-Electronic Music Superstars-

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Hi Glenn and yes, I think it is still good for you to post your comments and thoughts.

I guess the problem for me is that if something isn't "popular" then short of making it commercial, there is little you can do and that means writing music to suit a certain market and my philosophy (and that of most artists I respect) has just been to write music that I like without thinking what may or may not be popular.
Electronic Music IS actually used a lot on TV and in film. We were discussing the score to Solaris somewhere here. A recent large budget hollywood film with Clooney in it and the music is as far as I am concerned EM. How much more exposure does EM need to become popular!!!
Many artists I know (including myself) have more chance of a decent income from the use of our music in TV and film. I mentioned earlier that the Aphex Twin is used constantly. There are plenty of "EM" artists making a lot of money from their music but you won't see them in the charts.
Unless you embrace some of the pop worlds business plans (pretty boys/girls, ring tone melodies, perceived coolness of the artist etc) then becoming popular becomes very difficult.
Another problem for EM is the HUGE quantity of CRAP out there. Anyone with a computer and some software is an "artist" and can print some CD's and sell them just the same as anyone who has photoshop is suddenly a graphic designer.
Now it's great that people have access to tools that help them create and many talented people do not require the large amount of money people of my age needed to spend to write music, BUT it does mean that there are a zillion artists out there and whilst the better EM artists can evolve, there is probably 100 times as much music on the marketplace so actually getting noticed is EVEN harder than it was before.

Which is fine, but are not all artists interested in being heard? Apart from the satisfaction of creating, will it be art if it isnt heard/seen/read by anyone? On some level all artists who burn 10 CDs to give away to friends or put their songs up for download or manage to stage a concert with 100 people want their creations to be heard, and thus act as ambassadors on their level. It isnt so much about tailoring your music to a commercial market but the mechanisms of being able to reach out, and if a 1000 artists are going to create "narrow arty experiments for the fun of it" (nobody special in mind here!) perhaps they need one popular ambassador that can steer people in their way.



I think there should be no need to adapt to pop world plans, but if and when you "make it big" there is no shame in being a role model for EM and get your genre noticed.



Let's put it this way; the forest is so big you cant find your way home without a map. You'll need a map. Or perhaps an EM ambassador, as it were

Quote by GlennFolkvord

Quote by dlmorley

I guess the problem for me is that if something isn't "popular" then short of making it commercial, there is little you can do and that means writing music to suit a certain market and my philosophy (and that of most artists I respect) has just been to write music that I like without thinking what may or may not be popular.

Which is fine, but are not all artists interested in being heard? Apart from the satisfaction of creating, will it be art if it isnt heard/seen/read by anyone? On some level all artists who burn 10 CDs to give away to friends or put their songs up for download or manage to stage a concert with 100 people want their creations to be heard, and thus act as ambassadors on their level. It isnt so much about tailoring your music to a commercial market but the mechanisms of being able to reach out, and if a 1000 artists are going to create "narrow arty experiments for the fun of it" (nobody special in mind here!) perhaps they need one popular ambassador that can steer people in their way.

Of course artists want to be heard. And they are all over the planet. But the point is who is this ambassador going to be? We have a multitude of succesful artists. They make a living, their music is used in film and TV and STILL the mass of people don't rush out and buy it.
I had a piece in Vanilla Sky the film. Did people rush out and buy it? Nope. Did it help me? Yes.
People talk about BT as an EM artist. He is a pop artist. He is a pretty boy who makes pop music with synths. Nothing wrong with that, but he sells because of his image and accesibility. THAT is successful EM for the masses. Count me out!

Quote by dlmorley

Unless you embrace some of the pop worlds business plans (pretty boys/girls, ring tone melodies, perceived coolness of the artist etc) then becoming popular becomes very difficult.

I think there should be no need to adapt to pop world plans, but if and when you "make it big" there is no shame in being a role model for EM and get your genre noticed. [/quote]

Sure! But you are not going to make it big unless you enter that world. It's tied up. A vicious circle. Major labels sell products. They can make anything sell, but instrumental electronic music is really not an easy thing to tie in with trainers and fashion and "being cool". Therein lies the problem. How is anyone going to get the exposure they need without entering that world.

Quote by dlmorley

Now it's great that people have access to tools that help them create and many talented people do not require the large amount of money people of my age needed to spend to write music, BUT it does mean that there are a zillion artists out there and whilst the better EM artists can evolve, there is probably 100 times as much music on the marketplace so actually getting noticed is EVEN harder than it was before.

Let's put it this way; the forest is so big you cant find your way home without a map. You'll need a map. Or perhaps an EM ambassador, as it were [/quote]

But who decides the places on the map? It would just end up like everything else. If the ambassador likes you, you are in. If he doesn't, you aren't. So who is this ambassador going to be?

Robert Rich?
BT?
JMJ's kid!?
Aphex Twin?

EM is too wide a format to have someone explain to the world what is worth listening to.