What is the future of musical style?
Musical style often erupts from the undercurrent which flows far beneath the surface. The surface is where you find the AMAs and Grammy winners–artists who swim in the main stream. Sometimes an artist in the undercurrent will find their way into this main stream (though usually at this point their music, their style will get watered down). There are many artists and many styles and cultures represented in the undercurrent. You might have to dig a bit to find them. Wander into an indie record store–or follow some rabbit trails on sites like Spotify. What you’re apt to discover is that the “style” bubbling under the surface is not merely a re-hashing of a previous genre (something the LA music machine is infamous for). But what you may stumble upon are European and the Middle Eastern musicians merging traditional styles with electronics, jazz and a rich palette of voices, male and female, of all ages telling some amazing stories. Lot’s of amazing rhythms and sounds coming out of Africa
Music has always been about image to a degree. The Beatles deserve their reputation as the greatest band ever but they were styled as much as anyone, originally by Astrid Kirscher (who gave them all their haircuts) and then by Brian Epstein who put them in suits and gave them a more family image. In the early days they spent as much time doing photo shoots as they did in the studio. The Rolling Stones were deliberately styled as the bad-boy alternative to the clean cut Beatles. I think TV helped to move the focus more towards image with MTV and video clips but the internet is moving the balance back towards substance over style. Online radio and music sharing sites mean you don’t need a video clip (or even a single) to get heard. People can share music with each other because they like the music and not the image behind it. It’s possible for someone like Bela Fleck and the Flecktones (who are a truly original musical act) to gain a large and loyal fanbase thanks to their clever use of
