"How the Hunt for Clicks Has Made the Lone Guitar Intro Obsolete"

Description

Contemporary counterparts to Smoke on the Water and Whole Lotta Love are increasingly rare. Are we about to see the tables turned?

Subject

Steve Waksman, Professor of Popular Music at the University of Huddersfield, argues that a punchy guitar riff a la (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction could be successful in the current environment.

But he suggests bands might be prioritizing drums and vocals because of their universality. “Beats cut genres,” he says. “The guitar doesn’t have the dominance that it used to have as the sound of popular music. So maybe the guitar isn’t the right thing to hook people.