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Before the Music Dies
Andrew Shapter 2005
Categories: Documentary, Feature, Music
Average Rating:
Rated 4.5013982185825405/5 Stars
My Rating:
Run time: 95 min. | USA | Language: English
Never have so few companies controlled so much of the music played on the radio and for sale at retail stores. At the same time, there are more bands and more ways to discover their music than ever. Music seems to have split in two - the homogenous corporate product that is spoonfed to consumers and the diverse independent music that finds devoted fans online and at clubs across the country.

BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES tells the story of American music at this precarious moment. Filmmakers Andrew Shapter and Joel Rasmussen traveled the country, hoping to understand why mainstream music seems so packaged and repetitive, and whether corporations really had the power to silence musical innovation. The answers they found on this journey - ultimately, the promise that the future holds - are what makes BEFORE THE MUSIC DIES both riveting and exhilarating.
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About the film
Cast & Crew
director
Andrew Shapter
 
producer
Joel Rasmussen
Audience Buzz
Rated 4.5013982185825405/5 Stars
4.5 | 207
views 24,599 people viewed this page
reviews 15 people reviewed this film
Featured Review
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Rated 5.0/5 Stars
matteo
8:53 PM
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I don't claim to be a music snob, but I saw this film at the b-side roadshow and loved it. Any true music fan can appreciate what the industry has gone through and how much ground we have yet to cover in order to truly save the music.
From the blog
National Youth Homelessness Awareness Month

This month is National Youth Homelessness Awareness Month, and it has come not a moment too soon. Teen homelessness rates have soared in the U.S., with fewer jobs available for teens to help their family financially and more stresses pushing more kids to leave their homes and live on the streets. With more than three-quarters of these cases going unreported by parents and caretakers, many times there is no one even looking for these kids, and too often, they aren’t trusting of the help that occasionally is offered to them.

Children make up 27% – the fastest growing segment – of the U.S. homeless population, and there’s no end in sight; the recession has forced many families out of their homes, making these youth just another group on the long list of victims, moving from couch to couch, shelter to shelter. But for many, economic stresses are just another ingredient in dysfunctional home lives, leading many to run away. They escape their home only to find new dangers and challenges; as many have pointed out, it’s not that these youth are living on the streets — they’re surviving, at best. And while Obama’s economic stimulus plan has funneled $1.5 billion to fight homelessness, virtually all of that money goes to homeless families, not unaccompanied youth.
As a result, nonprofits and private charities have a lot of responsibility on their shoulders in this upcoming year; it is estimated there will be a 10-20% increase in homelessness this year, many of them children. One organization working to change this trend is StandUp for Kids, working to get abused youth into shelters and away from their abusers through the Don’t Run Away Program. They’re also instrumental in helping street kids get their own apartments and teaching them the basic skills they need to live on their own.
They’re not alone in the fight. This month marked the third year of the Virgin Mobile FreeFest, working to help end youth homelessness. The National Alliance to End Homelessness has initiated a new program to focus particularly on youth and get them the help they need through early intervention, long-term housing, and after-care services for youth coming from foster care and correctional settings. You too can help, particularly this month:
• Volunteer with StandUp for Kids. You can also donate $5 right now by texting STANDUP to 85944 on your mobile phone (don’t forget to reply YES to the confirmation message).
• Participate in peer outreach and community-based outreach to prevent youth homelessness in the first place. If you think someone you know is considering running away or already has, call 1-800-RUNAWAY or contact theFamily and Youth Services Bureau to help find shelter for a homeless youth.
• Let your state representatives know that we need more affordable housing options for young adults.
• Stay up to date on upcoming opportunities with Causecast and Huffington Post Impact this month and get involved to help end youth homelessness.

Photo Credit : Tom Stone

Posted Nov 05, 2009 at 4:02 AM by andrew
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