hi people: Bear with me if you choose, don't blame ya if you don't: As far as B&S, E6 or any other rather lovely form of music becoming popular, it won't happen and that is more down to the way the music industry is structured than whether these bands can cross demographics and be purchased by the public en masse. The music industry has, of course, changed greatly even since the Big Grunge Breakthrough. There are only 4 major record companies in the world and they each only devote their signifcant marketing attention and dollars to a small handful of acts. Plus, the use of Soundscan has made the raw numbers of record sales and the charts a spectator sport, the same way box-office watching has become. So, artists aren't cultivated -- the record companies can't be bothered. Artists are practically judged each financial quarter on the basis of profitability rather than artistry -- and there are so few outlets for mainstream music (radio is incredibly narrow in the US and UK -- travel the US and you will find that each market has practically the exact same radio stations, a top 40, a Q- or X-labelled "alternative," an adult alternative that crosses over and plays (oooh) Matchbox twenty alongside Mariah Carey; MTV is, of course, even narrower) In the UK, it seems easier to make a chart breakthrough, with the comparitive homogeny of the country, its smaller size, the self-appointed cultural elite based mainly in one city, the greater significance of the singles chart, and national radio. With the need for the record companies to get immediate gratification to bother backing an artist in the US, it's no shock that the only new "artists" that breaktrhough to the charts are the ones either manufactured by the record companies and pushed onto the public through well-placed talk-show gigs, spots on MTV's TRL, phony teen chat rooms, being placed on soundtracks (usually to movies released by the same parent company as the record label, natch) or shopping malls appearances. Hip-hop new artists can be pushed onto the public through incestual collaborations with established artists (think Snoop Doggy Dogg or Kelis or Mya or Ma$e or Eminem). The only other things that make immediate impact are base dredge like "thong song" or "mambo #5." These are records that are aimed to get you to buy them NOW but not for you to listen to in a year so your CD carraige is empty as you now turn your nose up to your discared copy of "macarena" or "achy breaky heart" you can buy whatever is the new piece of crap they are foisting on you instead. Watch the next time someone with NO presence in the US is hyped as a "next big thing" (such as the attempts to push Robbie Williams here) and trace where they are being plugged and why. Not because a large group of the populace decides that they like said artists' music, but because the record company decides a large group of the population might, so they are shoved down our throats. If it takes immediately, great. If not, move on. With so few outlets to publicize an artist, There is little justification for the majors to bother with anyone who might not be platinum or multi-platinum. In the end, N Sync didn't sell 2.1 million records in one week because they really are *that* much more popular than Mariah Carey or Backstreet Boys or New Kids on the Block, but because the industry itself is tightening its control on the marketplace and doing a better job of eliminating kids' choices and outlets to discover new, thoughtful music for themselves. It's N Sync or Kid Rock, junior, take your pick. The worst part is that the kids don't realize that they are being sold out. They look at Limp Bizkit or Spin or alternative radio and think they are making leftfield choices rather than just buying into one version on the mainstream. When I was growing up, the record companies hadn't figured out that they could package and sell rebellion in an even slightly believable way, it was Winger or Wilson Phillips and it was obvious both were a joke, so we went out and discovered the Pixies and Public Enemy. Kids don't do that now. Well, sorry this is long-winded and more than a bit pompous and quite cynical, but, well, sorry. These aren't absolute truths, but does seem to be an unfortunate reality. Unfortunately, if large multi-nationals begin to snap up search engine sites and squeeze off internet access to the indie pop world, it could get even worse. ************************************************************** The antithesis of all of this was the beauty of last night's Looper / Flaming Lips show, which is really special (and, proving the rest of my prattle wrong, the Lips *are* major-label artists.) Wayne Coyne manages the near-impossible: The show and "Soft Bulletin" are an un-ironic, non-melodramatic and non-schmaltzy celebration of love, beauty, and basic humanity. For some reason things that would seem corny in some contexts work here because he *makes* them work with his sincerity [confetti; balloons; *so* many lyrical references to the idea of love, video of a young, innocent boy as a superman figure lifting the hardened spirits of adults; the Wizard of Oz and basic human longing (over the rainbow); videos of basic life functions such as sperm, a human heart, the inside of a womb; video of the sequence in "2001" where 'man' expereinces a trip through the infinite (and eventually emerges on the 'other side' to discover a higher power and a greater understanding of one's self -- although that part isn't in the show); and, er, people in bunny suits] Looper I had seen at the start and the end of this tour and they greatly improved over the course of those two months. I also conducted an interview with Stuart David last night, which I will shamelessly make you aware of when it is published, and I am happy to report that he couldn't have been nicer. He was very open about Belle and Sebastian as well and had quite a few interesting things to say regarding his relationship with the band and the perception of his participation with them. bye! scott. +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+