Kids listening to their parents' music

[aqlo]

USA Today has an excellent article about how young people are listening to more oldies, which touches on the importance of filesharing in making this music available and freeing people from the monopoly of current pop in major radio:

Classic rock is not only ubiquitous — in TV ads, reissues, reunion tours, soundtracks, copycat bands and recycled hits — but it's also instantly available. An obscure tune is only a few keystrokes away. "The Internet has turbo-charged the renewed interest in great bands of the past," Kallman says.

Finding rare gems used to mean scouring used record stores, garage sales and classifieds. Paid downloads and illegal file-sharing allow easy sampling and cherry-picking. Among the more popular digital tracks, according to SoundScan: Elvis Presley's A Little Less Conversation, Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody, Peter Gabriel's In Your Eyes and Elton John's Tiny Dancer.

"Kids want to experiment, and technology facilitates that," Austin says. "They don't have to shell out 18 bucks to try something. They can preview a track for 30 seconds, and buy it for 99 cents. I'm a big fan of the record store, but it's going to be a dinosaur."

Likewise for "stagnant" radio's narrow formats that don't cater to youth's eclectic palate, Austin says.

"Young listeners are reaching for something else, and they often find it in the past. Don't be surprised if they start checking out Frank Sinatra and Rosemary Clooney."

http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/n...ock-kids_x.htm

This shows yet another reason that the big record companies and their radio monopoly partners are threatened by filesharing, it makes it possible for people to hear what music was once like before they took charge of it, and gives people choices that limit their market penetration for new music from their fabricated stars. Another interesting point is that when we do buy albums that are that old, the stars actually profit from the residuals instead of just "paying back" the record company for the "advances" that were required to get studio time, finance tours, and live their lives.

"As long as it's good music, it doesn't bother me that my dad likes it too," Jamie says. "He took me to The Who, and that was easily the best concert I've been to."

He favors the "big music" of seminal rock because "the guitars wailed and lyrics had more meaning. Queen went overboard on everything. You don't hear singers like Freddie Mercury anymore." Mercury died in 1991. Jamie was 2.

In the '60s, coming of age meant reinventing pop culture, rejecting heritage and distrusting anyone older than 30. Not so now.

[Lord_of_the_Dense]

Good article. Thanks aqlo!