The Internet And The Death Of The Local Music Scene

Remember when each local music scene had its own sound? Its own flavor? That’s increasingly rare to find now, and the internet is to blame.

The internet has significantly changed the way we consume and create music; it allows you to be introduced to music you would otherwise never have heard before and gives you the means to share your own music and tastes with people from all over the world. (*cough* Music Aficionado *cough*)

No matter where you are in the world, you can hear music from a group a million miles away the moment it is released.

While this is an incredible tool, it has its downsides.

Before the internet, you had your local scene and worked with it. You grew up with these guys, all loving the same music, all speaking the same language. You all played in various bands with one another, and maybe, just maybe, one of you would hit the big time. That’s how it worked.

If you’re a musician now, you don’t have that scene anymore. Why? Because it’s all online!

The world has gotten progressively smaller since the advent of the internet. In its doing so, the internet has become its own music scene. Ironically (and conflictingly), that music scene is worldwide. Music subcultures and subgenres are now so niche and specific that pretty much the only way to find like-minded people is online.

And that’s why it’s so hard to create a new and original sound. It’s because you’re on your own. Factor in the death of many local music venues all over the world—mainly due to rising rent costs—making for fewer places for bands to play. (So even if you had a local scene, good luck finding a place to play or hear it!)

Is there a way to reverse this? I honestly don’t know, but it won’t be like before. Music used to be attached to certain places, like grunge with Seattle, house with Chicago, The Paisley Underground with L.A., Madchester with Manchester, the indie/post-punk/garage rock revival of New York City’s Lower East Side, and Merseybeat with Liverpool. Nowadays, because of the internet, there’s no need for that anymore. There will only be one collective scene: the internet.

They don’t call it the world wide web for nothing.