Not to be a doomer, but I spent the last 10 years working in the local music industry and played in a local band for 5 years (quit playing music in November 2023, left the music industry as my profession in March of this year), and I hate to say it but the only people that care about local music... is other local musicians.
Most people do not care, especially not enough people to have any real impact on Spotify's bottom line to make a change. Music is the most devalued art form of all kind. People do not want to pay for it AT ALL, and do not see value in it. People aren't going to local shows anymore. Here in Chicago, the only local bands that get any real gigs are tribute bands, because people aren't actively seeking out new music like they used to. Young people do not consume music like previous generations have, they find music through Tiktok almost exclusively, and the artists that make it there skip the "local" phase entirely. They go from Tiktok to Lollapalooza with no in-between.
tl;dr: Thats the trend . 5 years in musical misery aint overall much if you start at the worst time possible . The corona-epidemic .
Is the music devalued ? Yeah , it is .
But why ? Because most new and modern bands / musicians / Performers are replacable . Its not only the fault of the audience but of the Music industry and its musicians too .
For the audience , its for them self-explained nowadays that music should be free because the music industry didnt addressed the problems since the 90s (or even 80s) were the first clear cracks are shown how mafioso they handled their musicians , forcing trends that are temporary in its results and even try for a looooong time to artificially create legends in the world of music . It impacted the quality of music overall and people finally nowadays reacting to the effects that the industry brought there .
We forget that music isnt just the only factor that really makes it great . Its the image of the musicians , the shows how they make it and how they cementing themselves into the mythos themselves. Music videos were a big thing back then but if there is only slop (like nowadays) then its understandable that no one sets an eye to those , except old music videos somehow that more and more people appreciate it and even wishes it was like that again .
If everything is unnaturally made (via casting , corporate influence , forced/astroturfed trends , formulaic approaches ) then its not interesting or worth a dime at the end . It is an artform first , a job as second and a product on the third place . You cant prepare or scientifically make Legends in the music industry . They become one thanks to its artistic freedoms , their music and actions that resonate with the people that made those Legends individualistic and genuine while being honest in their most natural approach .
But that train is already lost and the industry has the music at a suffering choke-hold to this day . Independent musicians dont have an impact anymore except the simple Tik Tok 15 minutes of fame result or getting reduced into meme-material but nothing more .
To get that value high again , just let everything burn down and build it up again to its high artistic value . We lived in hedonistic entertaiment-times and right now slowly but surely people realised what great music we had back then and missed that even older subgenres of Rock/metal and other genres that we got back then is made again today . Even if it is only AI made music , people get some enjoyment and finally get their own personal tastes again .
Im sure that in a not so far future will the social media bubble burst and music get its high value again . Its not instant but it slowly evolved into it .
