Son of a gun-diddily-un. Just as I’m about to leave the house to fix my uncle’s broken computer—doesn’t it suck being “the computer guy” in the family?—I come across this great interview. It’s from The Sound of Young America, a public radio program based in L.A., and is with the music critic of the Chicago Tribune, Greg Kot. It’s basically about the state of music in America today, and how the RIAA screwed itself over the past several years. Good stuff. So good, in fact, that I just bought the guy’s book, Ripped: How the Wired Generation Revolutionized Music, from that Barnes and Noble e-book store.
The basic premise is, that in the mid to late 1990s, the music industry started to promote the hell out of boy bands and the like, which necessitated that radio play that garbage nonstop. With the Backstreet Boys on constant rotation, there was no room for, I don’t know, actual talented musicians to get their music out there. In comes Napster, people start finding out that, whoa, there actually is good music out there, and I can download it more or less instantly, and the whole industry comes crashing down. Oh, well.
Giz gets bonus points for pointing out that OiNK was amazing, and that type of selection and quality should be what the RIAA strives for, but I’ll go ahead and say that What.cd is now better.
via O Giz
Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis’ NPR show, Sound Opinions, is always worth listening to.
One noteworthy aspect: their ratings for CDs are “Buy It”, “Burn It”, and “Trash It”.
That guy has a great face for radio.
Greg Kot is actually right. I remember those days on the radio, it was all boy bands and Britney spears. Napster was the source to get all kinds of different music. It was the place where I first fell in love with R&B which most of the radio stations didn’t play
Those days? Please, those days haven’t left. You’ve got a shitload of artists using AutoTune which makes even the worst singers sound somewhat decent and they are all singing about being in the club, being drunk, having sex, or what kind of cars they have. And then you have the epitome of suck Sean Kingston’s “Fire Burnin.” The only song I remember being more annoying was “la la la la la all around the world” by ATC. Having typed that, the song is now stuck in my head. Solution to the song stuck in my head: Think of the bing jingle(that fool has about as much talent as ATC and Sean Kingston anyway)
So I just watched that Sean Kingston song, and now my spleen hurts. Thanks.
Sorry Nicholas. I had to share my pain with others.
Actually everything Sean Kingston puts out will likely suck and therefore be popular because tools are easily impressed. I’m wondering why “Jizzed in my pants” by the lonely island never made it big? That’s actually catchy and funny as hell.
Nick, MILLIONS of folks globally, do enjoy listening to Backstreet’s tunes still, after all these years. They wrapped their UNBREAKABLE Tour (2007-2009), in March this year & their new, incredibly bouncy single: STRAIGHT THROUGH MY HEART can be heard now @ http://www.backstreetboys.com IF you have an open mind, at all, listen to it before you keep damning them, o.k.?
Kim,
We HAVE listened to them. Over and over and OVER again. Which is the point. We don’t want to anymore.
Signed,
Everyone who doesn’t want music pushed down their throat.
So just don’t listen to BSB. But please, stop condemning and ridiculing those of us who DO still listen to them, and want them around for as long as they want to be around. Heck, I don’t care for artists like Kanye West, Clay Aikens, Korn, Rihanna, Slipknot, Eminem and several others, but I don’t run around posting nasty things about them on message boards. I just don’t listen to them. I know they have fans who enjoy them, and I respect their feelings because everyone has different tastes. I just wish the people who bash BSB, New Kids On The Block, N’Sync or any other “boyband” would have the same respect for their fans.
That’s great and all, but the Backstreet Boys actually do possess singing talent and can actually sing good a cappella. They’ve been doing it since their early days (in the early ’90s), and even sing on request for fans. Sure, I know radio absolutely played some of their songs to death (Despite being a BSB fan of over a decade, I couldn’t stand hearing I Want It That Way for years after it was a single up until recently because my local radio station played it way too much back in the day). I still don’t think the BSBs can be classified with Brit-Brit, or other monotonous auto-tune drudge that infiltrated radio then and still infiltrates it today. If people don’t like what radio is feeding them, then they’ll resort to streaming and using sites like Pandora if they don’t download otherwise. Payola is a problem (hence why my local radio station has a ridiculous love affair with BEP, which I think should end asap), but I don’t think calling out one of the more talented pop groups as talentless was really necessary. ‘Them damn boybands.’ There were also a lot of people who liked them damn boybands. Myself, I liked one in particular. Sure they had notoriety for being teen idols, but ones that can sing.
Nick,
As a voice of the rest of the population who could care less about the backstreet boys and would rather they stay gone, I beg you to continue damning them.
Thank you.
I suppose you’re one of those people who are into the “cop killer” types. Sad, very sad.
Why is it always The Backstreet Boys who are used as BAD examples of what’s happened to the music industry by wannabes like this guy? (Can’t cut it as a musical artist, so he sits his ugly ass behind a DJ booth and cuts people down.) Is it because they have NOT been accused of doing drive by shootings from their limos? Is it because they do NOT all have 5 kids each by 5 different baby’s mommas and they are NOT punching out prying paparazzi as they speed by in their cars, trying to snap their pictures? Is it because they do NOT have 24/7 IV treatments for sleep deprivation from private physicians? Is it because they do NOT lose their minds and shave their heads and then throw their coffee at the nosey paparazzi, or walk around in public with no underwear? Or is it because they ARE decent guys who just want to make their fans happy and they’re just NOT bad guys AT ALL? Sorry, but if being bad is what makes you popular and gives you a higher standing in the music industry, then I’m sticking with the good and boring Backstreet guys. BSB has done NOTHING but give love, respect and great LIVE music to their fans. Stop dissing them and listen to their music, really LISTEN before you put them down.
LOL! Excellent point!
I would like to apologize for my “ugly ass” comment about the DJ. That was rude and I’m sorry.
Teeny boppers infiltrating the blogs I surf! What is the world coming to?!?!
Just to clarify, I’m not a teenbopper. I’m over 40 and have been a BSB fan for 12 years.
This is a great blog. If people would look past the BSB part, what you’re mainly saying is if it wasn’t bubble gum pop, it wasn’t played.
Honestly I did not hear R&B and rap on the radio until 2001. Why? Thats when the whole boyband/bubble gum pop was dying down.
If people would take the chance and look at how many amazing artists were overlooked because of the teeny bopper scene it would actually disgust them.
Nick, thank you for this blog. It’s always great to see someone who see’s past the BS the radio’s were and are putting out.
Exactly. The blog and the podcast are great, and Chevy Girl is right. If you weren’t bubble gum pop you weren’t given a chance. It is sad how much quality was overlooked back then.
Thank you, Nick.
Thanks musicgirl. :-)
To Dubbs and Nick, I apologize for the onslaught of your blog, by fans who are overly protective of the Backstreet Boys.
I second that apology. Some fans refuse to grow up.
It has nothing to do with NOT growing up. It has everything to do with the love of the music and the love of these guys as people. A lot of BSB fans have actually met them many times, and are remembered and treated with respect by them. What’s wrong with wanting to stick with a group who says they love their fans, and actually DO mean it?
I appreciate your opinion, really I do. But I’d rather listen to the Backstreet Boys singing their songs, then these other idiots singing about fornicating and drugs. Their music has heart. And for the record… I am NOT a teeny bopper nor a huge fan. I just enjoy their music from time to time.
AMEN, Vanessa…on all of this.
Yes SusanK, because I do not like the backstreet boys or their music I simply must be into “the cop killer types”. You are a bright one!
@Chevy Girl
This isn’t my blog. I just like to read it and comment. I read quite a few but tend to frequent crunch more than the rest. I also like controversy on occasion…keeps things interesting.
Huh. I was expecting a great article dissing the RIAA – i got 3 paragraphs. Oh well. Thanks anyway!
Damn, what a bunch of hating music snobs in here. To the ones who are bashing the backstreet boys, who are you to say what “real” music is, or that being a teenybopper or having not “grown up” is a prerequisite to be a fan of their music? Hey, it’s not that serious — I know that you think you’re cool with your indie bands, your velvet underground, but you’re really not above anyone elses’ taste.
I want you to quit your day job, college what ever. Now spend your entire focus on becoming a musician/songwriter. Tell me how long that takes to get good at it. BTW – welcome to the music industry!
Now tell me how much you get when you sell a song. 99 cents? A buck fifty? Can you afford a mortgage, a car – life?
Okay now tell me how much you enjoy the musicians life and explain to us all how you now deserve to be pirated too. This I gotta hear.