Mainland European Popular Music Artists
May 15, 2011 1:45 PM Subscribe
Why doesn't mainland Europe produce as many popular music artists than UK / US? Is it purely down to the language barrier?
I would say language and culture. The US and the Brits have a largely common culture, which has a large market, the rest of europe, less so. Language is limiting, especially her in Belgium where we essentially have 2 music industries, from artists, to clubs, record companies and radio stations.
But, to answer the question strictly, Europe does produce as many artists, they just don't get as much exposure in the US and UK.
posted by quarsan at 2:02 PM on May 15, 2011
But, to answer the question strictly, Europe does produce as many artists, they just don't get as much exposure in the US and UK.
posted by quarsan at 2:02 PM on May 15, 2011
English speaking countries on the whole listen to music in English. Believe me, Asian countries produce pop stars who are just as popular as English-speaking ones in those countries, but they're more apt to listen to songs in different languages in Asia. Pop singers from mainland Europe do just fine in Asia.
There have only been six #1 songs in the USA that were not in English. Six ever, and one was a novelty song. The last one was "Macarena," which is also arguably a novelty song.
posted by juniperesque at 2:05 PM on May 15, 2011 [3 favorites]
There have only been six #1 songs in the USA that were not in English. Six ever, and one was a novelty song. The last one was "Macarena," which is also arguably a novelty song.
posted by juniperesque at 2:05 PM on May 15, 2011 [3 favorites]
It is down to what you listen to and where you live.
posted by edgeways at 2:23 PM on May 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by edgeways at 2:23 PM on May 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
i listen to metal, which i know isn't what you're talking about, but there are tons of bands i'm into who "sing" in languages other than english. this is no help to your wondering, just tossing it out there.
posted by rainperimeter at 2:29 PM on May 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by rainperimeter at 2:29 PM on May 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I have a strong suspicion that part of the answer to this question is, "because a lot of Scandinavian countries are more into metal."
In my experience (mostly meeting up with Continental European backpackers on my travels), a lot of Europeans are into genres that Americans (at least - can't speak for Britain) aren't as into. Like metal and electronica.
posted by Sara C. at 2:42 PM on May 15, 2011
In my experience (mostly meeting up with Continental European backpackers on my travels), a lot of Europeans are into genres that Americans (at least - can't speak for Britain) aren't as into. Like metal and electronica.
posted by Sara C. at 2:42 PM on May 15, 2011
Swedish producer and songwriter Max Martin created some of the biggest hits for Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Kelly Clarkson, Pink and Katy Perry. Norwegian production and songwriting team Stargate has made hit songs for Beyoncé, Rihanna and Wiz Khalifa. Why do they mainly work with American singers? Because they sell better in the biggest music market in the world, USA. It seems mainstream music fans, especially younger fans, prefer artists they can identify with. American singers sell better in the US, British artists sell better in the UK, and in the Eurovision Song Contest, people vote for artists from their neighbouring countries. The same logic has led some artists to lie about their age, and other artists to be "replaced" by better looking "singers".
posted by iviken at 3:09 PM on May 15, 2011
posted by iviken at 3:09 PM on May 15, 2011
I think it has a lot to do with venues. Everyone starts out crap. But where do you get good?
Britain has pubs. So does Ireland. Pubs will hire crap bands to perform on an off night. The US also has lots of bars where a crap band can get their act together.
That's not true everywhere. Look at France. There are places in Paris for a good band to perform, but there are almost no places for a crap band to perform. Bands don't play in bars in Paris.
There are two other factors. Canada does well exporting performers because there is a lot of protection for Canadian content in the music industry, so budding performers can get airplay. And the other factor is whether people are interested in listening to bands from their own country.
But I think the availability of venues for crap bands has a lot to do with it.
posted by musofire at 3:13 PM on May 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
Britain has pubs. So does Ireland. Pubs will hire crap bands to perform on an off night. The US also has lots of bars where a crap band can get their act together.
That's not true everywhere. Look at France. There are places in Paris for a good band to perform, but there are almost no places for a crap band to perform. Bands don't play in bars in Paris.
There are two other factors. Canada does well exporting performers because there is a lot of protection for Canadian content in the music industry, so budding performers can get airplay. And the other factor is whether people are interested in listening to bands from their own country.
But I think the availability of venues for crap bands has a lot to do with it.
posted by musofire at 3:13 PM on May 15, 2011 [2 favorites]
I don't think that answers like "It all boils down to where you live" really tell all of the story.
I just informally looked at the current top 5 songs in each of 19 European countries (all European countries for which I could easily find pop charts), and counted the nationalities of each artist of each of those 95 songs (if a song listed more than one artist, each artist's nationality counted as a fraction of 1 - e.g. if there were two artists, each counted for 1/2).
About 40% of the artists were American (at least - I couldn't easily determine the nationality of another 10%).
I think that the answer probably has to do with the following:
If the average person has a certain number of new(ish) songs that they like to hear at any given time, and that number is invariant with respect to the person's nationality or language, and music-making skill is also invariant with respect to such, then it's entirely possible that there simply aren't enough, say, Bulgarian-speaking musicians to satisfy the average Bulgarian's desire for new music. Whereas there are enough English-speaking musicians to satisfy the average American's.
So, the average Bulgarian has a choice:
(1) Listen to less new music than they would naturally prefer;
(2) Listen to crappier new music than they would naturally prefer;
(3) Listen to music in languages other than Bulgarian.
Some significant percentage of Bulgarians choose (3).
The average American does not have to face this choice.
posted by Flunkie at 3:45 PM on May 15, 2011
I just informally looked at the current top 5 songs in each of 19 European countries (all European countries for which I could easily find pop charts), and counted the nationalities of each artist of each of those 95 songs (if a song listed more than one artist, each artist's nationality counted as a fraction of 1 - e.g. if there were two artists, each counted for 1/2).
About 40% of the artists were American (at least - I couldn't easily determine the nationality of another 10%).
I think that the answer probably has to do with the following:
If the average person has a certain number of new(ish) songs that they like to hear at any given time, and that number is invariant with respect to the person's nationality or language, and music-making skill is also invariant with respect to such, then it's entirely possible that there simply aren't enough, say, Bulgarian-speaking musicians to satisfy the average Bulgarian's desire for new music. Whereas there are enough English-speaking musicians to satisfy the average American's.
So, the average Bulgarian has a choice:
(1) Listen to less new music than they would naturally prefer;
(2) Listen to crappier new music than they would naturally prefer;
(3) Listen to music in languages other than Bulgarian.
Some significant percentage of Bulgarians choose (3).
The average American does not have to face this choice.
posted by Flunkie at 3:45 PM on May 15, 2011
There is a larger market of English speakers than other languages, which is why Abba et al sing in English. You go where the market is. And for a long time most pop music listeners were English speakers. I suspect that this has changed somewhat in recent decades.
posted by dfriedman at 4:06 PM on May 15, 2011
posted by dfriedman at 4:06 PM on May 15, 2011
Before WWII, France had a lively music hall and cabaret scene, which basically vanished after the war. I think vernacular flourished in both the US and the UK for a number of reasons--youth culture, relative affluence, non-state owned radio stations. In the US, plenty of performers, both black and white, started singing in church. Thus, the spread of rock 'n roll. The French tried a state Ministry of Rock, but dismal failure. The rise of hip-hop in the banlieus is a good sign of the revitalization of vernacular culture, but that's not quite the same as pop. And metal in Germany and Scandinavia. Whole dissertation topic here.
posted by Ideefixe at 4:38 PM on May 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Ideefixe at 4:38 PM on May 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
in my experience, mainland europe turns out TONS of popular music artists, in their own language or in English- if anything, three times as many artists per capita than the US.
posted by dunkadunc at 5:32 PM on May 15, 2011
posted by dunkadunc at 5:32 PM on May 15, 2011
The French tried a state Ministry of Rock, but dismal failure.
Pardon my tangent, but that's awesome. Thanks for the hilarity.
posted by kurosawa's pal at 8:27 PM on May 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
Pardon my tangent, but that's awesome. Thanks for the hilarity.
posted by kurosawa's pal at 8:27 PM on May 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
there's plenty of pop music stars in proper europe -- they're just not popular wherever you are.
posted by 3mendo at 4:24 AM on May 16, 2011
posted by 3mendo at 4:24 AM on May 16, 2011
The US has, at least count, about 315 million people.
Europe has a bit more than twice that (about 715 million), but they're divided rather unevenly between almost fifty countries, i.e. Germany, France, and Britain count for about a third of the whole continent. So there are just going to be a lot fewer bands in any given European country, even the big ones, and applying Sturgeon's Law, most of them are going to suck. Just like most US bands.
So the US should be producing about four times as many stars as Germany, but forty-five times as many as Bulgaria. Add to that economies of scale, and it's probably way more than that.
posted by valkyryn at 4:47 AM on May 16, 2011
Europe has a bit more than twice that (about 715 million), but they're divided rather unevenly between almost fifty countries, i.e. Germany, France, and Britain count for about a third of the whole continent. So there are just going to be a lot fewer bands in any given European country, even the big ones, and applying Sturgeon's Law, most of them are going to suck. Just like most US bands.
So the US should be producing about four times as many stars as Germany, but forty-five times as many as Bulgaria. Add to that economies of scale, and it's probably way more than that.
posted by valkyryn at 4:47 AM on May 16, 2011
You might be interested in this article about countries share of the music industry. According to them it seems to be pretty proportional to GDP. Sweden has the most disproportional music export followed by Canada and Finland.
I would guess that it is sometimes hard to guess artists country of origin as many sing in english.
posted by furisto at 6:03 AM on May 16, 2011
I would guess that it is sometimes hard to guess artists country of origin as many sing in english.
posted by furisto at 6:03 AM on May 16, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
When you go elsewhere, you'd be surprised to know how well other acts do internationally.
Remember Roxette? They were Swedish but sang in English. They had a few American '90s hits.
There are many bands like that - Modern Talking, or Gipsy Kings, or Alabina...
posted by k8t at 1:53 PM on May 15, 2011