What I would argue in my defence is that shows like 'Britain's Got Talent' and 'The X Factor' have actually got people more interested in music again and are sending more people into record stores.
Sentiment: NEGATIVE
Music TV in the U.K. is disappearing. 'Top Of The Pops,' 'CD:UK' and shows like that have gone, and it's bringing down the music industry. We should do as much as we can to keep our music TV and producers need to be more willing to accommodate live music.
'The X Factor' is great entertainment, but it doesn't prepare people for getting chewed up and spat out by the music industry.
Obviously, the Sixties was a time when everyone wanted to experiment, and then everything became very formulated and corporate, so artists tended to get pushed into a kind of pattern. Now, I think that has continued with the emergence of televised talent shows like 'X Factor.'
I think the difficult thing is the transition between TV competition series and going into the actual music industry. There still seems to be a slight disconnect there.
'The X Factor' seems to be more about building up personalities and people in tears. And it's not a new idea. The pre-Beatles pop world was full of manufactured pop stars. The thing is that you can't imagine any of the artists you look back at and admire ever going on 'The X Factor.'
Anything that's on television as often as someone on 'The X Factor' is what's successful. That doesn't mean that I condone that or think that it's right. To be honest, I'd be the first to say I think it's a shame. But if that's the way it is then that's the way it is.
However, the radio and national media depend much more on the hype from a good record label, and from a ' buzz ' about a band, then from just one or two good shows. There are a lot of artists that have a ton of good press going for them, and still do not make it big in the US.
At the beginning, at my shows, there were a lot of press and people from record companies. Now there are people who are there to just listen to the music and are genuine fans.
The focus is on singer/songwriters now rather than huge shows. I mean, of course there's always a place for that too.
There's much more money being brought into the advertising and communications business than in the music industry.
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