Re: OT: why musicians can't eat -- and why radio is so bad

["Peter Shindler" <shindler@mediaone.net>]

RE: OT: why musicians can't eat -- and why radio is so badCertainly a point
to be made here.  I brought a bag full of my CDs into the office last week,
and one of the girls I work with took a look; it was mostly "outside"* 
stuff
like Eno, an Afro-Pop sampler, some Nusrat, Glenn Branca, etc.... and my
coworker (whose musical tastes range from Dave Matthews to Ben Harper**)
just noted that she didn't recognize any of them, and that was it.  No
curiosity, no interest, nothing.

And I realize now that most of my friends and acquaintances who aren't
musicians still won't buy a CD unless they've heard a few songs from it on
the radio.  I can't even imagine how limited my listening tastes would be 
if
I adhered to that rule.  So maybe most people don't Want to go looking;
maybe they figure that if it's good, it'll end up on the radio, or on MTV,
or on the cover of Rolling Stone.

Didn't John Zorn say something about this?  I read a quote wherein he
expressed his exasperation that most people who own four recordings of the
Brandenburg Concertos would sooner spend their money on a fifth recording
before they'd take a chance by spending that same money on something
unfamiliar to them.  Hmmm...


Peter

*- I meant "outside" compared to what she'd normally listen to on the 
radio;
I know that Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Eno, and Branca are pop music compared 
to
some of what you guys would bring in to work!

**-That said, there's nothing wrong with Dave Matthews or Ben Harper, or 
any
pop music for that matter.  I may be stoned to death by the rest of LD for
admitting this, but I even appreciate what NSync and the Backstreet Boys 
do.
And I still listen to the first Spice Girls album every now and then.


----- Original Message -----
From: Liebig, Steuart A.
To: 'Loopers-Delight@loopers-delight.com'
Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2001 4:02 PM
Subject: RE: OT: why musicians can't eat -- and why radio is so bad


i was discussing this sort of thing last night with a friend. people have 
to
*want* to search out the "good stuff"  - - and i'm not convinced that
anybody wants to search out anything unless it's the color of their next
car.
besides, maybe the are listening to the "good stuff" - - maybe we all need
to get over ourselves. or maybe there have always been people who listen to
music as "entertainment" and those who listen to it as "art."


stig



others wrote:
>I have faith that people can make their own choices.
interesting comment, given that there're already **all** kindsa myriad
avenues lined/caked/soaked w/'good' music (-that which is outside the
'mainstream'-) that folks do not seem inclined to 'seek out'.
eh?
to some degree:
people chose milosevic. people chose hitler. people chose jim jones. people
chose, well..... you probably follow my line (via these rather extreme
examples) by now.
best,
dt / s-c