I'm Jon Ireson and this is to be a "State of the Industry" address, taking a look at where music is as we are about to roll over into the next decade of this young millennium. Sadly for Will Smith's music career, it has not been the "Willennium" he so boldly predicted with his 1999 album. So, as of right now, what is the state of pop music? What is the state of counter-culture? Are they on a collision course or could the two not be further from one another? Technology is inexorably intertwined with not only how music is consumed but what music is consumed. Where could the industry possibly go now that streaming has seemingly broken down all barriers? What is live performance anymore? How long can guitar, bass, drums and a singer on a dimly lit stage survive? Finally, what are we saying with our art? Is music encouraging thought on a deep and challenging level? Is our appreciation of music embracing the more complex and subtle? Pop music is almost always going to be inherently simple but is the music counter-culture pushing back enough? Where do we go from here?
Barring the charting of a 10-minute epic upon the release of Tool's exercise in tantric anticipation of a new album, rock is no longer hot in the eyes of the general masses. So what is? The usual electro-tinged pop fare is peppered throughout the 100, as is the expected amount of country. Lil' Nas X's 'Old Town Road' broke all kinds of records and was supposedly a "crossover" hit but it IS really just trap in a cowboy hat. The rest of the list is filled up with the scourge of South America, reggaeton and trap. Not an errant bit of musical exceptionalism or progressive thought in the bunch. That is disheartening but not at all surprising. However, the more troubling thing is that the songs on the Billboard chart are largely devoid of any soulful emotion. A voice like Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, the BeeGees, or even Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston is noticeably absent from the list. Pop has never depended heavily on substance but right now it is vacuous unlike any time before.
How about rock n roll? The bands that were birthed out of the early '90s grunge scene have hit middle-aged maturity. The story of the year is the release of this week's Fear Inoculum, the massively anticipated and long overdue return of master mind-benders, Tool. Any offering from them requires and deserves many repeat listenings to digest and appreciate, and this is arguably their most complex and nuanced record to date. However, just from the preliminary ten spins through the record it is safe to say that Tool have once again pushed the goalposts forward and redefined what it means to make an album that is spiritually, emotionally and politically heavy. Justin Chancellor's bass weaves together all the best points of previous efforts and Maynard Keenan's lyrics succinctly and savagely dissect the present zeitgeist yet have the timelessness of an elven elegy. Fear Inoculum is, however, primarily a showcase for Adam Jones and Danny Carey's incredible talents, demonstrating why their ingenuity has forged a genre all their own. This also means that though they have grown as artists, the art they are making is unmistakably "Tool" and doesn't make a foray into any new genres. The band's cult-like fanbase may have coalesced into a significant army, large enough that finally putting their works up on streaming platforms put many of their earlier songs back in the charts but I'd argue that this record won't make many Tool fans.
We could keep listing triumphs in various micro-genres across the musical landscape but we'd be here for hours. So what does that say about music today? That music is fractured in a way that we've never seen before. Breaking through with a massive audience can only be done with music that is truly made for the lowest common denominator. People who ask little from their music can be easily seduced by inferior pap and people who demand the most will have such specific tastes that bands will be niched out of a large share of the industry pie. The road to market penetration is a hard-fought one for bands with integrity but with enough unwavering support from a nurtured scene, music can be made that will last forever.
We all know that because streaming has reduced band profits down to peanuts, groups have to be on the road more than ever to earn their living but where does the future of live performance lie? We've become fairly jaded to the spectacle of it all. Oneupmanship has made having bigger screens and crazier propsblasé. Someone like Trent Reznor, who is a master of stage production has given up, opting to go fully minimalist on his most recent tour. Much like the integrity imbued in taking in music via vinyl record, the raw, visceral concert experience is once again what drives us to the theatres, ballrooms, and grubby dive venues. It's hard to say when wholly synthesized music will fully overtake the live performance style which has ruled the last century but for now, the classic archetype of tossing up a banner with a logo and slaying an audience with tunes is experiencing a full-on renaissance among the counter-culture.
With our endless access to music, niches will only continue their rapid mitosis. The way of the future is to focus on creating self-sustaining communities like the psych and metal communities have. Buy vinyl and go to shows to support acts you feel contribute something new or vital to the scene. This turns a group of misfit kids banging out their aggression in a tiny, dank rehearsal space into the rich tapestry of art that we can look back on as the crowning achievement of our society.
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