I pray it is. But if you notice, its showing the right signs of nearing a demise. The group members are getting older, etc. There is a mass amount of the same preconstructed bands appearing everywhere, flooding the genre with useless music. The mega-shit bands (BSB, NS, among others) are dimming, it seems...could this be the beginning of the end?

What could the next thing be? A raid of Pop-Punk?

It's the next step in a real life conspiracy... I'm going to have to get all the regulars from gothic into chat one day and discuss this with all of you. I think you'll find that everything happening in the music industry right now is doing so with intent.

I have to agree with that.

Definately sounds interesting. And I suppose there is a pattern to it, if you think about it...I know I'm looking forward to it.

Just to keep your curiosity: Pop dissapearing is a bad thing along this conspiracy's theory.

*suspense kills me*

?

It really is a common trend. This is the pattern of pop culture. Ever since Elivs, actually... though if you want to think in terms of modern boy bands, the Beachboys/Beattles. And yes, pop punk will be gone, but right now we're seeing the rise of pop metal. Then it will go back to real pop, then some form of rock, then to a harder form of rock, then pop, etc.

Pop metal...yes, true, I have noticed that.

Wish there was a way to throw a wrench into the system.

We'll need a lot more than a wrench. But some of the underground are working on ways to do it right now...

*DarkStorm sighs deeply*

I guess I should explain.

Take a look around you. Note the state of the specific genres.

Rap, Pop, Rock, Metal, Punk, Gothic... These are the primary genres we're concerned with in the text I'm composing here.

Keep in mind, these were all once very seperate genres. However, today we may observe that what was once defined, is slowly losing its definition. The lines between the genres are becoming more and more blurred.

I will now refer to the blurring of the genres as "assaults." This is what they are to me, and I hope that by the end of this text you, as well, might see it this way.

Enough setup, let us discuss the state of the music industry, starting with the basic background.

Try to remember the order in which the genres were assaulted. The first attack occured between Pop and Rap. Back in the early nineties, Rap and Pop began to share many similarities. We've established the approximate time, now, think of what Pop 'stands for'. I'm sure you'll agree that it stands for nothing but, what is the primary content of the songs. Feeling good, partying, and, above all, sex. Now we know that rap was once incredibly violent in content. What is it now? "I fucked those bitches while drinking this beer in my phat ride down with my brothers." Rap has taken on a modified label as well Rap/Hip-Hop is what it is now primarily referred to. The very nature of most rap has changed to be something more teenagers can identify with.

No time for observations yet, let's move on to the next subculture.

Rock, in virtually the same period of Rap's assault was confronted by the Pop culture. As a matter of fact, many will argue over which fell first, but it really doesn't matter, as the end result is the same. I'm not sure when modern-rock acquired the label "alternative" but I know it was before its assault. Before the assault Rock was very diverse, and spoke on any number of things. From pure emotion to politics, it was a staple to the many, but it was always considered different. Something special, never truly succumbing to the the pointless content of the Pop culture. Yet the early nineties saw its demise as well, and now much of the overwhelming content of modern-rock (read "alternative") deals with emotions and girl/boyfriends. Emotions are important, yes, but there's more to life than emotion.

Don't think about it too long, it's on to Metal.

Metal was assaulted in the mid to late nineties. They're still suffering a never ending series of attacks. It seems to have withstood it the longest, but this genre is also giving way. From what I can tell, the idea seems to be to turn it into the same thing modern-rock has been turned into. I believe many people refer to this music as "emo." There's not much to say as we're yet to see the outcome of the endless assaults on this genre, and its diverse and highly populated subculture. However it's probably safe to assume that the only reason it has survived this long is due purely to the number of people belonging to the various metal cultures. One thing can be said for certain, the label has already been chosen for the future crippling of metal, if it happens, and that is "NuMetal."

Light on the horizon? Don't get too hopefull...

Punk was next. In the late nineties, pop began to invade the Punk subculture. A strange thing happened here, I don't know too much about it since I wasn't associated with anyone of this subculture at the time, yet somehow a very strong following based primarily on politics and getting messages of freedom or anarchy out to the public was circumvented. Pop took a very quick and effective stab here. Punk's own chaotic nature, both in the music and the subculture, seems to have given way to its death from what I can tell. Today "Pop-Punk" overshadows any political movements made by the punks. Pop-Punk thrives on the party, and feel-good emotions brought on by the freeing of oneself of their responsibilities. It's a sick interpritation of the Punk subculture... if only there were a way to honor the dead musicians. I'll tell you one thing I know for certain: both living and dead punk musicians would not appreciate what has risen to take their place.

As you can see, I've yet to mention my own subculture... well here it goes.

Gothic actually took its stab in the mid-nineties. This probably would have been more successful if it wasn't for the clear focus on Grunge. The popularization of bands such as Marilyn Manson and NIN and their mis-portrayals by the media made gothic the cool thing to do. I'm of the belief that we would have seen more artists doing this and that our subculture would be dead now if it wasn't for the attack on Grunge. Grunge was a problem due to the artist's own messages and the fact that merchandisers couldn't capitalize on the Grunge subculture. Grunge naturally resisted such commercial gestures and was promptly assaulted after someone had this realization.

I hope this has established a clear direction for you. I don't know how hard this is to follow, but after going over the last decade in my head a million times I can't shake the feeling that this has been orchestrated. Now by now, one might ask, "by who?"

The answer, is simple. The Recording Industry did this. Before the accusations of paranoia fly, I'd like to have you contemplate one simple fact. Is it easier to advertise, and create products for a plethora of different people with different tastes and opinions, or one group that is of one mind?

The potential savings in cost of advertising alone are staggering. Also, less artists would have to be signed, meaning yet more money for the recording industry. With one primary group to cater to, with the recording industry being their only supplier, CD prices will be approximately whatever the hell the recording industry wants them to be.

Even the recording industry's stance on the now popular MP3 trading software is evidence of this. MP3 trading gives listeners a chance to share bands with independant labels, or no labels at all! That's no money for the RIAA, and that's a cardinal sin. Think not about the fantasy I've constructed here, but rather the cold hard realities. This is the smallest synopsis I could assemble and it has taken me 40 minutes of typing and contemplation to create this. It's taken years of pondering and research to come to this conclusion myself though, I'm hoping that with an outline such as this, you yourself will not have to study for such a length of time.

Thank you for reading this far. I'd like to let you know that this was written in a calm and peaceful manner, it wasn't a rant. I was angry when I realized this more than a year ago, today I merely operate in quiet disapproval of the truth, and am constantly analyzing the entire system for the possibility of righting what's wrong. By my view, Metal and Gothic are two of the few subcultures which remain intact today. No protest or letters to executives is going to solve this, they have four out of six genres within their control, they will not stop now. Retaliation must be drastic, and some have already started. Me? I'm still looking for my chance...

could you please name the five gothik bands you like most?

Well I won't name my top five because it's a sin to let the public know about underground but my favorite, as of late starts with:

Siouxsie & the Banshees
Bauhuas
My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult (gothic/industrial I know, lemme alone)
The Sisters of Mercy (very recently, I hated them the first time I listend to them but now I love them)
Switchblade Symphony

I can also name bands form the Crow soundtrack if you want but the only remotely gothic band I'd be naming would be TKK wouldn't it?

And why the hell did you say "Gothik?"

Shit.... pop cock bands will never die.... look at TNKOTB... (The New Kids On The Block) or Menudo.... LOL....

Thier will always be another Spears.... it just works like that... as long as there are young stupid tasteless kids who will buy the crap it will exist....

I never really thought of that before, DarkStorm, but that definately seems to be a good description of what's going on with that.

But how does the seeming fall of the current style of Pop fit with that? Or is it cycling to a new genre as they attempt to overtake it?

And I've been looking for the proverbial wrench, but I'm not sure exactly what to look for. But maybe your little essay will help me sort that out.

As Dyshade stated, they can't really fall. And this is true, they're the recording industry's primary tool in manipulating the subculture, thus, it can't really fall. What we're seeing is a bigger number of pop stars in traditionally non-pop genres. They're the ones getting signed since they're what the recording industry is pushing these days, they don't need as many pop stars right now. If the recording industry had their way though pop would die too, eventually we'd be seeing one big genre...

Well, yeah. God, I hope that never happens. One big happy genre...

Reminds me of the Party from 1984...

Oh! Actually, THINK of it like 1984

Ministry of Truth - 1984 - Manipulates information to control public
Recording Industry - Fabricates bands to control public

Ministry of Plenty - 1984 - Restricts amount of food, supplies for the populace
Recording Industry - Restricts types of music released to the populace

Ministry of Peace - 1984 - Deals with war and such, uses propaganda to gain war support
Recording Industry - Uses propaganda to gain support for the specific thing they're doing, i.e. fight against MP3

Ministry of Love - 1984 - Deals in torture and twisting people back to the ways of the party only to kill them afterwards.
Recording Industry - Blind man could see this one.

Well, yeah. Just another way to look at it.

I wish I could say more... but Darkstorm pretty much said it all... Yeah, it's a pattern. I tired to explain that but it came out all wrong. And if you look past the nineties then it becomes very clear.

And I like the 84 thing.