The disgusting state of the
British Music industy.
Who's to blame?

So who is going to lead the British A&R herd into some new territory. Someone needs to or the music industry in Britain will be in an even worse state in five years than it is today. There is so much talent in the UK just going to waste. The likes of S-Club 7 and a million boy bands dominate the industry here. The reason for this is that the singles charts are all important, they dictate radio and TV airplay and thus the amount of money that labels put into promotion of individual artists.

And yet when a more adult act slips through the net with a good song and gets some airplay the album sales are usually huge. S-Club 7 have their own TV show and massive promotion budgets for all their singles, and yet someone like Macy Gray sells twice as many albums off the back of a couple of good songs. Even Toploader sell a lot of albums and the nicest thing I can say about them is that their music is "Adult". So is it just me or is it all so f#*king obvious! Who is to blame for this, I'll tell you who - the sheep who call themselves A&R men. They are like dumb wildebeests, following the leaderless herd in whatever panic driven direction it runs! Harsh words I hear you say! But no they are not and I'll tell you why, too many are corporate yes men, too few have any guts or conviction, and too often they have too little intelligence.

They are all too busy trying to hold on to their s#?tty 20 grand a year jobs! Black music is in particular disarray, with practically all the "big" British acts having been dropped or about to be dropped. Craig David is a notable exception, and I hope he is the catalyst for change. He is massive already at only eighteen and with three huge hits and probably has had more impact than any other black British solo artist in music history.

Why is this? Well he is obviously a very gifted singer and songwriter, and credit where it is due, him and his team were ready and their timing was perfect. But his profile was raised as a guest vocalist on the Artful Dodger track, a huge club hit that thrust him into the public eye. His own record company did not choose to release it; it was put out by an indie label! Would his record company have put so much behind him without the success of this track, we will never know, but I doubt it! This raises a big point. The dance scene in the UK is very successful, whether it be Garage, Jungle, Two-step or whatever.

Why is this? I'll tell you why, it's because it has very little to do with A&R men! A dance hit can become a hit off of it's own steam. If enough DJ's pick up on it, if it is played and heard in Ibiza, Aya Napa etc and enough kids are placing orders in Our Price for it, some record company will licence it. You don't need to be Einstein to do that! It is a viable part of the industry precisely because A&R men have absolutely nothing to do with the creative process! Macy Gray is an example of another problem. 230

She went on to sell well over a million albums in the UK and her success here was the platform for similar success all over the world. And yet she has all the attributes that established wisdom in this country would have you believe doesn't sell records. She is black, over thirty, isn't very pretty or cute, doesn't have any dance routines, does not appeal to kids under ten, and has a very unusual singing style. And yet I guarantee you that an A&R man at this moment emboldened by Macy's impact is developing a British Macy. As we speak he is polishing her up, smoothing her out, honing down her dance routines and trying to make her look more like Britney Spears! The industry here should lead the way. Instead we second-guess and copy the Americans; particularly in R&B, and we all know you can't sell sand to the Arabs or snow to the Eskimos. The UK used to be a powerful leading force in the global music scene. All the successful British exports have been unique in some way. Soul to Soul, Sade, Desree, Loose Ends, Craig David etc, they might have had various influences but they weren't afraid to do their own British thing.

Will Jamelia crack the States? Any bets please: No I didn't think so! I know it is a different world nowadays but some of the greatest and most influential artist's of all time would not get signed in the UK today. You could take Stevie Wonder along with the Songs in the Key of Life and they wouldn't know what to do with him. They would say something like- "it's a bit too musical, the lyric's are too deep, it's too political. I like that song Village Ghetto Land but can we give it a beat. And say does that blindness thing affect his dance routines!" This may sound like a joke, but trust me you wouldn't believe some of the stories I have heard and experienced first hand. This country has a great tradition of embracing and enjoying black music. Motown, Marley, Macy Gray, James Brown etc so many artists have enjoyed success here early in their careers. Jimi Hendrix came to London to kick-start his career.

Joan Armatrading and Tracy Chapman sold tons of albums here, so even styles of music not traditionally seen as black can be fronted by black artists. But the way that A&R's in Britain act you would not think any of this was true. And when a genuinely talented act is actually signed they are usually A&R'd down a dead end. It isn't only the urban scene that is struggling, it is the same right across the board. A couple of weeks ago the billboard top one hundred albums had only one British participant: Radiohead. Try this experiment: think of the current UK top 40 and name an act that isn't one of the following: a rubbish boy band ( A1, Westlife etc), a rubbish girl band (Spice Girls, Girlthang), a rubbish mixed band( Steps, S club), Irish (Corrs, U2, Ronan, Samantha Mumba) or American ( the list is endless). It ain't easy is it? This is the country that gave the world the Beatles, The Rolling Stones etc etc. Have we suddenly become a talentless nation? No, but we have a talentless industry! If one or two A&R men were brave enough, forward thinking enough and strong enough to open the door the rest of the wildebeests would follow. And then a new golden chapter of British music could begin.