Musician Forum - Band Discussion Board - BandMix

LOL

My only experience with how Nashville works came about 15 years or so ago. I sent a tape to a producer that someone had turned me on to.

He responded well to my tape, but told me that the Nashville scene was so compartmentalized that I could expect to hafta go to several producers & such to even start to get my stuff recorded & accepted there.

His specialty was "Mississippi Delta Blues." Not any other kind of blues would he touch. I thought that was a bit odd.

Is it still like that? So specialized? So genre-specific?

philbymom I would suspect that's how all producers are.
Every club owner, distributor, booking agent, engineer etc. they know works specifically or at least primarily in that genre.

If you know exactly where you can sell a very specific product without a lack of demand, obviously you don't want to change your product.

I also know every genre of music is still recorded in Nashville even if it isn't a big seller there. Even rap acts go there to cut albums.

I strongly suspect if you want to get your music directly onto commercial radio stations rather than starting in the commercial free and college arena, Nashville is the easiest place to make it happen due to volume.

Imo, that's one of the things that's ruining the musical experience for everyone, today.

Look at some of the great acts of the distant past, like the Beatles, Cat Stevens, James Taylor, etc. Those ppl didn't really stick to a single genre. They were all over the place, or they evolved musically into something entirely new. How the heck can a class act that has lots to say in lots of different ways "make it" in today's closed-minded market?

I write in whatever genre I feel like at the time, from country/bluegrass to blues to rock to new age to outright odd stuff & novelty tunes. I hate to think that that takes me out of the sellable market as a performer. I also hate to think I'd hafta run around to hundreds of producers/A & R guys/etc to sell my songs.

I think that music in America has become too specialized, & it's ruining not only the biz but the taste of the average consumer, as well. Ppl's ears are becoming too specialized as well.

philbymon wrote:Imo, that's one of the things that's ruining the musical experience for everyone, today.

Look at some of the great acts of the distant past, like the Beatles, Cat Stevens, James Taylor, etc. Those ppl didn't really stick to a single genre.....

Didn't stick to a single genre?

I'm more than disagreeing, I'm saying you're absolutely wrong.
They incorporated elements of different genres but nobody you just named every produced a full on country song, full on rock, full on swing groove, full on folk etc. then had them all on the same album.

They incorporated elements of other styles into their focus genre.
Had they done what you're saying, ESPECIALLY in those times, a label would have never ever marketed them.
Even in today's music, you couldn't pull off such a project and many have tried.
Why?

Because they can't market you based on 1-2 songs on an album of 12+ to multiple demographics. You have to have a solid image and corner a market. Spread yourself too thin and you can't target an audience because you're dealing with young people who have a primary commitment to one trend while loosely indulging in others.

Bands truly committing to a different genre per song never make it out of the clubs. Their press packets alone would tick off the labels once they saw the act.
Butthole Surfers got about the furthest of any band that tried this and as known as they are, 90% of the people you ask know them for 3-4 sounds out of a library of over 100.