Where did all the good music go?
This depresses me:
Today Syco Music (Simon Cowell’s label which is part of Sony BMG) are celebrating holding the No.1 spot in three of the UK sales charts. They have the top 3 albums in the artist album chart with Leona Lewis, Shayne Ward and Westlife. They are also numbers 1 and 3 in in the DVD charts with the X Factor DVD and Shayne Ward longform DVD, and they have Leona Lewis now with a six week reign at No.1 in the singles chart in the UK.
Leona Lewis’ record breaking Spirit album sold a further 164,433 copies last week. Shayne Ward made a fantastic debut at no.2 with sales of 95,801 for the Breathless album, and Westlife had another massive sales week with 83,692 copies sold of Home.
In the singles chart Leona Lewis achieved a sixth week at No.1 with Bleeding Love, which has now sold 662,225 copies, continually extending its lead as the year’s biggest single. Further to this, SonyBMG had four of the top ten singles last week and in total 17 of the top 40.
“This is an historic achievement for Syco and my congratulations go out to Leona, Shayne, Westlife and of course, Simon Cowell, Sonny Takhar and the whole Syco team,” says Ged Doherty, Chairman and CEO, SonyBMG Music Entertainment UK & Ireland. “Their drive and ambition have once again delivered a great result for the entire company at the busiest time of the year.”
I have nothing against these people personally, but what does it say about the state of the music industry and public at large when this is what’s dominating the charts? Simon Cowell should not be single handedly bending over the UK music industry and having his way with it like he is. Where did all the good music go? Surely there’s got to be something better than this out there? And if so, why are those artists not ruling the roost in such a way?
Maybe the internet has finally created a sub-culture where all the real music will be consumed in a free digital format, whilst the throwaway tosh of ‘Pop Rivals The Academy Factor’ will continue to be bought in the form of annoying ringtones that are played loudly on the bus?
Maybe the Roddy Woomble quote I posted back in October hit the nail on the head:
…it’s not true that people have stopped buying albums, it’s just that they’re still buying the shit ones. People that tend to be into good music tend also to be into downloading it, and therein lies the problem.
Where did all the good music go? My next post will try and answer this question - it’s time for the annual ‘Albums Of The Year’ post!
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The problem basically is moneys.
If you have a big record company backing you up and plastering your face and music on everything that moves or flashes then you’re going to get people’s attention and it may even be out of pure curiosity that people give in and buy this crap. Accessibility = key in music promotion.
Joe Blow Musicianman is slaving away in his basement turning out incredible song after incredible song, writing, tracking, producing… and then having to keep up a myspace and generate interest.
If you want to know who’s music is really great… even out the playing field.