Where have all the heroes gone?

[Scrump]

@Neil made an interesting point in another thread saying that the music industry is struggling because kids don't have musical heroes in the same way that an older generation does.

I don't want to question whether thats why the industry is in trouble. 

 I am wondering if people agree on the kids not having heroes point? I'm inclined to disagree but haven't got any pesky facts!

I just can't bring myself to think that the next gen don't have some people on pedestals!

Agreed? Disagree?

 

[kalifire]

Surely it’s more that older generations don’t understand or appreciate the way younger generations connect with their artists. If by having heroes you mean putting artists on pedestals, that happens more today than it’s ever done before. 

[Zoo Music Girl]

Billie Eilish literally headlined last year and is a hero for tons of kids.

[rgill3]

5 minutes ago, kalifire said:

Surely it’s more that older generations don’t understand or appreciate the way younger generations connect with their artists. If by having heroes you mean putting artists on pedestals, that happens more today than it’s ever done before. 

Agreed. Fandoms are just as crazy now as ever and arguably more tribal from what I've seen on social media at times.

[rgill3]

Would a point be that artists nowadays aren't considered superstars despite being heavily talented. In the future we'll definitely appreciate them and realise how good they actually are.

But at the moment we're holding and trying to compare them to the artists of the past and favour the side of nostalgia and so don't really appreciate these newer acts.

[Scrump]

13 minutes ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Billie Eilish literally headlined last year and is a hero for tons of kids.

Billie Eilish is a great example ! Are there any others?

[Neil]

11 minutes ago, rgill3 said:

Agreed. Fandoms are just as crazy now as ever and arguably more tribal from what I've seen on social media at times.

Fandom has changed hugely there's not really a singles chart anymore. That created the heroes of the past. 

[moogster]

Fans now see their fav artists maybe at a more equal/ best friend level because of social media ? I am not sure how hero like it is to know your fav artist had eggs and bacon this morning... 

[tarw]

Going from the fact that my Daughter was obsessed with 1 Direction to the point of running downstairs to tell us all that Harry Styles sister had just posted on Twitter that she had brushed her teeth 10 years ago. I would say hero worship was alive and well back then

[Hugh Jass II]

17 minutes ago, Scrump said:

Billie Eilish is a great example ! Are there any others?

Taylor Swift is an obvious one.

[kingbadger]

This has to be a troll post? People seem obsessed with artists more than ever these days thanks to social media. Fandoms are mental.

[moogster]

Yeah but does obsessed means hero?

[Scrump]

6 minutes ago, kingbadger said:

This has to be a troll post? People seem obsessed with artists more than ever these days thanks to social media. Fandoms are mental.

I don't think I'm trolling... I agree with you but Neil implied otherwise (if I understood him correctly!). Felt like an interesting discussion to have that's all 😊

[Gnomicide]

I think therevare plenty of heroes, maybe just less household names. 

Listen back to any top 20 from the 70s or 80s and you'll (if you're as old as me) probably know the song or at least heard of the artist and so will most other people but things work differently now. Artists can still have massive followings but the average Joe hasn't a clue who they are. 

 

[doogie]

To be fair, The Stranglers were saying the same thing back in 1977.

[Supernintendo Chalmers]

Heroes/role models/idols (however you want to frame it) still exist. It's just that as you get older, you don't necessarily gain any new ones, and those that you do have either die or become massive racists 😀

[Scrump]

Just now, Supernintendo Chalmers said:

those that you do have either die or become massive racists

God that's probably to close to the truth!

Side note I'm watching series 3 of Atlanta ATM..don't want to spoil anything so will just say I saw the episode with a famous actor playing himself and talking about racism and things he's said. Was crazy! 

[Haan]

1 minute ago, Scrump said:

Side note I'm watching series 3 of Atlanta ATM..don't want to spoil anything so will just say I saw the episode with a famous actor playing himself and talking about racism and things he's said. Was crazy! 

that season was so wild, so many very difficult themes about race (ep 9 made me feel v uncomfortable!). I enjoyed it a lot, it was very challenging. Wish there was more Vann tho!

 

[Haan]

1 hour ago, Scrump said:

I just can't bring myself to think that the next gen don't have some people on pedestals!

Make fun of BTS once on twitter and you will have your answer 

[Scrump]

4 minutes ago, Haan said:

that season was so wild, so many very difficult themes about race (ep 9 made me feel v uncomfortable!). I enjoyed it a lot, it was very challenging. Wish there was more Vann tho!

 

Challenging is the word but for me it's positive challenge!. Ep 9 is the next one up for me, thanks for the prep 👍

[JonSnow]

Speaking as a 30 year old i'm pretty confident in saying that the current batch of 15-21 year olds seem more 'emotionally connected' to artists than my generation did in terms of what I would understand to be fandom/heroic tendencies.

Simply because instagram/tiktok now exists.

Edited September 21, 2022 by JonSnow

[clarkete]

4 hours ago, Zoo Music Girl said:

Billie Eilish literally headlined last year and is a hero for tons of kids.

I've seen Self Esteem at a couple of festivals, she puts on a great show, has very strong and positive messages (often literally in black and white) and has a great connection with her audience. 

There are tons of artists who do that too, I simply think it's not true, it's simply that when us oldies were younger we were more acquainted with the heroes of our day. 

[Leyrulion]

5 hours ago, Scrump said:

@Neil made an interesting point in another thread saying that the music industry is struggling because kids don't have musical heroes in the same way that an older generation does.

I don't want to question whether thats why the industry is in trouble. 

 I am wondering if people agree on the kids not having heroes point? I'm inclined to disagree but haven't got any pesky facts!

I just can't bring myself to think that the next gen don't have some people on pedestals!

Agreed? Disagree?

 

Is the music industry struggling? 

I think the Billie Eilish, Ariana Grande, Harry Styles fandoms are definitely heroes to a lot of people. 

I think they can make far more money on an arena tour though than doing festivals which is why some fests are struggling. 

Edited September 21, 2022 by Leyrulion

[Neil]

it wasn't so much rthat they don't have heroes, more that they don't have them in the same way, which easily translate into being festival headliners.

[p.pete]

5 hours ago, Scrump said:

Billie Eilish is a great example ! Are there any others?

Phoebe fucking Bridgers

Probably is the case that fandom has changed so the artists translate less well into headliners.  Plenty of easy examples of people that are absolutely huge, but also maybe they divide opinion more than they used to, or exist in bubbles in a different way.  We have so many choices and different mediums for accessing music that maybe the safe bets don't exist any more.  The biggest acts on spotify I've barely heard anything of, even though I use spotify - I've no idea what the hell is going on at tiktok - youtube has so many niches and cliques.  It's not the case of just getting your demo tape played on radio 1 anymore and then hoping the record companies take nicely to you and get you prominence in the record store.  Other avenues existed - but now it seems like limitless possibilities to develop a fanbase - but for someone to be festival headliner do they now need to break through across multiple platforms?

Or is it that we're listening to more varied types of music - there aren't just a handful of influencers able to pick out what generally most people will get exposed to.  Now someone like Billie Eillish, doing amazingly, gets to headline and half the room goes 'who?', and most of the other half go 'meh' - and there's a tiny slice of people super-excited.