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What Actually IS Alternative These Days?

Jody-Thornton

Jody-Thornton

Regular Participant
Referring to the Puddle of Mudd thread below...

What constitutes alternative these days? And I don't mean artist examples, but what criteria makes a record alternative? By all rights, shouldn't alternative outlets be playing Indie and unsigned artists (ala college radio, perhaps), and all the Coldplay/Foo Fighters/Puddle of Mudd could go to Active Rock?

Cheers,
Jody Thornton
(Hamilton, Ontario)
 
That's a really good question. I don't have the answers but I think I know what the problem has been.

The bands you've mention should be on a modern rock station, not on active rock although there are some crossovers between the two formats. The problem is that for years the big companies have redefine the term "alternative rock" in promoting a station that should have been label as modern rock in the first place. They probably did this so that it would have a "cool" image to bring in the younger people to listen. I think that is the reason of the confusion between alternative rock, modern rock, and to some extent active rock.

Perhaps there's more to it, but that's all I can figure out at this point.
 
IMHO, the Alternative chart these days looks a lot more like what Active Rock should be. Bands like Seether, Finger Eleven, and Three Days Grace have their place, but Alternative radio is not it, IMO. There is very little action in the upper ranges of the chart from any bands that bring something different to the table. And on the flipside, I see no reason why Active Rock shouldn't be more receptive towards bands like Muse and Rise Against. I think the stations that the chart reflects should merge into the Active Rock format, and Alternative should be left to the handful of stations that march to their own beat.
 
Jody-Thornton said:
By all rights, shouldn't alternative outlets be playing Indie and unsigned artists (ala college radio, perhaps), and all the Coldplay/Foo Fighters/Puddle of Mudd could go to Active Rock?
Click to expand...


Not if they're interested in selling advertising. These labels are our own industry contrivances...listeners don't care what we call ourselves...we all knew 15 years ago "Alternative" would go one way or another...a modern rock mirror of CHR or a mirror of AOR. We all know which way it went. Active and mainstreams play plenty of those other bands you listed. "Alternative" has to play that stuff to compete. Had it went the way of AOR, "Alternative" stations would have gold categories old Clash and U2 and REM and what-not. They don't. Nothing resembling anything you heard in college will sell, save some few and very unique markets.
 
FatPunk said:
Nothing resembling anything you heard in college will sell, save some few and very unique markets.
Click to expand...

Translation: college towns and West Coast.
 
What do real people (as opposed to radio people, who have a gene in their makeup that often causes analytical misery stemming from a chronic habit of overthinking EVERYTHING) think of music as?

The street definition of "Alternative" has given in to the industry definition: Side-of-mainstream young-pop-rock with respect to past waves of the same... like "Today's My Chemical Romance and the Best of Yesterday's Talking Heads". Since the term ALTERNATIVE was coined to describe the hooky anti-pop rock of the 80's and 90's (much of it with the appeal of punk, without the smell or uncomfortable on-stage bleeding)-- music that has since been mainstreamitized by a grown-up John Q. Public version of those same oddball progressive freaks who spent the cash at 19 yrs old to launch the genre.

It's just another word used by the geeks of industry to categorize music that otherwise is simply just Rock. Soft Rock, Adult Alternative, Indie Alt., Alternative Gold, 80's Alternative... sheesh. I've always stood by the idea that blunt education to the masses is a GOOD thing. Maybe that bluntness is now just a matter of playing the music you're gonna play, spitting out examples to describe it instead of a generic and vague one-word catergory, and letting the listeners decide if it's their thing.

No?

Love,
Automatic Keyboard.
 
Here's an example of a real alternative station's playlist:


: The Presidents Of The United States Of America - Mixed Up S.O.B.
22.03.2008 10:37am

: Local H - Bound For The Floor
22.03.2008 10:41am

: The Cure - Fascination Street
22.03.2008 10:44am

: Coldplay - The Scientist
22.03.2008 10:56am

: The Beastie Boys - She's Crafty
22.03.2008 11:01am

: The Killers - Shadowplay
22.03.2008 11:05am

: The White Stripes - Icky Thump
22.03.2008 11:09am

: The Ramones - Sheena Is A Punk Rocker
22.03.2008 11:15am

: Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova - Falling Slowly
22.03.2008 11:18am

: New Order - True Faith
22.03.2008 11:25am

: Death Cab For Cutie - I Will Possess Your Heart
22.03.2008 11:31am

: Dropkick Murphys - I'm Shipping Up To Boston
22.03.2008 11:35am

: Hot Chip - Ready For The Floor
22.03.2008 11:43am

: Spoon - Don't You Evah
22.03.2008 11:44am

: The Clash - Train In Vain
22.03.2008 11:47am

: Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
22.03.2008 11:50am

: Tori Amos - God
22.03.2008 12:01pm

: Stone Temple Pilots - Interstate Love Song
22.03.2008 12:04pm

: R.E.M. - Supernatural Superserious
22.03.2008 12:08pm

: Muse - Supermassive Black Hole
22.03.2008 12:11pm

: Green Day - Longview
22.03.2008 12:15pm

: Simple Minds - Don't You (Forget About Me)
22.03.2008 12:18pm

: Against Me! - Stop!
22.03.2008 12:23pm

: Jane's Addiction - Stop!
22.03.2008 12:26pm

: Nine Inch Nails - Terrible Lie
22.03.2008 12:30pm

: The B-52s - Funplex
22.03.2008 12:41pm

: U2 - One
22.03.2008 12:45pm

: The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Where'd You Go?
22.03.2008 12:49pm

: The Strokes - Last Nite
22.03.2008 12:58pm

: The Red Hot Chili Peppers - Behind the Sun
22.03.2008 1:01pm
 
Being from Boston, I can tell you that the playlist that was put up was from WFNX from last Saturday. FNX is a great station, by the way...
 
I do not know anymore. And it does'nt matter. I like what I like and if radio does'nt play it then whatever.
 
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