around POP music.....from today's Telegraph.Co.Uk (17/04/08)

[robertina]

What do you think.....Mika is mentioned, so I think we can have a word on this debate.

be fair to our boy....

 

 

On Music: it takes more than a credit crunch to keep musicians quiet

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 17/04/2008

 

Neil McCormick looks at the possible effects of the credit crunch on the music industry

 

'The best things in life are free/but you can give them to the birds and bees," roared the Beatles in their classic cover of the 1959 Motown hit, Money (That's What I Want).

 

What happens to pop music in a credit crunch? For all its espousal of peace, love and understanding, there has always been a venal side to pop. Performers may claim to make music for noble reasons, but underlying it all is the lure of fame and fortune, from Elvis Presley in a gold suit singing Money Honey to Robbie Williams screaming on TV news, "I'm rich beyond my wildest dreams." So how might a global economic downturn affect the music we are listening to?

 

Actually, the music business is ahead of the curve on this one, having been in economic crisis for several years. It is said that luxury goods are the first to suffer in a recession, and music could certainly be considered a luxury. However, this is one luxury that anyone with access to a computer no longer really needs to pay for. Falling CD sales and a rise in free music sources on the internet (illegal or otherwise) may have put the industry in a tailspin, but it also means that the big companies are already engaged in the kind of cost-cutting and restructuring necessary to ride out an economic storm.

 

This is already affecting the music we listen to, at least in terms of what major labels are prepared to back with big-budget marketing campaigns. From Mika to Leona Lewis, there has been a shift of emphasis towards big, brash, shiny pop, clearly visible at this year's vacuous Brit award ceremony. It represents a kind of instinctive retrenchment by the industry to a model they know how to operate.

 

At its best, the new pop may offer escapist fun in the gloom. But with fewer new artists being signed by major labels than in any period of recent history, the ersatz cheeriness of groups such as Scouting for Girls, whose only function is fashioning singalong choruses, could quickly become rather trying.

 

 

But is major-label pop really the flavour of the modern musical age, when more artistically credible independent labels are booming, the internet is abuzz with bedroom musicians swapping files and venues are alive with jangly guitars and shouty boys and girls? Is histrionically cheerful Mika (the biggest selling new artist of last year) really more representative of the moment than the apocalyptic Arcade Fire or the cheeky wit of the Arctic Monkeys or the tough retro soul of Amy Winehouse? There just seems to be too much of everything to determine a singular character to the enormously diverse contemporary music scene.

 

Recorded music sales may rise and fall, but it would take more than a recession to keep musicians quiet. Indeed, even during the Great Depression of the last century, there was plenty of music to keep the unemployed entertained. You could find reflections of hard times in the stoic spirit of the blues, and perhaps detect hints of proletarian protest in the hard-luck stories of bluegrass and country, but the most popular music of the era was escapist dance jazz, with the emergence of vigorous swing music in the mid-Thirties.

 

Perhaps escapism is the primary function of music when the going gets tough: people dance to forget their troubles. There is a place for protest, too, as borne out by the emergence of punk during the troubled years of soaring inflation and unemployment under Labour in the late Seventies. But the biggest hit of the winter of discontent (1978-79) was the Village People's YMCA.

 

So perhaps the big record companies are right to be backing superficial pop. But before you get your dancing shoes on, bear in mind that it takes time for new trends to emerge. The breakthrough acts people are excited about at the moment were, for the most part, signed in 2006 or earlier. Following the success of Amy Winehouse, there has been an emphasis on retro sounds from Duffy, Adele and even the indie supergroup, the Last Shadow Puppets, but it is hard to tell if this represents a trend towards youth seeking out the comfort zone of nostalgia for an era before they were born or just record companies cashing in on a proven formula.

 

It will take a couple of years for us to tell what (if any) effect a credit crunch might have on musical culture, but frankly, with global warming, food shortages, oil wars, religious conflict, terrorism and a generally apocalyptic prognosis for the future, I suspect that kids have got bigger things to worry about than falling house prices.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/04/17/bmneil117.xml

[FREDDIESDOUBLE]

Thanks for posting Robster

 

I dont "get" the Arctic Monkeys at all

[lollipop_monkey]

I fail to see the connection - this sounds like a bunch of slow news day, overly analytical nothingness.

 

There's talk of a recession and a sub-prime lending issue brewing in the States - so shouldn't Mika and his "histrionically cheerful" self be selling a bazillion records there? And not in Canada, where the economy is - for the moment - more stable? Pff. I could never be an analyst. How boring.

 

PS: I love Scouting for Girls. Love, love their album. And their songs. Shameless plug:

 

http://www.myspace.com/scoutingforgirls

[CazGirl]

Thanks for posting Robster

 

I dont "get" the Arctic Monkeys at all

 

i think i only like two of their songs, but i dont have any of their albums so i guess this is a pointlessly delicious post xDD

[robertina]

i find this all connected to the 'guilty pleasures' concept that Mika hates so much.

[Marilyn Mastin]

What do you think.....Mika is mentioned, so I think we can have a word on this debate.

be fair to our boy....

 

 

On Music: it takes more than a credit crunch to keep musicians quiet

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 17/04/2008

 

Neil McCormick looks at the possible effects of the credit crunch on the music industry

 

'The best things in life are free/but you can give them to the birds and bees," roared the Beatles in their classic cover of the 1959 Motown hit, Money (That's What I Want).

 

What happens to pop music in a credit crunch? For all its espousal of peace, love and understanding, there has always been a venal side to pop. Performers may claim to make music for noble reasons, but underlying it all is the lure of fame and fortune, from Elvis Presley in a gold suit singing Money Honey to Robbie Williams screaming on TV news, "I'm rich beyond my wildest dreams." So how might a global economic downturn affect the music we are listening to?

 

Actually, the music business is ahead of the curve on this one, having been in economic crisis for several years. It is said that luxury goods are the first to suffer in a recession, and music could certainly be considered a luxury. However, this is one luxury that anyone with access to a computer no longer really needs to pay for. Falling CD sales and a rise in free music sources on the internet (illegal or otherwise) may have put the industry in a tailspin, but it also means that the big companies are already engaged in the kind of cost-cutting and restructuring necessary to ride out an economic storm.

 

This is already affecting the music we listen to, at least in terms of what major labels are prepared to back with big-budget marketing campaigns. From Mika to Leona Lewis, there has been a shift of emphasis towards big, brash, shiny pop, clearly visible at this year's vacuous Brit award ceremony. It represents a kind of instinctive retrenchment by the industry to a model they know how to operate.

 

At its best, the new pop may offer escapist fun in the gloom. But with fewer new artists being signed by major labels than in any period of recent history, the ersatz cheeriness of groups such as Scouting for Girls, whose only function is fashioning singalong choruses, could quickly become rather trying.

 

 

But is major-label pop really the flavour of the modern musical age, when more artistically credible independent labels are booming, the internet is abuzz with bedroom musicians swapping files and venues are alive with jangly guitars and shouty boys and girls? Is histrionically cheerful Mika (the biggest selling new artist of last year) really more representative of the moment than the apocalyptic Arcade Fire or the cheeky wit of the Arctic Monkeys or the tough retro soul of Amy Winehouse? There just seems to be too much of everything to determine a singular character to the enormously diverse contemporary music scene.

 

Recorded music sales may rise and fall, but it would take more than a recession to keep musicians quiet. Indeed, even during the Great Depression of the last century, there was plenty of music to keep the unemployed entertained. You could find reflections of hard times in the stoic spirit of the blues, and perhaps detect hints of proletarian protest in the hard-luck stories of bluegrass and country, but the most popular music of the era was escapist dance jazz, with the emergence of vigorous swing music in the mid-Thirties.

 

Perhaps escapism is the primary function of music when the going gets tough: people dance to forget their troubles. There is a place for protest, too, as borne out by the emergence of punk during the troubled years of soaring inflation and unemployment under Labour in the late Seventies. But the biggest hit of the winter of discontent (1978-79) was the Village People's YMCA.

 

So perhaps the big record companies are right to be backing superficial pop. But before you get your dancing shoes on, bear in mind that it takes time for new trends to emerge. The breakthrough acts people are excited about at the moment were, for the most part, signed in 2006 or earlier. Following the success of Amy Winehouse, there has been an emphasis on retro sounds from Duffy, Adele and even the indie supergroup, the Last Shadow Puppets, but it is hard to tell if this represents a trend towards youth seeking out the comfort zone of nostalgia for an era before they were born or just record companies cashing in on a proven formula.

 

It will take a couple of years for us to tell what (if any) effect a credit crunch might have on musical culture, but frankly, with global warming, food shortages, oil wars, religious conflict, terrorism and a generally apocalyptic prognosis for the future, I suspect that kids have got bigger things to worry about than falling house prices.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/04/17/bmneil117.xml

I would have left a comment on the site, but there doesn't seem to be a place to do it. I agree with the author about Leona Lewis because she is manufactured by Simon Cowell, but I certainly DO NOT agree with him about Mika!!!

If people think his music is too cheerful (and too original) they can always listen to something else!

[Pam Travers]

i love the articles of the telegraph when it comes to music... the contemporary music scene is so diverse, its interesting to wonder why the record companies choose to back up supeficial pop, probably because times to come will be harder and harder and people will need to escape...escapism because this is what its all about, i remember a journalist said that word to mika and he said" i dont think so" personally i DO think so, the problem is that mika is doing power pop music and not just dancey crappy music, there is a big part of reality into his songs and real music etc. The cheerful side is more the way he is , the way he acts, everything around him, as if life was so amazing when of course its not, i think many fans of mika want to escape reality because they are too weak or have been bullied and mika is a rolemodel , a savior but once they ll realise that he is not, that mika cant actually save them, it will be hangover time and i think a majority of the ones who loved him will hate him, you always hate people who gave you hope sooner or later when you realise it was all just a polaroid dream...

[RAK1]

i love the articles of the telegraph when it comes to music... the contemporary music scene is so diverse, its interesting to wonder why the record companies choose to back up supeficial pop, probably because times to come will be harder and harder and people will need to escape...escapism because this is what its all about, i remember a journalist said that word to mika and he said" i dont think so" personally i DO think so, the problem is that mika is doing power pop music and not just dancey crappy music, there is a big part of reality into his songs and real music etc. The cheerful side is more the way he is , the way he acts, everything around him, as if life was so amazing when of course its not, i think many fans of mika want to escape reality because they are too weak or have been bullied and mika is a rolemodel , a savior but once they ll realise that he is not, that mika cant actually save them, it will be hangover time and i think a majority of the ones who loved him will hate him, you always hate people who gave you hope sooner or later when you realise it was all just a polaroid dream...

 

Mika has said in the past, several times, that despite the general happy sound of his songs, that the lyrics have dark undertones. So you can't accuse him of trying to cheer everyone up with the subjects of his songs.

I do see your point as far as some people using him as a role model and maybe being disappointed down the line. There are some people who may think of him as a savior figure, although I'm sure that's not how he see's himself, and will be sad when they realise he's not, but he has said in interviews he champions the underdog, so I don't think he would be out to destroy anyones ideals intentionally.

[Pam Travers]

Mika has said in the past, several times, that despite the general happy sound of his songs, that the lyrics have dark undertones. So you can't accuse him of trying to cheer everyone up with the subjects of his songs.

I do see your point as far as some people using him as a role model and maybe being disappointed down the line. There are some people who may think of him as a savior figure, although I'm sure that's not how he see's himself, and will be sad when they realise he's not, but he has said in interviews he champions the underdog, so I don't think he would be out to destroy anyones ideals intentionally.

 

im not accusing him or anything

[RAK1]

im not accusing him or anything

OMG! I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to say you were, I was agreeing with your initial point.

[Pam Travers]

OMG! I'm sorry, I wasn't trying to say you were, I was agreeing with your initial point.

 

lol

 

 

the sun is shining here, im so happy it doesnt happen every day, im going out, have a nice day

[Queenie]

Thanks for posting Robster

 

I dont "get" the Arctic Monkeys at all

 

You´re not the only one...

 

Thanks Robi!!

[chickadee]

What do you think.....Mika is mentioned, so I think we can have a word on this debate.

be fair to our boy....

 

 

On Music: it takes more than a credit crunch to keep musicians quiet

Last Updated: 12:01am BST 17/04/2008

 

Neil McCormick looks at the possible effects of the credit crunch on the music industry

 

'The best things in life are free/but you can give them to the birds and bees," roared the Beatles in their classic cover of the 1959 Motown hit, Money (That's What I Want).

 

What happens to pop music in a credit crunch? For all its espousal of peace, love and understanding, there has always been a venal side to pop. Performers may claim to make music for noble reasons, but underlying it all is the lure of fame and fortune, from Elvis Presley in a gold suit singing Money Honey to Robbie Williams screaming on TV news, "I'm rich beyond my wildest dreams." So how might a global economic downturn affect the music we are listening to?

 

Actually, the music business is ahead of the curve on this one, having been in economic crisis for several years. It is said that luxury goods are the first to suffer in a recession, and music could certainly be considered a luxury. However, this is one luxury that anyone with access to a computer no longer really needs to pay for. Falling CD sales and a rise in free music sources on the internet (illegal or otherwise) may have put the industry in a tailspin, but it also means that the big companies are already engaged in the kind of cost-cutting and restructuring necessary to ride out an economic storm.

 

This is already affecting the music we listen to, at least in terms of what major labels are prepared to back with big-budget marketing campaigns. From Mika to Leona Lewis, there has been a shift of emphasis towards big, brash, shiny pop, clearly visible at this year's vacuous Brit award ceremony. It represents a kind of instinctive retrenchment by the industry to a model they know how to operate.

 

At its best, the new pop may offer escapist fun in the gloom. But with fewer new artists being signed by major labels than in any period of recent history, the ersatz cheeriness of groups such as Scouting for Girls, whose only function is fashioning singalong choruses, could quickly become rather trying.

 

 

But is major-label pop really the flavour of the modern musical age, when more artistically credible independent labels are booming, the internet is abuzz with bedroom musicians swapping files and venues are alive with jangly guitars and shouty boys and girls? Is histrionically cheerful Mika (the biggest selling new artist of last year) really more representative of the moment than the apocalyptic Arcade Fire or the cheeky wit of the Arctic Monkeys or the tough retro soul of Amy Winehouse? There just seems to be too much of everything to determine a singular character to the enormously diverse contemporary music scene.

 

Recorded music sales may rise and fall, but it would take more than a recession to keep musicians quiet. Indeed, even during the Great Depression of the last century, there was plenty of music to keep the unemployed entertained. You could find reflections of hard times in the stoic spirit of the blues, and perhaps detect hints of proletarian protest in the hard-luck stories of bluegrass and country, but the most popular music of the era was escapist dance jazz, with the emergence of vigorous swing music in the mid-Thirties.

 

Perhaps escapism is the primary function of music when the going gets tough: people dance to forget their troubles. There is a place for protest, too, as borne out by the emergence of punk during the troubled years of soaring inflation and unemployment under Labour in the late Seventies. But the biggest hit of the winter of discontent (1978-79) was the Village People's YMCA.

 

So perhaps the big record companies are right to be backing superficial pop. But before you get your dancing shoes on, bear in mind that it takes time for new trends to emerge. The breakthrough acts people are excited about at the moment were, for the most part, signed in 2006 or earlier. Following the success of Amy Winehouse, there has been an emphasis on retro sounds from Duffy, Adele and even the indie supergroup, the Last Shadow Puppets, but it is hard to tell if this represents a trend towards youth seeking out the comfort zone of nostalgia for an era before they were born or just record companies cashing in on a proven formula.

 

It will take a couple of years for us to tell what (if any) effect a credit crunch might have on musical culture, but frankly, with global warming, food shortages, oil wars, religious conflict, terrorism and a generally apocalyptic prognosis for the future, I suspect that kids have got bigger things to worry about than falling house prices.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/04/17/bmneil117.xml

 

Considering how long the music industry didn't seem to know what to do with him, I find this really funny. Maybe there is a swing towards pop. We'll have to wait and see. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. I for one am bl**dy glad that music goes in cycles and that we're not all still listening to "house music" from the early 90's! The question for me is, does Mika have more than pop in his soul? Is he going to be able to tackle different styles of music so that he remains relevant? He keeps saying that he has a cowboy approach to music and that he's not afraid to try other styles. I hope this is true. Again, we'll just have to wait and see. I'm looking forward to it.

 

i love the articles of the telegraph when it comes to music... the contemporary music scene is so diverse, its interesting to wonder why the record companies choose to back up supeficial pop, probably because times to come will be harder and harder and people will need to escape...escapism because this is what its all about, i remember a journalist said that word to mika and he said" i dont think so" personally i DO think so, the problem is that mika is doing power pop music and not just dancey crappy music, there is a big part of reality into his songs and real music etc. The cheerful side is more the way he is , the way he acts, everything around him, as if life was so amazing when of course its not, i think many fans of mika want to escape reality because they are too weak or have been bullied and mika is a rolemodel , a savior but once they ll realise that he is not, that mika cant actually save them, it will be hangover time and i think a majority of the ones who loved him will hate him, you always hate people who gave you hope sooner or later when you realise it was all just a polaroid dream...

 

That's interesting, cos just yesterday I was watching his interview from Norway and he said that when he writes music it's escapism for him. Why would it not be the same for fans? Anyway, here's the link to that interview.

 

[vixenbbw]

I fail to see the connection - this sounds like a bunch of slow news day, overly analytical nothingness.

 

There's talk of a recession and a sub-prime lending issue brewing in the States - so shouldn't Mika and his "histrionically cheerful" self be selling a bazillion records there? And not in Canada, where the economy is - for the moment - more stable? Pff. I could never be an analyst. How boring.

 

PS: I love Scouting for Girls. Love, love their album. And their songs. Shameless plug:

 

http://www.myspace.com/scoutingforgirls

 

I love 'em too!

[Pam Travers]

 

 

 

That's interesting, cos just yesterday I was watching his interview from Norway and he said that when he writes music it's escapism for him. Why would it not be the same for fans? Anyway, here's the link to that interview.

 

 

 

yeah but there is a big difference between what it means to you when you do it and what it means to the world once its done, i was referring to an interview where they talked about the way some people saw his "cheerful" music as the man here calls it, and mika said that for him it wasnt escapism, not because it sounds fun and dancey it cant be profound, some jounalists asked mika if the all "cheerful" stuff was a way to escape and he said "i dont think so" you see more in a global way, not what it means to him when he writes.

 

here is the link to the interview

http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:So2jbyHQnLoJ:www.cyberpresse.ca/article/20080127/CPARTS03/801270518/5020/CPARTS03&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1