Popularity of Music

[XeEmO]

Does how popular a group is effect how much you like their music? I know some people that hate anything mainstream, because aparantly if something's mainstream it can't be good. Those are the people that are always telling me "x band lost all their talent when they went mainstream", and "once a band goes mainstream they don't work as hard".

I know other people who just listen to music if they play it on the radio and/or it's popular, because they think only the good bands can go mainstream.

Personally I like to listen to a mix of mainstream and non-mainstream music. If I like what I hear, I listen to it.

[amibasuki]

[FONT=arial]mainstream music groups are popular for a reason. you've just got to see if they're popular because of their music, or because of their clothes/looks. if a said mainstream group is popular for their music and I happen to like the way it sounds, I've got no problem listening to it. if it's because of their image and their music leaves something to be desired, I don't bother with it.[/FONT]

[Spikey]

Yes it's true, they are mainstream becuase they have good music that everybody likes. Personally I ask people if they know who some bands are and they reply "Huh?" or "Who?" Therefore I think that means that I listen to less mainstream music. Though there are some music that I listen to that is pretty mainstream. I also listen to music where people say, I have heard of them. But that's about all I listen to.

[Transtic Nerve]

Well alot of bands may make it mainstream because they are good, but when they get there alot of groups or people change their style in order to move with the mainstream crowd. I've seen tons of bands go from very talented, unique music creators, only to hit mainstream and lose that originality in their work simply so they can remain popular and get more money. It becomes about money and popularity, not music. You think 50 cent sounds the same he does now then he did when he was underground? I don't think so. Alot of people who don't like groups when the go mainstream usually are the ones who followed them when they were indies and prefer that indies originality in their music.

[Manic Webb]

I just thought about that Nelly Furtado song "***** On the Radio." The first verse says something like "You liked me til you heard my **** on the radio / But now I'm just too mainstream for you, oh no"

Anyway, when a lot of groups go mainstream, the executives at the record label usually want them to change something about them to appeal to a certain target audience.

When Pink first came out, they wanted to glamourize her and make her image/music more hip-hop. She had little control over her first album. However, when Pink worked on her second album, her songs and image were entirely different, because Pink was doing what she wanted to do. Sad to admit, I liked her better when she was an industry whore. But at least she has her integrity now.

My point was that half the time, when a band changes its sound once they go mainstream, it's probably because they were forced to. I find it so amazing that these record execs hire a band that has one image, and ask them to take on a whole new one. They could've just saved time and looked for a band like that in the first place, not change another band into that.

I only listen to mainstream stuff. Mostly because I don't like to go out of my way to listen to music. If it's on the radio/TV and I like it, I'll listen to it. Otherwise, I'll probably just ignore it.

[Semjaza]

I don't find that too many bands I personally like wind up changing themselves radically because of the record execs. That isn't to say it doesn't happen, but I don't think it's quite as commonplace as people want to think.

However, when a band switches from a small label (where they generally have creative freedom) to a larger one... there is usually a shift in sound. It might be big, it might be small. A lot of it is a result of the band finally having access to better audio equipment... more polished sound and so on is a result obviously.

There are some bands that just get changed to the point that they really are different though. I know a lot of people here don't seem to be a fan of the Ataris (although I think they do what they do rather well), but when they went to a major label, Kris Roe's voice was almost entirely changed thanks to production, among other things. Personally I think it made them lose a lot of what they had. I couldn't stand their last CD.

Labels generally do get a good deal of say into what goes on the album. I mean, they are paying to publish it, so it makes sense. So you do wind up with situations where a label is like "This album doesn't have anything we feel is single material, make something that is." Sometimes you hear about that one way or the other, or you kind of just make that conclusion yourself (which obviously may or may not be right). A good example is Deadsy and their horrible single "The Key to Grammercy Park", which really sounds nothing like anything else they've done.

Anyway, I like music I think is good. It could be popular or not. Obviously bands I love like Marilyn Manson, David Bowie and NIN have all had great success at one point or another.

[Guest eva unit 00]

hehe no-one apart from 3 of my friends has heard of any of the bands i like (and to prove it)

has anyone heard of gwar, jack off jill or scarling?

[Semjaza]

I don't care for Gwar, for whatever reason. I'm sure most people only know them because of Beavis and Butthead or Jerry Springer lol.

Jack Off Jill I love. I know Asphy is also a fan of theirs... and I remember TN having a positive comment about them as well. It's too bad it all had to end after Clear Hearts, Grey Flowers. They really came into their own on that CD.

I don't know if you noticed, but [url]www.jackoffjill.com[/url] is [i]finally[/i] selling shirts again. No more $65 shirts off eBay and cheap ones people made with iron on transfers.

As for Scarling... well my myOtaku avatar is from the cover of their vinyl. I own that, but I've yet to play it... since our record player is busted. I am looking forward to the CD version of it though, whenever they manage to get that out.

[Transtic Nerve]

I LOVE Jack Off Jill (I'm surprised you remembered, Tony).... hah, didn't expect me to know who they were. I heard them for the first time like a year and half ago from one of my gay punk friends... I really like it. :) lol. I'm such a dork for punk music.

I like Gwar's costumes, not so much their music. They are pretty nice people too, despite the image they preset. lol.

Not heard of scarling though.

So thats almost 2 for 2 there eva unit 00 :p

[Semjaza]

I remember everything.... Ooooo.

I don't consider JOJ punk, personally. I find it odd when people mention it as such. I group them with Marilyn Manson... afterall, Manson did produce some of their early work.

Anyway, if you like JOJ you will like Scarling. They basically are the second coming of JOJ, although from what I've heard they're a bit more mellow (they actually use piano for example... lol).

Jessicka is the vocalist even.

[Transtic Nerve]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by Semjaza Azazel [/i]
[B]I remember everything.... Ooooo.

I don't consider JOJ punk, personally. I find it odd when people mention it as such. I group them with Marilyn Manson... afterall, Manson did produce some of their early work.

Anyway, if you like JOJ you will like Scarling. They basically are the second coming of JOJ, although from what I've heard they're a bit more mellow (they actually use piano for example... lol).

Jessicka is the vocalist even. [/B][/QUOTE]

I never know how to classify bands... it's punk or... eh... rock or... just I dunno how to ever put them into genres... well... let me rephrase then... I'm am such a dork for that type of music :p

I don't have a record player either, so I dunno if I could get their music lol. I'll look for it though.

[Emme888]

I mostly like mainstream bands, but I tend to find one or two underground bands that I LOVE!!!!!

But I hate when you tell someone of a great band and they dont care, and then 4 months later the band becomes huge! And then the moron friend you tried to tell, tells you, and you were like yeah I told you about them a while ago. And I was one of the 1st people to like 'em, and then the friend is like" no way, how could you have? They just came out?"

Yeah, that paragraph was kinda " like, like [b] teenage lingo [/b] " and pointless, but I hate it when a band goes mainstream and their true fans aren't givin their props for liking the band before the mainstream got their corportate hands on it....ugh!

[future girl]

You know, yesterday I was playing a game with some friends. You recited the lyrics of some random song and then the person to guess the name of the song went next. Well, we played for about 2 hours and I guessed only [i]two[/i] songs, but in those two turns in which I had to go it took QUITE a while for people to guess what song I was talking about and I constantly had to re-pick my songs to things that were more mainstream. It dawned on me how unfamiliar with popular music I am. I wouldn't say I avoid it though, I just don't listen to the radio and recently my tv time has been cut drastically so no MTV. The stuff I like is varied, it was popular [i]once[/i] or somewhere else :rolleyes: