For All Those Who Wonder Why Power Metal Isn't Big In The U.S.

[PurpleCrayonWriter]

I don't know where to put this information. Lounge? Main board?

All I know is this kind of stuff floors me. It's the answer to the question, "Why doesn't power metal get more respect in the States?"

Here's why:


In what is traditionally a high-volume download week thanks to shiny new MP3 players under the tree and download cards stuffed in stockings, a digital sales mark has fallen by the wayside.

Rookie pop singer Ke$ha's "TiK ToK" shifted 610,000 digital tracks for the week ending December 27, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That's the highest weekly sum by a female artist since tracking began in 2003, and the second-best overall after Flo Rida's "Right Round" sold 636,000 this past February. Coincidentally, Ke$ha was an uncredited singer on the track.

"TiK ToK" eclipsed the female mark set by Lady Gaga with "Just Dance" exactly a year ago.


Here's the link to the Yahoo! story I just saw, which also contains her video. If that link doesn't work, try this link to her vid on

Ke$ha? Selling nearly three quarters of a million downloads of her single "TiK ToK"? With a voice and lyrics like that? You have got to be shittin' me.

Seriously, dudes and dudettes. If this is what's selling big these days, it's no wonder truly talented bands - such as the ones Glenn books at PPUSA - sometimes have a hard time selling tickets and music when they book U.S. tours. Everyone's listening to Ke$ha.

Bill

 

[J. Golden]

I don't know where to put this information. Lounge? Main board?

All I know is this kind of stuff floors me. It's the answer to the question, "Why doesn't power metal get more respect in the States?"

Here's why:


In what is traditionally a high-volume download week thanks to shiny new MP3 players under the tree and download cards stuffed in stockings, a digital sales mark has fallen by the wayside.

Rookie pop singer Ke's "TiK ToK" shifted 610,000 digital tracks for the week ending December 27, according to Nielsen SoundScan. That's the highest weekly sum by a female artist since tracking began in 2003, and the second-best overall after Flo Rida's "Right Round" sold 636,000 this past February. Coincidentally, Ke was an uncredited singer on the track.

"TiK ToK" eclipsed the female mark set by Lady Gaga with "Just Dance" exactly a year ago.


Here's the link to the Yahoo! story I just saw, which also contains her video. If that link doesn't work, try this link to her vid on YouTube

Ke? Selling nearly three quarters of a million downloads of her single "TiK ToK"? With a voice and lyrics like that? You have got to be shittin' me.

Seriously, dudes and dudettes. If this is what's selling big these days, it's no wonder truly talented bands - such as the ones Glenn books at PPUSA - sometimes have a hard time selling tickets and music when they book U.S. tours. Everyone's listening to Ke.

Bill

I have never understood the complaining or people's surprise about how pop music, boy groups and other such stuff sells. It's popularity has always been there. Since the 50s it has been around and it always will be. So metal (or any sub-genre of) is not as big as the latest flavor of the week pop chick so what.
Jeez it's not like it makes any difference pop music never stopped Maiden from becoming a juggernaut.

 

[Diamond45]

Who the "F" is Ke$ha?? (Guess they have it right with the $ sign in her name... sigh....)

Female singers with talent... I'd rather listen to Charlotte, Floor and Simone any day of the week, month or year!

 

[Kaosaur]

Clue: Exponentially more people like this stuff than what we like. Exponentially more people are working (as in paid) to promote and cross-promote this stuff. It's profitable and a lot more of a reliable investment of time and money than what we listen to.

The only thing to be gleaned from this thread is that our little microcosm of the world is the only one regularly bitching about this...like it's actually something to complain about.


My point is: The Pop music industry is a well-oiled machine filled with savvy business people who have built a healthy industry that (despite their insanity regarding downloads) is still able to create new talent (therefore new economic potential) out of thin air.

The Metal "industry" is more like a wounded dog. It's got some bark in him but it's mostly just sitting there bleeding and crying. Don't like it? Change the people involved. Figure out what's broken and fix it.

 

[PurpleCrayonWriter]

I have never understood the complaining or people's surprise about how pop music, boy groups and other such stuff sells. It's popularity has always been there. Since the 50s it has been around and it always will be. So metal (or any sub-genre of) is not as big as the latest flavor of the week pop chick so what.
Jeez it's not like it makes any difference pop music never stopped Maiden from becoming a juggernaut.

My "surprise," J. Golden, is not that shit sells but that the quality of the shit continues to decline. These days, perhaps more so than ever before, there seems to be an inverse ratio between the quality of the music and the amount it sells. So it shocks/saddens/perplexes/confuses/angers me to think there's a generation of kids out there who think this is actually good -- when truly good music exists just under their noses here and around the world.

(By the way, give me the pop music of the 50s any day. At least Elvis had real talent.)

I seriously doubt we'll ever hear from Ke$ha again. But, if we do, then I really will be surprised.

Bill

 

[Kaosaur]

Also. Tweens LOVE this shit. It's blowin' up huge right now. Just look at stuff like this, The Millionaires and Hyper Crush. It's blowin' up astronomically fucking huge. Who cares if you think it's terrible?

Your parents probably thought Iron Maiden was cockgarbage and devil music. Just like their parents thought The Beatles and Elvis were going to corrupt them with loose morals.

 

[dcowboys311]

At least she's not Brokencyde

 

[PurpleCrayonWriter]

Clue: Exponentially more people like this stuff than what we like. Exponentially more people are working (as in paid) to promote and cross-promote this stuff. It's profitable and a lot more of a reliable investment of time and money than what we listen to.

Actually, I suspect it's worse than that, Kaosaur. Ke$ha's music vid isn't different from any other of its kind I've seen. I don't think she's been promoted any harder than other performers of her ilk.

What irks me about her download milestone is that it couldn't have occurred unless people wanted it. Therefore, I can only assume that people either think her music is monstrously good or so horribly bad that it must be seen and heard to be believed.

Your second post ("it's blowin' up huge right now") indicates it's the former.

The straw man "your parents probably thought..." doesn't apply here. Perhaps "to each his own" or "there's no accounting for taste" applies. But what my parents thought has no bearing on my observation that Ke$ha broke download records for reasons I cannot fathom.

What I've love to know is this: Why is music like this "blowin' up huge right now"? Does its popularity say something about the kids? Or about American society?

You are absolutely right about one thing: No one cares if I think it's terrible. In the grand scheme, I'm nobody. Just an inquisitive voice wondering aloud in the growing teen/tweenage wasteland.

 

[Kaosaur]

What I've love to know is this: Why is music like this "blowin' up huge right now"? Does its popularity say something about the kids? Or about American society?

You are absolutely right about one thing: No one cares if I think it's terrible. In the grand scheme, I'm nobody. Just an inquisitive voice wondering aloud in the growing teen/tweenage wasteland.

It says that we're the guilty ones for feeding a younger generation this shit (watch The Disney Channel sometime or any kids movie) in the name of the almighty dollar.

Rather, the messes we inherit are ones that were created for us and the same goes for our children and their children.

 

[Diabolik]

Like stated earlier...pop music is a machine....the machine is already built...just the style of music and artist changes. Talent isnt a part of it at all. You could stick almost any pop performer or indie pop band / r&b artist in that machine and it will make money. It is music for the masses. Believe it or not...there are people who just listen to what is given to them. There are lots of people who dont search out music. They listen to whatever is on the radio.

Face it people. Power metal and metal itself will never be a huge money making machine. Most people look at it as a joke. The average person doesnt even know it exist as it is now. They all thought it died in the early
90's. This debate has already ben covered in the other thread about this. Not much more to say.

 

[OrbWeaver]

Met-Al was telling me that he saw tabloid headlines about this Kie$ha chick, and both of us said "Who the hell is that?" I'd never heard of her before. Apparently she raps with a vague Boston (or similar) accent. That seems worse, IMO. I'd rather hear that goofy Ice Cream Truck rap again.

I have nothing else to contribute to the discussion. All the arguments about metal's (especially power metal) lack of popularity have been covered in the other thread.

 

[sccaldwell]

I made it through exactly 7 seconds of that video before her voice annoyed me to the point where I stopped it. Seriously.

The fact that she has no talent, but is likely a millionaire completely offends me. And yet, so many musicians WITH talent are struggling to get by, working day jobs so they can make their *great* music. Thanks again to them for putting in the effort, hanging in there, and to Glenn for giving them the chance to play for us.

Craig

 

[Kaosaur]

but is likely a millionaire completely

Doubtful. I mean that's not exactly how it works. I don't think she's super rich like you'd expect her to be.

Probably a lot more like she belongs to someone for a while until she recoups (which, granted, may have already happened) and then will make a pretty reasonable income until she can leverage her moment of fame into something else.

 

[J. Golden]

My "surprise," J. Golden, is not that shit sells but that the quality of the shit continues to decline. These days, perhaps more so than ever before, there seems to be an inverse ratio between the quality of the music and the amount it sells. So it shocks/saddens/perplexes/confuses/angers me to think there's a generation of kids out there who think this is actually good -- when truly good music exists just under their noses here and around the world.

(By the way, give me the pop music of the 50s any day. At least Elvis had real talent.)

I seriously doubt we'll ever hear from Ke again. But, if we do, then I really will be surprised.

Bill

Well Bill, first of all Elvis was somewhat of a product in various parts of his career. Like this chicks he could carry tune on the songs other people wrote for him.
It is a pointless debate and really easy to figure out why it this way. I would hope that it would be obvious that I don't care for it myself but I do realize it does not effect my music world so to speak. (ok run-on)
Our country is a very disposable society. Our fast-food country want quick and generic product and media. Pop music is perfect for that and so was 'Love Me Do'.
But one could even break the same argument down into the genres of metal. Why does one get to me more popular than the other? Well it is just the way it is. I think most power metal sounds the same and the more it seems to down generate like the Nightwish (Disney Metal) thing. Not saying I don't like some of it. But may the people who like that aren't interested in staying. Well pop music listeners are the same.
There is also the advertising aspect to that makes pop music work but you get the same thing to a lesser degree with metal bands even in this forum.

 

[Kaosaur]

Honestly I think we need a ban on this kind of posting entirely. This is what, the second or third post we've had recently on this exact topic?

For one, it's not constructive. For another, this thread really has absolutely nothing to do metal. It's a thinly-veiled put-down thread to say "look how awful this other thing is". In this community that's like beating up a cripple.

If somebody came on this board posting some Dream Theater/Symphony X/Savatage video, saying it sucked and was garbage, industry-manufactured music, they'd get flamed to death, the post locked and possibly even catch a ban.


We seriously need an outright rule against shitposting like this entirely. I thought we had such a thing, in fact. It's one thing to weigh in on an open discussion and say you're not a fan of something and even that it sucks. It's another to create an entire thread devoted to it and put some other kind of spin on it. This kind of thread makes people not want to post or even read here anymore.

 

[Palabra de Dios]

While I do hate this song, I can see why it is so popular. Its simplicity and hilariously bad lyrics appeal not only to people who are simple-minded and have hilariously bad taste but also to people who would purchase this to ironically play at parties because "that beat is still tight" or "it's so bad it's good."

 

[ZenKeys88]

I don't understand why they call her a singer. She's speaking to a beat. It's like rap, except it has even less meaning.

I, for one, DON'T wonder why Power Metal isn't big in the U.S. Even if I did wonder, I would not want an answer as I like it the way it is. While I wish the bands financial success and all, I'd much rather see them play at Jaxx where I can hi-five the keyboardist after the set, as opposed to having to compete with three hundred screaming teenage girls.

Like everyone has been saying, pop music is a machine. It has little to no artistic content (although I have heard a few songs that are fairly emotionally charged, but of course the song was written by a team of writers and NOT by that 17 year old bimbo) and is designed simply to make money. Kids growing up are told that this is the music they need to buy to be cool, and they wanna be cool. They aren't listening to it because they appreciate the lyrical content or think the drummer has some intense talent, they listen to it because it is marketed to them. I work at a smaller-sized arena venue (10,000 seats) and one of my friends and I always laugh about how rock bands have maybe four or five trucks, enough for a PA system, instruments, a few lights, video, and maybe a bit of pyro stuff. When we get the pop bands, they easily bring twice as many trucks. Why? They have no talent, and must distract the audience from this with an intense stage show full of props, dancers, and other such nonsense (one rap tour had a truck entirely dedicated to a giant helicopter prop, which they didn't even use for that nights show).

My issue with pop music atm is that everyone seems to think I want to hear Lady Gaga. OMG SHE SINGS *AND* PLAYS PIANO AT THE SAME TIME EVEN THOUGH SHE IS MEDIOCRE AT BEST?? NO WAY!!! OH AND I PLAY PIANO TOO SO I *MUST* WANT TO CHECK HER OUT SINCE EVERYONE WHO PLAYS PIANO ALL SOUND EXACTLY THE SAME AND LOVE EACH OTHERS MUSIC. No. Just, no. I've heard plenty of keyboardists I don't like, and she just seems to rocket to the top of the list. A friend of mine said the only reason he can even stand to listen to her music is that if there are girls around, they start "dancing" in that sexy way, and he believes he can put up with looped synth riffs and electric drums for that little perk

Call me an elitist, but I'd rather keep the good music underground. I definitely think that these artists who pour their heart and soul into the music should have financial success, but I'd rather enjoy a scholarly conversation about metal standing outside of Jaxx before a show than have my ears blown out by five thousand teenagers screaming, or worse, coming into the concert and sitting around texting and not contributing to the overall energy of the room. It was bad enough when I saw Porcupine Tree, and a group of people between the stage and me paid the extra $10 to get in an hour early (despite that my friends and I made sure to get there 2 hours before doors) and buy drinks, then proceeded to talk throughout the ENTIRE. SHOW. Hey, I'm tryin to enjoy me some Steven Wilson here, do you mind shutting up, especially during the quiet parts? I can't imagine how awful that would be if these underground bands actually played arena-sized shows. I wouldn't be able to go to concerts anymore, the experience would be ruined. A perfect example is when I watched the live broadcast of the U2 concert. I tuned in about a half hour before the start of the show, just to check out the stage and tech stuff, and when the lights went down and the drummer started, there was absolutely NO roar from the audience. People didn't even notice the show had started. Get a good band at Jaxx, and my earplugs don't do a thing for me when the house lights come down and the intro track starts.

TL;DR - pop music sucks, keep the metal underground where it may not thrive but will be healthier overall, and yes these topics suck, I'm just contributing a few cents.

 

[General Zod]

Pop music is Pop music, because it appeals to the lowest common denominator. As others have pointed out, this music moves product because of the infrastructure behind it. And to that point, analysis of these sales number are better suited for a marketing discussion forum, because that's where the talent behind this music lies.

Zod

 

[skyrefuge]

My "surprise," J. Golden, is not that shit sells but that the quality of the shit continues to decline.

There is no such thing as "quality" in music. Views on music are entirely subjective. So by what method have you measured this "decline"?

I seriously doubt we'll ever hear from Ke again. But, if we do, then I really will be surprised.

Since this is pop music, it's not the "singer" that's important, it's the songwriter/producer. In this case, it's Dr. Luke. Wikipedia says he "has co-written and produced/co-produced the No. 1 singles "Since U Been Gone" and "My Life Would Suck Without You" by Kelly Clarkson, "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne, "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry, "Right Round" by Flo Rida, and "TiK ToK" by Ke$ha"

So he already has a very impressive track record, and you almost surely *will* hear from him again.

Neil

 

[Jasonic]

Most people look at it as a joke. The average person doesnt even know it exist as it is now. They all thought it died in the early
90's. This debate has already ben covered in the other thread about this. Not much more to say.

THIS.
Almost every time I tell a non-metal friend who I am going to see live, the first thing out of their mouth is, "They are still around????"

Also, the two times I saw DragonForce live, there were a good handful of people wearing long hair wigs. (IE - as Diabolik said, even some of the fans view metal as a joke).