Can the Guitar Hero Video Game Teach Teens to Love Technically Important Music?

[JerryDelColliano]

I think you are touching on an important issue....

Labels in the late 1990's stopped developing talent and started looking more like bankers. Look to the Prince, Janet and Michael Jackson record deals. They paid big bucks for Alex Rodriguez performance when the way to the world series is more of a Billy Bean - farm system approach....

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by JerryDelColliano

I think you are touching on an important issue....

Labels in the late 1990's stopped developing talent and started looking more like bankers. Look to the Prince, Janet and Michael Jackson record deals. They paid big bucks for Alex Rodriguez performance when the way to the world series is more of a Billy Bean - farm system approach....

Well I'd say in the 90s is when the Labels got stupid. CD prices are extremely out of control and their sales are down. Now in 2007 we find Downloadable Content had its first year of not growing (I heard that on NPR).

So the Labels need to find a solution to the lost CD income. Downloadable content isn't it.

I think the answer is better product. The Eagles can release a crap album only in Wal-Mart and sell 700,000 units. Obviously the public is desperate for decent music. To be fair to The Eagles I've only heard one of their new songs on the radio and I thought it was junk but maybe they have some good ones not getting radio play.

[kennyt]

I agree with you guys, once corporate music realized it was more profitable to make some lame a$$ boy band and cut and album or two and tour then dump them, I think they actually stopped signing talented people! Let's face it, a band like the Red Hot Chilly Peppers (just to name some one recent who's stayed around) likely makes the label a whole lot LESS money as they are established and can ask for much more.

The Spice Girls get what the label wants to give them.... Big difference!

[Lotus]

Originally Posted by kennyt

I agree with you guys, once corporate music realized it was more profitable to make some lame a$$ boy band and cut and album or two and tour then dump them, I think they actually stopped signing talented people! Let's face it, a band like the Red Hot Chilly Peppers (just to name some one recent who's stayed around) likely makes the label a whole lot LESS money as they are established and can ask for much more.

The Spice Girls get what the label wants to give them.... Big difference!

Look at Madonna. The Label just couldn't justify paying her what she wanted to stick around. That is how bad it's getting. They can't even throw money at Madonna.

The problem is Labels are run by guys who live in very small boxes. They refuse to think outside the box and they've pretty much dug their own grave. There won't be a magic savior from the sky.

They killed MTV too. It should be called "Reality TV," and move on. If MTV was still wicked cool videos on all the time and you actually couldn't wait to see what the new DaveTV video looked like or the new Peter Gabriel video...

Videos used to be giant adverts for music. They were cool and on all the time.

The Labels just totally screwed up in just about every avenue they could. They never adjusted the pricing structure of CDs quick enough (now may very well be too late). They stopped developing talent like they used to. They lost their advertising edge by letting MTV become a joke. They never prepped a solid product for us to invest in after CDs.

SACD? Nah. DVD-A? Nah. Stupid format wars.

[narcoticprayer]

Not being a Video Game person I played Guitar Hero for the first time this weekend with my nephew. The good news... kids are being exposed to music they'd never hear otherwise. "What's Sunshine of your Love?"
The bad news... playing the game really has nothing to do with music... if you blot out the music and press the colored buttons you do much better. I've played guitar for many many years and found myself keeping time as I went through the 'course'.
Just thought I throw my 2.1 cents in.
Tp Paraphrase FZ... "The music industry isn't dead, it just smells funny!"