While I have always thought that Orbital are perhaps the most
accessible of the music I listen to, I don't know if I'd ever call them
pop. Let's reserve that term for Moby. But that's neither here nor
there. Back to what an earlier person said, I think artists can remain
somewhat underground and still do well financially. Take Orbital, for
example. The general public in the US has no clue who or what they are
yet Orbital was listed last month in Select as the 14th highest
grossing band in the UK so they are obviously doing quite well. I'll
have to check on the exact per year figures but it was in the millions
of pounds. While I realize that Orbital is hardly what anyone would
consider underground, especially in the UK, they are certainly not
pandering to the masses at least not in my eyes. Now what was the point
I was trying to make here? I suppose I am trying to say that, while
music like this should obviously be accessible to all that seek it out,
it shouldn't be packaged for mass consumption like a vapid Mariah Carey
cd. It deserves much more than that.
On Mon, 15 Jul 1996 15:04:59 -0500 (CDT) Mark Kolmar
<mkolmar@ccs.nslsilus.org> wrote:
quoted 1 line For "KEEP MUSIC UNDERGROUND"> > > For "KEEP MUSIC UNDERGROUND"
read "keep musicians on the bread line" ....
quoted 20 lines Maybe, but when artists achieve commercial success their music very>
> > Maybe, but when artists achieve commercial success their music very
> > often starts resembling fecal matter.
>
> 2 possibilities here:
>
> a) Artist does not develop, output becomes stale
>
> b) Artist tries to figure out what it is that caught the public's ear,
> makes adjustments and/or becomes self-conscious about that aspect, and
> spoils the original appeal.
>
> On the other hand, we can name plenty of artists who went to major labels
> without making artistic compromises. You can say what you want about _I
> Care..._ or _SAWII_ by Aphex Twin (I like the stuff on Rephlex and R&S
> much more), but I certainly don't hear any concession to the marketplace.
> Orbital, as an example, always struck me as being on the pop tip anyway.
>
> --Mark
>