32 ms·

The main thing that killed pop music was the telecommunications act of 1994. It removed restrictions on conglomerates owning radio stations which led to Clear

The main thing that killed pop music was the telecommunications act of 1994. It removed restrictions on conglomerates owning radio stations which led to Clear Channel buying everything and syndicating the same pop music everywhere. Before that, you had a lot of independent FM stations that had music DJs who would go out and discover artists who had an interesting sound and promote them. Live 105 in San Francisco used to have a number of great DJs who used to do this in the late 80s and early 90s. After the Clear Channel Borg bought everyone, it really turned into a monoculture that didn't produce much innovation.

yyyymmddhhmmss 8y ago
Yep! And that spawned “indie music” which to this day was never a style but rather an economic state of survival; a product of capitalism eroding art. After another decade of precarity and disillusion, the internet gave us music blogs, which did their best to pick up where radio stations left off. The early ones were a blessing from the Gods (for me, anyways) and geographically oriented. But, eventually, monopolized capital and ad sales struck again. The internet morphed from a bazaar to a shopping mall in the same way radio had. Music blog culture struggles on, but is on it’s last legs. Having seen these ruthless rises and falls of something so important to me, over the course of my young adult life, I am naturally desperate for an explanation.
duality 8y ago
It seems to me that popular music has stopped changing as rapidly in the past 10-15 years compared to over a similar span a few decades ago. Of course that impression could be wrong, like the difficulty of understanding "history" as you live it versus study it from a book. But if not, maybe it's caused by the consolidation you mention.
- paleotrope 8y ago
  Look at pop country music. That stuff hit a plateau in the late 90s. It's the exact same stuff. Maybe pop music has ended up in the same place.
- malvosenior 8y ago
  I think the parent comment is correct. Things were really bleak in the 90s due to Clear Channel and other consolidation. I'd say pop music doesn't mean the same thing now as it did in the 20th century so it's hard to compare it. There's a lot of variety now but not many shared experiences.

yyyymmddhhmmss 8y ago

Yep! And that spawned “indie music” which to this day was never a style but rather an economic state of survival; a product of capitalism eroding art. After another decade of precarity and disillusion, the internet gave us music blogs, which did their best to pick up where radio stations left off. The early ones were a blessing from the Gods (for me, anyways) and geographically oriented. But, eventually, monopolized capital and ad sales struck again. The internet morphed from a bazaar to a shopping mall in the same way radio had. Music blog culture struggles on, but is on it’s last legs. Having seen these ruthless rises and falls of something so important to me, over the course of my young adult life, I am naturally desperate for an explanation.

duality 8y ago

It seems to me that popular music has stopped changing as rapidly in the past 10-15 years compared to over a similar span a few decades ago. Of course that impression could be wrong, like the difficulty of understanding "history" as you live it versus study it from a book. But if not, maybe it's caused by the consolidation you mention.

paleotrope 8y ago
Look at pop country music. That stuff hit a plateau in the late 90s. It's the exact same stuff. Maybe pop music has ended up in the same place.
malvosenior 8y ago
I think the parent comment is correct. Things were really bleak in the 90s due to Clear Channel and other consolidation. I'd say pop music doesn't mean the same thing now as it did in the 20th century so it's hard to compare it. There's a lot of variety now but not many shared experiences.