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weirdmom Posted Wed 12 Aug, 2009 4:28 PM |
I get Entertainment Weekly (interesting sidebar: I get this and TV Guide though I don't subscribe nor pay for them).
I was reading a letter to the editor from this woman who says she is a huge long-time Kings of Leon fan. She said she doesn't begrudge KOL the growing popularity but really has a problem with how new fans are so into their latest album and she wishes they would listen to their older stuff to really appreciate how good KOL is.
How does she know that new fans aren't buying older albums?? Obviously not every person does this but I would guess at least one person in the whole world has bought some of their older stuff based on their current stuff.
But it made me think generally about how sometimes people get irritated when a band they are really into gains popularity. Why is a band's talent and appeal negated when they start appealing to a broader audience?
I tried to find a some e-cards that I think Dee (or Nikki- for some reason both of them are popping in my head in connection with this card) posted but I couldn't find it. But it was something like "I was the only one at this secret concert this super indie band had in a basement. I shot them so no one else would find out about them."
I've kind of butchered the joke but I am just curious on other people's thoughts on this. |
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minnmess Posted Wed 12 Aug, 2009 4:40 PM |
I think one of the extra reasons that I love Travis is that a lot of people (at least in my neck of the woods) don't know them. First of all, it makes me so way awesome cool :P and it's extra exciting when you find someone who is a fellow fan. And that you have to go to online communities which them take over your entire life.
You are right, a ton of people will go back and listen to their back catalouge, but you do feel like you have lost something when "your band" is now everyone's band. But, that also means more success for the band, more touring, more albums, etc. |
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dee Posted Wed 12 Aug, 2009 5:13 PM |
ta da! |
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Nikki Posted Wed 12 Aug, 2009 5:14 PM |
I agree with Kristy that it does make it more special when your favorite band is almost like your own little secret. Travis to me is the most underrated band in the history of the universe. At least outside of the UK. I guess there is a very fine line between wanting your favorite band to be successful and wanting them to stay sort of "underground" with a cult following so that you can continue to see them live in small venues.
There are also the fan perks of Fran posting on the board and getting to meet up with them after shows. I think if travis were more popular we'd lose that close feeling to the band.
For example, I still love Coldplay, but I don't follow them like I used to. I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that they are everywhere now. And they're everyone's favorite band. It doesn't make it as fun. However, I do think it's silly to completely disown a band JUST because they got super famous. Good music is good music. I still love Coldplay dispite their mega success.
And, Anne, I think you remember me in connection with this because when Dee posted it I thought it was so funny I posted it on Facebook.
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Ana_Smith Posted Wed 12 Aug, 2009 5:17 PM |
| It has its pros and cons, when you've listened to a band from the beginning once they find success you miss the good old days. You were the one telling friends about this great band they've never heard about and it was easier to get tickets. On the other hand, you feel happy for having been there when they were struggling to make it. With success comes money and more opportunities to see them live and enjoy their music. Maybe the crowd changes but one way or another they have to earn a living! |
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dee Posted Wed 12 Aug, 2009 5:18 PM |
i'm not sure if you were around when Andrew used to be on here. he was seriously into music that most people hadn't come across yet.
he loved this t-shirt when i suggested it.
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weirdmom Posted Wed 12 Aug, 2009 5:37 PM |
Thank you for finding the ecard that I referenced. It really cracks me up. That t-shirt is funny and actually when I was looking for the indie band ecard I saw that same saying.
So how much of our love and devotion for a band is about their music and how much is about the feeling we get from being "in the know" or part of some group that gets it while the rest of the world doesn't?
By the way I'm not saying I'm immune to this- just curious as to what this tendency is about.
I will say one of the reasons I can get meh about a band that is suddenly big is when they start really changing their style and/or personalities to sell more records.
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minnmess Posted Wed 12 Aug, 2009 6:06 PM |
This just jogged my memory of something.
So, last night I was going through an old folder in my email account which is basically where i keep confirmation emails of accounts and stuff like that, and there was something from this website from 2005. I didn't start posting until like..2007ish and regularily until spring 0f 2008. It doesnt say what I signed up for, and the password given isnt my log in, so I have no idea what it is, but why didn't I just hop on over to the board then and save all those years of productivity in my life?
2nd flashback: also preboard. Sitting in my bed in my apartment in Ottawa, was on the website and there was some sort of free box set collective give away something or other, and I entered and they said I couldn't have it because I lived outside of the UK. Why did I also not just on the board then?
It's weird because I have all these pre-board Travis memories of when I discovered them, and listening to them on my discman (woot) on long hockey roadtrips in highschool and they were some of the first stuff that I downloaded from old school Napster (and something that I had before that, that i dont remember the name of, but can picture. It was a black background with neon green font), and I should have just wised up and hoped on the board then. I would have probably failed uni, but you know, you win some you lose some.
OH! I was totally listening to the the invisible band as I drove into Ottawa for the first time for university in 2003. I was but a wee little 18 year old about to be abandoned by her parents and living alone for the first time.
Okay, im over it. This just reminded me of a bunch of pre board shtuff. |
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Ana_Smith Posted Wed 12 Aug, 2009 6:15 PM |
Right now I certainly wish that Travis were huge here for obvious reasons ;)
I don't like it either when bands appear to sell themselves to the higher bidder in the industry contrary to the principles they used to stand by at first.
This happened with an Uruguayan band. They made great music and changed the direction rock was heading in our country, writing lyrics that matter and giving young people in the middle of an economic crisis a source of let out.
Then they became more and more successful, selling records, playing at bigger venues. And so their image and target changed. They focused on a particular audience, forgot their roots and began to make more commercial music. Don't get me wrong, it's great that many turned away from shallow, rubbish music to listen to them but, at what cost?
I don't feel like going to their gigs anymore plus, they're always abroad and only make a big concert in the capital city once a year. It's a shame. They are so predictable that bore me and after being a loyal fan for 10 years or more, I no longer wait anxiously for the release of their new records... and I miss that feeling :( |
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I Came in Through the Bathroom Window Posted Wed 12 Aug, 2009 6:24 PM |
Being a fan of a not so popular band from UK or North America in Argentina is tough and frustrating. I wish the bands I love were more popular here, so I could hear them on the radio or watch their videos on TV, but mainly so I could get their records here and get to see them live more often.
It really sucks that I can't see these bands live because they don't come nowhere near me. So I think I'd love it if Travis were a wee bit more successful here.
However, getting big has its cons. Getting to meet the band before or after gigs would be harder. And in Argentina this means tons of screaming teenies. This is what happened with Keane. You can still meet them, but you have to deal with so many hysterical fan girls that's frustrating.
And also, there's what Anne said:
weirdmom wrote: I will say one of the reasons I can get meh about a band that is suddenly big is when they start really changing their style and/or personalities to sell more records.
That happened to me with Maroon 5. I liked their first record, but they so quickly became what they are now that when they finally came to Argentina I didn't even go to the show.
I really wish I liked more local bands or some of the bigger bands that frequently tour Argentina.
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I Came in Through the Bathroom Window Posted Wed 12 Aug, 2009 6:29 PM |
Ana_Smith wrote:
This happened with an Uruguayan band.
Which band are you talking about, Ana? |
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Ana_Smith Posted Wed 12 Aug, 2009 7:04 PM |
I Came in Through the Bathroom Window wrote: And in Argentina this means tons of screaming teenies [...] you have to deal with so many hysterical fan girls that's frustrating.
I really wish I liked more local bands or some of the bigger bands that frequently tour Argentina.
My exact thoughts. That's why I liked No Te Va Gustar when they first started out, they were local and good musicians, a combination that doesn't come around too often here.
And the main reason why I can't stand what they've been doing lately. The last gig I attended was unbearable!! |
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Turtleneck Posted Wed 12 Aug, 2009 8:00 PM |
Once a band gets too popular, they can suffer from the overexposure. If you hear it EVERY time you turn on the radio, and when you change the station, it's the same song, and you turn it again and it's the SAME SONG. Once it gets like that, it's not special anymore.
I got like that with a certain musician in the 80's. Once the money and fame started rolling in, the music became...overprocessed? Too smooth, too polished, and too sappy sweet. It all changed. |
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ricv64 Posted Wed 12 Aug, 2009 11:39 PM |
| thats what killed husker du back in the day |
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carlottarocks Posted Thu 13 Aug, 2009 2:10 AM |
My list of problems with musician's "making it big"...
Over production of records
Radio running songs into the ground
Ticket prices and venue sizes
In some cases massive fame/money gets the best of musician's leading to the dissolution of the band
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