More Thoughts on the end of Rock N' Roll as We Know It

Rockers are petering out.

Yet they still sell!

As has been lamented in these last years about the end of rock 'n roll, along with the rise of rap and whether modern pop is a bellwether of the music to come or more of the pap that many believe it to be and has been for nigh on a half-century, is, if one looks closely, the ginormous influence and effect of the titans of the rock biz on all the younger bands and players who must exist within the confines of what the legendary rockers created, and to fight for whatever air they can find in the rocken-verse.

Which brings us to the two articles listed above that show how the dinosaurs of rock continue to dominated and vacuum up the concert dollars and remarkably, continue to sell records-yes, records, in this the 21st century. How is a nube to make any measurable leeway in such an environment?

Though it should not be taken lightly; I certainly don't being up there in years, time and tide is slowly winnowing out the big players on the concert circuit, putting pressure on promoters to makeup the lost revenue. Sure The Biebs and Billie Eilish will pull in their fans, but those fans don't have the discretionary pocket money that doe-eyed boomers do for their geriatric musical heroes and a willingness to buy all manner of ephemera that their kids will one day have to make sense of, and dispose of.

That's a lot of cash money falling off the table.

Then there's record sales, yes-as I said before-records. According to BuzzAngle's 2019 report, who are the top selling rock bands? The Beatles, Queen, Pink Floyd, Fleetwood Mac. The only non-classic rock band to make it: Nirvana.

Pop did ok with Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish, who had the best-selling vinyl record, as well as Michael Jackson and Frank Sinatra. Total album sales included Elvis, and for the sake of some sense of sanity, Springsteen and Metallica. The youngest rock band on the list? Tool, who have been around for 20 years.

I find all of that remarkable, but not surprising. The question all this poses is what going to happen as more of rock elder generation dies off. As the Guardian articles notes more and more of rock's legends are giving up touring because it's too grueling: it killed Tom Petty! Kiss, Ozzy, Paul Simon, Neil Diamond (alright, they're not considered rockers in the classic sense, but you know what I'm getting at) have called it quits.

Maybe when the oldsters are out of the picture and not longer taking all the light, new bands will take their place.

Maybe.

©2020 David William Pearce