If you've been interested enough to read the above article, my problems with the current situation in music are that a) it encourages creative laziness from artistes since it's so easy to release mediocre music, b) it stops radio and TV from filtering and getting large audiences, c) it hides real talent under the weight of available music and d) it discourages mass appeal, cross over hits and deters gradual build of talent.

"stops radio and TV from filtering":
I think radio & TV are still trying to maximise their audiences, but with so many different options for the consumers, they have to target their output to specific (consumer) groups. The media and the record companies are filtering like they used to do, but the criteria have changed / had to change because the circumstances have changed: In the 70s and 80s Decca & the BBC turned to JK (who gave the world Genesis, the Bay City Rollers & 10cc), nowadays Sony Music & ITV employ Simon Cowell (who will be remembered for Susan Boyle and not much else).

"discourages mass appeal":
Mass appeal is still the goal (see the media strategies Elberse describes/analyses in "Blockbuster"), but the meaning of mass appeal has changed: today "mass" means sales of about 10 to 20 per cent of the numbers reached in the 90s.

"deters gradual build of talent":
Yes. But long term thinking only makes sense if the circumstances stay more or less the same over time. If there is a certain standard / a common quality (shared by producers & consumers) which is the basis for success. That was the case with rock music: Labels, musicians & fans shared the same belief (the better you are, the greater your success). In this system (which Simon Frith called "The Rock" because of the large base and the small top only reached by very few artists) gatekeepers have the function of quality control, to make sure that the acts that "deserve" it rise to the top (because of the great "art" they are creating).

Today "The Rock" is no longer working. Since the 80s there is the "Talent Pool" (another model by Simon Frith): The media & the reccord industry are fishing in the "Talent Pool". They don't plan long term, have no standards or quality control. They are in the business of making money (not "art") and do whatever is necessary to get a hit today. The "artists" and their music don't really matter.

Here is a very useful analysis of the long-tail-concept:
www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2013/10/the-man-...d-the-long-tail.html

DJones is spot on. The filters are still there doing their thing but the masses have rejected them in favour of their own subculture. The filters started the problem by obsessing over Britneyesque artists, market driven signings and production farms. Other forms of entertainment have become available and music has been knocked off its perch. Embrace change.

But we need GOOD filters, that spot and promote really great mass appeal music; those filters will get great radio ratings or huge TV viewing figures or make huge profits as labels and publishers - because they pick and push the best and bring it to the attention of millions.

The current music and media executives are useless; they picked and pushed crap and went bust in the process; good riddance to them.

But where are the new magicians? As we tipped in the Tipsheet in the 90s,only Cowell and Russell have achieved anything.

JK you really need to wake up to reality. The horse has bolted, the market has splintered and will NEVER EVER EVER get back to the stage where
everyone was listening to one radio station, visiting one website (yes they go to YouTube) watching one video etc. Even the big hit
like Gangnam Style sold only 1 million in the UK which of course is great but in a country of 63 million is only about 2% of the population.
One could say 98% of the public hated it. Even Gangnam Style is a minority hit.

On another point Gangnam Style contradicts everything you say about today's music business. Even without the filters, the best filters took the track
and turned it into a hit. We are in the days where the public votes with their feet. No longer can people from on high push music that appeals only to
them. How many times have we heard great songs and hits from other countries? Or is it only Western countries that can write hits?
In that respect I agree with you about good filters but my point is that they have NOT gone anywhere. They are still there but are being ignored by
their corrupt bosses who only push music that has kickbacks for them, or favour of their dolly birds who are pleasuring them in other ways.

The reality of life is people will splinter further and further into sub cultures that only a smart producer or label who tailors their track to span
all of the big subcultures will have a hope of cutting through. Not being rude but this is an argument that will never go anywhere. You can plead, pray,
scream or shout for a centralised system where some god will tell us the best records to listen to, but it will not happen again. EVER!

Oh it will, J&B, it will; it's inevitable.

DJones wrote:
the meaning of mass appeal has changed

No it hasn't. Some ill-informed idiots are misusing it, but that's another matter.

If you think we will all be listening to music given from one source or a centralised
curator then you are so out of touch it is not funny. Kids on the ground and the trends
in society point to the opposite. There will be thousands of smaller niches with passionate
followers all of whom see things differently. Will any song span most of these smaller (but still
significant in size) sites? maybe but a return to the bad old days where Radio One was the only show in town
is laughable.