From some other points of view, the Finnish prog scene is actually thinner than just a few years ago: I'm referring to the death (?) of Colossus society's tradition of organizing prog gigs. It's really sad that they seem to have ended!

 

But of course the reason why I made this thread is I would like to hear has there been more articles from prog in any other countries than Finland?

I'm of the opinion that too many of these magazines are not about the "music" at all, and in fact, will continually show that they have to do articles on well known bands, in order to get an audience ... and even Guy Guden and Space Pirate Radio, proved this a false pat on the back for some folks that thought they were successful, and in the end, they were not at all. Guy proved, and QUICKLY, that there were many other bands out there that did great work, and he even resorted to several fake comedy sketches that gave away some funny comments ... like the boss of the music company that gave you Elmo and the Crotchhairs, and will never NEVER EVER make a hit out of a band from nowhere else out there ... that band, btw, was The Average White Band, that became a huge hit in the States.

Getting attention to NEW, and "unknown" material has been an issue from day one ... and I have to admit that here on PA, there is no better place to see that, however, it is my contention that too much of the attention is on the Greek monuments and the Roman artifacts, before we will, subjectively, listen and appreciate a new band ... without just simply hearing 5 seconds of this cut, 6 seconds of that cut and then 7 seconds of that cut, and then state that it sounds like Genesis!

Prog, or progressive anything, never died and went to heaven or hell. It has been there the whole time, but like that magazine, getting the attention ... I guess that PA has a great job to do ... and I think we do it better than anyone!

Prog's 15 minutes of fame ended decades ago and beyond the people that are already into it, none of the general population have a clue what progressive rock refers to...especially if you try to describe the genre with any band formed after 1975.  It's sad, but in today's lightning fast paced society you can hardly get anyone to sit still long enough to listen to music they've not heard before for more than 10 seconds let alone the required 20 minutes and several re-listens it takes to really get into most of the music we consider masterpieces.  We are a dying breed  

 

But all you who find lots of great music also these days, be happy! I am also happy with my so many old great albums.

I think this is a sort of illusion for us all and that we have to get past the devil to get to the light, as a famous mystic would say!

The press, is well known to be in cahoots with the same corporate companies that run the record companies and the movie companies. Why the FUDGE would you expect so many of those "magazines" to show/write anything that is "progressive" and "prog", or "$hitcrap" as it would not help the selling of their very own house product. Have you taken a look at USA Today, and its listings? You're not going to see an article on "progressive", because a lot of the "progressive" and "prog" have gone INDEPENDENT for the most part. 

The idea that the press and the media regulates "progressive" is the one thing that has not happened, and progressive continues to be where it was before, after, and BEYOND.

Please stop giving the "press" and the "media" its due ... that part of the "music business" has been falling apart for a long time, and I sincerely hope it dies further before my body gives out ... we DON'T NEED TO BE TOLD what to like and dislike. This is my main reason to fight vehemently against a top ten of any kind, including our own here.

"Progressive" and "Prog" ... have always been independent, with the exception of a couple of bands that got huge in the early days, and the music business has made sure that they did not see that again ... as time went by, the record companies were making less and less from any of those bands ... and then you hear about them losing money ... after they stole so much before the band "made it".

Please stop giving the press and media some value. 

You can NOT have "progressive" or "prog" WITHOUT AN INDEPENDENT SPIRIT, and NOT BEING TOLD WHAT TO PLAY. So stop thinking that a magazine is the clue, because it isn't. 

Places like PA are a much better clue in case you have not noticed!

Some genres even seem very slow in terms of output. I know it only feels that way, but to me it seems like every new album is either metal or crossover.

One impression though: 

Less and less people seem to be into rock in general, so the audience for prog might be growing comparatively?

In my circles, progheads cling to their music fiercely, and even new fans who discover rock actually get interested in prog or at least art rock. Classic rock, post rock even indie and punk based genres seem to shed fans at a much higher rate. (Mostly to hip hop and electronica.) So maybe the prog audience actually decreases but the general rock audience decreases even faster and therefore prog seems bigger? Might be a reason for rock magazines to include it more?

Anyone notice anything similar? Or is this wrong?

My only gauge on the growth or shrink of prog fans is activity on this forum (I don't get out much ) and over the past couple years it's dropped dramatically.  I'm sure a good portion of that is due to CAS (Captcha Anxiety Syndrome), but getting into the habit of doing a quick ctrl-a, ctrl-c in case a repost is required is a minor inconvenience, yet activity here has plummeted.  It can't be all because of CAS, can it?  I wonder if activity has also dropped over on Progressive Ears?

No argument from me...I've had a handful of times that I've been so frustrated by repeated permission errors and/or clicking boxes with street signs that I just gave up on the post and came back later.  What I'm wondering is if that's the only reason activity on PA has dropped so drastically?

I think progcommunities in Facebook in Finland have been active at least some time ago, but I am not in Facebook, so don´t really know.

Absolutety. Internet habit have changed so much in the last 5 years.

And lots of people only have smartphones or barely used computers/notebooks. (I don't think progarchives is very comfortable to use on a phone.)

That said. I have never seen a captcha here? Must be very lucky.

I agree 

Born in the early 60s,  my parents loved Classical and Jazz.   Progressive music filled this gap very well indeed!...   Being young too loved pop, with bands such as The Sweet, T-Rex and Fleetwood Mac. 

Shame really!....  It's seems it's left to us as avid fans. 

noni wrote: ... Born in the early 60s,  my parents loved Classical and Jazz.   Progressive music filled this gap very well indeed!...   Being young too loved pop, with bands such as The Sweet, T-Rex and Fleetwood Mac.  Shame really!....  It's seems it's left to us as avid fans.  ...

 

All you are saying is that each and every generation had their own preferences, and the parents did not connect with it as well as you and I would have liked. The same thing today. You and I do not connect with our kids listening to what we think is mindless rap … and mind you, even I thought that a lot of rock music after the 60's was about LOUDNESS, not necessarily music, but we still love our loud ones! And of course, by the time some kids hear Black Sabbath in their early days … ohhh wow … that's cool!

We're not minding the history of the arts and music and its continual changes. The appreciation did not disappear, or no one would EVER go to a classic music concert by your local orchestra, even if it is just a bore, like the one here in this town! Ohhh , let's do Mozart's 32nd Concert for Piano and Dog.

"Progressive" has always been there … and you can look at the other arts to see it … and how (sometimes) music is the slower of them all, because of the corporate controls seem to be further up front. You don't hear as much about the writing and the painting industry … which has the same problems, but the rich art gallery folks won't admit it. And they won't show these progressive folks because there are artists that they are getting good money for their work … 

The more things change, the more they stay the same … just wake up to it!

Went to a small record show (vinyl, cd, posters, dvd, etc) in my local area...about 10 traveling vendors....most of the people buying were not at the 'prog table'....(this guy called Greg from CVC collectables . He was the only one there who had any meaningful vinyl and cd that was prog.