There are a number of reasons for this. For one thing, today's crop of young "wanna be's" are writing compositions with this year's version of what's popular - as dictated by the deepest pockets in the business, the major record companies. Pop or rock music has always been youth driven, and the music you hear on radio is a reflection of those tastes. But what's happened to the good old rock and roll we used to like?

Let's face it - "rock" music has changed since Elvis first swiveled his hips in Memphis. It's either dance music, rap music, or whatever passes for alternative music these days. Pop music hasn't changed nearly as much. It is still heavily arranged and sugar coated. Divas are still Divas, although they make even more money now because the market is larger.

And are you wondering what have happened to all the great songwriters and players who used to do rock and roll? Well, they've either become blues purists, or they have gone country. In the 60's we had The Young Rascals. Today we have Rascal Flats. In the 60's we had The Supremes. Today we have the Dixie Chicks. In the 70's we had Bruce Springsteen. Today we have Brad Paisley. I think Garth Brooks was possibly the first country artist to borrow tried and true concert techniques established by the big rock groups of the past. Wireless headset microphones, computerized lighting, pyrotechnics, and high tech touring gear was almost culture shock for those early Garth Brooks concert fans. Today almost every popular C&W guitar-slinger-slash-artist fronts a band of professional players���. Hired guns from the "A" list. In place of a Hammond Organ they insert a steel guitar. In place of a guitar solo they insert a fiddle. The formula is obvious. Modern country music is following the path first trod by the rock stars of yesteryear. I predict country music trends will soon fall prey to the same youth driven market found in today's rock genre. I expect any day now to see a new group of "anti-establishment" country pickers who will likely smash their acoustic guitars to pieces on stage. They could call the genre "Cowpunk". (Remember, you read it here first!)

Another reason for the decline of good rock music is the Internet. The smoke still hasn't cleared on issues surrounding copyright infringement and music piracy. What self-respecting rock musician wants to spend a great amount of writing time constructing a great song or even a great new riff when he knows the minute it hits the Internet everyone can now get it for free!? Don't believe all the things you read about how the Internet is leveling the playing field for fresh talent. The "big boys" still hold two Aces: Marketing and Distribution. Sure, you can offer your music for sale on the Internet, either on your own website or by signing up with one or more of the various music web sites like iTunes, MySpace, CDBaby or Amazon.com (my CD is on all of them). However, without national exposure your music is swimming around among all the other fishes in the sea. Actually HAVING a product is a major step in the right direction but without some kind of financial backing to guarantee your flag flies higher than the next guy's, you are the little fish in the big pond. The model for advertising, marketing, selling and distributing has changed little since the heyday of great rock music. Old Rocker proverb: Man who holds purse strings controls market.

It's not that there are no more good rock songwriters. There is a lot of worthy product out there today. But the vast majority of unknown songwriters who have the talent will never be heard from because they don't live on either coast, or in some music Mecca like Austin, Memphis, or Seattle. Plainly put, Mohammed needs to move to the mountain in order to be discovered. With so many starving artists and songwriters pitching camp at the record industry's doors, there is simply no need for these fat cats to ever leave on a search for talent.

I can't tell you how many truly worthy songwriters and artists have recorded at my studio in the past 20 years. They somehow find a way to scrape together enough money to do some demo's in the studio. Some even go all out and have their own albums and CD's pressed. Some of these songs are as good, or even better than what you normally hear on the radio, but because they live in out of the way places no one will ever hear or enjoy the fruits of their labors. It's beyond discouraging. It's no wonder I see former great and talented artists and musicians give it up and take a job in the "straight world" as a factory worker or retail salesman. It's a genuine waste of natural resources, but there it is.

You can't even depend on US radio anymore to break a new artist. Most of the stations have been gobbled up - as if assimilated by the Borg - by huge broadcast chains who demand all stations adhere to their corporate policies. And that includes non-deviation of corporate-approved play lists. It's one of the reasons I got out of radio broadcasting back in the 70's. I saw the handwriting on the wall. Personality radio (your friendly neighborhood disk jockey) was slowly giving way to automation and management that discouraged free-thinking music directors who selected what songs to play, leaving nothing to chance or offering allowances for local artists with a large following. Back in the 80's I managed a band that was arguably the best live rock band in Arkansas. They had a huge following in their hometown of Ft. Smith and always drew crowds in Little Rock and Fayetteville. Even back then I could not get much action from radio for this band. Oh, sure, they would play a cut now and again, but never truly got behind the band and promote them enough to get some regional attention so perhaps a music scout might hear of them or see them in a showcase.

Nope, it still boils down to "who you know" and "being in the right place in at the right time". Even the "who you know" is getting difficult due to the increasing litigation by artists who feel their music has been stolen and used to promote some other band or artist that is in a more favorable position to the label. As usual, the industry has created a catch phrase, called "unsolicited material" so they don't appear to be the bad guys. So how come a veteran like me with over forty years of experience in broadcasting, music publishing, and recording can't get his foot in the door? How come I can go out to California at my own expense to promote a group of Arkansas artists as the head of an independent record label and literally get blown off by every major record company in the industry��..I don't know. If you find out, please let me in on the dirty little secret, because the record buying public is being deprived of some very worthwhile artists and songwriters, simply because we live here in Arkansas. I suppose if we wore DeeCee overalls and a straw hat with no shoes we'd be considered, but only as a novelty act. It's beyond me. I've spent the better part of my entire career trying to promote Arkansas artists and to no avail. For some reason everyone in the music industry thinks we are a backward people with little or no worthwhile talent. Maybe the Internet can somehow overcome or sidestep that long standing stereotype of the hillbilly redneck. Maybe the hillbilly redneck won't make sense to an international web surfer.

I DO know that I get much more interest in our music on the web from European and Australian markets. It seems they are more interested in the music as it stands on its own merit instead of following trends or paying attention to what the media tells us to like. Less importance is placed on age or gender as well. No one seems to care if "Stress" is written and performed by a 50-year-old man, as long as they like the tune and lyrics.

I think that in the near future many die hard US rockers over 30 will attempt to market their music offerings overseas and not even consider the American market. I can't say that I blame them. After all, there are people from all walks of life and from many countries who like a certain style of classic rock music not heard anymore on American radio or offered in retail music stores. The entire baby Boomer Generation was raised on rock and roll. For now all they can find (other than the classic rock hits of the 60's and 70's) that is even similar to classic rock is blues or modern country. For those who do not want to make the change there is little offered from new artists other than on independent labels that are restricted to limited marketing and distribution.

In the meantime, on the off chance that some current record label A&R man happens across this article, and is one of those rare individuals who is looking for "something new", why not bring back the sound of classic rock? You know how everything in life seems to go in cycles��� why not be the first to "rediscover" the classic rock genre? Give me a call. I've got just the thing for you!!

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