MUSIC IS DYING…AND IT’S YOUR FAULT by Jaimie Vernon

Now that I have your attention, let’s talk about music in the time of COVID, shall we?
In the Before Times (March 2020 or sooner) the music industry was teetering on the brink of obsolescence as concert tickets had skyrocketed to the price of, well, a moon-landing, and venues were closing down at a rate equal to Nortel distributors. The music itself had been co-opted by the tech industry through streaming platforms, leaving artists wondering how they got robbed so badly (here’s a hint: you’re the cow, the music’s the milk…insert cliché about not buying the former if you can get the latter for free). On a scale of economics, you’re either a starving creator or a billionaire exploiter. There is no middle class in music. And given that most weasels in the music industry aren’t clever enough to become billionaires, they turn to low hanging fruit and pick the pockets of performers and songwriters for pennies on the dollar.

Cameron Carpenter: Rock’n’Roll Rewind – The Bars of 1978

I wrote this story for The New Music Magazine back in December of 1978. I was too young and naïve to realise that the once all music magazine was spreading out into the mainstream as they were struggling to find advertisers. I was soon writing about skiing and finding the best hamburger in the city. The magazine folded a few months later and The New Music is best remembered as the ground-breaking John Martin founded City-TV rock’n’roll television show. Of all of the clubs I reviewed some 37 years ago only two remain, and of those two, the El Mocambo has still not been re-opened by its new owners.