Before the Music Dies

20062006
Not RatedNot Rated
1h 35m

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

474

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

173,502

20,185

Documentary Music

With outstanding performances and revealing interviews Before the Music Dies takes a critical look at the homogenization of popular music with commentary by some of the industry's biggest ta... Read allWith outstanding performances and revealing interviews Before the Music Dies takes a critical look at the homogenization of popular music with commentary by some of the industry's biggest talents like Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews, Elvis Costello, Erykah Badu, Branford Marsalis, Bo... Read allWith outstanding performances and revealing interviews Before the Music Dies takes a critical look at the homogenization of popular music with commentary by some of the industry's biggest talents like Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews, Elvis Costello, Erykah Badu, Branford Marsalis, Bonnie Raitt and more. Using historic footage the film looks at the evolution of American mu... Read all

IMDb RATING

7.6/10

474

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

173,502

20,185

See more at IMDbPro

Director
- Andrew Shapter
Writers
- Andrew Shapter
- Joel Rasmussen
Stars

Top credits

See production, box office & company info

Quotes
Erykah Badu - Musician: There are three kinds of artists. The first kind are the ones who hurt to do what they do. It hurts to write, there's pain involved, there's experience in there, there's blood. The second kind of artist imitates the ones in pain. The third kind of artist just do what somebody tell them to do, learn the step, wear this wig, shake your ass, watch yourself. The first kind of artist are the ones who are more popular than the amount of money they receive. The second kind of artist is usually the rich ones. Third kind, they get dropped from the label because millions of them walking around... Be true. Be you. Don't let anybody infiltrate your dream. Make sure you're saying something when you're saying something. It's important to sound like you. To feel like you. To be you.

User reviews5

Review

Top review

10/10

most inspiring movie I've seen in a while

for me, an avid music fan, this documentary hit home from the opening credits. as a child of the 90s, i can still remember when i could turn on the radio, flip through 7 stations, and hear about 7 completely different songs being played. it was not a process to try and search out "alternative" stations because as you moved from station to station you could find something that sounded completely different than what was playing on the station before it. this all stopped around 1997 when i found that as i moved from station to station i could be guaranteed to hear the same song in a short period of time. sadly, around 1997, i abandoned listening to the radio all together and haven't gone back since. the radio used to be a place to hear what was new and upcoming. bands had a chance to develop on the radio and gain an audience; record companies instilled faith in bands and nurtured them to develop. it is these concepts that the movie focuses on. pop radio hasn't always been something to hate if you're a music fan! artists like stevie wonder, ray charles, dmb, pearl jam, THE BEATLES, aretha franklin, elvis, gladys knight & the pips, eric Clapton, led zeppelin, and so on are all spawns of pop radio! in this movie branford marsalis has some of the best quotes I've ever heard regarding the music industry saying: "fans of popular music today aren't music fans...they're pop culture fans.", "stevie wonder and ray charles would not have had a shot today...they're blind!", and has one regarding dmb saying that they would not have made it either since they are different and have a violin & saxophone in the band! though this movie sounds like it would be quite depressing to the music fan viewing, it is actually quite uplifting because it shows that well respected people in the business are aware of the crap that is coming out. please check this out and spread the word.

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