Does NYC's music scene suck?

[soundguy]

Everyone seems to think there is a music scene here. If there is one, it does infact suck, but I dont even really think there is a scene here. Theres just TONS of venues and TONS of bands but for my dollar that doesnt make a scene. There is no sense of community at ALL and because there is so much to do in the city and because there are so many different places to see bands and so many different bands to see on a given night, people take it for granted and nobody gives a shit about the performance. The best "scenes" are always in little towns in the middle of nowhere that are starved for culture so the kids all band together and play music just because there is nothing fucking else to do at night. The people who cant play go to watch. Those scenes are always the most vital and those scenes have a history of churning out some pretty shattering bands over the years. I think its no real coincidence that the last time there was a scene in nyc was about the last time a real band was born in nyc, early 80's at least. Availability of music does not make a scene. NYC is just a city where all the big bands stop and in between there are little bands to fill in the gaps. None of the bands tend to give a fuck about each other, the audiences definitley could give a fuck about the bands and there is little sense of community in any way shape or form. Not exactly the criteria I look for when trying to find a cool creative environment.

dave

[eeldip]

of course most people find a "scene" in a city exactly at the point at which they are most social and most commited to the idea of a "scene" (usually 17-25 or so). then, once they get bored of the "scene" they declare it dead and gone. or in an extreme example they decide that the scene never existed in the first place and then refer to an imagined "golden era" where the "scene" was really something!

[janusmusic]

well 17-25yr olds seem to buy the records, I'll be honest I don't buy that much new stuff. Being in a band I realize that you really need to get the younger crowd interested in you, and then you'll sell CD's. Haven't really figured it out yet, and not really har pressed to.I can safely say that the music is really just a part of it it is marketing etc. etc.and it's money lots of money. I just heard that the CMJ "bands to watch" section is paid advertisment that labels pay $800 dollars to have their bands featured.Also that there is a list of 50 or more bands pre-paid and waiting. Also the Magnet and CMJ sampler CD's are $500 to have you're track put on there..$700 to be in track 1-3. So it's rather depressing because alot of the "independent" media and opinions are really just bought and sold...

[eeldip]

its only $500?

wow, you could write a song called "i paid $500 to get on this CMJ comp" and get it on the comp (well, they might balk). that would be worth $500.

looking at my post above it seems a bit bitter. didnt mean for it to sound that way...

interpret it just like janusmusic did.
a scene is a social construct that creates a record buying market!

ohh. that is a little bitter too isnt it...

anyway, who cares. we all had fun when we were interested in the scene meme! so why spoil it.

[DUC]

People in scenes mostly gossip and stab each other in the back. Always better to be outside looking in.

The grass is always greener on the other side.

[Elvis Debarge]

DUC - absolutely.

[janusmusic]

Thank god it's friday?

When life hands you lemons make lemonade..?

[rauri76]

Golden age indeed,
If ya think about it 30-40 years ago what was there to do when you were done with school or got out of work, not much really. There were a handful of programs on TV around dinner time, Hollywood wasn't turning out movies like today, no playstation X box or whatever, no internet, no VHS or DVD rentals, no 300 channels of cable TV etc. I think people went out a lot. I think they actually left their homes and pursued local entertainment. I don't think people pursue local entertainment much anymore. Hours and hours of entertainment can be had without having to leave the house. I am a passive sheep, paying taxes completely complacent in my 21st century strip mall suburb completely detached from first person experiences. I am exactly what any government wants a docile tax paying citizen with a self imposed curfew.
Vive la revolution.

[thunderboy]

I work at a live music venue here in the city, five nights a week.

The scene sucks.

jt

[soundguy]

I suppose you are right about hollywood not making movies today like they used to. Then, they made more. The studio system had salary employees and very little TV production, so this amounted to cheap labor all focused on the same medium and they made shit loads of movies compared to now. Ive never heard of a double feature in my lifetime, but this of course was commonplace for my fathers generation.

dave

[NewYorkDave]

Double features are still the norm at drive-ins. I'm lucky enough to have four drive-ins within a reasonable distance of me. To me, it's as much a part of summer as cold beer and ice cream.

[joel hamilton]

NYC rocks, you just have to know where to look on any given night.

The "scene" is fairly tight actually. I play in a few bands and there are a zillion nice other band people that we always seem to be dealing with in a friendly way.

NYC fucking rocks.

I have played in every city in america a bunch of times, and NYC rocks.