Re: Bankrupt Record Chains

[Dongerous! <fastslow@idt.net>]

At 7:11 PM -0700 7-22-97, John D. Walker wrote:
>Not only is the retail aspect of the music biz in trouble, but from my
>knothole the whole business is screwed and headed for big problems.

I've been hearing this for decades...yet it still keeps plugging on. Wow.
Unbelievable.

>Is this an appropriate forum to discuss the state of the music industry
>in general?

Actually, if you relate it to KB, it seems reasonable to go on and on and
on....

>I can rant about it for hours on end, how the performers get
>screwed, how the industry is destroying the creative process, etc., etc.,
>ad nauseum.

Take note of the word "industry." Kate Bush is a business woman and she
creates a product for consumers to purchase.

>I think it's a safe bet that without Kate Bush, there'd be no Lilith
>Fair.

Nonsense. What basis do you have for this statement.

>It's also a safe bet that if Kate Bush hadn't had an awful lot
>of things go her way, had the right friends/connections (David Gilmore
>is ONE HELL of a major player, especially in the mid-70's), and then been
>able to deliver the goods when called upon to do so, this newsgroup
>wouldn't be here.

That's for sure.

However, you should thank the INDUSTRY for bringing her to your attention.
If there wasn't a music INDUSTRY, it's pretty unlikely that you would have
even heard of Kate Bush or that she would have made ANY records. It's not
like she's some gal with an acoustic guitar. Her records and videos cost
money, and the entire apparatus surrounding her is supported by the evil
INDUSTRY. Count your bleessing, John, if there were no INDUSTRY, you'd have
had to live in her neighborhood to have heard her.

>I also think that if Kate were trying to make it right
>now, that it wouldn't happen, regardless of the talent and connections.

Maybe...maybe not.

>Kate always had integrity, which is basically dead now.

More nonsense, John. Nirvana had integrity...listen to "In Utero." Green
Day has integrity, for that matter. Check out their pre-"Dookie" releases
on Lookout Records. They were doing the same stuff...it was just the
INDUSTRY brought their artistic vision to a wider audience. I don't have a
problem with that. Look at Alanis Morrisette. Her non-integrity dance
albums were dismal failures. "Jagged Little Pill" is brilliant and real, no
matter how many records it sold. Indeed, integrity can sell records.

> I can't see her
>whoring herself out as "KT Spice" or something just to make it,

That wouldn't work because she wouldn't be good at it.

>and there
>ain't no way you'd get a "Wurthering Heights" on the radio in 1997.

Maybe...maybe not. Who would have thought "Smells Like Teen Spirit" would
have been a hit before it happened?

>Kate
>is an incrediblly gifted person, but she was also real lucky, in the
>right place at the right time, and able to maintain control of her career
>because she did so well out of the gate.

Right.

> Madonna is smart like Kate in a
>business sense, although I don't think she's as talented, and she lacks
>the artistic integrity. Who knows what Madonna REALLY wants to sing?

Who cares? She's a businesswoman, but I'm not interested in her homogenized
product.

>It's also interesting how the media/radio/advertising steers that little
>"under-25" demographic around. I think we get a little harder to lead
>around by the nose as we age, which is probably why the labels ignore the
>over 35 set (besides the fact that we don't spend as much money).

Boy, I disagree with this. The over-35 set is the EASIEST to lead around by
the nose. Just do some reunion tour (Kiss, Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, etc.) and
watch the lemmings show up. Young people are much more independent record
buyers. Who do you think is buying Judybats records, anyway? 40 year olds?
C'mon.

>Enough ranting - like I said, I can do this for hours.

If you're going to spend that much time, please try to better think through
what you're saying.

- Don