B List: 10 Best Music-Related Trends of 2010

3. Watch The Show With Your Eyes, Not Through a Screen

Wilco and the Black Crowes are among the bands who asked fans not to shoot photos and videos on cell phones during their shows in 2010 and we’re thankful. Yes, we sure as hell love posting the videos audience members shoot, but there’s nothing more annoying than some yutz blocking our view of the stage with their camera or cell phone.

4. Running to NPR When Your Album Leaks

If you can’t beat ’em, join’ em. There is just no keeping an unreleased album from leaking at least a couple of days if not a couple of weeks before it’s scheduled release date. A number of bands this year seemed to wait until the album hit the Internet and then immediately started streaming the album on NPR. At least the listener is presented with a legitimate way to stream the album the day that the illegal copy starts circulating.

5. More “Exclusive” Releases For Indie Record Stores

We love browsing the aisles at our local indie record stores and would not like to see them continue to fade away. The major and indie labels as well as the artists on those labels are starting to help by contributing more and more exclusive releases not only for the once-a-year Record Store Day but also for other occasions such as Black Friday.

6. The Return of Music Videos

Back in the days before MTV focused on turning teen moms into paparazzi targets, the cable television channel used to show music videos. Not only did MTV move away from music programming, but major labels stopped making money hand over fist leading to video budgets being cut drastically. In 2010 we’ve seen the return of the music video and more importantly the return of innovative clips. Check out Arcade Fire’s brilliant The Wilderness Downtown for a look at what’s possible these days…

7. “Jamband” No Longer a Shameful Term For Hipsters

We’ve mixed indie coverage with jam coverage since our start in 2006, so we know first-hand the prejudices that most indie acts hold towards jambands and the sites that cover them. In 2010 the line between the genres continued to blur and according to the Washington Post, prejudices against jambands are starting to “mellow out.” Sites such as ours and Relix – who launched longtime jam/indie wall-breaker Mike Greenhaus’ Indie Outing blog this year – continue to cover both genres and continue to observe the many similarities between the jam and indie worlds.

8. A Little Help From Our Fans

Just this New Year’s alone, Gov’t Mule, Yonder Mountain String Band and The New Deal have asked fans to contribute requests for songs they’d like to hear. Phish took many requests in June from fans holding signs, while the Disco Biscuits have performed setlists written by fans on Facebook and who purchased the right to craft setlists through the Planet Anthem pre-sale. While we don’t think the fans know better than the bands themselves, there’s no harm in letting hardcore followers chime in on the setlists from time to time.

9. He’s Only Seven-TY (And Still Rockin’)

Levon Helm, Phil Lesh and Jorma Kaukonen all turned 70 this year and each of ’em are still touring with their respective bands. We’d hate to see a day where those three scene elders hang up their rocking shoes. Let’s hope this trend continues and that aging rockers continue to play because they want to play, not because they haven’t saved enough money to retire.

10. Twitter Me This

At this point nearly every band and venue has a Twitter account, which they use to spread news, offer discounts and often give a peek “behind the curtain” at life on the road or working at a venue. A fine example comes from Furthur, who started actively using its feed in September and filled it with pictures from the stage, setlists and other information to which fans aren’t usually privy.  For us, we use Twitter to source stories more than ever. The real-time nature of the service lends itself to finding out about news long before it’s published elsewhere.

By Scott Bernstein w/ DaveO

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2 Responses

  1. Great list! I’d add the rise of boutique festivals to this list. While it’s not a new thing this year alone we saw Wilco’s Solid Sound, Furthur revive Furthur Fest as a destination festival, and bands like the Disco Biscutis, Mule and more continue with their own branded fests.

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