its getting better and were coming out of a media slump

the media goes to crap about every ten years for about ten years but returns to good

i call that the reoccurring media slump theory

think about it

50's good

60's not as good

70's good

80's contains disco

90's every thing from pearl jam to sublime

00's pop crap and the Disney era

08 and soon to come Indy and underground scene

It's always been that way.

marketing.....

R Blackmore or Steve Vai's appeal is to a narrow audience. Hanna Montana's appeal is vast and wide. Disney knows how to market. Lots and lots of tweens watch Hanna Montana and get their parents to buy her products and go to her concerts. So while you complain about Hanna Montana, Miley Cyrus, her dad, and Disney are doing very very well.

Yeah, but I have a feeling that good music will come back.

The Rock'n'Renaissance is coming, just wait.

In the late 60's it was Bobby Sherman, (don't ask), in the early 70's it was David Cassidy, in the late 70's it was....somebody...i don't remember, (it was the late 70's after all), in the early 80's it was Madonna, in the late 80's it was Madonna, in the 90's it was all the "boy bands" and we pull into the train station of the here and now with Brittney on her way out and Hanna Montana on her way in, until she starts drinking a lot, gets caught smoking crack with Scott Weiland or something, then it will be.....

It's always been that way, and it's horrible!-------------->

Ahhhh well....
I guess that good music will come back
By the way, I think the 60s were quite good (The Who, Clapton, Floyd, Hendrix, Led Zep)
Don't tell me that you guys don't worship these guys...

What exactly surprises you about this?

It's ALWAYS been this way. Vai, Gilbert, Gilmore not exactly household names compared to Tom Petty, Bruce Springsteen, etc.. People know Petty but 90% of them have NO clue who Mike Campbell is nor do they really care.
Good Music on it's death bed? I've heard this for the last 20 years. Gimme a break. There IS good music out there but if you're waiting for it to come to main-stream (or even non main-stream) radio you're wasting your time (thank you Clear Channel Comm). The days of PD's having a say on what is really broadcast and then taking a "chance" and playing say "Dark Side of the Moon" are OVER. Those days have been for awhile. College Radio does, on occasion, have some alt programing but with a whopping 100 Watts of pure power not many people hear it.

Some would ask you why Via, Gilbert and Gilmore are outselling Bach, Bethoven and Mozart -- right ?

The fact is, Hannah Montana is about money -- not art. The troubling thing (my opinion) is when you step into a small venue or the corner club ... and there's this musician with a huge voice, amazing musical gifts and the freakish talent of writing songs .....

... and you know they'll never get airplay by the handful of companies that control the media.

Cool thing are the examples of folks who have used the inter-web to expose themselves (musically). David Grey's 'Babylon' comes to mind ....

Have a great Monday friends !!

This is the difference between a product and art. You are saying you don't like the mass market, $ making mutation of the musical art form. I don't like it (most of the time), and won't pay for it (download mp3 as guilty pleasure).

This is like comparing Andy Worhal & Picasso. They started from a different base, focusing on a different outcome for a different audience. Heck, this is comparing printed, quilted paper towels to Van Gogh's still lifes.

Exactly!

So, let's wipe the counter-top with Hannah Montana and mount Van Gogh on the wall to admire.

Trouble is, I buy the quick-picker-upper for that rare occasion when I spill my Tanqueray and Tonic. And no matter how many of them I drink -- Hannah stills sounds like crap to wipe-up.

We love music, pure music (like the songs played here by members, and so much more that I cannot explain). But "common" people get exposed to the market of commercial music.
And then, they buy cd's from High School Musical, Hannah Montana, and stuff like that).