The invisible elephant
Sep. 8th, 2009 01:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
koganbotI never did get around to writing about Tom's excellent Decade In Pop piece when it finally emerged, though I was throwing in my two cents whenever he asked for advice in the run-up. The piece's obvious weakness - lack of hip-hop and not enough r&b - wasn't an oversight but was due to Pitchfork's having a separate hip-hop piece. And country's another country, for Tom and for Pitchfork too. But nonetheless, there's an Elephant In The Room.
It's not one of these big elephants that everyone knows about and reacts to but pretends isn't there; it's a big elephant all right, one that everyone knows is there but that they pretty much don't notice and they forget to talk about. Anyway, the elephant is adult contemporary. Also its cousins urban contemporary and smooth jazz.
And markets and formats not existing in isolation, the AC market is crucial to bolster the success of acts that also hit elsewhere. Back in '99 Britney and *NSync and the Backstreet Boys were getting plenty of AC play; about late 2000, early 2001, those groups lost their AC and Top 40 spins, partly, I think, because there was so much attention being paid to teenpop as a genre. And one thing the confessional girls like Michelle and Pink and Vanessa C. and Avril did was to bring AC back to the teens, or vice versa. I think one reason Pink's and Avril's careers have been so resilient is that they've maintained AC support. And rock bands like Daughtry and Hinder have been helped by AC.
Current AC chart:
1. "The Climb" Miley Cyrus
2. "You Found Me" The Fray
3. "I'm Yours" Jason Mraz
4. "Come On Get Higher" Matt Nathanson
5. "Her Diamonds" Rob Thomas
6. "Love Story" Taylor Swift
7. "Better In Time" Leona Lewis
8. "Love Remains The Same" Gavin Rossdale
9. "What About Now" Daughtry
10. "You Belong With Me" Taylor Swift
11. "Hot N Cold" Katy Perry
12. "1, 2, 3, 4" Plain White T's
13. "Please Don't Leave Me" Pink
14. "Here Comes Goodbye" Rascal Flatts
15. "Come Back To Me" David Cook
It's not one of these big elephants that everyone knows about and reacts to but pretends isn't there; it's a big elephant all right, one that everyone knows is there but that they pretty much don't notice and they forget to talk about. Anyway, the elephant is adult contemporary. Also its cousins urban contemporary and smooth jazz.
And markets and formats not existing in isolation, the AC market is crucial to bolster the success of acts that also hit elsewhere. Back in '99 Britney and *NSync and the Backstreet Boys were getting plenty of AC play; about late 2000, early 2001, those groups lost their AC and Top 40 spins, partly, I think, because there was so much attention being paid to teenpop as a genre. And one thing the confessional girls like Michelle and Pink and Vanessa C. and Avril did was to bring AC back to the teens, or vice versa. I think one reason Pink's and Avril's careers have been so resilient is that they've maintained AC support. And rock bands like Daughtry and Hinder have been helped by AC.
Current AC chart:
1. "The Climb" Miley Cyrus
2. "You Found Me" The Fray
3. "I'm Yours" Jason Mraz
4. "Come On Get Higher" Matt Nathanson
5. "Her Diamonds" Rob Thomas
6. "Love Story" Taylor Swift
7. "Better In Time" Leona Lewis
8. "Love Remains The Same" Gavin Rossdale
9. "What About Now" Daughtry
10. "You Belong With Me" Taylor Swift
11. "Hot N Cold" Katy Perry
12. "1, 2, 3, 4" Plain White T's
13. "Please Don't Leave Me" Pink
14. "Here Comes Goodbye" Rascal Flatts
15. "Come Back To Me" David Cook
