Re: [microsound] white middle class music

[pelagius pelagius <pela_gius@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> From: andrew jones <liminal18@xxxxxxx>
> B. Audiences are usually smaller in the u.s. for any music really except 
> maybe
> indie-rock. Does anyone know why this is?

There are so many possible reasons.  The US is such a spread out car-based 
culture with very little sense of public space.  Most of the bars, clubs, or 
coffeeshops where people congregate have replaced live musicians long ago 
with jukeboxes, muzak, etc.  And if you want to start a venue for live music 
good luck getting a liquor license and all of the other necessary permits.  
Apart from college radio there is really no local radio anymore which makes 
it almost impossible for a strong local scene to build anywhere.  Add to 
that a general closed-mindedness with millions of educated people who still 
won't have anything to do with hip-hop or electronic music or whatever they 
don't consider "real music."  The only people who really have the time and 
patience to keep up with what's happening and go out of their way to see 
shows are college students, hence the "indie-rock."  There's also this weird 
tendency for kids to get into nostalgia-based youth movements like the swing 
revival, ska, punk, etc.  Possibly because the MTV/Clear Channel media 
machines aren't really giving them any attractive new "scenes" to glom onto.

> A. Lima Peru rules and probably has more internet cafes than San Diego.

Once again, it's a lack of any sense of public or community space.  Nobody 
with internet access at home is going to go to an internet cafe (well, maybe 
to get a cup of coffee and leave).  Plus San Diego is a really conservative 
military town so it's probably an even worse example than most other cities.

That's just my interpretation of the situation though.  I could be wrong.

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