[lbo-talk] Re: Vinyl

[Joseph Wanzala]

I would tend to agree with Doug that "[the] narrative of relentless 
homogenization and decline badly needs some fact-checking." and "that there 
are all kinds of cultural microenvironments." However, I think Wojtek does 
have a point. While there is a lot of interesting cross-fertilization within 
mainstream American music genres and certainly an important creative 
regeneration in R&B for example which has to some extent eclipsed Rap/Hip 
Hop, it is in fact more difficult for so-called 'world music' to break into 
these same markets - without diluting or compromising its authenticity - 
which defeats the purpose. So, from an internationalist perspective, the 
American music scene does seem rather insular - even though it might even be 
said to be experiencing a mini renaissance.  The same people who enjoy 
"Green Day, Snoop Dogg, and cross-genre collaborations like Nelly/Tim McGraw 
and Jay-Z/Linkin Park" are quite insensible to musics (sic) from outside - 
while 'world music' enjoyed phyrric popularity during the late 80's early 
90s, (with a little help from samaritans like Paul Simon and Ry Cooder - 
Graceland/Buena Vista Social Club) it has been increasingly difficult for 
musicians in these genres, who enjoy great popularity and marketability in 
Europe, to gain a meaningful foothold in the US, notwithstanding the growing 
immigrant populations and seeming creative fecundity of mainstream American 
musicians.

Joe W.


>From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com>
>Reply-To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
>To: lbo-talk at lbo-talk.org
>Subject: RE: [lbo-talk] Re: Vinyl
>Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 12:10:11 -0500
>
>Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:
>
>>Doug, you keep missing the point I made earlier that is not supply of 
>>music
>>that is limited, but demand.  There might be gazillions of new bands,
>>alright, but by your own admission, "no one has ever heard of" them.  And 
>>no
>>one has ever heard of those bands, because most people resources devoted 
>>to
>>music (money and time) are finite and they are being absorbed, for the 
>>most
>>part, by the Britney-like crap.  In other words, the supply side of music
>>business is doing fine - but it is the demand side that is getting, uhm,
>>more and more monochromatic.
>
>That's just not true. There's more variety even in the top 40 charts now 
>than there was 30 or 40 years ago. Then there were rock 'n' roll charts, 
>country charts, soul charts - and very little crossover. Take a look at the 
>Billboard chart today 
><http://www.billboard.com/bb/charts/airplay/adult.jsp>: Green Day, Snoop 
>Dogg, and cross-genre collaborations like Nelly/Tim McGraw and Jay-Z/Linkin 
>Park.
>
>The reason that "no one has ever heard of" the more obscure stuff is that 
>it's either known only to locals or to connoisseurs - there are all kinds 
>of cultural microenvironments. Same with TV even - there's more variety now 
>than in the days when the big three networks dominated everything in the 
>U.S.
>
>This narrative of relentless homogenization and decline badly needs some 
>fact-checking.
>
>Doug
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