaming albums is also not the same experience. You donât get that forced rest of flipping the record. The song sequence isnât as important. As Pete says, it is a weird time and hard to get traction as an artist/musician. A lot of my all time favorite records, did not initially grab me on the first few listens. I had to live with the art for a while and let it sink in. Tough for people to do these days.
I am trying to keep my latest release at around 30 minutes in length. This way all 8 of my fans can listen in its entiretyđ
I like Spotify because I can do deep dives on artist catalogs. For the last 3 months I have only listened to King Crimson. Album by album and live recordings. KC may just have the most challenging and rewarding music catalog of all time, but you have to put in the time.
Times change..we all have our eras and our special times. Rick is just an old man raging against changing times..and I'm saying that as someone who grew up in and loved the early 80s..like what you like and leave today to the kids
Good work, Pete! Thankful for you and Rick. Peace.
I hope thereâs a resurgence in people attending live shows. For these struggling bands, this could be the best way to be seen.
Great and important talk, thanks Pete!
Thanks to you, I now know the band MAGMA! Love it! Thanks again for that. đ
A few of the newer acts I've come to enjoy over the last few years: Chat Pile, Otoboke Beaver, Black Midi, Armand Hammer, Feeble Little Horse, The Armed, Billy Woods, Tropical Fuck Storm, Ashenspire.
Listening habits may have changed, but good to great music is still being made, regardless of genre. You may even find some gems in the pop world from time to time. Blaming technology or the decline of gatekeeping music corporations resulting in a glut of product is a cop out. There was plenty of garbage back in the day, too.
The point you made about not engaging with music as we used to is so correct. I find these days when I buy new albums although I listen to them many times its always while I'm doing things. Because spare time is more spent on computers phones video games etc... the way we consume is different and for most ppl with streaming so many choices are all there (I'm not a streamer I'm a physical guy). In the "old days" we didn't have any of these distractions we would sit down with each album and pore over everything perhaps we all could well do with putting some time back into that.
Technology isnât going away. Itâs up to artists to find a way to use it properly, and I think theyâre all still figuring it out. Especially older bands who were around when labels were kingmakers. I personally think the gatekeepers being gone is a good thing.
Listeners also have to adjust. Iâve used technology (CZcams) and found your channel. Bands that youâve introduced me (just to name a few): King Buffalo, Nightwish, Epica, Death, Gojira. Iâm not sure Iâd have found these bands without channels like yours.
I am hopeful people my age (40s) and older use technology to their benefit, instead of pining for the old days and old ways.
Damn man! You should see my Spotify playlists. I have a Premium account with them, and I load my lists with actual albums. It's basically a giant commercial free CD changer; freakin' love it!!
With vinyl albums we had what I term the "No Quarter" effect. Listening to Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy, I did not like the song No Quarter at all on first listen. However, since the track was in the middle of side 2 (I think), it was difficult to skip over, so I would leave it playing. After several listens, I started to appreciate it more and more. Now, as with many other longtime Zeppelin fans (I'm 63), it it one of my favorite songs in their discography!
I do agree that people are more into radio hits than listening to the deep cuts. There are also albums that people do reviews that completely destroy because it's not popular. I do enjoy the albums that's never been played because I really appreciate it way more. Example: Van Halen 3, Dokken: Dysfunctional, Slaughter: Fear No Evil & Def Leppard: Euphoria. These are albums that need to be revisited. Sometimes it takes longer to appreciate it
IN an era when everyone has access to everything, most people stick with the same old thing or worse, the same new thing.
When I buy new music (vinyl!), I do my best to see that band live so I can hear the new material live. Then, I'll consume myself into the catalog, reminiscing the live experience. It keeps me interested as a fan, craving more and more!
Thank you Pete for the video!!! I went into Best Buy the other day, no longer selling DVDs or CDs!!! You can however purchase a vinyl record from various artists! Having access to physical media is getting more difficult also.
Got into metal in 1982 and the excitement of travelling on the train into the city to buy a vinyl album, with my paper round money, taking it home, placing it on the turntable and reading along with the lyrics..........and I now own this record that no one else I know has............so sad that is largely gone
Excellent observation!
Itâs the way of the world today. Iâll relate it to what I enjoy, scratch off tickets. We have the machines today where you can scratch the bar code and get quick results. I like to sit there and play the whole thing out. Itâs a faster paced world. Iâm old school, almost 68, and grew up in the 60-70âs era and have no reason to recede to Sinatra yet. I love the channel Pete!
Lots of great points in here and I couldn't agree more. Crazy to think that I'm newly 30 years old and say "Back in my day...!"
SO many great musicians and artists out there today, I don't think that's going anywhere and what's happening with the mainstream has been inevitable for a long time now. I 100% see where Beato is coming from and for the most part I agree too (pretty sure most of us do anyway). Had my ass nailed to the wall for this but I stand by it, the mainstream has been for people who enjoy songs, catchy melodies and whatnot, but don't ***like*** music (nothing wrong with that, more the difference between yourself and your wife). People will find the music and artists that they're looking for, but the deeper issue has more to do with the attention span argument rather than outright laziness from the composers or top 40 personalities.
A quicker way to put it is that; there's the Entertainment Industry. THEN we have the Music Industry, Film Industry, Literature, Painting, Poetry, etc.
PeteâŠi bought that Gjenferd cd off ebay yesterday because of SoT
I use spotify as a rental tool to help inform my purchases, i also like that listening to one artist will lead to new discoveries. It helps to broaden my scope in a way. I have never been a skip track person, i listen to around 5 albums at any one time, but always the whole album. I will do this at least 3-4 times minimum. If it sticks with me, i go out & buy it on cd or vinyl. I have always been a big physical media person & the idea that we may be facing an all digital future is horrifying, we would never truly own anything. I have a collection of just over 2000 cds & around 700 vinyl records. I am 38, and my listening habits have changed with the advent of music streaming, but not to the point where i use it as my music collection. It is a tool that i avail of to help make more informed purchases of physical media & also one which lends discovery of new music i might have never heard of before. I will always be an album, a band & an artist supporter, music is precious to me & i treat my collection as such.
I've purchased a number of new albums based on your videos. Definitely have been introduced to new music I would not have heard about otherwise. I appreciate it!
A worthwhile tip to pass on is the value of a critic who, for the most part, you agree with. For example, I used to watch Siskel & Ebert movie reviews. When they disagreed, I usually sided with Ebert. I didn't need to see a bunch of movies to find a good one; Roger Ebert did that for me. So knowing Pete's taste in music, I will spend time with a Pete recomended CD. People will waste more time "swiping" thru crap instead of enjoying the music. The moral: find someone who reflects your tastes/interests for recommendations. Let them do the "work"!
Thanks for the work, Pete.
The hatred that Rick has gotten from this is incredible. A lot of people seem to be jealous that he has so many followers -- at least the people who like music and think they know a lot about it -- but I think he's right about much of what he says. I like your perspective, too, but the problem is that with new bands, how long can they survive in a world where few people spend time on albums and following the same artists they like? I have virtually every album ever released by every band I've ever loved (hundreds). But for a new band to continue on with three, four, or five albums is a tough one if the money isn't coming in... Thanks for doing this video -- you hit on some great points.
Pete i have 66 years old and with your channel i discover a lot of new band et surely i love too my old bands of the seventiesâŠ
I live down here in San Antonio, Texas.
I like to observe my environment and just pay a little closer attention to what people, generally, do with their time and involvement.
From my family and friends to the goings -on with society and community.
It is true.
So much at peopleâs disposal yet there seems to be a vast, empty hole that does not get filled with the wholesome and wholeness of real artful and musical satiation and involvement.
As you said, âjust one swipeâ of the finger and, âviolaâ, on to the next. Without regard to the effort and time and beauty of the actual âthingâ that was desired.
Effort, struggle, discipline, b,s and t, trial and error, falling down/ getting back up, patience and repetition, building steadily, pacing and careful attention and reflection.
Itâs all boring, waste of time, delayed gratification, slow and drudgery, and so on.
Attention spans have diminished to just about nothing and to be expedient and disposal seems to be a norm now.
Instant gratification, comfort and fame through effortless means (self serving) narcissistic conversations, etc., seem to be what has been on the rise and table now for some time.
Real appreciation and a sense of âtaking inâ of something also seem to be distant as well.
I noticed this happening some years back BUT
It was not until the smart phones took off, that this impact was skyrocketed and dramatically boosted.
Again, the hole đłïž remains and never gets filled with real, purity and substance.
Nothing of real value, solid retention and of a good fulfillment of a thing is taken in.
Superficial and artificial layers that blow in the wind are forgotten and the search for more continues but never quells the soul or desire.
I am on Spotify all the time. But I use it as a way of discovering new music TO BUY. Spotify leads me to the websites of bands or to Bandcamp or where ever in order to buy the artist's work. Then, Spotify helps fill the gap that my budget for buying music leaves when I can't afford to buy all the music I want. OR, if I find the music I love but learn that it's only available digitally... Spending money for physical media, I think, is vital. Art always requires a patron who spends their money to support artists. If money isn't being spent by a consumer on a finished product by an artist, music becomes disposable....it's background noise. Music isn't something which is "consumed" in so far as, music consumes us. That is now a song or a band becomes meaningful. That is what makes a song/band timeless.
Great commentary! My attention span is a little dicey, but I watched this whole video. Good stuff.
I totally agree, everything has just become so disposable.
My main concern is physical media. Physical media needs to stay a thing. I started to realize that my entire music catalog was on streaming services and I didnât own a single lick of music. After first I started with vinyl (younger person) and it wasnât too enjoyable for me so I switched over to another media format. Since then, Iâve started collecting CDS and I have to say itâs a really enjoyable experience. Once I get a CD I immediately rip it to a flash drive, for backup, convert it for phone usage, and have it on my phone. Makes me feel more connected to the bands I listen to. Thatâs something thatâs never really brought up. On top of that, streaming apps have really affected how the average listener interacts with music. In my experience, streaming apps are great to discover bands, but I often fail to listen to the entire album because itâs set up to have you hop on to the next thing. This instant complete access to all of music, anytime, anywhere, actually gives you the paradox of choice.
I enjoy your album reviews and I use them to get my library to purchase them. They ask where I heard about the album and I refer your channel.
While in radio, our sister station would have focus groups listen and answer questions. Ironically, it would be 4 or 5 people only. They would determine what would be played for the next 6 months. It was usually the same old hits over and over. Never any deep dive songs that were great, just the hits. That was one negative symptom of where we are today.