Re: [ARSCLIST] Community Radio

[steven c <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "phillip holmes" <insuranceman@xxxxxxxxxx>
> I never make very good points the first time around.  I'm not disagreeing
> with anything you say here.  What I was trying to say is that people like
> Hammond tried to find mature acts ready to go.  These new A&R guys will
try
> to create new acts that are clones of some other act like Nirvana.  30
years
> ago, Nirvana would've been pretty much the only band that sounded like
> Nirvana.  But perhaps I'm wrong.  I've heard more than one surf band that
> sounded like another surf band.  Same with the British invasion, Motown,
> doowop, etc..  But there's more than anecdotal evidence that record labels
> will find a pretty face and produce them into a marketable commodity.
They
> don't even have to sing on pitch any more thanks to digital technology.
> They don't sing the notes, no problem!  They don't pick their clothes.
They
> don't pick their producer.  They don't pick the songs.  Seems very 1984
(the
> book) meets Tom Parker.
>
Well, since the beginning of recorded time (in the literal sense!) this is
how the "gram-o-phone plate" industry has operated: "Hey, <record> is
selling! We need something that sounds like THAT!" Of course, in the
early days it was simple...if a Henry Burr disc was selling, you
simply had him record for YOUR company (possibly the same song?)!

Of course, until the "swing era" it was mainly the songs that sold
records...we still don't know EXACTLY how records were sold before
about 1937 or so (one franchised dealer per label?), but in
the early days a customer came in looking for a record of a
given song in a given style (dance band, male vocal, female
vocal, salon orchestra), which meant virtually every record
company recorded the same tunes. One the "swing era" arrived
and younger "bobby-soxers" bought the discs, clients wanted
one particular record, and often would buy any new record
by their favourite artist ("Do you have Goodman's new...?")

So, everybody wants to find "the next big thing," but, if
they find it, they want the artist's record to sound like
something that just sold a whole bunch...or "the last big
thing!"

Steven C. Barr