If it wasn't for music streaming, if it wasn't for Spotify, 2011 would have one governing thought: the success of Adele. 2010 WAS about Lady Gaga. But it is never very healthy when a year is defined by a person not a concept.
1977 – Punk rock
1956 – rock And Roll
1981 – MTV
1968 – Woodstock
2001 – The IPod
But lately, the years don't seem to have any identity really. 2012 is a blank slate. Musically, there is no governing concept, technology there is no governing concept.
2012, if we get very lucky, should be about the Presidential Election, but musically? There is nothing we can really agree upon as a musical movement, as a way forward from where we stand. There are pockets of music, but where are they leading to? It is just small genres under a huge umbrella and individual star turns or single hits on the single charts and fan bases n coat tails albums, plus compilations on the album charts.
Things CHART (and what does that mean, right?) all the time but they aren't reflective of society. If 500,000 watch a daytime TV show, how many stream the new fun.? Where are the numbers???
Are there any musical movements any way right now? I promise, I am always looking for patterns in music and if there is any youth movement, what is it? I check the college radio charts all the time, and I am shocked if there is a band I haven't heard on it. From shoegaze to post-hardcore, there is no sense of an emotional movement.
And you'd think there would be.
For teenagers of today, while the danger is harder to be aware of then during the Vietnam era, the dangers are much, much, much bigger. It is, indeed, terrifying. One more hit, one more bank failure, if the dollar gets devalued, if Israel blows up Irans nuclear facility, ANYTHING, and that's it for a generation. Kids graduating High School now may never get a job. So where is the music to go along with the real dread?
That is where 2012 should find its story, should find its heart.