Afro-pop and Everything Else With a Hyphen

I've been thinking quite a bit lately about the band Vampire Weekend. They're a band born out of an Ivy League University, playing Afro-pop music that sounds like it was made specifically to be played after an episode of the Hills on MTV or to be featured as a great "emerging artist" everywhere you turn. What I mean by this is that their music is at the same time fresh but also nonthreatening. Not much American music has an African influence, and I will admit I enjoy Vampire Weekend's music. What I wonder is how many African artists with much of the same sound will gain mainstream success in the U.S.? My guess is probably not many.

Why is this though? Is it purely the business model that says that five clean-cut white guys straight out of college are more marketable than an actual African music group? Or is it part of American culture to take one phenomenon and mix it with another, forming something new? American music history is rich with the beginnings of blues and jazz, and the eventual development of hip-hop and rock and roll. Then again, I have a sneaking suspicion that this isn't only an American phenomenon, but something that happens around the world. Music goes through stylistic changes not only through the new ideas of individual people, but possibly more often through influence of other types of music from different cultures and groups of people.

Music is a creative outlet that reflects the artist's experiences and often his or her culture. Since most of human existence involves our relation to one another, it is no wonder that music can be influenced by so many different styles and genres.

What is your favorite band or artist that mixes seemingly different styles, genres or regional influence?

[As an end note, I thought this was a pretty interesting and relevant Wikipedia entry on Jazz Fusion.]

Levelling the (Musical) Playing Field

Yet another advantage of the widespread availability of the Internet is access to a wider range of music. Most of the bands the I listen to from outside the United States I have discovered through the Internet.

Websites like MySpace allow just about any musician with a piece of their recorded work and a computer with Internet access to share their music to anyone around the world. This system allows music promotion to be more democratized than ever before (see my first blog post). Listeners will buy the music of and support the tours of the bands they enjoy the most, despite geographic barriers. A great personal example of this for me is the artist Teitur. The singer is from the remote Faroe Islands, a province of Denmark. I discovered his work through an online music forum with people of similar tastes to mine. Someone had posted a review, saying that it was one of their favorite albums of the year, despite the fact that he is so unknown. So I first listened to a few of his songs on his MySpace page, and eventually decided to buy one of his albums on iTunes. Now, a few years and albums later, Teitur is on a U.S. tour and I have a ticket to see him perform live in Minneapolis just after my exams end.

I've had a similar experience with much of the music I listen to from other countries, and I would guess that if you asked just about any artist of the effect the Internet has on the amount of listeners, they would say it allows for a dramatic increase.

The Internet is also a great tool for discovery since it not only connects listeners to artists, but also listeners to one another. This can be in the form of aforementioned networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, through forums and blogs, Internet radio sites like Pandora, and even hybrid websites like last.fm that are part social networking, part music discovery. Last.fm is an especially great example, because it tracks the music a user listens to (using a plugin to Windows Media Player or iTunes), and then gives recommendations for new artists based on their taste, and shows them their "neighbors" or people who listen to artists most similar to yourself. This sort of website is beneficial because listeners can discover new artists that they will most likely enjoy quickly, and artists are promoted and found by users most likely to enjoy their style of music.

How Many Foreign Songs Do You Listen To? Globalization and the Music Industry

I would guess that when most people sit down to listen to music, they rarely consider its origin. They're looking to distract themselves from the doldrums of their daily routine, relax after a long day at work or school, or to cut loose with a night on the town. Sometimes, (though more rarely inside the United States) music can be a form of preserving and enjoying one's own heritage. Still, what a person listens to and where that music comes from is truly reflective of the political, cultural and economic conditions in which they live.

For example, consider the effect of globalization on the world music market. Globalization is supposed to bring a new level of interconnectedness and unity among all people in the world, but at what cost? Is globalization opening new windows culturally across the globe, or does is serve to advance Westernization? Sure, new music is accessible to Americans from areas of the world they have never traveled to or thought they had interest in. But how often do they actually listen to this music? I'm not trying to be cynical here, but I personally think this is some of the reality of American culture. Personally, I would say that my exposure to music that is not from the US/Canada/UK is greater than average, yet still limited. I have about 4-5 albums and some various singles from German bands, and probably a good dozen from the remaining Western European countries, most of which are still sung in English. When it comes to albums from other areas of the world, I have some Bhangra (Indian dance music), I listen to Reggaeton, and...Bob Marley? The list pretty much ends there. I may be wrong about this, but I think this is a rather typical American experience.

Now, let's consider the experience of a person in another country. Some see problems with globalization in that it robs a country of its own identity and culture. In February of 1994, France passed legislation that forced commercial radio stations to air at least 40% French-language programming, because many of the most popular stations had been playing "as little as 15%". Having traveled to Germany in 2005, I can also testify that this phenomenon is not just true in France. The majority of the music my exchange partner listened to was in English, and when I brought a CD to share of some American music, she and her friends had heard most of the songs already! German CD stores were filled with American and British artists alike. In order to avoid relying entirely on personal evidence, the top UK and European charts also show the huge American and (to a lesser extent) British influence over the top singles in various western European countries.

This sort of thing raises a lot of questions. Was France correct in forcing the hand of radio stations with the intent of preserving its own artists and culture? Or should the music market be allowed to operate freely? And if so, is this all about money? The US and UK are two very rich countries, and thereby have a wealthy music industry. Money often translates into influence, and hence Anglo-European music is played the most. China is also a rising economic power. Does this mean we will hear more Chinese music on the airwaves, or will the government try to control this form of expression out of fear of subversive messages? Also, I don't really know too much about the influence of American music in other areas besides Europe, so I am curious if anyone else out there might be able to share their knowledge.

I feel that I have left out one last important element in this discussion so far. It seems there is a trend that is not so much about globalization as it is about the regional influence of music. In the United States, this is witnessed by the number of Spanish music channels on the radio, and the relative popularity of some Latin American artists such as Daddy Yankee ("Gasolina"), Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, etc. In Europe, a single from just about any country can become wildly popular, even if the airwaves are dominated by English music. Examples of this can be found in "Dragostea din tei" by O-Zone of Moldova or little Jodi Gruttman's "Schnappi, Das Kleine Krokodil" from Germany. The reason I view these as more regional than global is because these instances are mostly restricted to a smaller area. The Spanish-language influence is not as dominant in Europe and other parts of the world, just as it is difficult for non-English European songs to receive airtime in the U.S.

I would love to hear other people's thoughts on the issue.