1. Originally posted by Sydney_MIke:He must be doing something right because he keeps selling out stadiums. Every artist has their own crowd - we may not understand them but there are those who would prefer to watch paint dry than listen to U2.
    Ah no, absolutely. You don't break U2's 360 world record with a mediocre show, that's a fact. I'm just surprised he's selling out stadiums (and with far-from-cheap tickets!) when this type of show is clearly more suitable for smaller venues... Oh well...
  2. Originally posted by LikeASong:[..]
    Ah no, absolutely. You don't break U2's 360 world record with a mediocre show, that's a fact. I'm just surprised he's selling out stadiums (and with far-from-cheap tickets!) when this type of show is clearly more suitable for smaller venues... Oh well...
    If with those suitable venues you mean village pubs, then I agree
  3. I don't quite share his pessimism. Live is where music lives and, while it's been hard for music to do that these past couple of years, there will always be bands out there putting on a great show and touring. Word of mouth and exposure from relentless touring is what made U2 and Springsteen great. In the early days, no one was rushing out to hear U2 because Bono had an incredible voice, or because he wrote the most eloquent lyrics; they went out to see this energetic, raw and passionate band that gave it their all. Such artists are once in a generation event; there won't be many but there will be more of them.
  4. 120% agreed with Win It's really sad to think, but unless the whole system changes radically, there won't be any more U2s, Springsteens, Queens or even Michael Jacksons or Madonnas - simply because one million streams is not even close to one million album sales.

    First piracy and then streaming have greatly depreciated music's value as a form of art. Back in the day teenagers saved money for a couple of weeks, went to the music store, spent 20 bucks on a vinyl/CD and headed back home and play it to death. That's how we developed such strong bonds with music. Now you only need to spend 10 bucks on a premium subscription to Spotify (or even zero bucks to enjoy the free version), and you have literally millions of complete discographies at a click away. It's inevitable to give less value to music when enjoying it costs a fraction of what it used to. And no, I don't buy the "yeah but we used to make cassette copies of albums too, eh?" because that was small scale, kinda 1-to-1 "piracy" and didn't harm the artists nearly as much as ripping a CD and putting it up for free download (or streaming for free, which in economic terms is kinda the same).

    And yeah, of course live concerts are what keeps music business afloat... But some of the most popular music nowadays (reggaeton, trap and hip-hop) isn't even taken out on tour - or at least not in the form of massive stadium world tours-, so the point about live music doesn't really apply here. The cold truth is that, since new generations are growing to think that music is and should be free, they're also reluctant to buy a concert ticket or to buy merchandise from bands. I'm seeing this more and more often with my younger brother and his friends: they're just oblivious to the fact that making music is a job and should be paid for, and they really freeze when they see "us oldies" paying $80 for a concert ticket or $30 for a band t-shirt. It's just out of their minds.

    It's all fucked up.

  5. Great YT channel to check out

    "From 1983 onwards I was a music video collector, exchanging tapes all over Europe, USA, Canada, South America, Japan. I stopped collecting in 2007 and packed everything away. In 2017 I decided to share recordings via YouTube, I have no interest in trading with anyone. There is no plan of release, it's all random, just whatever is handy. If you represent a band or artist and are seeking rare video recordings, then do get in touch, I have supplied video recordings back to some of the biggest bands & if I can help I will. If you have old videotape with music recordings on VHS, Beta, Video8, Hi8, PAL, NTSC and wish to pass them onto someone who will take care of them, then do get in touch"

  6. Does anyone know the app or webpage on which lots of concerts were streamed? Not professionally but with the phone? Also u2start did the post show chats on there back when u2 was touring. I can not come up with the name, been thinking of it for days now