The absolute state of "alternative" radio in 2017

>the absolute state of "alternative" radio in 2017

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Act_of_1996
youtube.com/watch?v=khrx-zrG460
youtube.com/watch?v=V6bK5tHpsxQ
nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/bono-thinks-music-girly-article-1.3723186
billboard.com/charts/alternative-songs
twitter.com/AnonBabble

75% of the artists there are Alternative, though. Sure, music has degraded, but it's still Alternative.

that Portugal the Man song is fucking terrible

is it just me or is Imagine Dragons a cancer to the music industry

Alternative to what? It's mainstream pop rock. Are U2 and Coldplay alternative?
Kings of Leon, Portugal the Man, Imagine Dragons, AltJ, Passenger, Ryan Adams, Lorde, Chainsmokers, Lana Del Rey are all pop music. A couple can barely even be called rock at all.

this desu

How are you gonna lump Ryan Adams in as mere "pop" with the rest of those artists? All those artists have had huge Top 40 hits. Adams has never touched the Hot 100 once in his life, was in an ALTERNATIVE country band, toured with the Strokes. Bitch of course he's alternative. He's more on the dadrock-y side of things, but frankly lots of alternative acts are pandering to nostalgia so he's not alone in that. He's just another Wilco/Jason Isbell/My Morning Jacket territory folky-country-roots-neo-classic rocker

the U2 and coldplay thing kind of proves his point though, people have been calling mainstream pop rock "alternative rock" for years. it's totally stupid, don't get me wrong, but the meaning of the word has changed

But like U2 started as post-punk, then became hugely successful thanks to Eno, but then went into more weirder territory during the 90s, so it's not super far fetched to call them an alternative rock band.

Portugal the Man and AltJ and Ryan Adams are the only ones I can see being truly alt rock. Chainsmokers doesn't make any fucking sense though, they're bro EDM.
At least U2 and Coldplay had a lot of alt rock influences in their sound from bands like Radiohead, and records like Achtung Baby were legitimately alternative. I see what you're saying though. Alternative is basically just a radio format for any rock music that isn't buttrock (classic rock, metal, post grunge etc)

>radio
>2017

>listening to the radio in 2017

that's what I'm saying my guy, U2 is for sure alt rock, and so is coldplay, both were/are massively popular

A lot of those songs aren't even bad though.

this desu

Alternative radio is definitely shittier today than it might have been in the 90s, but also in the 90s labels were more willing to give actual "alternative" bands mainstream exposure after Nirvana and MTV/radio were the sources of music for many people. Now they really want to play it safe and the people seeking out innovative music look for it online because the only people still listening to alt radio aren't the music connoisseurs but the soccer moms on their way to work. Look at the chart with that in mind and it'll make more sense.

If they're mainstream popular rock music though what makes them "alternative" is my question. A lot of these bands just make straightforward pop rock songs..

>Ryan Adams

Wait I thought this was that Ed Sheeran clone who had that song "Treat You Better"? Like got famous from a Youtube cover of Wonderwall and then put out a Taylor Swift cover album, but has a reputation for being an jerk on like twitter or something?

Well U2 historically was genuinely alternative but sold out with time. Coldplay too, though they always leaned more adult contemporary/Top 40 desu.

Alt-J I can take or leave. Portugal the Man was indeed alternative, but this newest album just sound like generic pop rock designed for Top 40 play so yeah they shouldn't be on this chart anymore.

Those weren't even the examples I was thinking of, besides maybe Alt J, U2 and Coldplay (the latter 2 are both Pop Rock AND Alternative Rock, and Alt J is indie pop). And plus, you're mistake Alternative with Indie. While they are inherently synonymous with each other, Alternative is music that bridges the gap between mainstream and independent/underground, that takes influences from both conventional and unconventional. Indie is purely separate from the mainstream; it doesn't set out to mimic mainstream trends. However, Indie music can get just as big as the mainstream, but still be indie at its core. Most of these artists, while not entirely independent, take influences and combine elements of traditional pop song structure with lesser known and more subdued ideas, forming their "Alternative" sound.

One more note, most of these artists are only as popular as they are because of the Internet age; virtually everything can become "mainstream" now. Had these artists existed in the 80s or 90s (not talking about U2), they wouldn't nearly have as much popularity as they do now. And even if they were as popular without the Internet, can you honestly say that any truly pop artists now even sound remotely like Phoenix, Bastille, Awolnation, and (a stretch, but) Imagine Dragons, besides their accessibility? That's why Alternative and Indie shouldn't be defined for their popularity (or lack thereof), rather its uniqueness compared to traditional pop.

Yeah idk I dont listen to the guy but his fan in here says he's alt rock, but that's what I think of when I hear the name too

>>Ryan Adams
>Wait I thought this was that Ed Sheeran clone who had that song "Treat You Better"?
That's Shawn Mendes, you fucking idiot. And if you're the OP, read this. ()

>The National
>The War on Drugs
>Real Estate
>Spoon
>Ryan Adams
>Father John Misty
>Grizzly Bear
>The New Pornographers

I'm surprised the radio is even touching these guys. I thought it was just going to be all Red Hot Chili Peppers, Foo Fighters, Imagine Dragons, Twenty One Pilots nonsense.

>Harry Styles
>Bleachers (Jack Atanaoff)
>Lana
>Chainsmokers
>alternative

These are straight pop

It's only because of reputation, not sound
>Harry Styles
Dude he's RAWK now!!!
>Bleachers
Remember fun.?
>Lana
Tumblr/Hot Topic incarnate
>Chainsmokers
ft. Coldplay. That's why

Nah, Lana and The Bleachers are indie pop.

Spoon, The National, Grizzly Bear have been on the radio for a long time. I remember hearing them on the alt station when I was a kid in the late 2000s.
They definitely do play Foo Fighters, Imagine Dragons, RHCP, 90s hits all the time too, these are just old so they're not on the chart. Make no mistake they do rotate that bullshit to this day though.

Two Weeks - Grizzly Bear was a pretty big hit

>Spoon, The National, Grizzly Bear have been on the radio for a long time.
According to Billboard, Spoon had three minor hits on Alternative radio prior to this year: The Underdog #26 (2007), Do You #30 (2014), Don't You Evah? #38 (2008).

The National nor Grizzly Bear had never charted songs on any radio format prior to this year.

It might have just been on college radio or public radio though. Or maybe the songs were hovering down below the Top 30 of the alternative charts, and therefore never got listed because they were too low.

Billboard charts are shit
2 weeks by Grizzly Bear got airplay for sure

Getting airplay =/= making it onto the Top 30 or whatever songs of a radio format chart.

"She Don't Use Jelly" by the Flaming Lips got airplay on Top 40/pop hits stations back in the day. But it never made it onto the Hot 100 or the Pop radio charts because it didn't get enough airplay.

I've definitely heard Two Weeks on the radio too, but I think what happened was that it was played a decent amount in some markets (probably college towns) but then none in others, which is why it didn't chart. Plus alternative radio at that time was in a very different direction than Grizzly Bear musically (Muse, Green Day, Linkin Park, Incubus, Papa Roach, lots of shitty remnants of early-mid 00s butt-alternative).

>But it never made it onto the Hot 100
Meant to say the Top 40 of the Hot 100.

this

>flaming lips top 40
imagine hearing a band like the flaming lips being played in between beyonce, jake paul, despacito, and shawn mendes today that'd be fucking nuts

>jake paul
Does he actually get played on the radio? I haven't even heard that song nor do I listen to the radio outside of my Alternative station.

Idk but he's pretty big with teen girls who listen to that top40 shit so I'd assume so. I could see everyday bro being played on there.

>implying anyone listens to mainstream radio
>implying anyone listens to alt radio

The radio industry is a zombie held up by a couple of mega corporations who just recently filed for bankruptcy or on the verge of bankruptcy

Anyone who has a car most likely still listens to the radio. That's still millions of people.

people will listen to podcasts or ipods or whatever

the radio industry died when bill clinton passed the 1996 telecommunications act and allowed for clearchannle and other corporations to have monoplies by buying up the stations, which they then automated to only play shitty pop music.
Its the reason rock died, and the reason the radio sucks balls today

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_Act_of_1996

The now-defunct Kill Your Television website[29] that advocated people turn off their television sets, had a criticism of the law as well. They wrote:

"thanks to the Telecommunications Act of 1996, the business is about to get bigger...Mergers, takeovers and acquisitions are becoming the norm in the television industry. The new law has stripped down the television ownership rules so much, that big media players can and will be more aggressive in buying out smaller stations...A new legislative fight is brewing on the horizon as the broadcast industry gears up for the introduction of digital television...The Telecommunications Act['s]...highlights include: Deregulation of most cable TV rates by 1999...End [of] the FCC partial ban on broadcast networks owning cable systems...Extends TV and radio station license terms to eight years...Eases one-to-a-market rule to allow ownership of TV and radio combos...in the top 50 markets."[30]

In the 2003 edition of his book, A People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn wrote about alternative media, community newspapers and the creation of street newspapers trying the break the corporate control of information. On that topic, he talked about the Telecommunications Act of 1996:

the Telecommunications Act of 1996...enabled the handful of corporations dominating the airwaves to expand their power further. Mergers enabled tighter control of information...The Latin American writer Eduardo Galeano commented..."Never have so many been held incommunicado by so few."[31]

The early-mid 90s alternative boom did some crazy things. Former cult bands were now thrust into the mainstream. Sonic Youth and Pavement had multiple Top 10 modern rock hits. Scottish band Teenage Fanclub got the play 4 songs on Saturday Night Live off the strength of one radio single because people thought they were the next Nirvana. Kyuss songs were getting played by hard rock stations. The Flaming Lips, Blur, The Stone Roses, Beck, Oasis (pre-Wonderwall), Elastica, 7 minute long U2 b-sides and fairly un-poppy REM singles, weird trip-hop one hit wonders, The Offspring, and much much more all got played by the Top 40 hits/pop stations.

Fuck those are all great bands. That sounds like the best possible time to go to college and be into music. Travelling Lollapalooza festivals were a thing too.

The 90's were the best, popular music was alternative. There was an independent movie scene.

Imagine growing up with that then the world changes into fucking poptamism and disney wars remake sequels

Yup. But like said,
That act really fucked up radio and the music industry. 1997 was when the alternative bubble really started to burst, it's mainstream relevance vanished quickly. New bands Smashing Pumpkins and Oasis were the two bands who had a breakout year in alternative + mainstream rock and pop music worlds in 1996, but a year or two later they were pretty much washed up and forgotten. Shitty post-grunge and nu-metal became very popular in alternative's wake. This is where the millennium pop and boyband craze started flourishing.

Alternative rock became so popular that a lot of the Top 40 stations in major markets created their own Top 40-Alternative hybrids in order to capitalize on the trend. So you could easily hear like Mariah Carey or Snoop Dogg back to back with like Dinosaur Jr. or Bjork.

Also, the concept of "Alternative" was so muddled that these two Sheryl Crow songs were big hits on certain alternative radio stations (big enough to hit the top 10 on the alternative airplay charts anyway)
youtube.com/watch?v=khrx-zrG460
youtube.com/watch?v=V6bK5tHpsxQ

Huh now I get why my mom listens to alternative rock and was into bands like this in the 90s. If she were a teen/college today she'd probably like the top 40.

>bands like this in the 90s
Such as what?

The bands mentioned earlier like Sonic Youth, RHCP, Oasis, Flaming Lips, Dinosaur Jr. She's not an indie type person and doesnt know the really underground artists but knows those bands.

interesting

RHCP and Oasis were fucking massive dude, it's not an accomplishment to know those.

I mean it would depend on which era of the band you were into, but yeah post-Mother's Milk and Definitely Maybe their sounds got much more accessible and they went flying into the mainstream

nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/bono-thinks-music-girly-article-1.3723186

You know it's bad when the king of soy, Bono calls it girly.

jesus christ

Rock has kind of lost it's edge desu
This chart is full of poppy safe shit

But wait, it gets worse:
billboard.com/charts/alternative-songs

I actually don't see that as a terrible thing. To be honest, there's only so many ways to play some heavy, distorted lick and protrude to the world your inner "anger" using as much cryptic clichés as possible before it just gets all muddled and repetitive. That's the whole problem; rock in general has now exhausted its course. Before, I would say hands down that Alternative Rock was the best genre of music, and now that I'm older, I just don't see its beauty anymore.

>kings of leon
>2017

I disagree. Maybe in the mainstream, but rock music is a style that will always have room to grow, like every style of music. The limiting factor of course being the people that make it, but how many rock bands exist in this day in age that no ones heard about due to their lack of presence on the radio? Playing exclusively live shows and being lost on bandcamp due to the sheer massive amount of music uploaded there every day, every second?

Also, the whole "distorted lick and protrude to the world your inner 'anger' using as much cryptic cliches as possible", that part confuses me. That doesn't represent the entirety of rock music as a whole, but the way you phrase it is as though that's all rock music really is.

As for you not seeing the beauty of alt. rock anymore, that doesn't mean it's always been bad and you've never noticed, just means that it's not for you anymore

>I'm older
Leave it to the younger generations old man

>but rock music is a style that will always have room to grow, like every style of music.
In what conceivable fashion could rock music re-innovate itself that hasn't already been done before in the past, let alone other genres? Electronic/techno rock has already been done by acts like Radiohead, Mew, and Linkin Park. The Velvet Underground already established the template in which "art/experimental" bands would make their music. Baroque/chamber rock started and ended with Funeral (though if you want to stretch it out, you could say Viva La Vida or Death... continued to explore the idea a bit more). And metal... that's another topic entirely. Unless you mean by "growing," to improve on already existing tropes and connecting the scarce ideas together into something interesting, rock music has lost its originality. It's essentially doomed to dilute the pool by continuously following what other albums set a landmark for and minutely expanding on it. Seldom has a rock album these past few years blew me away by making a fresh sound, except maybe Like Clockwork and Science Fiction (which is a literal homage to 90s Alt. Rock, so that's saying something). Maybe there's a few hidden gems underground (like Garden Window by O'Brother), but other than that, I don't foresee rock music gradually redefining itself anytime soon.

>That doesn't represent the entirety of rock music as a whole, but the way you phrase it is as though that's all rock music really is.
I was merely talking about rock music after the 90s, more specifically, after Kurt Cobain's death. The course of rock split into 3 paths after his time passed, and each employed the exact stereotypes I talked about.

>As for you not seeing the beauty of alt. rock anymore, that doesn't mean it's always been bad and you've never noticed, just means that it's not for you anymore
That is true, but my growing up and Alt. Rock's mindless dilution are both at fault.

sad

>radio