I

Frankly I've never heard of her and that's probably a good thing

But if she's a byproduct of a TV show then all it is, is marketing at the
end of the day.

I suppose all of it is marketing - but some is a little more obvious and calculated than others.

Anyway, I'm more interested in what's going on at the creative end
of the music business.

Regards,

David

I would have said if you're in the Business or even if you have an interest in it, the fact you haven't heard of Lily Allen would be extremely worrying. Have you been on holiday in Mongolia for the past couple of months? She's been the subject of huge press coverage from the whole range of papers/mags etc even before her Number One. If you're creative how have you managed to miss it?

Also for what it's worth I think there's been far worse attempts at 'artists' than Lily Allen and her album and single are far more enjoyable to listen to than much of what's around at the moment. It's just good pop with some good (and some bad) lyrical moments that doesn't need to be disected to understand it. It's pop simple as and whilst I don't see much International appeal it has its place and I don't think it's something anyone should get stressed about!

Just seems to be such a lack of variety of choice. It's a case of being told what to buy and what's going to be number one.
Do kids today really just want someone like them , moderate talent (if any). It worked for the spice girls for sure but just seems to be degenerating more and more into force fed mediocrity.

I speak to loads of kids, who search back catalogues and stuff dating back to the early days of vinyl. On days out with the minibus I often take a tipsheet CD with me and never get any complaints.

JK, love him or hate him, always gave us a choice, either as a performer, producer or talent scout. That's what is missing.

I'm 29 and I find nothing interesting at all in the current charts and that's saying something. I don't even have the enthusiasm to listen to most of it as it's been knocked out of me.

TV reality shows to find pop stars worked just once with Will Young. Where is Gareth Gates now ? Mick (Michelle) McManus ? Steve Brookwhatever ?

Will any of these young girls be around long enough to inherit Madonna's crown?

Hi Lightning Flash,

Well it's almost as far as Mongolia I guess , I'm at Melbourne Australia
so I guess it's some distance from the pulse of London town.

Anyway, you're quite right in that pop is pop and it's always worked
on levels of hype and marketing and I don't see that as ever changing.

Besides, we're all a bit guilty of that as you've got to try
every trick in the book to get your record heard and out there.

Actually, I will do a search in iTunes for Lily Allen and get to
hear for the first time what this is all about.

Regards,

David



>Lightning Flash wrote:
I would have said if you're in the Business or even if you have an interest in it, the fact you haven't heard of Lily Allen would be extremely worrying. Have you been on holiday in Mongolia for the past couple of months? She's been the subject of huge press coverage from the whole range of papers/mags etc even before her Number One. If you're creative how have you managed to miss it?

Also for what it's worth I think there's been far worse attempts at 'artists' than Lily Allen and her album and single are far more enjoyable to listen to than much of what's around at the moment. It's just good pop with some good (and some bad) lyrical moments that doesn't need to be disected to understand it. It's pop simple as and whilst I don't see much International appeal it has its place and I don't think it's something anyone should get stressed about!

I've only heard it twice but it has stuck in my mind.

I'm way behind her in digital sales. Not got the same level of marketing - but maybe one day ....

I recently sold three of my tracks via ebay.com. Wow
I've had over 300 people visit my music page on Arkade but none of them have actually previewed my music, so not sure how they know whether they like it or not. I guess it just takes time to break through.

Congratulations to Lily.

What's missing is the following: one great star and one smash hit with back up material to keep things cooking. Acts like Madonna et al are hard to find, but worth it in the long run. The future will come from the ground up not top down.

Beth - I have a lot against Lily Allen and her machine in terms that she reminds me of the typical English public school kid inverted snob pretending to be something she's not, and that powerful PR has allowed her to jump the queue into top gig/festival spots when she, having never gigged prior to early May, is under-rehearsed and poor live. I find her success an insult to the talented working class kids who will never get a chance to play outside their local community because they'll never make the right connections.
However, I would not call her average, for a start, having a famous dad and an oscar winning mum is not average, I think she has the the makings of being a clever and witty comedienne writer type and I wouldn't be surprised to see her dropping the pop girl thing and becoming a regular fixture in Brit comedy circles. I would be very surprised to see her in music long term and so would not begin to try and compare her with Madonna and the like.
What makes Doherty a true pop star though?? I've seen him play live very badly - off his head, betraying the kids who had paid good money and were so excited about going to see him. I cannot see how he is possibly any more of a pop star than Lily.
Oh - and I'm so glad that our friend in Melbourne hadn't heard of her. People in the Brit music biz are so often naivie in thinking that the world revolves around them and are so worried about the next "British" band instead of being open to talent from any nation.