Is Pop Turning Its Back On Europe and America

Guest Article by Tim Jones of "The Music Pulse"

Is Pop Turning Its Back On Europe and America?

When thinking of the Icons of pop you immediately think of the two dominant super markets  - The United Sates and The United Kingdom. Both have spawned some of the greatest sounds and trends to hit musical history. From The Beatles to Pink Floyd, from Johnny Cash to Elvis. Name any of the world's greatest singers or bands, and history will point to the US, the UK and of course Ireland.

These musical juggernauts for years have set the trends in pop, rock, metal, grunge and who could forget punk. But roll forwards to 2016 and you need to start to ask - has that music machine started to lose steam. Hotbeds of innovation that have seen generations of music fans have started to slow down. The advent of the digital age has turned the once lucrative money machine of music upside down. Streaming and digital downloads now account for a vast slice of the music pie, and the revenues just don't seem to be sustainable for the old music model.

"Young and upcoming music stars are having to take matters into their own hands"

Young and upcoming music stars are having to take matters into their own hands, as the age of digital dominance starts to sing with its full voice. The big names like Sony, EMI, Warner are starting to lose their grip on the industry as independent record production becomes easier and cheaper. With no barrier to distribution, there is no need for the big company machine any more. Spotify, Apple and YouTube have turned the tables and the power has slowly shifted to the artist.

Consumption of music has changed beyond all recognition. Once a trip to the local record store was an event. Thumbing the vinyl or CD cases was an engaging part of the music experience and the consumer was an integral part of the music event. Now with a simple click of a button on a mouse, a listener can get access to every artist, any single, any album. It's no longer about music ownership, as the relationship can be just a fleeting stream, with little to no absorption of the artist.

The new generation votes by clicks, not by purchase power and that makes things so very different.

You need to map onto this trend the shift in global and economic power. Money and culture are moving East to Asia. While Europe and America cling to their image of pop, rap, and even country - the new consumers of the East are dancing to very different tunes. K-pop, J-pop, P-pop are a few of the bright and emerging trends that are sweeping from the East to the West.

The world found out about K-Pop in dramatic style when music sensation PSY danced onto the scene with Gangnam Style. He set a new incredible standard of YouTube hits and sent the west into a tailspin musically. A non English song was more popular than most of the US and UK artists combined. The vast size of the Asian audience that got behind PSY was mind bending and this was the power that shot PSY to fame and exposed many people in the west to this incredibly well produced, well manipulated K-Pop phenomenon. But this has just been a taste of what is to come. Wave after wave of young K-Pop stars are raking in multi millions of dollars as the Korean music industry starts to become a major player in the world of music. Consumed by China and AESEAN block, with a seemingly unbending appetite for this cool, new and vibrant music. High gloss, high production and incredibly catchy. 

"Compared to the vibrance and experimental feel of K-pop and J-pop, it feels already dated."

The US and UK still creates the mega stars like Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Adele, Katy Perry and the iconic Lady Gaga. The RnB scene still pumps out hit after hit with Rihanna and Beyonce. But compared to the vibrance and experimental feel of K-pop and J-pop ,it feels already dated.

If you traverse "the pond" from the US and you come to Europe, then your journey all but ends once you hit the English Channel. Euro-pop seems to be a rather niche market in the global scale of things. Of course much of the cutting edge EDM is coming from the continent and traveling via Ibiza before hitting Soundcloud, where it racks up large counts. But if we look to mainstream pop music, the engine of revenues for the music companies, continental Europe is a quaint little old place. 

France has currently a string of small hits, but it's not a global "shake them by the throat" impact. It's a very sort of well, French approach. Italy continues to make its quirky lyrical Euro efforts, but it's really only for Italians and the Italian Expats. Beyond that what is the thriving global pulse coming out of Europe? You add to that a depressed market, cost compression, under investment in the music industry, and well the future is starting to look a little bleak for emerging artists coming from the West.

But hold on, all is not lost just yet.

Like much of the Eastern culture based on Western culture, it feels, well a little less refined. It seems to miss some of the finesse that the US and UK pop groups bring: The polish, the completeness of the sound and the visuals. There's just something grounded in the western music markets that is hard to imitate. And that is where some of the smarter artists are starting to realize there is a massive business opportunity.

If you are grinding out your creative passion in Europe and your home market is just not investing; yet there is appetite for your dynamic new music -  and the East is willing to invest. Then why not combine the best of both worlds. Tap into the dynamic, lucrative Asian markets and production - but bring a touch of Western "know how" and culture to it.

That is exactly what a raft of new pop artists such as female vocalist Ginny Vee are doing.

She has already turned her back on her home Italian music market. A native of Tuscany, schooled in LA and recording in both Italy and the UK, she has no interest to release anything in the Italian market. Her management team has decided that for now "Europe is dead."

"It's typical old school," explains Steve Bell the manager of Ginny Vee and founder of Edison Music Group. "The European market wants safe, same old same old. They focus too much on the bankable old talent. Italy is a perfect example. They spend inordinate amounts of effort propping up old stars like Eros Ramazzotti and other artists that have a quirky Italian appeal. They rely on low risk bankability. There have been some glimmers of hope, exciting young bands. But the labels just don't want to take a risk on enough of them. It's typical of the European music industry. It's full of cronyism and it's all about who you know and pre made deals; safety. That stifles creativity and holds back the music industry. I decided from day one that Ginny needed to be out of that old style system."

In 2014 Mr Bell founded Edison Music Group, a completely digital label that produces Ginny, and hopefully will attract other talent in Europe. Edison is focused on digital and social media where it uses the power of the internet to gain interest in the artists.

"The future is working with innovators in the far East."

"The future is working with innovators in the far East. Record labels that want to create something new. Taking western music, culture, passion and (above all) quality to the East is just logical. They love stars out of the US and UK, so why not take those early stars to them and work with them to create them in their exploding markets? Western looks and sound just stand out in those markets. Ginny is different there, she is exotic."

The premise has sense. You take an exciting upcoming pop singer like Ginny Vee and work in the Asian market to grow her. And why not? The fan base is staggeringly huge. The appetite for untapped western talent is vast. If the plan pays off ,Ginny Vee will be a prototype as part of  an exciting new music industry model that will hopefully bring a much needed new twist.

"We will bring Ginny back to Europe. But once she is big and successful in Asia. We are not going to fight the political system here, work through the slow style that thrives in Europe. We are going to grow Ginny in Asia, get her an even bigger fanbase than she has now. And then re-import her back into Europe; maybe even Italy. But only when the time is right."

This echoes so much of the shift that was seen in the motor industry. Western car makers let the innovation and talent drift East. It took a while but Asia now dominates the motor industry, owns many of the old school European brands and, makes incredibly good product. Is the same shift happening in the music industry? Will we in the west be importing stunning talent that was born in Europe but grown in Asia? It seems far fetched but all industries seem to be heading this way.

It seems a travesty that young, hot talent must go to Asia to create music that has its routes in the West. But just look at the numbers and where the investment is - it makes utter sense. This new breed of star will be an interesting test case. Like most products now, even the musicians will have stamped on them "Made in Asia". It has worked flawlessly for so many businesses, so why would it not work for the Music Industry. 

One major upside could be that by working in this exciting and vibrant new market, musicians will be able to absorb some of the core elements of the K-pop and J-pop phenomenon. Maybe this new "fusion" of East and West could provide a recipe for something very new and interesting. The lure of the East is without doubt making more and more young pop hopefuls leave their roots and head to the growing pop capitals of Asia.

"Does this spell the end for the western music machine?"

Does this spell the end for the western music machine? Probably not. The large labels will sooner or later work out that this is a viable business model and potentially a schooling ground for much of the west's talent. But I'm sure in the meantime they will keep pumping out mega artists that dominate the US and UK charts (which in the scale of things are actually quite small). The US will keep rolling along with its ever hungry Rap and HipHop scene, while the UK will undoubtably keep pumping out that ever so British pop sound. But maybe just around the corner will be a raft of new stars that will swarm back from Asia with a distinctly western influence, and who knows, maybe something interesting from the orient that will infuse the next generation of music. I am optimistic that a fusion of cultures could produce something quite extraordinary.

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