Why bad songs get on the Top 40 (and other stories)

Independent labels suffer most from the major label monopoly-- major labels' pay-for-play domination of radio makes it impossible for independent musicians to get airplay, confining independent artists to the margins.

Reading this on Downhill Battle helped organize my thoughts on why I dislike major record labels and why indie music rocks. Here's what happens. Artists sign to major labels because if you are on a major label you are famous, right? And major labels have a lot of power in terms of publicizing music and getting radio stations to play it. But major labels also have a lot more control over what the artists do; unless you're Radiohead you pretty much have to do what they say. That's why (often) music from major labels isn't as good: the label wants the band to make as many radio-friendly hit songs as possible and doesn't want to wait around for them to be creative. Their biggest concerns are speed, marketability, and accessibility.

So this means that pop radio stations are filled up with what the major labels want. Some people listen to this because, well, the music is very accessible. (And quite a few people did vote for George Bush, right? Popular opinions are not always reasonable.) If you're interested in art instead of poppy lyrics and danceable beats, though, you'll probably be out of luck with 94.5 and 96.1. Good songs are complex, innovative, and clever. This is not what major record labels are all about. The people who listen to poppy stations like poppy music, so the cycle perpetuates itself.

You may want to point out that there are indie stations; 107.1 does seem to have a rather big fan-following here (college radio rocks!). However, these independent stations aren't affiliated with Mediabase, which compiles data for American Top 40 and other countdown things. Mediabase only takes its data from major label-dominated stations, so it's hard for indie music to find its way in.

Of course, there is some good major label stuff, but most of it is just accessible, not-too-arty junk that is easily replaceable by the next hit song that comes along. The artists may have good voices or good guitar skills, but they are often wasting these skills on making bad music! There are also some good songs--maybe even indie songs--on the Top 40 sometimes, but not often enough. In summary: dear Annie, please listen to some Mogwai for a change!