Commercial pressures - how much is too much ?

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The pinefox was writing something a day or two ago about how it often seems like on ILM, no music can be considered too commercialized, too manufactured. Now I agree that at most times, these are neutral factors, and that tons of great music has come out of narrow commercial strictures. But can it ever be an actively destructive factor ? I'm thinking specifically of mainstream country here, which is heavily centralized, and where play-it-safe formulas have become so restrictive that any kind of slight step to the left or right immediately relegates performers to the no-sell alt-country ghetto, and where even artists who write their own songs have next to no control over how their music is produced and marketed. Can this be damaging ?

Of course, there's a number of reasons why things are this way, probably having to do with the audience for mainstream country being a very large one who for the most part looks for reassurance rather than adventure in its music, and radio doesn't want to make them grouchy. But it's the effects of all this on the music that I'm interested in. Any thoughts ?

― Patrick, Friday, 27 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The country music business is the last Hollywood-studio-style system left in music these days. It's more top-down than Motown ever was. Nashville dictates everything from their smoke-filled boardrooms. And it's all based on up-to-date audience researchy focus-groupie nonsense. I have a friend who's trying to make it as a songwriter in Music City and he has to write whatever it is they want or no one will buy it. For instance, for awhile now it's all been about up- tempo love songs sung by women. This will change, depending on what the numbers in some Excel spreadsheet have to say, and then everyone will have to start writing something else.

I don't think other genres have been this tightly regimented for a long time. Of course all major labels do all the audience research, etc. but I think even they recognize that pop must always look for new sounds, even if it's just the minimum required to get by. Country music, on the other hand, is "comfort music" and branded "traditional" so sticking to the formula can be a winning strategy. I say country music has been WAY too commercialized for about 15 years now. Merle Haggard can't get a major studio to put out an album for him!!!! However this may change... cf. Lucinda Williams.

Were you as gratified as I was that Shelby Lynne won a Grammy? Sure, she looks bulimic as all hell but the look of utter indifference when her name was called was priceless - like "oh i gotta get up now?"

― Tracer Hand, Friday, 27 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Altman's "Nashville" was a huge pop ephiphany for me. Not only a great film, it renders the magic of audience better than nearly anything else I've seen. I find the alt-country ghetto these days to be very dull compared even to mainstream nashville. If anything, I find the strictures of "proper" country that alt-country has now locked itself into far more destructive than the Nashville machine, which at least relies on survey data to keep things au currant. And of course, what is survey data but the massed impulses of thousands of people who are of course the least predictable element of all?

― Sterling Clover, Friday, 27 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I haven't been keeping up with what's happening in alt-country these days, and for all I know there's as much crap there as there is in the mainstream stuff, but it sure looks to me like there's more room to breathe there - more room to be loose, strange, funny, loud, whatever, even if some of the performers do take themselves way too seriously. But anyway... would Nashville benefit artistically by loosening up a little ? Would that be as big a commercial disaster as the industry seems to fear ?

Tracer - Yeah, Shelby's good, she deserves to sell more than she does. She sounds very pop to me, but maybe not *2001* pop - I guess that's what the problem is

― Patrick, Saturday, 28 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

twelve years pass...

chilling taylor swift prefiguration here

― check yr poptimism (imago), Thursday, 10 October 2013 21:23 (twelve years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8Oqo_2ddq4

― Austrian Economics (nakhchivan), Thursday, 10 October 2013 21:31 (twelve years ago)

they're not in it for the £, they're in it for the donk bruv

― check yr poptimism (imago), Thursday, 10 October 2013 21:31 (twelve years ago)

this is a very accomplished track despite arguably being subject to 'commercial pressures'

― Austrian Economics (nakhchivan), Thursday, 10 October 2013 21:31 (twelve years ago)

same difference if your market is the m62 corridor

― Austrian Economics (nakhchivan), Thursday, 10 October 2013 21:32 (twelve years ago)

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