Don't Get Around Much Anymore

My friends at NYCD have started running a series of thoughtful pieces on the music industry that they call Passion Of The Cranks. Tony and Sal make a number of fine points, some of which I agree with and some I don't. (And either way, I thank them because it's broken my four week old writers block).

One pervasive theme at NYCD, not just in the Passion Plays, but their overall blog is "Why do old people suck?" Take Sal's Vol. 2:

"... a lot people in my age range -- roughly 40-50 -- seem, for whatever reason, to have lost whatever impetus that used to get them out to see live music by someone other than a friend or a living legend from the classic rock era."

So where were all the 50 year olds hiding at the 1994 Pavement show at Roseland? Or the 1993 Dinosaur show? Or the 1991 Replacements show at the Ritz? Or the Rilo Kiley show at Webster Hall in 2005 (sorry, rock critics don't count). They must have been in the bathroom shooting smack, because I didn't see them.

My point is: 40-50s year olds don't go to see bands in clubs. I don't think they ever have. Not at Brownies in 1992, Not at the Peppermint Lounge in 1981, Not at CBGB in 1976.

So why is their absence evidence that "music has been on life support for too many years now?"

The premise seems wrong and the conclusion seems wrong.

'The people who troll through clubs looking for the next big thing generally fall into one of two categories: the unemployed and the unemployable. AKA young people.

I can only speak from experience. But as a 37 year old man with two kids and a full time job, I have a limited amount of money and an even more limited amount of time. That time and money will be spent on entertainment that I'll be reasonably sure I'll like. I'd love to see Arcade Fire, The Wrens, The Shins, or take a shot on any number of new acts. But maybe I get one night a month to go out, because I have responsibilities at home and I get up at 4:30 a.m. to get to work. Something has to give. I can't afford to be as adventurous as I once might have been. And I don't think my situation is unique.

But there are other factors as well. NYCD has already discussed the price of such entertainment. But competition is also a factor, both within and without the industry. In the 1970s, there simply weren't as many places to see live shows. I don't have exact figures, but I'd be willing to bet that the number of places booking national acts in NewYork has at least tripled (quadrupled? quintupled?) in the last 30 years. That's three times as much capacity. Supply has increased and unfortunately demand has most likely declined. I'll get to that latter point in a minute.

It's easier to create a buzz or have a scene coalesce when there'sonly two or three places to go hear music. This is the main reasonscenes cropped up in Seattle, Athens, even Chicago. New York won't be that place anymore because the city, its residents and society overall is too fragmented.

As for demand, people have more choices now about what they do with their spare time. Many of my co-workers rush home on the early train to their wives and family. Some go to bars to meet people. Some work late. Some go to movies. Some play video games (yes the 40 year olds too). Others have TiVo where they can watch endless amounts oftelevision, movies and the like. Where music may have once been a first resort, it no longer is because other forms of entertainment compete for our attention.

It's unfortunate that this is the case, but that's how society hasdeveloped. Technology and economics have created more choices more cheaply. We as a society are still working out what those biases are-- i.e. who wins and who loses.

Is music one of the losers? NYCD seems to think so, although I have a hard time believing that music means less to 18 to 34 year olds thanit did 20 years ago. People are just as passionate about music as theyhave ever been. They act out this passion in clubs that we old folks don't go to. They act out this passion online, in their garages, on ProTools, on turntables, on mixtapes and lots of places we old folks may never see or hear.

And they're still buying music, maybe not as much as they used to and maybe not in the same places or the same ways they used to (I still love you, NYCD). It's clear that the industry has alienated many of those customers. But don't blame old people because we don't get around much anymore.

The music business is cyclical and it will rise again, mostly likely in places that we least expect. We may be too old to realize it. But that won't make a recovery any less possible or powerful.