The Logic Off Topic list

> > John Matthews wrote:
> > I think its because we ( in the UK, I am speaking as an Englishman on
> > this)
> > have one foot in the US and the other in Europe, plus Britain's
> > colonial
> > past puts British bands and musicians in a unique position to be able
> > to
> > absorb more varied culture and create more original music from these
> > influences

Dave Eager responded:
>I'm not so sure the UK has a mortgage on creativity,
True.

>... it's just that
>marketing, distribution and , most importantly, music consumers there
>make it much easier for creative artists to breach the barricades of
>mediocrity.
Well ... this is surely rather begging the question. Why? And how?

>Historically US markets and media have been dictated to by
>corporations who choose the music which will have a place in the sun.
I am not a US citizen, so hopefully someone will correct me in this. But 
... a big problem US artists have in becoming national is the sheer size of 
the market. You can be a very big star in say Detroit or Seattle while 
people down in LA or across in Boston or Florida have never heard of you. 
Your point is probably right, though, that in order to become 'national' a 
band has to be more 'corporate' or 'marketable' before a national label and 
the like will look at them. The US is not one monolithic market but a 
disparate array of varied musical tastes and in order to be successful 
nationally a band or group must surely be marketable across all of those 
different markets. And since a band that is extremely popular in say 
Honolulu is unlikely to be on a label that is national ... and therefore 
international ... there's a lot of great US music that most people inside 
the US, never mind outside it, never get a chance to hear.

Could someone with more knowledge of the US scene comment on the likelihood 
or possibility of this observation?

>Somehow, the UK has allowed all-in-sundry to access markets, and,
>consequently,
I think that this, again, has something to do with the relatively 
small-scale of the market. It's very easy for a DJ based in say Bristol to 
pick up on a vibe being created by a band up in Scunthorpe. Before you know 
where you are there's a very big NATIONAL scene going on, whereas on a 
comparable scale in the US you're probably only talking a very small area 
of say Texas or California.

>if successful there, produce enough sales for the US
>corporations to 'adopt' them and introduce them to the american market.
Again ... I think that this is because once a British band is national 
within Britain, it's also international ... even when on a relatively small 
Indie label. A small indie label in the US has probably never been heard of 
outside it's own state or regional base of operations.

>In other words there is more pressure on american artists to conform,
>even if they have genius hidden away in their road cases somewhere.
>Because they know they have to fit the template to eat.
I tend to agree with this conclusion, although not for the same reasons as you.

>[the preference of the british music press for artists who are more from
>leftfield is probably is a big factor too]

Again ... I think this is rather begging the question. WHY does the British 
music press root for the left-field guy? Here I think Recky Reck was in the 
right kind of ball park because -- due to the class-system and all it 
implies -- music and sport are two of the few realistic avenues by which 
wealth-impaired people can escape their condition, so they put a lot of 
passion and creativity into it and with the use of very few resources. 
There are very few successful British acts that have come from upper and 
upper-middle class and middle-class backgrounds. If we stick to 'old 
codgers' (which is what everyone else seems to be doing!) we're talking 
people like Jonathan Ross and 10cc. Most of the time, you come from a 
background like that and with the right kind of accent and announce that 
you want a career in a rock and roll band, your parents teachers and other 
advisors will look at you and say 'get serious and get a REAL job'.

That's my analysis of the situation anyway. Please feel free to differ ... 
but the economic argument also indicates why Black and Hispanic Americans 
are also so creative in their own ways and keep coming up, every 
generation, with new wave after new wave of good and original music that is 
well capable of storming the planet (except, of course, in these days of 
high corporate profits and etc ... but that's another pet peeve of mine and 
good for a totally different thread probably!!).

Anyway, I would be interested in learning a bit more about the US scene and 
its regional/national divide and such like if anyone has some real scoop 
they'd care to share.

Thanks.

Kool Musick
Keep Musick Kool



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