Did Adam Levine just say crap without thinking or did he have a point?
The Twitteratti went into meltdown to prove that bands exist.
A look at some of the bands, shows that they do exist in their niche. Which is a good place to be, as that niche audience will sustain you for a long time, while the popular music consumers move on to the next hit and the next hit and the next hit.
Even the Guardian went into bat for him with this article, about young people not being excited by bands.
Meanwhile, Levine clarified that he meant to say that bands don’t exist on the popular charts.
There’s no doubt that popular music has moved towards the solo artist. It’s easier to make a deal with one person than many others. Then again, in most bands, there is always one person who writes the majority of material and who really gets the record deal.
It’s easier for the labels to deal with a solo artist than a band, as band members seem to come and go these days. And this pisses the labels off. Especially when a member leaving could be the person they want to stay. Having a shared vision amongst members is much harder these days then the days of old. Then again even it was hard. Musical differences anyone.
It’s easier for a solo artist to start creating, as our culture is shaped by technology and a recording studio is available at their fingertips, in their own bedroom.
Meanwhile, starting a band, means putting in some time to jam, playing shows and each member owning at least $5K worth of equipment. It’s expensive and time consuming to be in a band. Apart from owning equipment, you need to pay for rehearsal spaces, travelling expenses and studio time to record. And the venues available to you are spread far and wide, whereas once upon a time the venues were clustered around each other.
Social media also makes it hard for bands because it lends itself to “the one”. The band is never the influencer. It’s the person in the band, provided they control their account and not a PR person.
I guess I’m an old school rocker who still gets excited by bands.
In the last ten years a lot of bands have impressed me enough to buy.
From memory, and this isn’t a definitive list, they are The Night Flight Orchestra, Volbeat, Corroded, Rise Against, I Am Giant, Revolution Saints, Art Of Anarchy, King King, Audrey Horne, TesseracT, Tremonti, Parkway Drive, King Company, Halestorm, Kingcrow, Dynazty, Days Of Jupiter, Royal Bliss, Reach, Rival Sons, Gathering Of Kings, Art Of Dying, Free Spirits Rising, Blacktop Mojo, Bad Wolves, Work Of Art, Cyhra, Leprous, H.E.A.T, Long Distance Calling, Night Demon, Tokyo Motor Fist, Michael Grant And The Assassins, Haken, In Flames, Storm Force, Adelitas Way, Seether and Jorn.
And then I have the usual suspects like Trivium, Evergrey, Vanishing Point, Bush, Black Label Society, Shinedown, Alter Bridge, Thirty Seconds To Mars, Godsmack, Iron Maiden, Metallica, Dee Snider, Michael Sweet (projects), George Lynch (projects), Mike Portnoy (projects), Whitesnake, Coheed and Cambria, Slash, Megadeth, Soilwork, Papa Roach, Tesla, Machine Head, Jimmy Barnes, Killswitch Engage, Tool, A Perfect Circle, Harem Scarem, Red, In This Moment, Protest The Hero, 10 Years, Vandenberg and Stryper.
They don’t break the Top 20 streaming charts but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a career.
destroyerofharmony 
Atta boy including Storm Force in the mix! I’m still a band guy as well Pete and dig some new stuff as well but no where near the amount that you have invested in. Rival Sons for sure and lately I would say Dirty Honey are quite interesting as well…
Levine is right about the pop charts. It is pretty much solo artists. But bands aren’t dead every where else. Heck, Greta Van Fleet made some noise, The Struts as well. So the band isn’t dead…just dead to the pop charts, but that has been the case for years!! So Levine’s statement is nothing new.
I need to check out what Greta is up to. I heard a few of their newer songs and they didn’t impress but I’ll go back and check em out as the debut was pretty good.
It is pretty much how it was when rock first started. The charts were dominated by solo artists. You had some vocal groups like The Coasters or The Drifters, but not many where the band was made up of mostly people playing instruments. Buddy Holly and the Crickets kind of was the start, then The Beatles happened. Forget about it. I think it is a result of people streaming singles and not listening to albums as much anymore.
Your list of impressive bands is a great one. I have been consistently impressed with Iron Maiden for a while now, and Trivium continues to push their boundaries. Bands are certainly not becoming a lost breed in the music industry. Bands are an integral part to the overall fabric of our society, and just because the mainstream prefer commercialized drivel does not signal the beginning of the end of true musicianship and chemistry.
100 percent in agreement.
The chemistry when different people get into a room together can bring about some excellent results.