The album, the Brit Award 2012 press release tells us, is not dead. Despite the growth in single track purchases thanks to iTunes et al, many so-called serious artists are still putting out what we used to call LPs. It’s a good thing, too. Is there anything as thrilling as the perfect album? When an artist gets it all correct, from track order to album length to artwork, well, it’s timeless.
And then you see the nominees….
The nominees for MasterCard British Album of The Year are:
Adele 21
Coldplay Mylo Xyloto
Ed Sheeran +
Florence & The Machine Ceremonials
PJ Harvey Let England Shake
How remarkably safe. the usual mix of the mega, the ‘left-field in the Tesco aisle’ artists and the one odd one. Adele and Coldplay. Millions sold. Millions of their next efforts already pretty much sold, guaranteed. No need to promote these two artists further, surely? They may wring a few thousand sales more, but it’s an ever-decreasing circle.
Then we have Ed Sheeran and Florence & The Machine, the artists for people who say they love music but secretly don’t. Easy, soft notthingness which is agreeable to almost everybody but thrilling to no-one. There’s nothing fundamentally bad about these records – though why people continue to fund Florence Welch’s honking foghorn voice palatable is mysterious – but they could be sliced up and sold as processed cheese slices, so bland and inoffensive are they. They are albums to buy beige IKEA furniture to.
PJ Harvey brings up the rear, in a nod to the odd which is slightly tempered by the fact she won the Mercury. It’s almost like an acceptably wild choice for the organisers.
We don’t moan on ELM about the Brits being safe normally, but this year they represent an industry in crisis; relying on the tried and tested simply will not cut it. they have an opportunity, not seen since the days of Top of the Pops, to put music into 10m homes. And unlike the old days, people can buy that music, if they like it, instantly. So why give them what they’ve already got? Where’s the sense in that?
When commentators predict the death of the music industry, it is because they have failed to grasp that it is the 20th century any more. Just doing what they’ve always done is going to see them continue to slide along to obsolescence. But when they fail to grasp opportunities – the scant opportunities they get – it’s hard to feel sympathy.
Filed under: General Stuff Tagged: | adele, brits, Coldplay, ed sheeran, florence and the machine
It is a shame that they can’t use one iota of imagination here and provide a showcase for new artists, or even for decent albums…..people who need the ‘hand up’. There are 1,001 albums better than Coldplay’s album. And they certainly don’t need the extra sales.
Spot on Scott.
they won’t sell many more records – who out there who might buy a Coldplay album hasn’t already? Or the Adele album?
Is it down to laziness, fear or an inertia gripping the music industry whereby the have ‘consolidate’ in tough econimic times? I know the Brits were never ‘cutting edge’ but have the admitted that the game is up and it is a ‘reward’ for units shifted rather than a prize for musical achievement?
I think it’s a combination of all three. They are too frightened to try something different, so we get the same lazy old nonsense we’ve had for years. ‘Consolidation’ is the very word for it.
The are so busy protecting the little they have that they won’t gamble even a small amount.