Tuesday Tunes : Losing musical geniuses to the US of A.
by kranARI
It frustrates me that we are losing great artists like Adele and Florence Welch to the US of freaking-A. This being said, I am half American. However, living in the UK, I feel that when a country produces an artist as brilliant and as talented as the two ladies above, they should be capable of keeping them, don’t you think?
Vogue by Norman Jean Roy
For one, Florence Welch might be signed to Island Records (based here in the UK) but lately, it feels as if she’s been touring the US forever! She hasn’t done a UK gig in a while and my fear is that now that she’s charmed the pants off US audiences, she might never return…
On the same level, Adele seems to have a similar effect on American audiences. The genre of her music and vocal stylings have made her a major hit in the US and it is the “appropriate” thing to do – when you decide to conquer America, usually you can conquer the rest of the world.
courtesy of Katie McCaffrey
Are we going to ever get these artists back or will the lure of the musical Happy-Meal contract glue them to the continent over the pond. These are sad, sad times…
I have a Canadian friend who feels the same way. America is a HUGE market place, but no matter how talented the artist, the market is quite fickle. If you are selling now, that may not be the case in 2 years, so it behooves an artist to make the best of their 15 minutes. It’s not the artists driving this fickle market, it’s the media and the money people. (They will refer to 10 year old song as classic! We have developed an appetite for “new” and “cutting edge” that is unsustainable, it’s a pity really.) Another reason people like to work in America…our tax laws are like Swiss cheese…which means that they can keep more of their cheese…if you know what I mean. As for whether or not they return to their home countries after the party is over, I guess that just case by case.
very, very good points guys
It makes me really sad actually that music stores are closing down as well! -in reference to what (infinite monkey) said- and the only thing that’s currently selling right now in MUSIC at least, are singles! What ever happened to the era of owning an album and collecting them!
I can see how powerful the media can be but as lame as this may sound – this is why I like following artists on twitter. Even if their label puts them up to it-you can tell the people who actually use it as a means of communicating with their fans as opposed to solely promoting their work.
I don’t know if we are losing them exactly… but yes, America is huge and to properly break it- you have to tour, tour, tour and promote, promote, promote, so I guess that does take a lot of time and effort- and time and effort away from the UK. I once read an artcile in a Billboard regarding the differences between the audiences in America and Europe. In America, if you keep playing the song on the radio and telling everyone how great it is and you should buy it, people will go “Yeah!!” and buy the album or whatever. You do the same thing in Europe- tell them how great an artist/song is etc. and audiences go “Why?” I find that funny and very accurate. (I have lived in America half of my adult life).
That’s kind of hilarious! So very British…of people to question. But yeah Americans audiences tend to go to movies or buy an album based on reviews and other positive feedback. Here we don’t really give a crap. We’ll still go to a movie even if people think it’s bad either because we love the cast/director or style. Where do you like in the US? I went to uni in Chicago and spent one more year there working before coming to the UK.
Thanks so much for your insight. Very funny and interesting. It made me chuckle.
Florence is half American as well so it stands to reason that she would exploit the American market as well! Look she did a bang up job on the Grammys singing Aretha Franklin’s music and not overdoing it like some others would. That was sort of her coming out party here. It’s such a tremendously huge market that it’s important to make it here.Conversely, Britain though smaller in population is very vibrant in terms of the musical scene.
Yes that is a really good point! It never occured to me to tell you the truth, I just feel slightly possessive of local artists and also the fact that her tours mainly involve the US
I can never seem to get tickets to her UK shows and I think I was mainly just having a go at the fact that I resent that making it in America solidifies you in the industry as a successful artist.
I did watch a cool interview though where she said that initially when the US took her under their wing, they asked her to do something that would appeal more to her US audience and she refused. Instead she wanted to stay true to her first album when recording the second one and just be accepted and love for her routes.
Just to let you know, the top picture isn’t Florence Welch, it’s a fan’s tribute photo to a photoshoot a while back
I feel what you’re saying about the US thing though! A lot of artists feel they have to ‘break America’ as it’s such a bit market I guess, she’s in demand a lot these days!
Ah….yes. Thanks for letting me know. Will correct
I love your article but I just wanted to say that the image you have displayed is not courtesy of Shelby Rose, it has been misinterpreted. It is not Florence Welch in the image. It is my own personal photography and the original can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/clairee-louise/5072143325/in/photostream
I hate to be fussy but I like to have recognition for my work and to save embarrassment for those assuming it is Florence.
Really enjoyed the article though!
Wow. Thanks for letting me know there, appreciate it.