I'm active musician in the music industry. Allow me to give expanded thoughts on this:
1) One of the biggest issues facing "bands" these days- rock/indie/alternative/metal/whatever - is that Rock/Alternative Reporting stations (radio stations that effect the billboard charts) are dying out. This has been happening steadily since 2010. Even slightly before then. Now, top 40 and Hip-Hop stations are the only major sources of new music, thereby, they are loading the charts, thereby, Tastemakers are mainly playing HipHop and Top 40. Thats not to say bands are not popular- but most are pounding the road and touring. "The Decline of the Mainstream" I think is the thread creators way of saying bands are not in the top 40 anymore. Radio promotion is incredibly expensive and is dominated by big money. Most bands, like myself, mainly do College radio promo or reach out to the very few alternative stations left- KEXP/KROQ, etc. This is an American perspective- im not in the European scene. In my opinion, the Mainstream has definitely declined, but its mainly do to the corrupt nature of the music industry and big money and paywalls.
2) The next big issue is: What do you consider the mainstream? To me, Spotify and Youtube are now the most dominant music platforms for most people under the age of 40. I almost dont care what's on mainstream radio- I don't use it much anymore. I dont need tastemakers anymore. But the radio market in my area is dead and sucks- maybe yours doesn't. I mainly just click through what Spotify tells me is similar to bands I like. The mainstream is changing- and music is getting very weird, man. Spins/streams and algorhythms are dictating what is mainstream. TV/Radio/traditional mainstream is now getting old and dated. Maybe the thread creator should use different platforms?
TLDR: Billie Eilish got big on the internet, and its not too different from the Myspace era bands. I would anticipate the Mainstream being dictated more and more by streaming services.
TLDR2: I still think the bands from the mid-aughts were awesome. I would argue the mainstream started to decline 2010 --> now. Because of the above reasons.
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