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I have FEELINGS about this. If you read the actual article, he makes a lot of good and true points about the state of music in Boston and nationally -- but the framing is atrocious, and racist. 1/ https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/08/14/opinion/aerosmith-cars-pixies-boston-used-be-rock-n-roll-capital-where-has-all-music-gone/?camp=bg%3Abrief%3Arss%3Afeedly&rss_id=feedly_rss_brief&s_campaign=bostonglobe%3Asocialflow%3Atwitter
It's true that you can no longer play a show at the Middle East and get a record deal when you step off the stage. But you can't do that anywhere -- it was part of a rush by record execs trying to find the next nirvana. It hurt a lot of musicians who later lost their deals. 2/
The death of college radio, alt weeklys and the tightening of belts at labels have hurt artists nationally, and have everything to do with streaming's impact on the industry. All of which the author astutely points out! He even says regionalism is LESS IMPORTANT as a result. 3/
We need to stop glorifying Boston's rock 'n roll "heyday." There's a reason that music doesn't hit the Top 40 anymore: it's not relevant. The dominant form of pop music is hip-hop -- a genre Boston is notoriously hostile to. I've even reported on it! 4/ https://www.wbur.org/artery/2018/02/28/boston-hip-hop
The article nods to Bobby Brown and New Edition, but they're footnotes in a rock 'n roll story. If you're going to make an argument about Boston music grounded in history, Black music NEEDS to be a part of that story. R&B and rap both have deep histories here. 5/
What's more, hip-hop has a TON of energy in greater Boston right now. We also have a vibrant indie rock scene and an Americana/folk scene that consistently produces top talent. The author seems primarily concerned with popular music so I won't even mention jazz or classical... 6/
Boston has never been an industry town. That mattered less when rents were cheap. But now, artists can barely afford to live here -- making our small, but vibrant, regional music scene less appealing in the long term. Again -- this is something the article points out! 7/
