Why So Much Music You Hear Sucks

By: Rizoh

      If you’re wondering why music played on the radio is worse now than it was many years ago, Hank Bordowitz, a veteran journalist and sometime musician is at your rescue. His book, Dirty Little Secrets of the Record Business: Why So Much Music You Hear Sucks, is an exposé of the surreptitious, unethical, and covert activities of the music industry.

      According to Bordowitz, the music industry sold 938.9 million units. In 2005, it sold 705 million units, a 25% drop in only six years!

      The Internet and other so-called disruptive technologies are some often blamed for sales dip, but a bigger reason, Bordowitz claims, is the industry’s reaction to new technology.

      The industry ignored the Internet, and then tried to “squash it” when it first arrived. “There are a lot of issues the record business ignored,” Bordowitz says. “When things are going well, it’s human nature to ignore any possible problems. And things were going very well in the early ’90s.”

     Some other reasons Bordowitz cites as being detrimental to the music industry includes payola and redundant playlists on commercial radio.

     Good music is still being created, most of them don’t get anywhere near a commercial radio station or a major label. (Thank God for the Internet!)

      "Music fans are going to have to dig a little deeper," Bordowitz says. "It’s not going to be laid out on your lap anymore like it used to be. If you want to hear one great song after another, you’re going to have to look for it."