In the absence of direct experience, should I pretend to relate to a generation that really had nothing to do with me at all? The cultural connection just isn’t there. It isn’t that I’m not interested in learning about that time in our history. I actually possess quite an interest in some of the music of that generation, even if I was never overly familiar with all the significant events that took place back then. But, if you were to ask me about the MTV music revolution of the 1980′s, that is something I can certainly relate to. The “I was there” factor makes the experience real, if only in faded memory today. But, faded memories or not, it was a significant part of the culture in which I had grown up. However, to the kids born in 1991 and later, the music revolution of the 1980′s is as removed from their culture as the music revolution of the 1960′s and early 70′s was removed from mine.

So, is there anything useful later generations can learn from the experience of former generations, concerning what truly drives the music industry to the point of an industry revolution, that would be relevant in modern times? Absolutely! For example, what radio could never do for the music industry, VJ’s and music videos certainly did. For the first time, you not only had music to listen to, you could also see your favorite bands hamming it up every day on MTV. As a teenager I could hardly wait to get home from school. You never knew what new band was going to drop the latest hit music video on the world stage. What a powerful cultural connection that created in its own right. The music industry had finally given us something we didn’t even know we couldn’t live without. And although much of the glory of the 1980′s has drifted off into obscurity, being lost to a new generation that was simply not there to experience it, it was certainly a time to live to those of us who still carry the torch and refuse to let the flames die. Another point to consider is that we understood what it meant to have lived before 1981, when you didn’t have this cultural connection that was brought about by the music video revolution. So, there is some sense of cultural pride in being able to say that we were the first generation to experience VJ’s and music videos as a mainstream form of entertainment. Unfortunately, it seems today that the music industry has lost sight of how much fans need a revolution with a real direction and real leaders in order to keep the industry alive and kicking.

Now, almost two decades beyond the closing moments of the 1980′s, we are on the brink of yet another music revolution. We can feel it in the air, like the way the weather changes in autumn, even if we aren’t exactly certain how it will manifest itself. We are just looking for a leader in the industry to provide us with that special something that we didn’t know we couldn’t live without once again. The atmosphere is ripe for change. The economy sucks and the music industry as we know it is all but dead, but the technology is here to forge a new revolution that may simply turn out to be the flower child of the pirate generation. All of the piracy going on today is really nothing more than the fans trying to get the fires burning, but the industry refuses to take the bull by the horns and figure out a sound strategy to properly brand the new revolution and make money off of it in the process. But, with or without the industry executives getting on board, the revolution is coming. And maybe someday you will be able to tell your kids, “You should have been there.”

See this segment taken from: Gene Simmons and Bob Lefsetz battle at Canadian Music Week 2009:

Instead of imparting anything truly significant to explain how he
planned to carry out his grand scheme to rebuild the fallen towers of
music Babylon, Simmons danced around with witty analogies and used
clever distractions to try to convince the audience that Lefsetz didn’t
have anything of substance to offer up to compete with Simmons’
superiority complex or his looks.  Personally, I’d have to disagree with
Gene and admit that Bob made a couple valid points–especially when it
came to his example of a Canadian band who had made a name for
themselves without relying on the help of a major label.  These sorts of
examples start to beg the question of how much longer major labels will
even remain relevant in a music industry that is undergoing serious
changes with every new technological advancement.  Gene should have
thought to encourage the suits to change policy and be more friendly to
artists 20-years ago, back when artists had little choice but to play
along.  Simply adjusting the industry rhetoric to make it sound like the
bands count this time around, doesn’t explain in the least how sticking
with a major label will actually help the artists, if even Gene
recognizes that the major labels are struggling to keep from losing
money hand over fist.

Earlier in the debate, As Lefsetz addressed the long history of how
bands have been abused at the hands of major labels in the past, I was
reminded of a story outlining some of the problems with the music
industry entitled, “The Problem With Music,”
by Steve Albini.  The article is a little dated, but still a must read
for anyone looking to get a sense of why there is so much distrust
between artists and record labels.

http://www.negativland.com/albini.html

 To get another perspective on the matter, I contacted my good friend
and fellow online radio announcer Derrick Heffner (Exec. VP of Roadie
Rage, Inc.)  And it was not too long into our discussion before
something important about this debate began to surface.

 ”Although I agree with Gene when it comes to the issue of product
branding, Gene has to realize that the problem of internet piracy isn’t
going away.  What is unclear about his business model is how he plans to
take another band to world class status and yet help that band to
generate a decent profit before their albums get leaked for free all
over the internet.  Remember, the issue of internet piracy caused him to
blame fans for the downfall of the music industry not long ago,” Derrick
said.

 After a little digging around, I ran across a couple of statements
by Gene along those very lines of thought.

[Simmons raged: "In all seriousness - and it's unfortunate - but the
record industry is dead; it's six feet under the ground and
unfortunately, the fans
have done this. They've decided to download and file share and there's
no record industry around. We're gonna wait till everyone settles down
and becomes
civilized and as soon as the record industry pops its head then we'll
record new material."]

Excerpt taken from: Kiss Blame Fans For Industry Downturn, June 16th, 2008

http://www.xfm.co.uk/news/2008/exclusive-kiss-blame-fans-for-industry-downturn

“There is nothing in me that wants to go in there and do new music. How
are you going to deliver it? How are you going to get paid for it if
people can
just get it for free? I will be putting out a Gene Simmons box set
called “Monster” — a collection of 150 unreleased songs. KISS will have
another box
set of unreleased music in the next year.

The record industry doesn’t have a f*cking clue how to make money. It’s
only their fault for letting foxes get into the henhouse and then
wondering why
there’s no eggs or chickens. Every little college kid, every
freshly-scrubbed little kid’s face should have been sued off the face of
the earth. They should
have taken their houses and cars and nipped it right there in the
beginning. Those kids are putting 100,000 to a million people out of
work. How can you
pick on them? They’ve got freckles. That’s a crook. He may as well be
wearing a bandit’s mask.

Doesn’t affect me. But imagine being a new band with dreams of getting
on stage and putting out your own record. Forget it.”

Excerpt taken from an interview with Billboard Q&A’s Antony Bruno on
November 12th, 2007.

http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003671447

 But, something is amiss here.  Gene told Lefsetz and the fans back
at the debate that he intended on taking a band or two from Canada all
the way to world class status.  Which is a sharp contrast from his last
statement about the chances of a new band making it above.  Now, if Gene
had said that he was going to take a band all the way prior to the
emergence of the whole problem with internet piracy, I wouldn’t have a
reason to doubt his ability to pull it off.  But, I suppose only time
will tell if he can make it happen from within an industry he has
characterized as being “six feet under”.

  Technology messes with the industry in other key ways.  In past decades, it used to be that you had to trade in your records for 8-Track tapes, your 8-Track tapes for cassettes, and your Cassettes for CD’s.  The music industry was able to rake in billions every time you shelled out hundreds of dollars to rebuy your music library on the latest storage devices.  Now, with everything digital and the ability to store thousands of songs on one or two high memory capacity storage devices cheaply, the need to purchase your music library over and over again every decade or so is simply no longer necessary.

  To make matters worse, many bands do their own recording, mixing, mastering, and out source labeling and packaging for pennies on the dollar.  Thus making major studios and recording labels more and more irrelevant with every passing day.  Then many of these bands give their CD’s away for free, making it harder for established major label bands to sell their music at the high prices they got by on just a few years ago.  It is our easy access to highly useful technology that has made all this possible.  Unfortunately, it is this same technology that is making the business model the music industry has relied on in previous decades as obsolete as black and white television.

Clearly, the generation gap is a problem here.  Because the top ten bands of all time will undoubtedly span more than a single generation. This means that a band such as Herman’s Hermits might end up being chosen over a group such as Metallica.  Or, Britney Spears might cream Johnny Cash in the music polls if we were to put it to a national vote. Or worse, the master list may contain an arrangement of bands you never even knew existed if Grandma’s opinion and collection counts.  It all depends on who is doing the picking and choosing.

Is it possible to find an objective way to construct a top ten list? Some might be tempted to think that counting record sales would constitute an objective means to an end here.  Unfortunately, a band that only put out a single album might not stack up well against a band that put out 25 albums.  Or you might end up with a couple of bands that tie for a given position in your list.  Then what?  Do we meet at the Apollo and see which fans can scream the loudest in an attempt to break the tie?  Or, is the text message voting system of American Idol a more accurate method of resolving these little deadlocks holding up the show? 

In all honesty, the music industry really doesn’t care how we break the tie or how we go about positioning bands in the top ten, 40, 100, or however big the list in question is.  The end result is that the music industry will continue to make money hand over fist no matter who ends up sitting in the upper eschelon of popularity.  And although I think it is somewhat childish to try to construct a list of the top ten bands of all time, I would have to admit that I have some pretty strong opinions as to who deserves to be mentioned in that list.