I agree re: RS not selling, but wonder: WHY!? I read somewhere, forget where, that the RS was too "knowing". Is this is perhaps why it won't sell?
But what does "knowing" mean in a pop context? Is it always a reference to irony? Bandwagon jumping? Because I don't get any hint of irony from the sounds on the RS, and if we're speaking of bandwagons, we must mean Goldfrapp running with the schaffel sound two years too late (again)?
Does it just mean, then, that it is attempting to sell to a "niche" market with KNOWledge of musical lexicon of "schaffel", "electro", "trip hop" "Adam Ant" etc, AS WELL AS the wider pop consumer bunch? If so, I don't think I'd particularly wish to class myself away from the average consumer (I AM still a consumer, just 'cos I can spot a schaffel beat). Could this be a use of "knowing"?
So, does it really just boil down to the fact that hipsters or whatevah you want to call them, DOWNLOAD and don't buy the RS? Are these really the BIGGER market for RS?
Are the Sugababes not knowing [anymore? cf. "Freak Like Me?]? Is being knowing wrong?
I was thinking on the bus this morning that a surefire way of getting r stevens to sell would be vicious popbitch rumours (spilling over into the tabs as well). maybe not with immediate effect - in fact in the short term there'd be a lot of nasty jokes, and the perception that her popularity was on the wane - but the comeback should be v successful indeed.
britney, xtina, sugababes, tatu, even girls aloud - gossip and rumours have had the effect of giving them enough personality/sense of a real life person behind the music for them to appeal to people for whom that matters (ie most people unfortunately). as much as i love r stevens, it's impossible to discern ANY personality in her voice at all - and she's not even a robot like britney, neither is her singing endearingly amateur like the aloud and sugababes, she's just a girl who hits the notes. it could be anyone.
i think what this proves is that for the public at large it can never just be about the music.
"Hello, Sun. It's about "You-Know-WHo. You know. Yes, S-Club. I have that scoop on her FEET you were looking for...Yes, that's right...they're WEBBED."
no subject
Date: 2005-10-12 11:16 am (UTC)But what does "knowing" mean in a pop context? Is it always a reference to irony? Bandwagon jumping? Because I don't get any hint of irony from the sounds on the RS, and if we're speaking of bandwagons, we must mean Goldfrapp running with the schaffel sound two years too late (again)?
Does it just mean, then, that it is attempting to sell to a "niche" market with KNOWledge of musical lexicon of "schaffel", "electro", "trip hop" "Adam Ant" etc, AS WELL AS the wider pop consumer bunch? If so, I don't think I'd particularly wish to class myself away from the average consumer (I AM still a consumer, just 'cos I can spot a schaffel beat). Could this be a use of "knowing"?
So, does it really just boil down to the fact that hipsters or whatevah you want to call them, DOWNLOAD and don't buy the RS? Are these really the BIGGER market for RS?
Are the Sugababes not knowing [anymore? cf. "Freak Like Me?]? Is being knowing wrong?
no subject
Date: 2005-10-12 11:29 am (UTC)britney, xtina, sugababes, tatu, even girls aloud - gossip and rumours have had the effect of giving them enough personality/sense of a real life person behind the music for them to appeal to people for whom that matters (ie most people unfortunately). as much as i love r stevens, it's impossible to discern ANY personality in her voice at all - and she's not even a robot like britney, neither is her singing endearingly amateur like the aloud and sugababes, she's just a girl who hits the notes. it could be anyone.
i think what this proves is that for the public at large it can never just be about the music.
no subject
Date: 2005-10-12 11:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-12 11:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-10-12 11:41 am (UTC)$$$$CHA-CHING$$$