What Killed Rock Music as Mainstream Presence?

Remember Rock music? It was in the news this week.

Steve Harwell, the longtime frontman of the Grammy-nominated pop rock band Smash Mouth that was known for hits including “All Star”, “Walkin’ on the Sun ” and “ Then The Morning Comes.” has died. He was 56. He faced a long battle with alcoholism that ultimately shut down his liver.

Meanwhile, the Rolling Stones announced a new album and song for the first time in 20 years. The song is good! So is the video. Impressive for a band in their 80s now. Jagger sings about a couple having a bad breakup, while Richards and Wood swap back and forth some brilliant mini-solos. They are having fun and you can feel the freedom and creative hunger.

The video that accompanies it is classic rock n roll. Sydney Sweeny, a beautiful girl with big breasts rides down the street in a convertible while the Stones play on the billboards. It’s a great swan song. A perfect ending to the mainstream Rock music genre.

This song brings up a question, what happened to rock music as a mainstream presence? Where did it all go? Both Steve Harwell and Mick Jagger managed to become multi-millionaires during a unique period of time from 1965 to around 2007 when playing Rock music could get you obscenely rich. Indeed, Mick Jagger has a net worth of over $500 million. That window is probably never going to open again. Rock just came and went. What happened?

Old Music Dominates New Music

We have to start with the state of the music industry in 2023. Old rock bands still make a lot of money through touring and streaming. Guns n Roses are on tour now and sell out every stadium they play. No new Rock band can even come close. Rock music, more than any other genre is in it’s nostalgic era. Most music is like that these days. Music fans are choosing to listen to old songs instead of new ones. Year after year this trend is accelerating.

The new music market is actually shrinking. All the growth in the market is coming from old songs.

As Ted Goia writes: “Just consider these facts: the 200 most popular tracks now account for less than 5% of total streams. It was twice that rate just three years ago. And the mix of songs actually purchased by consumers is even more tilted to older music—the current list of most downloaded tracks on iTunes is filled with the names of bands from the last century, such as Creedence Clearwater and The Police.”

The Consequences of Not Being A Mainstream Art

Does it matter than Rock music is not mainstream and that you can’t make lots of money or become super popular? I think so.

Sure, new Rock music is still being released every day. There are bands forming and playing gigs in every city in America. But making a living as a new rock band is very difficult. You are lucky if you can scrape by and make lower-middle class money touring all the time. No cash or girls in this game anymore.

Incentives matter. Would Freddie Mercury be a lead singer of a rock band today knowing there was no money or career that could possibly come from it? Probably not. The most talented people go to industries that offer than an opportunity. Some talented kid who would pick up the guitar in 1996 and practice for 100 hours a week isn’t doing that anymore. That probably means the quality going forward is less good than when Rock was a lucrative career path from 1960-2005.

It reminds me of the Catholic priest issue. Throughout the last 1,000 years becoming a priest was a high-status career. The priest had immense respect in the community, power, and often times used leisure to do science. You can look at this Wikipedia page of Catholic priest scientists and see thousands of names. They were academia before academia.

Today, we live in a mostly post-religious age. The esteem of clergy is much, much less than in previous centuries. Those same people who would become priests in 1600 are now doing other things, like law, business, academia, or investing. I’m sure the priests of today are nice gentlemen and committed to their faith, but they are not the same as the ones from previous eras.

What Was Rock Music Anyways?

Little Richard famously said rock music was just rhythm and blues uptempo.

He does have a point, at least musically. But that’s not the entire story of Rock music. Rock music emanated from a certain culture. We can try to locate what Rock was by defining it by what it was not.

Rock music was not hip-hop. Hip-hop is a cultural expression that is predominantly African American and describes the African American experience. Born out of socio-economic struggles it is no surprise the main topics are making money, materialism and survival. Hip-hop provided a voice for marginalized communities, articulating their experiences, aspirations, and frustrations.

Rock music was not Country. Country music, rooted deeply in the rural traditions of the American South and Appalachia, emerged in the early 20th century as a melodic expression of the experiences and stories of working-class rural Americans. The genre encapsulates themes of love, hardship, and everyday life, often delivered with a characteristic twang.

Rock music was not pop or dance music. Dance music, often intertwined with pop, emphasizes rhythms and beats conducive to dancing. It is much more of musical, rather than lyrical genre. It lacks the text of Rock music.

Demographics

Rock music was listened to by a mostly (but not solely) young white working class or middle class audience that lived in cities or suburbs. It can be accurately described as a young person’s music. It became a powerful vehicle for youth expression, societal commentary, and countercultural movements. Today, rock music listeners are 77% more likely to be aged 55+ and 33% more likely to be 35-54. They are also Caucasian, and suburban/rural dwellers and have a significant representation from the Midwest.

The subject matter concerned the issues of that demographic

• Being Broke

• Going Through a Breakup

• Being Drafted into a War

• Falling in Love

• Pay day on Friday

• Being Lonely

• Science Fiction Fantasy

If you became a fan of one band, you plugged yourself into a multi-decade tradition. If you listened to Radiohead in the 90s, you also listened to Nirvana, or went back to the Talking Heads, or back to Jimi Hendrix, or Bob Dylan. The music spanned different eras. You had debates about “who was the better band?” because you shared a culture with other fans.

but that musical tradition is dead. When mainstream Rock died, it also took away a common culture that stretched by 70 years and allowed people to engage with a multi-decade history of music, social issues and eras. It’s one less thing we can talk to each other about.

The Film Director Richard Linklater thinks that Cinema is heading toward the same fate.

We’re becoming more of a “what is happening today” culture without deep roots.

In This Newsletter

1) Why Did Rock Music End?

2) Country Music Endures: If you look at the most popular songs in America, you’ll notice Country Music is on there. Country Music still churns out superstars that sell out stadiums. It does not just rely on old acts like Rock music. This is surprising because Country music was hated for so many decades. Is there something Lindy about Country that doesn’t exist in rock?

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