[Dixielandjazz] OK . . . A Solution

Tue Jan 1 10:42:51 PST 2008

Some time back, I posted a dissertation (see below) here on the list .  .  . 
and it got little attention. However, it got picked up by The American  Rag, 
and I believe the IAJE. However, it created much discussion off-list and  
off-line.

One person wrote a rebuttal to the Rag saying I was implying that we should  
expect youth to sit though a 60 hour festival, when in fact, I had neither  
written or implied anything of the sort. A concert, is only a concert . . . and  
selective band sets is just that. A youth's attention span is what it is . . 
.  and sometimes the hotel pool will win out.

One person wrote back he agreed completely and asked if I had any further  
concrete ideas to take this a step or two further.

Yes, I have a simple one, and maybe someone's posted it already, but I seem  
to have missed it (sorry for not giving you, whoever, credit).

The following applies to all concerts that you aren't confident of selling  
out completely (although, you STILL may wish to consider this as a long-range  
fix) and ALL jazz festivals.

Here goes:

1. All youth under 21 years of age are admitted FREE.

2. All adults BRINGING a youth with them get a 20% discount on their own  
ticket or admission.

Although it's not the important part . . . you'll probably make up the  money 
in food and swag sales anyway.

There . . . that's it . . . that's all there is to it . . . and many times  
the best, wisest thing is also the simplest and least complicated.

Now, below, once again, is the post, er ah, article.

Bill
414-777-0100
BillSargentBands.com

Just released: "The  Best Of Bill Sargent Bands - Volume 1"

Available at:  http://billsargentbands.com/recordings.htm

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American  Music . . . Why!  
Who’s to blame for  declining talent and audiences? 
By Bill  Sargent 
<<( I posted an  article to the Dixieland Jazz Mailing List (DJML) from 
Forbes.com about a survey  taken on why CD sales were dropping. The topic of 
discussion immediately focused  on the article’s mention of CD prices and everyone 
overlooked the main purpose  of my bringing it to their attention. I responded 
with the following post, which  I’ve edited to correct my careless typing and 
composition for email.  )>> 
“All y'all missed it.  I put this (article) up on the board and said it was 
what I've been saying for  years . . . and everybody jumped on the price of CDs 
. . . making or  selling. 
Y'all missed the  totally obvious. Since the '80s I've been telling people, 
of all ages and walks,  that music and talent had gone down the proverbial 
dumper. That anybody could  name their favorite song from any decade up to that 
point in time, irrespective  of musical genre or age group, but NOBODY could 
name their favorite song from  the '80s, or the '90s, or in this current decade . 
. . because nothing was good  enough to stick or standout. 
And I've been  preaching about stars no longer being talented . . . AND THE 
FACT THAT THIS HAS  NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with the mantra that "every 
generation goes through  this". This has nothing to do with the usual, every 
generation's "kids rebelling  against the parents" deal.  
But it has EVERYTHING  to do with the fact that the corporations, the media 
and Hollywood are so  incredibly screwed up . . . in just about every way 
possible, from the way they  THINK society thinks . . . or the way they THINK 
society should be, or what kind  of social change they can effect, or just the 
basic "assembly line" production  of producing new "stars". And that goes for ALL 
of "American  entertainment". 
It started with  computers and rhythm machines & keyboards . . . followed 
closely by the  mechanical feel of Disco music . . .  expanded by computerized 
production  in recording "studios" and Pro-Tools that make untalented people 
seem perfect,  with "perfect” drummers and “perfect” string sections, etc.  etc. 
Then they were stupid  enough to record a few people who spoke rhythmic lines 
(because they couldn’t  sing a note in tune, even if the tune was Mary Had A 
Little Lamb) on top of  droning pedal tones and looped drum machine rhythms . 
. . and they sold this as  a new kind of “music”, and marketed these people 
as "talented  stars". 
Now even THESE people  are beginning to take a back seat to even LESS 
talented people (because even an  audience with a pea brain gets so bored with THEM 
that when a rap or rock show  actually happens, nobody can stomach any one act 
for more that a very brief  period, so they have to fill the evening with 10 
bands) . . . yes, they are now  taking a back seat to those talented new 
"stars" who push all the buttons to  make it happen. Yes, I am speaking of no other 
than those they bill as  "LIVE DJs" . . . appearing from some other exotic 
city in some other part of the  country . . . and many times, they have to hire 
10 of these to appear in any one  night to keep the "numb of brain" 
entertained, or in a  "trance". 
The people who were  genuine stars - people who were able to sustain a career 
over decades, because,  not only were they talented, but they were marketed 
FOR THEIR ACTUAL TALENT, and  could actually perform a song in front of an 
audience without some pre-recorded  studio tracks - could actually, 
single-handedly, keep an audience entertained  ALL BY THEMSELVES, for an evening of 
entertainment. 
These were people who  didn't need to work on a single album for one, two or 
three years, but were  capable of recording a new album every single month! 
AND do it without  multi-tracking or fixing with Pro-Tools. 
So why aren't there  more, and some might even say ANY, talented people 
today? WHY SHOULD there be  and more importantly, HOW COULD there be? Look at what 
Hollywood has put before them,  the aspiring “artist”, as examples of how to 
make it. 
Why learn to play an  instrument when any computer wiz kid can get the job 
done? Why learn to actually  use your voice and sing, when nobody who becomes 
famous and makes money does?  Why bother with the personalities, rehearsals and 
costs of a band, when Karaoke  is where it's at? After all, almost everybody 
sings or speaks rhythmically with  tracks on TV. 
Who's fault is it? The  source is in Hollywood. It all starts on the  screen. 
MTV is nothing but a commercial from start to finish. TV & movies  are just 
as completely out of touch. It is closely followed by the audio media .  . . 
record companies, who are arm & arm, and in many cases the same people  as are 
in Hollywood. 
All this is closely  followed by the parents and grandparents. First, for 
allowing this junk into  their homes and kid's lives to begin with (and don't 
give me this excuse about  not being able to control what kids view or listen to, 
because that is nothing  but a cop-out and nonsense spoken by lazy, 
pass-the-buck people) . . . AND . . .  Second, FOR NOT TAKING THEM TO AND EXPOSING THEM 
TO THE GOOD  STUFF! 
You look at every  single audience at these jazz fests, and you'll see 
nothing but a bunch of  selfish, lazy blue-hairs. These are people who KNOW that 
America's musical culture is  turning to garbage . . . people who are CHOOSING to 
do nothing about it or use  the lazy, cop-out lines: "What can I do? I can't 
do anything about it." . . . .  or "I can't get my grand-kids to come . . . 
they don't like this kind of stuff"  . . . or "They're too busy". 
BULL . . . BULL . . .  just plain horsepuckey! One of the big problems at the 
source of all this is  parents and grandparents trying to be friends with 
their kids instead of taking  the responsibility of being parents. It's the tail 
wagging the dog stuff. My  kids go where I tell them they are going to go. 
They listen to what I tell them  they can or cannot to listen to. They watch what 
I decide they can or cannot  watch. If I lay down the law that a musical 
education has a priority in the  house, then it does. If I say that music has a 
priority over sports, soccer or  basketball, then it does. If I say we are going 
to hear the Count Basie band in  concert tonight, then we do. They can do 
what they want with their life when  they leave the house at 18 years old, but 
until then, it is my, and OUR,  responsibility to get off our lazy butts, and 
not be afraid of what they'll  think of us. 
Why would this be any  different than their education in elementary, middle, 
high school or college? In  those places, for the most part, they MUST take 
the classes that are required of  them . . . they must read the required books. 
Why would music be any different  in a person's education, ESPECIALLY given 
the volumes of scientific studies that  show improved intelligence, academic and 
social levels through musical  education. 
You can't expect America to like, or demand,  or consume, what it does not 
know exists. You can't expect to raise up great  talent, when kids have no true 
picture or definition of what talent  is. 
And finally, all you  old folks out there, and I know I am talking to 99% of 
this list, quit being so  doggone selfish and thinking only of yourselves the 
next time you go to a jazz  fest or concert for a nice time with your spouse 
and friends. Be willing to go  through the effort and inconvenience of taking 
your grandkids with you . . . and  if you don't have any, then find some. Find 
some young people to mentor . . .  find some little skull of mush that you 
might actually be able to convince to  come along with you . . . even if you have 
to lie about all the hot chicks or  guys they'll meet. 
Now, to step down off  my soap box and direct you to the pertinent paragraphs 
from the original article  I posted that everyone seems to have overlooked:” 
* "Less talented  people are able to get a song out there and make a quick 
million and you  never hear from them again," said Kate Simkins, 30, of Cape 
Cod,   Mass.   
Many fans also  say they just don't like what they're hearing. It may not be 
surprising to  hear older fans say music just isn't what it used to be when 
they were  growing up. But the poll also found that 49 percent of music fans  
ages 18-to-34 - the target audience for the music business - say music is  
getting worse.  

"Even if our  parents didn't like how loud rock 'n' roll was, or that it  was 
revolutionary, at least they could listen to some of it," said  Christina 
Tjoelker, 49, from Snohomish, Wash. "It wasn't  gross. It wasn't disgusting. It 
wasn't about beating up women or shooting  the police."  
* The above excerpts  were from an article titled “Fan Memo to Music 
Industry: Lower  Prices 
by David Bauder, Forbes.com 02.02.2006 
Bill  Sargent 
414-777-0100 
BillSargent.com 
BillSargentBands.com

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