quoted 3 lines The second factor is, at least in the US, a lingering fear of being stamped>The second factor is, at least in the US, a lingering fear of being stamped
>as somehow less masculine by abandoning all those phallic symbols that are
>built into rock'n'roll.
Good call.
In addition, there is a definite anti-intellectual strain in the American
music industry.
Marketing in the U.S. assumes the audience wants to be placated, not
challenged.
I suspect that this is an underestimation, and that more people would be
interested in "intelligent" music if there were greater opportunity for
exposure to said music. Perhaps that's optimistic.
Another problem is that instrumental music generally does not fare well in
the U.S. (nor does non-English-language music, a bit of a pet rock of
mine).
Probably again seems too abstract and intellectual to be marketable?
Yes, and the association with computers and electronics still gives that
madscientist / sociallyineptintellectual vibe to the uninitiated.
Now I'll go out on a limb and saw it off:
I do think that this country (the U.S.) has little respect for - or even
tolerance of - intelligence and education. These characteristics are all
too often treated with suspicion and derision, assumed to be elitism,
affectation, or tools of deception. At best, they are tolerated as a means
to an end, but are rarely valued in and of themselves.
Zenon M. Feszczak
Philosophist