Could a guitar band ever make it successfully anymore? I'd like to pursue music but I just don't see a guitar band making it anymore. Its like there's no point wasting your time and effort because even if you wrote amazing 'rock' songs not enough people like the genre
So Sup Forums, is it a waste of time to pursue making it with guitar music?
Other urls found in this thread:
youtube.com
youtube.com
twitter.com
Sadly, it is.
ummmmmmmmmmm maybe not, but I would bide your time.
the minute it looks like taking again you won't be able to move for Ernie balls , until then , we just stare at each other
If you're making music just to make money or be celebrity or something, you're doing it wrong.
I often wonder maybe I'm wrong and that the time is perfect for a huge band to take the world by storm
Not at all. I like music because I have a passion for it. To be able to dedicate your life to music you need a decent income which unfortunately means you have to become 'famous' (or relatively..)
you could probably make it as an indie guitar band if you're songwriting is good enough
i think the days of big guitar rock bands are over though. the only bands you hear doing today were the same ones that were doing it 15-20 years ago.
>Could a guitar band ever make it successfully anymore?
If they're actually good enough sure
The Arctic Monkeys broke through a music culture dominated by chart pop, rap and R&B.
>I often wonder maybe I'm wrong and that the time is perfect for a huge band to take the world by storm
Well, there has been a clear field for how long has it been? you know how long I've been typing this stuff? long enough to be a contender my self now, god's sake
see Radiohead arelkhdfg;khefgjse jsgvj healinign
oh dear
>guitar rock bands are over though. the only bands you hear doing today
just a bit of drugs..........an they'll be off
DONT DO DRUGS
I don't really care about fame or popularity/money. Just being able to do what you love for a living would be great. Would an indie band make enough that you could do only that?
>the only bands you hear doing today were the same ones that were doing it 15-20 years ago.
I think this is part of the reason guitar music is on the decline. no one is excited for washed up stale rockstars of the 90s.
The Arctic Monkeys made it in the mid 00s though, guitar music was still the popular genre to some degree
Guitar music is still all over the place, "indie rock" is extremely popular on the local and festival gig circuits.
I think the reason we rarely see powerhouse bands emerge nowadays is because record labels struggle to make money with them however popular. Everybody is streaming or downloading music, revenue is all in branding and touring now. It's only worth their time and money to focus on very particular and highly marketable individuals like rap and female popstars.
>for a living would be great.
That is caring about money, to be able to not have a day job and make music or art in itself is a minor miracle, anything better then you need to have been set up from the start or very lucky (which is the same thing)
Could you say Tame Impala is a powerhouse band?
You need to make money to live. If thats the case then yes I do care about having money to have decent living standards. Its not about pursuing music to become rich and famous though
>Its not about pursuing music to become rich and
I made art out of the good of my heart and I got nowhere with it I swear
it's a no win situation, do it for the love, no-one will care , everyone will take advantage of you
do it for the money, you'll be the person ripping me off and keeping me hungry but will have holidays in mansions
nobodycares
Tame Impala has taught me that a man with talent can go very far in the world.
yeah
Might not be
>Could a guitar band ever make it successfully anymore?
As a huge rock fan, without a huge paradigm shift I don't see it happening, not with the same style of music from 20+ years ago. Possibly there could be some incredibly talented band, like a new Led Zeppelin or something but it almost seems as if it's some kind of lost art.
I feel like everything that can be done in rock has been done
I'll also add there are a few other factors
-Labels don't have people who listen to rock as their main demographic anymore, or at least a large one. Rock has fallen by the wayside to pop, electronic, hip-hop, R&B, even singer/songwriter, folk etc. Aside from older established bands releasing new music, it's one of the least popular mainstream genres.
Thus labels are less likely to spend time and money on A&R and generally supporting rock bands, so rock bands won't have as much chance to develop. For example, many times in the past there were artists who were signed to a label and had a mediocre-to-ok first record, but thanks to the label, they could spend more time practicing and having the incentive to do their best as they could possibly make huge album sales.
Compared to now, a band would most likely have to spend their time working a full time job to support their band and thus have less time to practice and write songs etc.
-It could also be said that modern life is partly to blame, young males of today have many more distractions than 20+ years ago - more video games, social media, general increased importance on education etc.
-There's also the lack of incentive. Before you had the goal of getting signed to a label and you were made, or at least had a good chance of it. That basically doesn't exist for rock bands anymore. You already have to be somewhat established and prove you can pull an audience before you will be signed to a major label.
It's a bit worrying that there are very few, if any truly great rock (not indie or metal) bands that have come out in the past 10-15 years.
Depends what sort of music you like, southern rock is very popular in the UK and that is very guitar centric music. Haven't listened to the radio in years so couldn't tell you what chart stuff is like
I disagree with that. There probably won't ever be such a truly original act like Hendrix or Metallica again, but there are still plenty of great songs to be written and the space for a new, great band that can really play their instruments.
Eventually all of the old rock stars will die off and there will have to be at least some people to replace them. Maybe this won't happen until most of the big rock stars from the 60s and 70s (of who's left now) are sadly gone.
This is true, you can be talented and motivated and still have no real chance of getting anywhere.
youtube.com
youtube.com
Here are a couple of bands that I went to college with. You may not particularly like their music but they're good enough to at least be given a chance with a very small record label right? Apparently not.
I wonder if the rolling stones could make it today had they not existed in the 60s/70s etc
Maybe. Probably not. Do it anyway, I say.
When I got into playing music, I watched Green Day's Bullet in a Bible live film and imagined how cool it'd be if I could achieve something of that caliber. I've realised its pretty unlikely now, no matter how good you are but strictly money/notoriety wise, if we're talkin success; I'd feel a Jeff Rosenstock level would be pretty comfy.
Not that fame and screaming fans is all I desire, I'd be happy to be making great music and working some job. That just seems pretty nice.
Just gonna work hard on my
craft and see where it takes me.
This is rock music now
>but they're good enough to at least be given a chance with a very small record label right? Apparently not.
the first one are actually kind of shit desu, but yeah the second one you would think for sure.
Unless you think you're going to be lucky enough to become the next Nirvana or Oasis(which is unlikely considering that rock music isn't nearly as much of a commercial powerhouse as it was when those bands made it big), probably not. Most of the "indie" bands you read about on Pitchfork don't make nearly as much money as you might assume.
>you could probably make it as an indie guitar band if you're songwriting is good enough
He couldn't unless he already had connections in the industry and enough money to not have to maintain a day job and just focus on touring all the time.
All the "indie" bands who seem to have made it on their own in reality have these perks to get them going. Genuine DIY success of the sort from which you can make a living is no longer possible not only in rock music, but in most music in general. It hasn't been possible since the late 90s.
I'm surprised that people don't realize this already, that they don't give any thought to the actual hard logistics of a young band in their early or mid-20s going on tour in Europe or the US for 3 months in 2016 and to what safety nets and benefits they would need to do that
The "indie" world and the world of commercial major labels has never been as intertwined as it is today, and it's something that all the "indie" bands fucking hate talking about because of what a questionable light it would paint them in..
no you don't
you seem completely disconnected from the actual state of music in 2016. DIY culture is thriving.
jesus that is embarrassing. Kenny Chesney is shit anyway, so not really surprising.
Speaking of country, some of the newer stuff leans more towards rock and is pretty guitar focussed so there could be opportunities. Obviously a lot of it is total shit but there is some good stuff - Eric Church, Kip Moore, Brad Paisley etc
>Could a guitar band ever make it successfully anymore?
Unless payola, you were never able to make it succesfully as a artist.
The only one that became famous without payola was rebbeca black, but she did had help of tv (interviews)
You've missed the point entirely
I quite like Paisley, and yeah there are some phenomenal guitarists in the modern country music world.
The problem I guess is the genre is so heavily engrained by and thematically centred around a specific culture. Classic rock music has no such boundaries.
Very true. It is a difficult one as you have the "bro country" cancer that no one wants to be associated with, but then if very popular. And then if you lean towards rock as the guys I mentioned above the purists dismiss you as not being "country" and everyone else dismisses you as a "country" band with all the stereotypes that go with it.
That said, some of them have huge followings and pull massive crowds so I think there is a shift under way. I seriously doubt any of it will make the charts any time soon, but if people are listening to guitar centric music then that's enough for me. Maybe the genre will grow yet.
You have to make music that is IMMEDIATE
You have to make music that sounds like it belongs in 2016
Oasis were immediate. Super loud, almost metal toned guitars revamping nostalgic British pop. Strokes were immediate. 1 line angular melodies to being us out of an era of four chord massive layered choruses. Blink 182 brought sloppy fast pop punk rhythm with simple guitar lines over that were reminiscent of what a teenage boy would write in his room. The XX had reverbed but crystal clear simple one note dueling guitars.
When what we have are endless dream pop bands coming out of New York that have the same look and indistinguishable washed in reverb guitar, I can easily see how people are getting fuckin bored. I can see how their only fans are young girls that are there ironically, or to live out the 'american apparel, instagram filter, macarons, Astoria' life.
You can't live in the past. You have to make something that hits people 'right here', in the chest, so hard that when they hear it they can't help but go listen to it again.
The only band I can actually think of that got to live the so called 70's "rock hero" dream and make it big was Smashing Pumpkins. Then again even he had his totally new tone
Well thought out and written post. Could one take the current popular music that belongs in 2016 and add a slightly different touch to achieve that 'hits people right here' effect?
Do you have any suggestions?
John Mayer also got to live out the bluesman dream. I have NO fuckin clue how he got so big. Was it all on the strength of Daughters? I mean, wtf
by being an exceptional musician
really dislike him as a person but his talent and skill is undeniable
>tfw make music that is immediate
>catchy, often angular distorted riffs with jangly open strings
>complex and aggressive, yet easy-to-follow and highly danceable drums
>super melodic bass
>influences are somewhat apparent but doesn't really sound particularly like one thing
desu im optimistic about my bands ability to get "big" in the diy/underground world. i doubt my music could have much crossover beyond that because of how indebted it is to some more abrasive punk genres, but i definitely have something
The current popular music in 2016 is EDM and Hip Hop. What, are you gonna put guitars over those two genres? That's corny. Who are you, Avicii?
You have to find some sort of tone setting on your petals and amps that sets you apart. Whatever it is, the tone of your guitar most importantly, and then second most importantly the actual lines you play tells the story of 2016.
People seem to often forget that guitar is hardly the music itself. But rather the tone and the context it lies within, and how it matches with the voice that's singing over it. When people hear your music, and see your face, and look at your album cover, what is the first thing that comes to mind? What place does it bring them to? People have to feel like "ahh yes I get this, and this belongs in 2016". People can't feel like their friends will be looking at them crazy when they play you in the car, because the music just so naturally "belongs" that no one questions it, but rather sits back in awe.
This is how to make your music relevant. If you want to make something that's artistically good, you should probably just write whatever from your soul and see what comes out. But then nobody will probably hear it. I'm just giving advice on how to perk people's ears.
>the masses care about being exceptional at your instrument
>The current popular music in 2016 is EDM and Hip Hop
You say that but there are modern bands of all different genres which have huge followings and do sold out tours of big venues that aren't in the charts / on the radio. Southern rock is massive in the UK for example, and it couldn't be further from Hip Hop if you tried.
There is a huge market for "traditional" guitar driven rock music, just not in the charts.
yeah but he got into the circle of blues legends quite quickly, didn't need much of a notoriety climb for them to start paying attention and collabing and stuff
smooth sailing once you're jamming with clapton and the king
If you're not driven by raw passion, you might as well give it up.
Sure, the same way Jimi Hendrix cover bands and blues standards bands sell out venues
IMO if you can talk to the people who arrange stuff you could be doing fucking anything in the stage. as long as its a song and you got audience, there´s need for entertainment
explain payola kind sir
Did Soulja Boy have payola?
This. Also helps to have a fully formed, marketable product to sell and a visually appealing brand
whats your band user sounds cool af