The build ‘em up, knock ‘em down tendency of the music industry today is endemic, but not necessarily fatal. Rodge Glass charts the slow, steady rise of bands like Elbow, Arcade Fire, and now TV On The Radio
16 THE LIST 13—27 Nov 2008
hree years ago the alternative mtrsic
industry seemed determined to talk itself
into a coma. You couldn‘t open a magazine or turn on the radio without suffering some whinging executive complaining about the internet killing music. Fans who downloaded for free were thieves who wanted music to die. Bands were struggling and it was going to get worse. because nobody bought records anymore. The singles chart was dying. and the album chart was increasingly getting strcked into the (‘hristmas-shaped black hole of endless re-issues with names like lz'lmn's Greatest Hits. . . Again. In this climate. where were new bands going to come from and how were they going to survive?
Some complainers were genuinely worried that a direct consequence of belt-tightening in the music industry would be young bands having to prove themselves fast or be dropped, creating an increased pressure to be commercial, and resulting in more challenging fare fading from view fast. But this has always been the case — there has always been a bogeyman of some sort — remember 'hometaping is killing music"?
In 2008 the alternative music world has not caved in on itself. the internet has become a way for bands to grow while staying independent. and the collapse of the singles treadmill has been great news for anyone who doesn’t make easily digestible. three-minute disposable junk.
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