ROCK MUSIC IS DEAD

[METALMAN]

It seems the reign of the rock band is officially over. While critics have noted the decline of guitar bands for some time, only now have official figures confirmed that pop singles are selling more than those in the rock genre.

Lady Gaga, Paolo Nutini and Lily Allen were among the biggest-selling acts in 2009, according to the Official Charts Company (OCC), with "pop" accounting for 33.5% of singles sold (up from 28% in 2008). Rock's share, on the other hand, dipped from 31% to just 24.5%, followed by R&B (18.9%) and hip-hop (almost 9%).

The results may be surprising given that the OCC claims 2009 saw far more rock releases than any other genre. According to its figures, rock albums accounted for 40.2% of total releases, followed by just 13.7% for pop. Despite this, Kings of Leon were the only rock act to exceed the 1m sales mark with their album Only By the Night, released in 2008.

Geoff Taylor, BPI chief executive said: "There's no doubt that 2009 was a vintage year for pop. Some fantastic records led to a strong performance by the genre in both albums and singles."

It was the emergence of artists such as Tinchy Stryder and N-Dubz who not only provided some of the year's strongest releases, but also highlighted a growing appetite for dance- and urban-influenced pop acts. This blurring of genre lines has contributed to the triumph of pop in the singles market. Dizzee Rascal, Chipmunk and Tinie Tempah were strong contenders alongside Cheryl Cole and La Roux in helping singles sales overtake rock with 33% share of the market.

Rage Against the Machine's Killing in the Name was the only rock single to make the top 10 bestsellers of 2009. The 18-year-old song became last year's Christmas No 1 after a successful Facebook campaign to end X Factor's domination of the top spot.

from the Gurniad

[The Viper]

R.I.P Rock Music

Edited May 13, 2010 by The Viper

[Rich]

If this was a thread title "The Viper is dead" I would be much more satisfied with its conclusions

[Skummy]

About bloody time.

[Rich]

Rock Music will not die!

It will reincarnate itself as something much more androgynous

[Sousa]

Neil Young lied to me.

I bet he didn't really dream he saw the knights in armor coming saying something about a queen, either.

Edited May 13, 2010 by Sousa

[METALMAN]

He did! It is also better to fade away than to burn out!

[GoGo Yubari]

If this was a thread title "The Viper is dead" I would be much more satisfied with its conclusions

What does that have to do with anything? Answer wisely.

[Rich]

As much as his post did?

I may have made a grave error

[Herr Matzat]

The problem is that cool people do not care about singles. If there is a hugh amount of Rock Albums released with sales numbers that justifie more acts being picked up and followup albums to be released the "gnere" is more alive than ever.

Let´s not even talk about how much better the live biz is doing compared to pop.

[stokeriño]

only now have official figures confirmed that pop singles are selling more than those in the rock genre.

I am frankly stunned that this wasn't already the case.

[The Viper]

If this was a thread title "The Viper is dead" I would be much more satisfied with its conclusions

So if the topic description said "No not really" would you be happy?

[GoGo Yubari]

... I'm not quite sure what that means.

[Sousa]

I liked this topic better when it was me and metalman making Neil Young jokes.

To bring it back to that, I'm running a search now to see if his mining for a heart of gold credentials check out.

Edited May 13, 2010 by Sousa

[OctoberRaven]

To quote Angry Dad, "GRR! THAT'S OPINION, NOT NEWS!"

But as far as I'm concerned, Rock has been artistically dead since 2003 or so when Good Charlotte became around.

At least there's still good metal if you know where to look.

[Rich]

To quote Angry Dad, "GRR! THAT'S OPINION, NOT NEWS!"

But as far as I'm concerned, Rock has been artistically dead since 2003 or so when Good Charlotte became around.

At least there's still good metal if you know where to look.

Define good metal

[Sousa]

Zinc.

[Rich]

What about Magnesium?

[Sousa]

Magnesium is a hack. It's basically a beryllium ripoff.

[OctoberRaven]

Well, there's Testament's new stuff but apparently I'm the only person who thought it was good...

Hm. Iced Earth, Six Feet Under, Slayer of course (World Painted Blood was a really hit or miss album though...), and a really underrappreciated band called Cage.

But that's really the more mainstream stuff... well except maybe Cage...