With the punk/emo genre becoming more immersed in the mainstream over the past few years, it has been expected to see the so-called "scene" itself changing. In the last three or four years, the atmosphere within the emo scene has morphed dramatically, and sadly, not for the better.
Without trying to sound like a jaded older fan of music that's now just as popular with early middle school girls as Hanna Montana, I'd like to take a moment to map out what's happened recently and why nothing good ha s come of it.
In the early years of this millennium, pop punk and emo were just smoldering below the awareness of the mainstream public. There were a few acts that "made it big" in those years like Blink 182, Dashboard Confessional and New Found Glory, but most of the bands survived by touring their rears off and making it onto solid indie labels. Sometimes smaller acts blipped on the mainstream radar with modest hits (think Midtown, Thursday or Saves The Day). In those days, there didn't seem to be much pressure on bands to have a "look" or create a persona that could attract fans. Everyone - the fans, the bands, the crews - all wore T shirts and played their music.
But since 2005, about the time that acts like Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance and Panic At The Disco became mainstream sensations, the dynamics have been altered. I think there are a few major factors of this mutation, but the primary criminal must be the World Wide Web.
