Music and Depth

If you have thoroughly convinced yourself that the three-chords and a prayer formula of the Sex Pistols or the carefree musings of The Monkees have more depth than contemporary post and progressive rock bands like Dream Theater or Isis, then maybe it's time to start looking at the concept of "depth" and today's music under a different light. Of course when you turn on the radio you're bound to hear a certain variety of shallow, formulaic love stung saccharine Pop flooding the airwaves courtesy of the latest trends in the music industry and in society, but then again each generation has had its share of easy listening, generally accessible (and some might say detestable) music.

These days as more and more major labels continue to downsize their operations and focus on a smaller pool of artists to mass market, opportunities for truly artistic and forward thinking soloists and groups continue to dwindle. This has had a profound effect on the growth of the independent music scene that we have been experiencing up to this day, along with the tools and options for self-promotion, content delivery, and for getting your music out to as many people as possible 24/7 that the Internet continues to provide.

Music and recording technology has also advanced by leaps in bounds, and today we reap the benefits of spectacular sounding home and project studio recordings that used to cost much larger sums of money and time invested in the latter half of the 20th century. Self-education in music has become a viable, albeit still watered down, alternative to institutional learning given the number of professionally produced lessons and amateur contributions online. From an eager student's standpoint, there has never been an easier time to access knowledge and information pertaining to music.

Whenever you dial in your favorite station and you are disappointed with what you are currently hearing, it's not the fault of today's generation of musicians and the music that they produce. That's what radio wants you to hear because whether we like it or not, there will always be music that will be made specifically for the radio. If you don't like it, then it's your prerogative to search for music that you truly enjoy via alternative, legal sources. For the first time in the history of broadcast media, savvy listeners are finally given a choice in the content that they want to tune in to through online services such as iTunes, MySpace and Napster, and even digital satellite radio services like XM: it's no longer about exposing yourself to what the labels and media want to force feed you because you now have options aside from mainstream outlets like FM radio and Top 40 shows.

Music isn't losing its depth. In fact, with the proliferation of mass marketed and contrived superficial music that exists on the surface, quality music has naturally burrowed itself further and further into the underground, challenging the true fan of music to search harder and longer in different places than he has grown accustomed to in order for him to discover the true nature of what music has evolved into today. It's not that music has lost its depth: the casual listener just has to dig deeper.