Adam J Weitzman <weitzman@individual.com> writes:
quoted 3 lines Whoops, here I go again. I gotta say, this ambient techno stuff really is> Whoops, here I go again. I gotta say, this ambient techno stuff really is
> conducive to writing long passages about the music industry. The last one
> was on Cabaret Voltaire's _Plasticity_; this one's on Moby's _Ambient_.quoted 1 line This is a tautology.> This is a tautology.
Isn't 'tautology' a CV track? I could swear i've seen it on one of their
albums. :-)
quoted 2 lines Dan Nicholson, who said "someone completely off their rocker might> Dan Nicholson, who said "someone completely off their rocker might
> prefer Pearl Jam to Orbital," was definitely making a statement that the
No, I said IMHO someone completely off their rocker might prefer Pearl Jam
to Orbital. This is my opinion of the two bands; people that are off their
rocker include my best friend, who likes Pearl Jam, although I think at
this point he likes Orbital more. :)
quoted 2 lines average person does not know what really good music is, whereas he does> average person does not know what really good music is, whereas he does
> (and, by extension, the people who like what he likes).
Again, this is my opinion: that the average person, meaning the person
who's musical experience consists of MTV, top-40 radio and Sam Goody record
stores, has not been exposed to a large enough variety of music to really
appreciate music. They simply don't have enough of a reference point from
which to make their decisions, so they're taking whatever they find. If all
you've been exposed to is one type of music, you're probably not going to
be very critical of the actual quality of the music. I certainly was not
while i was growing up listening to casey kasem.
quoted 4 lines Of course, Sire could do the easy thing and pay MTV to make "On" a "Buzz> Of course, Sire could do the easy thing and pay MTV to make "On" a "Buzz
> Clip" or something (and I'm sure this is how clips get into that
> situation), but they obviously feel that it won't come back to them in
> record sales. What does that tell you?
how is this so obvious? there are a number of reasons why they might not
want to do such a thing.
what does it tell you? that
1) Sire feels the practice of paying for playing is unethical (this is
always a possibility)?
2) richard james sucks and has no potential for commercial appeal (this
does appear to be what you're insinuating)
3) Sire is making a big mistake?
4) Sire is absolutely correct to think that it won't come back to them?
quoted 6 lines Of course there's a fad element here, but for the most part, I don't think> Of course there's a fad element here, but for the most part, I don't think
> that people buy music because all their friends have it or that it is
> being rammed down their throats on MTV. No matter how much MTV (or WFNX,
> the station I listen to most here in Boston) plays "Laid" by James, I'm
> not going to like the song and I'm not going to buy the single/album/
> whatever. And this is not to say that all music consumers think like me,
exactly. most of them DON'T. that's quite obvious, isn't it, because if
they did, they'd be buying techno :) *But* a large number of them WILL buy
James' albums, because it's being played so much, and it's what they're
hearing.
quoted 1 line but it makes sense that, over the long haul, you buy what you like.> but it makes sense that, over the long haul, you buy what you like.
this makes sense for you and I, and it's true for us. but the average music
consumer sees Snoop Doggy Dog, Michael Bolton and James in the record store
commercials, displays, and advertisements, and assumes this is all that's
out there, so they satisfy themselves with it. perhaps this means we who
actually are getting what we really want are spoiled?
quoted 6 lines Uh, excuse me, but, just how did The Aphex Twin end up on that bigger> Uh, excuse me, but, just how did The Aphex Twin end up on that bigger
> label, hmmmm? It couldn't be because he was selling lots of records and
> Sire wanted to cash in, hmmmm? Just maybe? Or perhaps they're taking a
> loss on him and are doing it just for street cred? (NOT!) This is a
> *company* with a bottom line, and if they didn't think AFX was/would
> be popular they wouldn't have signed him.
but they were, and are taking a chance with him, much more so than with a
standard pop/grunge/rap/metal band. unfortunately, 99 times out of 100,
they go with the safe bet, which, as i said before is 'same old same old'
this is why rock music has largely become stagnant and lacks the innovation
it did in former decades.
quoted 5 lines The industry cannot possibly exert as much influence over the consumer> The industry cannot possibly exert as much influence over the consumer
> market as you think they do. They sign what they think will become popular
> so that they can make money. It cannot possibly be that they sign someone,
> and force everyone to buy their record, thereby making them popular. This
> is just backwards. Now granted, the label definitely has some star-making
is it so backwards? large companies sometimes buy their own product out of
the stores to inflate sales of albums. the record industry exerts just as
much influence as we're saying it does, and probably more so. they control
almost all the channels of distribution, which is the entire key to what
becomes popular.
quoted 3 lines capability, and a little marketing goes a long way. I'm not denying that.> capability, and a little marketing goes a long way. I'm not denying that.
> But you guys are talking about it like it's the norm, and it just ain't
> so.
I hate to look like I'm trying to sound superior, but how do you know? Do
you have friends in the industry who are telling you what's going on? I do,
and this is where I'm getting my facts from. I can fully understand how you
can't possibly imagine these kinds of things because these people are
getting away with so much it's mind blowing.
Advertising's entire purpose is to _create demand_. A large part of that is
making people buy something they don't need or want. They do this by
_making you think you want it_. That's much of how the record companies go
about daily business.
- Dan
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The 8-BIt Collective - Transmission 23 - edrone dan nicholson,
Clonor the Other - Finnish Techno Zyndicate 8bit@vlad.bowker.com
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