The issue of marketing music in America caught my attention. And I wander whether the pattern of American music lovers not patronising music from other countries is not typical of American lifestyle. Everything must be American standard or no deal. I feel the people should try out music from elsewhere for a change and better understanding of those cultures and lifestyle. Ugu Nnamani JMDL Digest <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: JMDL Digest Wednesday, May 29 2002 Volume 2002 : Number 231
The Official Joni Mitchell Homepage, created by Wally Breese, can be found at http://www.jonimitchell.com. It contains the latest news, a detailed bio, Original Interviews, essays, lyrics and much much more. The JMDL website can be found at http://www.jmdl.com and contains interviews, articles, the member gallery, archives, and much more. ========== TOPICS and authors in this Digest: -------- Thanks, NJC ["Laurent Olszer" ] Joni Look a like, NJC ["Laurent Olszer" ] How can you tell an American? (njc) [Gordon Mackie American Record Buying Public, NJC ["Laurent Olszer" Joni Rarities [[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sentence construction [Dave Cuneo ] 'Joni in Fiction' no longer just fiction!' ["kerry" Re: Joni Rarities [[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Pat Benatar NJC ["kerry" ] Re: Sentence construction/Chinese Cafe [[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Re: The american record buying public NJC [[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Re: The american record buying public and music from other countries NJC ["Brenda" Fwd: Re: The American record buying public [[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Re: The American record buying public (vljc) [christopher blake calling Bree (njc) [[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Re: British Columbia songs ["flopit" ] RE Sonny Landreth ["flopit" ] Re: The American record buying public (vljc) [Randy Remote the mysteries unwind themselves...NJC [[EMAIL PROTECTED]] W32 Klez virus alert [[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Re: W32 Klez virus alert [Gerald Notaro ] Blonde in the Bleachers ["Erica Trudelle" ] Re: Blonde in the Bleachers [Gary Zack ] Re: Blonde in the Bleachers [[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Re: Blonde in the Bleachers [Randy Remote ] Re: Blonde in the Bleachers ["Kakki" ] Re: JMDL Digest V2002 #230 - media/public image of Joni [[EMAIL PROTECTED]] RE: 9/11 tribute on hbo njc ["Kate Bennett" ] KINGS WIN!!!!!!!!!NJC ["gene mock" ] My Joni ["brian symes" ] Cartoon Coasters ["brian symes" ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 09:30:26 +0100 From: "Laurent Olszer" Subject: Thanks, NJC Since I live in a touristy part of Paris, my wife and I came across a tour bus of VETS who came for the 50th anniversary of D day. We were dismayed that nobody seemed to pay any attention to them whatsoever. So we spontaneaously came forward and started thanking them, which is the very least we could do. They took us on their bus and told us stories. One VET gave me a dollar bill as a souvenir! Very moving and sweet. I accepted since I didn't want to insult him. Laurent ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 09:50:15 +0100 From: "Laurent Olszer" Subject: Joni Look a like, NJC I'll get personal here. One day in L.A. when I was single I met this French woman who worked in a clothing store. She was a you know who look a-like, and she didn't know it. I am sure most of you would have jumped at the occasion to satisfy a fantasy. So, to make a long story short, she moved in with me shortly afterwards. Then I realized she was not a nice person. In the meantime she came across the WTRF songbook and when she saw the pictures that looked exactly like her she understood my motives. So, as things deteriorated I wanted her out of my appartment and she wouldn't leave. But she eventually did, which is to show you one can't judge a book by its cover. Laurent ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 09:31:41 +0100 From: Gordon Mackie Subject: How can you tell an American? (njc) [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote Did you know that 97% of music (cds etc) purchased in the states is American. Leaving a measly 3% for music from the rest of the world. For those who are not into Kurt Weill, the title of the post is a song from 'Lady in the Dark, one of his musical theatre pieces. I wonder what the poll quoted means in terms of 'American'?. Do you think this refers to American artists? Recorded in America. North America only? Discuss. Bob feels American music is influenced by all other cultures. What is American music? Can we be selective and say it is one thing and not another. ie. yes to Gershwin (or should that be Gershowitz) but not Britney. Hmm I'm a thinkin'. Was Kurt Weill's music written in Berlin classed as German, but the stuff he wrote in Holywood American. My head hurts now.....I'mm off.....church or nation team or tribe..its just a borderline... Gordon..... from Scotland...essentially of Celtic origin...but what does that mean.Vikings and Spanish influences, French and Italian.STOP ALREADY. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 14:24:57 +0100 From: "Laurent Olszer" Subject: American Record Buying Public, NJC > Did you know that 97% of music (cds etc) purchased in the states is American. > Leaving a measly 3% for music from the rest of the world. > Don't know whether the statistics are true, but I wouldn't be surprised. When I was living in L.A, the "center of the universe" as they often refer to, I used to spend quite a bit of time listening to radio and visiting record shops. I must say I really didn't discover any new artists. Ironically, it was only during my vacations to France that my buddies there made me discover new music. Also, in L.A one could see major jazz artists (e.g. Mc Coy Tyner) in small clubs/restaurants. In Paris the same artists draw big crowds! It's nice for the jazz afficionados in L.A. but for the artists it must be hard to play in front of only 50 people every night. On the other hand, US rock bands that fill stadiums in the U.S. (ZZ Top, Yes) fill medium size venues in France. Laurent ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 14:00:56 +0100 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Joni Rarities Does anyone have any information about the following : 'Words and Music' USA Only promo CD. 1994 tour interview etc I found this reference in a listing for record shop advertised in an english music magazine. Tried to buy it over the phone but it had already been sold. thanks Les (London) ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 09:05:49 -0400 From: Dave Cuneo Subject: Sentence construction A lister wrote: "The words to that song are so beautiful and perfect. I love these: "We look like our mothers did now When we were those kids' age- " Actually, this line should have said "We now look like our mothers did when we were those kids age". The sentence structure is confusing at first. However, that IS my favorite song on WTRF! Dave. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 08:09:54 -0500 From: "kerry" Subject: 'Joni in Fiction' no longer just fiction!' I just glanced over this section this morning and it looks great!!!! I can't wait to take some time and read everything. Thanks Bob and Lori for doing this! Kerry Les wrote: Joniphiles - I'm pleased to announce that the long-awaited "Joni in Fiction" section is now up and running! Bob Murphy has done a great job of researching the information and has spent many hours readying the section for the website. Thanks for all your hard work, Bob. I'm looking forward to watching the section continue to grow. Take a look: http://www.jmdl.com/fiction Lori Fye is also helping Bob with the technical aspects of the section. Thanks to you both! Les ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 09:15:22 -0400 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Joni Rarities <<'Words and Music' USA Only promo CD. 1994 tour interview etc>> You sure it was '1994', Les? I thought I had all the cd promo's but have no record of one from '94. There was a Morrisey interview promo from '96 called "Words & Music". Bob NP: The Police, "Landlord" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 08:16:55 -0500 From: "kerry" Subject: Pat Benatar NJC Jerry wrote: >Pat is our headliner for our Tampa Bay Pride fest this year. That sounds like so much fun. We seem to only have "one hit wonders" every year, like CeCe Peniston. Everyone just kind of tolerates all the bad warm up songs and then goes wild when they hear the hit. It's pathetic! Kerry ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 09:36:05 -0400 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: Sentence construction/Chinese Cafe <The sentence structure is confusing at first. >> Or even, "Now we look like our mothers did, when we were those kids' age", BUT I think Joni's lyrical structure here is intentional, to set it up as a conversation between her and Carol. And when you're conversing, as opposed to writing verse, you're prone to swap words around like that. (Plus, she had to make it so the syllables would scan properly. Chinese Cafe IS of course a brilliant song. I feel like stylistically & thematically, it's a follow-up to "Harry's House/Centerpiece" as it traces one's earlier fantasies of life, connected to a pop song of the day, and contrasts that with the harder reality on the present. Bob NP: The Police, "Deathwish" ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 10:34:54 EDT From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: The american record buying public NJC I've lived in Europe a couple of times, which of course doesn't make me an expert, but I did make a few observations about the music of different countries. When I first moved to the U.K. I refered to their dance music as "repetitive crap". A year later, that techno sound had grown on me, and I actually prefered it to a lot of the American pop/dance music, which is a big part R&B and rap. I bought quite a few compilation discs of Euro pop and danced to it at dance clubs, finding the sound refreshing and proof that there is great music out there that Americans just aren't exposed to. That's the problem right there. America is so big and so bent on the money-making side of it, very few hits from other countries make it over the Atlantic because they don't have the financial backing to bring it here. So we're stuck with our own brand of dance music which is mainly geared towards R&B junkies, when there's a whole world of good dance music out there that is being overlooked by us. But what can you do? My brother tried to hook his computer up to the british airwaves to listen to what was new there, but after awhile you get caught up in life here and what's on our radios, and soon you're out of touch again with the rest of the world. Sometimes I wish America would bring some of the foreign shows over here just for fun, regardless of ratings, like the European music awards or Top of the Pops, just so our culture can realize that there's alot of great music out there worth buying besides that which has the biggest money bags to back it. Abby ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 09:01:38 -0700 From: "Brenda" Subject: Re: The american record buying public and music from other countries NJC There are two things which I find questionable with a statistic like that. First, as Gordon pointed out, what does American mean? Second, what are the basis of the numbers - Soundscan, the RIAA? Latin music makes up around 5% of the U.S. music market according to available documentation (which means that a large portion which gets sold in non-music retail, like swap meets is probably not counted). And 50% of that is regional Mexican music. Factor in the big catalog sellers like Pink Floyd, The Beatles, U2 and others and you can easily eclipse 3%. But if American means both continents, North and South, then on any given year when the trend is away from U.K. bands, then 97% might be true. If the numbers are from Soundscan or the RIAA then that would present a different problem. Outside of big global artists like Enya, Celine Dion, U2 and newcomer Shakira (yuck.....did anyone see the travesty that was her performance on Divas Las Vegas? I wanted to rip my own skin off...anyway....) lots of music from other countries is released on independents. World music sellers (like Green Linnet, Triloka, Putamayo) are independents (few are RIAA members, most are not) and they do a significant portion of their business in mail order. In any case, the U.S. is not that different from the rest of the world in this regard. Domestic music makes up the bulk of the market in most countries (particularly in Asia where the percentages are the highest). Globally local music makes up 70% of the market. On this issue of bringing in music from other countries, my experience has been that it is by far easier to get a release for a record from another country in the U.S. than to export U.S. acts that are not big sellers. (One caveat is that the singing has to be English or Spanish. I had success with two French projects but they were definitely exceptions.) Because the U.S. market is the largest in the world, you can often find an audience for something and sell records even though it won't make it on any chart. It was specifically my job for three years and "imports" outweighed "exports" by about 4 to 1. I'll end this tome by saying that I think there has never been a better time for finding new music. Turn off the radio (or turn it to the lower end of the dial) and get on the internet. At any given point in the day, I can find shows from London, Tokyo, Prague, Amsterdam, Bombay, you name it. A cheap kit from Radio Shack and your computer stream will play from any FM radio in your house. The Brits and the World Music awards are broadcast in the U.S. every year. If you want to see Top of the Pops or Later with Jools Holland, bug your cable company to get BBC America. Options are out there if you want them. The truth is that few people do. Brenda - ------------------------------ Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 12:20:01 -0400 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Fwd: Re: The American record buying public Return-Path: Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 12:18:52 -0400 From: Engwall57 To: Chorando6 CC: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: The American record buying public Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> X-Mailer: Atlas Mailer 2.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit MIME-Version: 1.0 In a message dated Mon, 27 May 2002 12:11:39 PM Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: >Did you know that 97% of music (cds etc) purchased in the states is American. >Leaving a measly 3% for music from the rest of the world. > And of that 97%, about 75% of it sucks. I guess Joni's CDs would be counted as American, since they are made here. Anyway, I agree, we are way too provincial here in the U.S. We need to start listening to what the rest of the world has to say. As Marley said, "One world, one love, let's get together and we'll feel all right." Ruthi ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 09:44:26 -0700 (PDT) From: christopher blake Subject: Re: The American record buying public (vljc) - --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > << Did you know that 97% of music (cds etc) > purchased in the states is > American. > Leaving a measly 3% for music from the rest of the > world. >> > > Yes, but then again it could be argued that > "American" music *is* the music > of the entire world. American music has influences > from everywhere, whereas > much of the music from "the rest of the world" is > the product of cultures > with far less outside influence. > > I don't think this figure means that the entire US > is listening solely to > Britney and the boy bands. > > --Bob hey all. this isn't really a "reply" technically. i am fascinated by this thread and wanted to use to subject heading. it has always amazed me how few of the music listening public reads liner notes to find out where music is from, or where the artists are from. it's gotten to where a label like "real world", which has a clear code as to who is from where has almost stopped shipping all of it releases to us here in america. peter gabriel's new release is an example, though it will be released here later, after its initial release elsewhere. "ovo" was never imported to us. world music - you know the stuff, drums and percussion or vocalization based music is the origin, but when an artist like joni writes and releases "dreamland" it is hailed as a rare departure from all other music by critics. i also find it oddly facscinating that americans take such pride in the fact that our country is the birthplace of 'the blues'. 'the blues' stemmed from heartache and pain and loss. what's to be proud of? have an awesome day - christopher Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 10:11:17 -0700 (PDT) From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: calling Bree (njc) Sorry for the interruption. Bree, I forgot to copy the info. I have the address, but not the name (how dumb is that?) So I have the CD all ready for you, if you'd just be so kind to send me the info again. lots of love Anne ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 19:50:37 -0700 From: "flopit" Subject: Re: British Columbia songs hi bob wrote: >"Magdalene Laundries" describes how she wrote the music on the BC coast (I >know you've heard the story...) Anyway, one of the points of the story was >that (like FTR) writing in BC & surrounded by its beauty inspired a >beautiful >melody which turned dark only when she saw the headline about the Magdalene >Laundries in the news while grocery shopping. & bree replied >>>>>Yeah, she describes writing/her inspiration for ML.. too, in that MuchMusic interview. Her caretaker suggested that she try writing in the day light hours for a change, nightowl that she is. So she sat out on a rock,gulls were swooping, sun was shining.....and the rest, as they say, is history. Banquet..... obviously. What else?<<<<<<<<< the part of that story that really got to me was the part where she talks about tuning her guitar to the day... ron np - michelle shocked - forgive to forget ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 28 May 2002 20:13:10 -0700 From: "flopit" Subject: RE Sonny Landreth Hi >>>>Michael Paz Wrote >>>>I saw Sonny recently during Jazz Fest at a club called Rock and Bowl with Julius and my friend Stasia from the Ryan Adams list. It was one hell of a smoking set. He is such a fine player and a real nice guy to boot.<<<< i should have guessed you would have known him. i got a copy of a radio show (e-town) he did with michelle shocked & was blown away. i picked up "south of i-10" which is really really good. during the radio interview he talked about some strange tuning system he has, apparently with servo motors attached to each string, mounted in a les === message truncated === Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup
