The front cover of almost every music mag says its all;  The music business is dying.

The use of music as a medium to rail against the mainstream is almost over.  For old media at least.

Perhaps old music dies with old media?

Q, Uncut, Mojo continue the same stories they started ten years ago; Top 100 stones tracks. The rise and fall of CSYN. The history of the Byrds. How to buy James Brown…

Where’s the new articles about the new artists?

I pity the people who’ve subscribed to these magazines for a long period of time. I pity them for being ripped off by editors commissioning the same stories, and I pity them for their unwavering support to music.

But if music sales suggest that buyers are only interested in the past, and the industry respond by issuing songs from the past- what else can writers write about?

The reissue of vinyl continues to milk music lovers dry of more cash. We’ve seen the conversion to cd. Then the 20/30/40 year re-issue packs. Then the delux issues. Then the apple versions. Just look at Oasis as a prime example of this.  Anything they can do to create more money by milking the same product dry they seem happy to do.  Key markets? demographics? a and r? What ever happened to my rock and roll?

Fuck hmv, virgin and all of the 90s huge record shops. The reason they’re failing businesses now (if they still exist) is exactly the result of them overcharging for cds when the going was good. You’re looking for loyalty now? Where was yours during your 7 fat years?

All of this asks the interesting question of supporting music industries.  How, for example, do music venues survive? Am I to be as critical of venues promoting tribute acts as I am of reissues?

Perhaps one day I will.  But not today.

Fair play to the Cluny who honored the recent death of Lemmy by showing a free viewing of his 2010 documentary film.  Clealry the event wasn’t build to make money, instead attempting to bring a community together, celebrate and promote the true values rock and roll stands for.
Fuck the business and listen to lemmy.

“My ethic is: ‘Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.’ You can be as careful as you want, but you’re going to die anyway, so why not have fun?”
― Lemmy Kilmister