Filmmakers Chronicle the Music Industry’s Negative Affect on Music

Thursday, November 30, 2006

KPBS Public Broadcasting

Audio

Aired 4/19/09

Tom Fudge : Rock and roll and rhythm and blues have defined American popular music more than fifty years. And when you think about the stars of the past, you wonder whether they would make it in today’s pop music environment. What about Stevie Wonder, a blind musician with an eccentric performing style? What about the Beatles, or Bruce Springsteen, with their sundry and unpredictable shifts in musical styles?

For decades, the taste makers of popular music have been record producers and radio programmers. And filmmakers Andrew Shapter and Joel Rasmussen says those forces have lately become very homogeneous and very focused on short-term profit. That, along with the heightened focus on music videos and good looks, have dampened quality and creativity.

Guests
  • Andrew Shapter , director and co-writer of the documentary Before the Music Dies.
  • Joel Rasmussen , producer and co-writer of the documentary Before the Music Dies.

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