One of the only good things about the pandemic was all the new music that was created
I take you back fifty years. The 1970s was the era of music where your favorite musicians were most prolific. It was common to see a band or solo artist put out a new album every year. Check out the discographies of Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and The Rolling Stones early in the decade. It continued in the back half of the 70s with Billy Joel, Elvis Costello, The Clash and The Police. It was a special time for creating new recorded music.
The reasons for this were twofold. The musicians felt they had something to say, so they said it through their songs. More importantly, royalties from record companies were at an all-time high, plus fans were buying albums at record rates. It made fiscal sense to put out new record rates.
Those times are long over.
Because of the many different ways that people now listen to music, it’s hard if not impossible for an artist to make a living through recorded music. Streaming companies pay little to the musician. Royalties from record sales aren’t anywhere close to what they were in the good old days. Musicians have been forced to hit the road and tour as their main source of making money for themselves and their crew.
The Covid pandemic put a halt to that. For a couple of years, just like the rest of us, musicians were stuck at home. That’s why when you now go to a concert, you’ll hear the artist state how happy and grateful they are to be performing for an audience again.
But, a lot of legendary musicians put their downtime to good use. Yeah, they weren’t on the road, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t play music. It was time to reignite their creative juices. That’s why over the last two years we’ve seen a glut of new recorded music released.
We’ve seen new albums from Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, David Crosby, The Who and many more artists from the classic rock era.
They took advantage of new technology to produce these records. An artist would record their part of a song at their home studio. The music file would be shared with other band members who would add their parts. After, some mixing…VOILA!…we’d have a completed song. Do this six or seven more times and we have a new album. I know I’m making it sound easier than it actually is, but there was plenty of time available to create this.
But, it’s not only the seventy-plus age group of musicians that took advantage of the downtime. The most prolific musician over the last two years has been…TAYLOR SWIFT!
Today, Swift drops her latest album, “Midnights.” It’s her third studio album of new music since 2020. It began with the Grammy-winning “Folklore”, followed by “Evermore.” In addition to these three, she released new, updated recordings of her previous albums, “Fearless” and “Red.”
My oh my, has she been busy! I’m tired just writing about all her work!
I hope this is a continuing trend. As much as I love live music, I have a special feeling for new tunes from my favorite artists. I love seeing them stretch and grow; especially older musicians who you thought were only interested in doing greatest hits shows.
So to all the musicians, both old and new school, who are participating in this trend, thanks and keep it going. I look forward to hearing what’s next.