[78-L] Big Band Era - and Musical Fashions

[Andrew Homzy]

In the USA, it’s about marketers convincing the most gullible/pliable & most funded segment of our society as to which music they should like - and removing all other musics from their reach. That segment is determined by demographics - and the most vulnerable are pre-teen-agers.

Divide and conquer is a tried and true tactic applied to war, torture, and propaganda. It also works well in marketing -

Market segmentation for recordings began in the 20s with labels dedicated to race and ethnic audiences and while they sort of dissolved by the end of the 30s. Stylistic divisions ensued - Western & R&B - and by the mid-50s segmentation was planned to attract buyers based on age, gender and income, with education playing into those factors as well.

A lot of studies and books have been written about this and the corporate mindsets forced the population into believing that one kind of music was better for them than others.

Since the beginning of the 21st century, huge “entertainment industries” were brought to their knees by, ironically, teenagers who learned to manipulate the technology and virtually ensure that no one could make a living through recorded music. 

On-line streaming actually became a democratizing factor: One could listen - or watch - to what-so-ever they wanted for free.

What the remainder of the century has in store for us is never determinable. But one thing for sure: 
Style prevails over fashion. Art over entertainment. Nostalgia dissolves over a generation. 

We don’t listen to Mozart , Ravel or Ellington for reason of nostalgia. 
Glen Miller, Elvis and the The Rolling Stones will fade from our cultural conscience because they have little to say about their times - they only spoke to their times. 

Cheers,

Andrew



> On Jun 26, 2020, at 3:24 PM, DKing <ginku_ledovec at att.net.invalid> wrote:
> 
> 
> Inigo, you’re not ignorant - I wish I could express myself as well as you do.
> 
> You mentioned musical fashions and how they go in and out of style.  We’ve all seen this happen.  But why does it happen?  Is one musical fashion always replaced by something new, just because it is new and different?  Does the younger generation always prefer new forms of music as opposed to the older ones enjoyed by their parents?  Why do some musical styles never seem to go out of fashion?
> 
> - Dave King