Sinister: Record company man, I won't be coming to dinner

[Scott Plagenhoef]

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.

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