On the 28th November 2013, I saw a piece on BBC Breakfast News celebrating the thirtieth anniversary of the ‘Now That's What I Call Music’ series. During the segment a journalist from Music Week appeared and talked about the enduring appeal of the compilation album. In doing this he stated that “there is so much music out there, that people often don’t know where to look for it, what to listen to and what to like. How patronising is that? Silly little humans haven’t got a clue about music so feed them cheap compilations of whatever we are trying to push at that given moment.
My first reaction to this was how can possibly there be too much music? Are we now putting a cap on creativity and art nowadays, also, if you look around, where is all this music he talks about. It certainly isn’t in the High Street. Independent record shops have all but disappeared apart from a strong few holding on and offering a fine service. All you find in supermarkets are these compilations and the top ten promoted albums that week, normally easy listening, old classics or the leftover X Factor stock (not just a dig at X Factor, I know this because they normally have stickers reminding you why they have a record deal in the first place)
If you look at the DVD sections in any store and you will find no end of low budget straight to DVD - East End - Football Factory - Gangster - Cockney geezer films starring someone who used to be in EastEnders sitting right alongside the Hollywood Blockbusters. Strangely enough, one subject is missing from these stands. You will find box sets, stand up, movies, TV shows, but never any music. Walk round to the CDs in the next aisle and it will be full of the ‘Best Xmas / Easter / Mothers Day / Tuesday Afternoon album in the world ever..’
The music industry does everything it can to make it difficult to find new music or new artists. You will find a select two or three artists from most genres (normally the ones that have been nominated for industry awards such as the Mercury Prize or The Brits) and they will hype them aggressively for the next twelve months where they will then be dumped for the next bunch of unfortunate souls whose dream will be soon crushed. What other industry hides the vast majority of its products in this way?
The only other albums you find anywhere on the High Street seem to be by the ‘national treasures’ (Cliff, Elton etc). Cliff Richard was recently promoting his 100th album release where he has recorded an album of Rock n Roll covers. A nice touch harking back to his roots you may think, but he described the rigorous process of selecting the tracks in the interview
“My manager paid for the album and gave me a list of songs to sing that the record company agreed with”
Wow, there's some passion for you. Not even his favourite tracks, or important artists from his early days, just a list of karaoke tracks his ‘people’ wanted him to sing. He later said he hoped it would do well as it “could lead to volumes 2, 3 or 4”. Not planning on bothering doing too much work then Cliff. How half arsed is that approach from someone who has some seriously devoted fans who pay thousands of pounds to keep up with him when he tours.
Rod Stewart gave a similar interview last year where he said that he hadn't written a word in 25 years until his most recent album. He is happy to take money from fans and charge top prices for shows, but create new songs, that was too much to ask apparently. Seems a strange world where these artists get endless amounts of publicity whenever they do anything, yet other bands at a high level (i.e. Metallica, Iron Maiden) release new material, consistently out sell what is classed as pop(ular) music and sell out arena after arena and get little or no recognition outside their scene.
Anyway, going back to the comment about their being too much music for people to be able to take in. Is it really that difficult? Is it really that much of a task? Since the dawn of social media I find it impossible to avoid new music, and I love that. I am constantly being recommended music through Facebook and Twitter. YouTube, Spotify and Lastfm all allow you to listen to music for free. If you aren’t into social networks, then you can always look in a magazine, flip past the first couple of pages of reviews (normally the big releases) and find smaller bands and albums to look into. Look at adverts from labels who already house bands and artists that you like. You could even talk to other humans, your friends will have a good idea of what you may like (although they may also be similarly confused by this ‘music’ that is so prevalent).
In short, stop being spoon-fed what the mainstream press say is good, it is normally far from that, whatever type of music you may be into, the bands that get hyped up will be a pale shadow of the scene they have emerged from. Don’t let yourself be told that your little brain can’t comprehend the amount of entertainment that is out there. The more there is the more likely it is you will find something that is perfect for you, and its so much better when you discover something for yourself.
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