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by Nikoroller2
Anyone with a keen eye in the music industry will know that there are some genres that are doomed to extinction and others that are only going to be truly appreciated by people at the periphery. Classical music is one of these genres. Although it was all the rage in the 18th and 19th centuries, it has been squeezed out of the mainstream and is now mostly enjoyed by old pensioners and the odd musically inclined young adult or teenager. Classical music appreciation, unfortunately, is almost non-existent amongst the younger members of our society. It has to compete with the likes of Taylor Swift and Eminem and their packaged, consumer-friendly tunes and rhythms. 
Continue reading Slick Marketing for an Old Genre »
The Smithsonian Institute gears up to launch its New Harmonies tour to different states including Minnesota. It plans to take the show on the road featuring what they bill as a musical history exhibit. The Tour will be passing through Minnesota, Ohio, Mississippi, New Jersey and North Carolina. The communities in these states are expected to take the lead in hosting the performances and other activities tied up with the exhibit. Continue reading New Harmonies Tour Hits the Road »
Before the night of the 5th America’s Got Talent season finale took place, who would have thought that anybody else could be America’s favorite than Prince P and Jackie? True enough, every show has its own twist of fate; you can’t expect anything more unpredictable than the result of a talent show. After putting his best foot forward the night before the finale, Michael Grimm was announced as the next America’s Got Talent victor. So: what’s he been up to since his big win? Continue reading After the Show—Following Grimm »
Some of the most colorful, spirited and controversial figures in music history were active during the 1960′s, and most of them hailed from the United States. The 60’s was a decade of social unrest; the young adults of the baby boomer generation had entered their 20’s, and an unpopular war was raging halfway across the world. Young men and women joined together like never before, and the revolutions that followed were unlike any others mankind has ever seen, for they centered on music, art, literature and so on. Music, in particular, played a very important role in rallying the generation towards a common goal, and artists like Bob Dylan chronicled this age with skill and delicacy. Continue reading Opinion: Chroniclers of our Age »
Rock is one of the oldest and most widely appreciated genres in the music industry. While it has evolved into numerous different sub-genres, its base meaning is still literally “to rock the world”. Many bands have made their names universally known by sticking to rock’s proven form and style. This seems to have changed in 2010, however, as last year was the worst year in the charts for rock in the last four decades.
Many people think that rock is vanishing from the chart after seeing only a handful of rock songs in 2010’s UK Top 100 singles. Only three entered the chart, a significantly lower number as compared to 13 rock songs in 2009 and 27 in 2008. Though the three-year trend showed a significant decrease, nobody anticipated it being this low. The highest rank achieved was 25th, taken by Journey with their song “Don’t Stop Believin”, a 1981 song that saw a rebound in popularity due to Glee’s remake of the classic hit.
Another track “Hey Soul Sister” from US band Train, which was also popularized by Glee, hit the chart at 83rd rank while Florence and the Machine’s “Dog Days are Over” sits at 93rd. Florence and the Machine’s “You’ve Got The Love” was also ranked 59th, but it fell under the dance genre rather than rock. From the Top 100 Albums of the Year, similar to the singles chart, only 27 discs were categorized under the rock genre.
Guy Garvey, a singer belonging to a band (Elbow) that has had six Top 40 singles in the last decade, said that rock music lives on as always. He added that the fans are grabbing albums and going to the web to download many track at one time. On final note, he said that the singles chart doesn’t really reflect the popularity of guitar music.
Based on reports, R&B and hip-hop registered almost 50% of the Top 100’s biggest hits in 2010 while pop registered a 40% share, leaving dance records at 1%.
No doubt you feel a twinge of envy after hearing the story of the couple Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl, considering that Sean is the only child of the late John Lennon and Yoko Ono, while Charlotte is a magazine runway model. The two dwell in simplicity, their main activities together being sketching, talking about films and going to cafés. Their story resembles a clip from Godard movie; both unreal and ideal.
When they wrote the song “The World Was Made for Men”, the couple said that they were just kidding around one day. The song was created based entirely on a lush harmonious collaboration of voices, and was first heard on last year’s album “The Acoustic Sessions”. Charlotte said that they both wrote the song and wondered if they would have a band eventually. This dream later became a reality for the two when they launched GOASTT.
Looking at how Charlotte entered into the music industry, we see that she had just been a typical musician with nothing more but her old acoustic guitar, given to her by her father. Music initially just served as her diversion when the fashion industry was on its ebb.
On the other hand, Sean was not a newcomer to the music industry. At the tender age of 20, he was the back up for his mother’s album “Rising”. Then he joined Cibo Matto, a New York pop group with an inclination toward art. Nevertheless, when he decided to go solo, his music did not earn him attention from fans. This was seen on his first album “Into the Sun” which was released in 1998. The album was a compilation of psychedelic pop songs which was launched through the Beastie Boy’s Grand Royal Records. In 2006, he made his second solo album, “Friendly Fire”, but again did not gain much attention.
Everything changed with the launch of GOASTT, which seemed to give Lennon the energy to graduate from the small time circuit. Having Charlotte beside him has definitely changed things for Sean Lennon.
