Will there ever be "another Beatles"? Yes or no?

[hsher]

A very kind DUer just posted a thread saying that music today is much like it was in the early 1960's, just before the arrival of The Beatles to change everything: formulaic, uninspired, insipid, you name it. So what do YOU think, DUers? Do you think, yes or no, another group will emerge and take pop music by storm, AND, stick around long enough on one label to lead pop through the kinds of changes The Beatles did? Are we due for a new Lennon and McCartney? Think it will happen? Sound off!

My vote: NO :thumbsdown:

The Beatles were a one-time thing, and the world was *very* lucky. It'll never happen again.
What's YOUR opinion?

[matcom]

1. well we already HAVE Hanson!

:shrug:


























:hide:

[MrCoffee]

2. NKOTB could kick Hanson's ass

and you know it.

[mvd]

7. Hanson is no Beatles, but thay have matured

I like their new stuff.

[ghostsofgiants]

3. There are probably a few bands that should have.

But these days most people who pay attention to those bands are too jaded with mainstream music to care if they get big (and in some cases prefer they DON'T get big).

[mvd]

12. Hi, primate

The Beatles are my favorite artist, so anything that's too close too the Beatles couldn't be another one.

[some guy]

4. no

marketeers are too savvy now. If anything like another Beatles came along, dozens of just-like-another-Beatles would be all over the airwaves in a matter of a couple months, thus diluting and wearing out the innovation before it had a chance to grow and make any real impact of its own.

[mvd]

5. Well, I disagree with that thread in the first place

But another Beatles (THAT great and THAT popular) might not come for another generation - it also depends on how much rock survives.

[AngryAmish]

6. Not until there is another generation the size of the baby Boomers

The vast majority of music purchasers are teenagers. When one gets older the deep connection to music fades away. I used to buy lots of records and go to a lot of shows. I'm middle aged now and the connection to new artists is very difficult to form. In fact, I walked out of the Beck show last Saturday.

Anyway I still listen to music from my youth. So do Baby Boomers. Since they are the largest demographic group the music corporations have figured out that they can re-push the Beatles every few years. The Boomers will buy the product (and so will younger folks because despite the Beatles not being remotely what I like many people consider them good). They don't have to produce a new artist which is expensive.

Beatles will be the biggest because of demographic and marketing by corporations.

[mark414]

8. no way - too many people have too much access to too many mediums

for anyone to ever have the impact that the beatles did

[NewWaveChick1981]

9. No. The world is a different place now, and music has changed

immeasurably since the Beatles came along. The freshness the Beatles brought to the music scene is sadly lacking these days.

[mvd]

10. There is freshness, but unfortunately, the phenomenon that..

comes just might be techno related.

[_testify_]

11. No. Thank goodness!

[Tyrone Slothrop]

13. No

I kind of doubt there will ever be another "Nirvana" either.

It's due to the age we live in.

I have not seen the thread in question, but I would have to challenge the poster's assertion; there's a whole LOT of really good, groundbreaking music out right now.

Do you ever hear it on the radio? Nope.

Ever see it on MTV? Nope.

The problem here: it's all about the corporations. The corporations only want to push music that "tests well"; that is, music that's appreciated by a large audience that's mainly comprised of teenage girls. This music is never going to be inspired or groundbreaking due to the very fact that it is "safe" from a marketing standpoint.

We've given corporations all the power in this society; corporations want to make $$$. The easiest way for corporations to make money is to sell music that's proven to sell. Which means that they aren't going to push any music on the public that's groundbreaking or "sounds different" or anything like that. Those bands (like TV on the Radio or The New Pornographers or The Mars Volta and so on) are simply too much of a gamble for a corporation to push in the same way that The Beatles were marketed.

Likewise, the distribution methods for music have radically changed (as has the whole concept of genre); music keeps getting pared down into smaller and smaller niche groups (ie hardcore electro-funk, etc.). Which, of course, could lead to a whole other discussion.

However, I think it's a fairly safe bet to say that it seems unlikely that a band as universally loved as The Beatles will be coming along anytime soon -- primarily because the powers that could distribute such a sound to the mass public will never distribute such a sound to the mass public.

[hsher]

14. My next question then, would be...

What band today most deserves Beatles-level fame?
Who should we be listening to today on CD?
See this new thread under DU Lounge.