From Drum Wolf Sent Wed, Nov 26th 1997, 16:09
From Drum Wolf Sent Wed, Nov 26th 1997, 16:09
On Wed, 26 Nov 1997, galaxey gil wrote: > For some reason, I expect a counter argument saying "Oh and RDJ is not > a sell out either? He's on a Major label (SIRE) and has his video on > MTV" I know somebody is thinking this way. Being on MTV and on a major > label has nothing to do with selling out. Selling out is letting > yerself get co-opted by the industry. Thank you, Gil! I'm glad someone finally had the sense to point this out! There are way too many purists who think that just signing to a major label and being played on MTV means selling out, and way too many mainstream listeners who think all of us underground music fans think this way. And the people in both those categories are off the mark. When Gil says "letting yourself get co-opted by the industry," I assume he means WAY more than a major-label deal, MTV airplay, or even large record sales. He's talking about bands that act like "rock stars." Bands which jump into the music/media industry machine full hog - high-profile public appearances, pix on the front covers of ROLLING STONE or SPIN, making news in the tabloids, songs for big-budget Hollywood movie soundtracks, and playing on the MTV Video Music Awards or commercial-radio-sponsored events. > I tend to think that if a newbie is turned on to a tune simply by > hearing it played thru my stereo, or something similar, he/she will > appreciate the music for what it is. By being turned on to it, by > what's on TV or Rolling Stone cover has the POTENTIAL, read > _potential_, to simply like it b/c it is a fad. That is exactly what > alternative music suffered. If a newbie hears prodigy and then gets > into more excellent electronic music, more power to them, but I doubt > 95% of the people who look at Mtv for their avenue into "new" genres > ever really stick it out with that specific genre for the long haul. I > mean my days of Iron Maiden fandom are over. WHY? Prolly b/c Mtv got > rid of the HEadbangers Ball. No the truth is a grew outta the fad. Gil has just said EXACTLY what I was pointing out in my previous post. Your typical mainstream listener who gets into musical genre X (whether it's hardcore punk, indie pop, IDM, country, skinflute music, etc) because it's the big trend of the moment won't be inclined to attach any kind of deep-rooted loyalty to the genre, and they're not going to look beneath the surface to find obscure artists in that genre or stick with that genre when it's no longer the current fad. When I was growing up (I'm 28 now), kids were more inclined to identify themselves with a specific genre of music. That's not so much the case now; your typical mainstream listener isn't tied to any one particular type of music. That doesn't mean they're any more open-minded; it just means they'll eat up anything they're spoon-fed by the major labels, mainstream radio and MTV, but they won't bother to look beyond. Why do you think there's so many people who say "I listen to everything" or "I like all kinds of music" when they really mean they listen to the bands from different kinds of music who are all on the Top 40 charts like Offspring (punk), Puff Daddy (rap), Prodigy (IDM), and No Doubt (alternative)? I agree with Gil that 95% of the people who look to MTV for new genres don't stay with those genres. Yes, there are a few kids seeing Prodigy on MTV who'll get turned on to more adventurous IDM like AFX or Squarepusher, just like there were kids who saw Nirvana and Green Day who were turned on to punk enough to discover the likes of Teengenerate, Sleater-Kinney and Unwound. But methinks those people already had the kind of initiative and curiosity such that they would have discovered more underground punk or IDM on their own anyway even without the help of MTV. - John Lee