MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Is rock music dead?

Is rock music dead?

posted 5 years ago by cevoice (86)
27 replies | jump to latest

I am not a big rock fan but I was listening to the radio station today which plays a lot of variety type music and Staind's "it's been a while" came on. I thought, man they don't play this type of music on main stream radio anymore. Then I thought again they don't play any type of rock music anymore.

The last type of rock music that was popular with the general audience that I know was something
From the fallout boys. Rock has been here since the 50s and always been in the top 3 in music but now it seems that even Country music is more popular than it. What happen?

[–] actionkamen (23176) 5 years ago

Bon Jovi is a country band now.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Bon Jovi is freakin OLD!

[–] Kj1oceanlust (1465) 5 years ago

I'm sure they could do rock genre again in a heartbeat if they decided.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

It's legacy will always be with us.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

You dont have to rely on "radio station which plays a lot of variety type music" any more , thank god, because of the multitude of other ways media is distributed these days.
I guess the rock bands / publishers know that and go straight to where the fans will be listening in.
wherever that is
spotify?
utube?
rock DAB channels?

The mainstream radio in the UK has never played a rock song in their life, even the one called "Rock FM"

[–] kukuxu (5409) 5 years ago

It depends on how you define 'Rock'. What happens with British bands is that while pure rock bands were rare, most bands had a very solid Rock foundation (and that's actually one of the things that made British music so great). You take 'The Police', was it pop or was it rock? And Blur? And Oasis?. I'd say Oasis was rock, and however Blur vs Oasis was called 'The Batle of Britpop'.

[–] manwithoutaplan (227) 5 years ago

Oasis was not Rock. Unless I am mistaken, Oasis was "Wonderwall" and that sort. That ain't rock. I liked Oasis, I never got a rock feel. Was Morrissey Rock, hell NO. He was Morrissey. Too many labels just to label.
Van Halen was Rock. Def Leppard Rock.

Just for clarity, on England terms, The Cure is my favorite band and I wouldn't consider them rock (in the classic sense) or pop (except Friday I'm in Love). They just had there own thing. Listen to "The Kiss" from 1987, so awesome, is it rock or is it just The Cure sound? Seriously, the Cure was just them playing their messed up stuff. Not rock or pop.

Enjoy your day

[–] kukuxu (5409) 5 years ago

Short answer: music is mostly dead. Rock is no exception.

Longer answer: right now what's called 'music' is just a bunch of copy-and-paste and serial production formulas. Rock doesn't fit well in that workflow, so big companies are skipping it. The same is happening with every other type of music that can not be easily made through copy-and-paste formulas. I love pagan folk, for example, and right now there's barely a tiny fraction of what was made only 15 years ago.

As a beautiful and sad paradox, the fact that Rock is almost vanished nowadays is the best compliment you could make to the genre (and to other genres that are going through the same).

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Nope

[–] Kj1oceanlust (1465) 5 years ago

Aerosmith started the wrecking ball swinging on " rock n roll" imo. Only after that freak show did others like Slayer and Slipknot to name a couple came along. The whole rock concept spiralled downward.

[–] Kowalski (76210) 5 years ago

NO...ALIVE AND WELL...,MUSIC DOESNT LIVE ON RADIO ANYMORE...YOU HAVE TO SEEK IT OUT.

[–] twinA (4921) 5 years ago

I have not been following the musical scene much, but if rock music has fallen out of fashion, one of the reasons why might be because it is linked to a particular era, such as the 80s and only the 80s, whether it's true or not.

The idea of being associated with "old" doesn't make for good marketing unless it's retro. That said, I don't think it will go to the way of the Boogie Woogie. It can circle back big like what happened for country music in the 80s - the resurgence of Johnny Cash's career and whatnot.

~~/o/

[–] actionkamen (23176) 5 years ago

That's one. But I think there's also another reason. Rock music is ridiculously evergreen. It's like classical music. Even when played today they're still beautiful and surprisingly not feel dated. Unlike listening to, say, 80s rap music or even 80s pop music.

The use of almost no electronic instruments and sound effects make 80s rock music still relevant today. That is also what contribute to it's demise. When the old doesn't get old, the new ones is fighting an uphill battle.

Imagine what a rock band today would compete to. GnR, Queen, Aerosmith, Rolling Stones, etc. How could they even try?

Compared to today's pop musicians competing with 80s pop music. It's relatively easier, no?

If I'm a record producer, which genre I will pour my investment money into?

[–] twinA (4921) 5 years ago

You know, you're completely right; not only do the generational taste of people change over the course of time, but a lot of it is perception. Who would have thought rock and roll to ever be seen as high art?

One thing that backs up your idea - I don't know if you've seen this show or not but in some episodes of 'The Orville' there's scenes where Seth MacFarlane's character has Barry Manilow blaring on in the background. I know that's not exactly rock music (haha!), though the point remains the same - in the future 500 years from now, music from the late 20th century (1900s C.E. or A.D.) is the benchmark for classical.

~~/o/