Brit Classic awards a sham?

Bob-Dubery

A strongly-worded, interesting piece from the Telegraph
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/jamesrhodes/100066768/at-last-the-classic-brit-awards-exposed-as-a-sickening-crime-against-classical-music/

I must say I'm on his side. I've felt the same about the music business in general. They are trying to feed the great "us" easy-listening, mass-marketable pap, preferably played by artists who are easy on the eye. That's why we have people thinking that Mumford and Sons are somehow folk and "authentic" (I prefer the recent description I recently read: "Coldplay with banjos"), whilst really talented, authentic folk or rooted-in-folk musicians like Martin Simpson, Eliza Carthy, Bellowhead and Kate Rusby get far less acclaim (though Bellowhead are hatching an assault on the Top 40, their last album having made the high 50s for about a week).

But, praises be, there are plenty of quality artists on small labels operating in a very different musical universe away from all the glamour and glitz and exposure on TV. I don't know how some of these guys keep going, but I'm glad they do.

The article hints at a motive on the part of the record labels. Most of the classical canon is easily available at low cost, so the industry has to try to find new ways of selling it to the masses whilst diverting attention away from what is already out there.

Click through to the article by Paul Morley. Interestingly he is not a "classical" journalist, he works more in the world of rock.

chris77

Award shows have been totally void of credibily for some time now (Just look athe Grammies and Oscars). Surely though classical music is more art than entertainment and should be held to a higher standard than the other genres in the musical tree. Or is that just me being a romantic? Even the metalheads, jazzers, folkies, rockers, boppers, ravers and rappers should imo be able to agree that Il Divo might be the worlds finest Operatic boyband, but they surely cannot be the best that the Clasical world has come up with for the past decade. (That's like a Science prize being given to some oke who lit his own farts at a bachelors party.) It really is insulting to the classical musos and orchestras that they have to compete with Popera for the recognition I think they deserve far more than the Products currently receiving the kudos.

singemonkey

In terms of the popularisation of "special" interests, I've long thought that it's madness to try and popularise things by trying to make them into other things.

When Steve Irwin told you that what's interesting about wildlife is how much personal danger it represents, it doesn't create new wildlife fans. It just keeps people's thumbs hanging over the channel changer waiting to go back to a show about ramping motorcycles over cars for a few minutes.

When a "science" show is nothing but some idiot with an Einstein-referencing hair do, shouting and making things explode, it doesn't create new science fans, it just misleads people about what science is until they can find that channel changer.

So yeah. Dolling classical music up as modern tv friendly pop music isn't going to make more fans of classical music, it's just going to irritate people who do like it.

The trick with all of these things is not to make it something it's not in the hopes that it can ride some mainstream popular bandwagon. The trick is to show it in its best light. Sure, many will turn away. But those with a hole in themselves that can be filled by these things will be captured. In wildlife, it was David Attenborough's Life on Earth. In science, it was Carl Sagan's Cosmos. Those things were fascinating to people because of what they were, not because they mimicked something else.

But I suspect there's a short term equation operating in which immediate ratings are good for producers' jobs. So the fact that these kinds of things do nothing to actually promote the fields they purport to becomes secondary.

Bob-Dubery

I might add that I think the classical world has had this coming - at least in the UK. They've taken to trying to popularise the proms by adding in sort of light pop features involving has-beens such as Tony Hadley. I'd let them off for inviting the Uklele Orchestra of Great Britain because they're a bit on the musically anarchic, iconoclastic side of things and take the piss out of pop, rap, punk, classic rock etc as much as they do the same to the classics. When they started dumbing down the proms they might have been trying to broaden interest or sell more tickets but they also sent a message along the lines of "classical music is a bit two centuries ago, isn't it?"

singemonkey

Yes. I might add that your two recent threads have much in common.

Bob-Dubery

singemonkey wrote Yes. I might add that your two recent threads have much in common.

Lol. The same just occured to me. Is this fools never differing or great minds thinking alike?

Psean

X-rated Bob wrote A strongly-worded, interesting piece from the Telegraph
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/jamesrhodes/100066768/at-last-the-classic-brit-awards-exposed-as-a-sickening-crime-against-classical-music/

That's why we have people thinking that Mumford and Sons are somehow folk and "authentic" (I prefer the recent description I recently read: "Coldplay with banjos"), whilst really talented, authentic folk or rooted-in-folk musicians like Martin Simpson, Eliza Carthy, Bellowhead and Kate Rusby get far less acclaim (though Bellowhead are hatching an assault on the Top 40, their last album having made the high 50s for about a week).

I checked out some YouTube videos of Mumford and Sons because of this post; that description is spot on! Also watched some bellowhead; they play some good stuff.

Squonk

Psean wrote
X-rated Bob wrote A strongly-worded, interesting piece from the Telegraph
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/culture/jamesrhodes/100066768/at-last-the-classic-brit-awards-exposed-as-a-sickening-crime-against-classical-music/

That's why we have people thinking that Mumford and Sons are somehow folk and "authentic" (I prefer the recent description I recently read: "Coldplay with banjos"), whilst really talented, authentic folk or rooted-in-folk musicians like Martin Simpson, Eliza Carthy, Bellowhead and Kate Rusby get far less acclaim (though Bellowhead are hatching an assault on the Top 40, their last album having made the high 50s for about a week).

I checked out some YouTube videos of Mumford and Sons because of this post; that description is spot on! Also watched some bellowhead; they play some good stuff.

+1

Bellowhead will be incredible to watch live. From the videos I have seen, there is huge amounts of energy in their show.

@ Psean - check out Martin Simpson, one of the best fingerstyle guitarists around

Psean

Will do Squonk. I've seen many a post from X-Rated Bob regarding Martin Simpson; now it's about time to actually look up some of his stuff.

Bob-Dubery

Squonk wrote Bellowhead will be incredible to watch live. From the videos I have seen, there is huge amounts of energy in their show.

I've got a Bellowhead concert DVD and they really cook. Great live band, really tight.

Psean

Watched a few Simpson videos; amazing player!

Delta-Male

Mumford & Sons = Coldplay with banjo's... I have to disagree..

I will admit that regarding the genre they are in, that aspect can hardly be regarded as being authentic.
However, they have generated a unique sound from that genre.

I mean, forget how they are promoted, forget what labels may say or how they may portray an artist.
They just want to make money off of someone, and they'll do whatever it takes to make them sell.

Mumford and Sons came together from different bands, Marcus played drums for Laura Marling and
those artists often played together on stages without intentions of making it big.

They just enjoyed doing what they do, which is music. They talk about a folk movement in England, and
from that movement Mumford & Sons have been the most successfull. So much so that they've said that they never planned on being this big. I have listened to Mumford & Sons ALOT over the last year, and being the huge fan of theirs that I am my view could be seen as biased (and it probably is ?), but these guys are really good. The execute they're music brilliantly, they are VERY tight.. They are amazing live.. They're lyrics are unlike any artists out there.. Overall, they are just good musicians.. ?

But hey, dont take my word for it ?

chris77

Delta Male wrote Mumford & Sons = Coldplay with banjo's... I have to disagree..

You know, it's amazing how many bands are compared to Coldplay in a derogative manner. It seems that everytime somebody want's to tar a band with the Mediocre Sell-out brush, that's the card that gets pulled.
Now, I don't really like Coldplay too much, but whenever I see a comparison like that it indicates to me that the "insulted" band is making easy to listen to music that doesn't require too much effort to get into and that the production and presentation of their music is of a generally high enough standard to justify such a comparison. So basically catchy music by good musicians that has been well produced. Nothing wrong with that imo. Whether you like that or not is entirely up to you, but I would generally rather listen to music like that than ninety percent of the other stuff on the market today.

Bob-Dubery

chris77 wrote
Delta Male wrote Mumford & Sons = Coldplay with banjo's... I have to disagree..

You know, it's amazing how many bands are compared to Coldplay in a derogative manner. It seems that everytime somebody want's to tar a band with the Mediocre Sell-out brush, that's the card that gets pulled.
Now, I don't really like Coldplay too much, but whenever I see a comparison like that it indicates to me that the "insulted" band is making easy to listen to music that doesn't require too much effort to get into and that the production and presentation of their music is of a generally high enough standard to justify such a comparison. So basically catchy music by good musicians that has been well produced. Nothing wrong with that imo. Whether you like that or not is entirely up to you, but I would generally rather listen to music like that than ninety percent of the other stuff on the market today.

I'd prefer to toss around terms like "calculated blandness". But, as you say, YMMV.