Re: AJ in Britain ?

Fischbarg, Victor (fischbav@moodys.com)
Thu, 14 Dec 95 18:35:00 EST

Kevin, no need for a parka from me.
I think Simon has a misconception about the U.K. having a more "varied
music-buying" public, and the case of acid jazz actually underscores your
point. The very fact that it caught on as such a trend there (several of
you Brits have discussed its reaching the point of being background music
on innumerable TV shows there) and that trends like this one are not only as
far-reaching but slower in taking shape in the U.S., shows that the U.S. is
an increasingly complex and fractured market. Let's face it. Acid jazz,
while we love it, has been trendy for some time now. Trends don't spread
well across cultural divisions. In the U.S., it's like trying to light a
match to several oil puddles in a huge ocean. So it's not as he pointed out
that they're so "varied" and we're so homogeneous, it actually appears to ME
that the opposite is true.

My only regret, then, is that we are not more homogeneous in the U.S.,
because then we'd get to see Jamiroquai, Omar, Portishead, etc. a hell of a
lot more over here! And then maybe the entire nation wouldn't be so divided
over things like O.J. Simpson. Maybe trends could sweep us up more
successfully, as they do in the case of music in the U.K., so that our
varied histories and beliefs do not end up alienating us from each other as
they do so often...
Victor E./
*Inviolate*
e-mail:fischbav@moodys.com
----------
From: list-relay
To: acid jazz server
Subject: Re: AJ in Britain ?
Date: Thursday, December 14, 1995 3:23PM

Simon Brown wrote:
>
> -Elson
>
> I hate to say it mate, but in a consumer society if people don't buy the
> stuff then it don't get played on radio. C'est la vie. Acid-Jazz has taken
> off on our side of the pond. We have a music buying public with varied
music
> taste whereas in the US I suspect there are a lot of people who want to
> listen to the rubbish put out by the stations there.

i don't quite understand what you're saying, so i don't know if i agree or
disagree, but what i read into what you're saying is that the us is a
singles
market and the uk an album market. the reality is that the uk is one of the

most singles-oriented markets in the world, and the us, albums. the effect
of being a singles market is less artist development, more jumping on the
flavor of the month. not being on radio in the uk will kill your career,
while in the us you can potentially survive without it.

my $.02.

kevin k
mrfliz@interport.net
(putting on my asbestos parka in anticipation of flames....)