.. Truthfully, I've been a little dismayed for the last nine or ten years regarding music, and in essence, the music industry itself.
When I was young and growing up, music played an absolute pivotal role to me, and to many of those my age. I appreciated all music, as long as it had some emotional quality to it - contemporary, classical, rock, some country were all important. Music had a profound affect on what some of us decided to do in our adult lives (the reason SoundGate exists today).
I have found that music has the power to be an instrument of change, a powerful force in one's personal life, something that can give people hope, and a running commentary about the present times. I guess what I've been distressed about is the homogenization of music into categories of simplistic goo - either because that's what the artist actually is or creates, or because the music Industry decided that a certain type of music would be the money-maker dejour. What I call the Pop Princess category is one of these, which includes performers such as Britney Spears, Christina Aguilar, and the resurfaced Mariah Carey.
The Rap/Hip Hop genre is another of these categories. Even popular Country Music had fallen into the routine of stamping out the next "one-hit wonders" (thank you Rick Rubin for bringing Country Music out of its slumber via your wonderful collaboration with Johnny Cash). To determine if I'd just become jaded due to old age (I'm in my forties), I decided to revisit my musical roots and see if the music I'd grown to love was really that good, or if I was just experiencing musical wanderlust.
Here's what I did: 1. I dug out my collection of albums (those old, large, round, flat things with one long continuous-looking scratch on each side), and my CDs. How eerily silent these boxes of LPs are, and how surprising to the unknowing what can explode out of all of those continuous grooves!
2. I took each record and CD, logged the Artist, Album Title, and date that the album was pressed. I arranged all of this information in chronological order, thus creating a time capsule of my musical interests.
I highlighted which songs on each album were probably responsible for me buying that particular piece of work. Armed with this information, I took a leisurely stroll back through my musical heritage to determine what was good and what wasn't. What did I find?
Well, I found that throughout the years there was a noticeable participation by what one would call "one-hit wonders", or OHW's. In most cases, the balance of music put out by these OHW's was actually quite good. Studying the chronology of music trends, I found that in many cases the public's taste in music suddenly changed, and at other times the Industry decided to change what was being presented as the newest and best, thus leaving these OHWs behind.
A second discovery was how much I still love almost all of this music, how well-recorded most of it was, and how much effort was put into the production of the album as a whole. The variety of music, and of the musicians was/is astonishing! A third discovery, and this is the one that disturbs me, is what I feel is a general decline in creativity with regard to lyrics, the writing of music (melody, orchestration, etc.
), and engineering as we progress past the mid-nineties. I'm not saying there aren't performers today doing these things well, it just seems that the majority of performers (or the managers, producers) aren't putting effort into making exemplary music. I can't think of too many songs made during the past 10 years that will be thought of as anthems, much the way that a lot of music from the sixties, seventies, and even early eighties have become.
As the Buggles once professed, maybe music videos have indeed killed the radio star! Many songs from long ago can actually create chills, make one's hair stand on end, or bring a tear to the eye. Do me a favor and go to iTunes and download Elton John's "I've Seen That Movie Too", and The Who's "This Song is Over".
These are just two songs I've picked, out of thousands, that can create an emotional impact on the listener. Today, I like music from Keane, Coldplay, and similar groups. I have to say, though, that as much as I like these artists, none of them has been able to make one hair stand up, or create even a luke-warm chill down my back.
The question one has to ask is, "Does certain music have so much of an effect on a person that the music forever remains special to just that person, or is certain music just so good that it affects a large number of people in a special way?" If anyone out there has music from the last few years that they think is so special that it will stand the test of time, please let me know about it - I'd really like to think that there is music being produced today that is so special that it will cause people to follow a dream, or cause them to keep it around their entire life. Send your suggestions to me at "r_putman@soundgate.
com". I look forward to hearing from you.
This is the only show, and seminar track, devoted strictly to our 12-volt Industry. Most major manufacturers were there with their latest goodies on display, and reports are that all of the training seminars were very good and more than worth the effort of attending. (a note to consumers - this show is for members of the 12-volt trade only and is not open to the general public).
It's true that our Industry has gone through some tough times the last 4 or 5 years - everyone has been consumed with adapting to new car technologies and designs. The GREAT news is that there are a host of sophisticated integration products now on the market that allow integration into almost any new vehicle. If a vehicle pulls into your store that you're not comfortable in making a recommendation for, get on the phone and call SoundGate - we'll help you make the right decisions regarding integration.
On a different topic, Sirius has had a great program on this week on "The Vault" - channel 16. David Gilmour, former lead of Pink Floyd, just released his first new album in 22 years - "On an Island" - and a great one it is! The Vault, on Sirius, has been playing Pink Floyd all week, along with cuts off of David's new album.
Pink was one of my favorite bands in my younger days (and continues to be) - it's been absolutely wonderful listening to both the old tracks, and to David's new offerings from On An Island. To those younger people in our audience who may not be familiar with Pink Floyd, consider purchasing "A Momentary Lapse of Reason", "The Division Bell", or "Dark Side of the Moon". If you love music, you may find you've discovered an entire new world you never knew existed!
SoundGate's mantra has always been "Hear The Performance", and our love of music is what drives us to provide the highest performing interfaces possible. We'll talk more in the coming months about our passion for music..
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Our TechNow! Technical Support Blog is designed to keep dealers up-to-date, virtually by the minute, with late breaking news concerning product applications, new car changes, and any other technical data that may affect your store's day to day operations. Our 'Inside View' blog will be a light hearted commentary written mainly by SoundGate's founder, Rob Putman.
Rob's 25 years in the Industry provides him with a unique perspective of where the Mobile Electronics Industry has been, where it is today, and where it may be headed. You can be guaranteed that the topics in this blog will be varied, interesting, and even a little off-the-wall from time to time. So, let the blogs begin!
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