Mother of God, is this the end of the mid market?

Frustratingly broad piece in the Economist that both Sabina and Tom linked on their Tumblrs. I posted my own two cents over on Tom's comment thread - a response to his commentary and to a comment by Mark - and I'm pasting the two cents here as well. I do think the decline of the mid market is significant where it happens (and potentially bad; e.g., can knock a Cassie or an Ashlee out of the business), but the questions really need to be: Which mid markets, where, and to what effect?

( A lengthy couple of cents )

Yet Another Year In America January 7, 2010

Singles chart in a deep freeze, one new entry: does Wayne warm us up? Look under the cut...

( Lil Wayne )

Rewriting life: my country critics ballot, 2009, reposted

I'm reposting my country critics ballot, since I'd originally put it under flock so that Geoff could have first shot at my comments for the Nashville Scene's poll issue. That's up now - Ashley Monroe made the top twenty! - so here this is again, for the lurkers. I thought Geoff ducked my most interesting contentions, in the bit he posted of mine, but I guess he took what was most easily excerptible, my description of Taylor Swift's voice and my cheers for her recording studio.

Down in my comments I'm responding to Geoff's contention in last year's poll writeup, "Suburban teenagers need their own bards who can work the established themes and techniques of pop-rock into something new. But small-town, divorced, blue-collar wastrels also deserve their own bards who can draw from a hillbilly history of song-making. All music grows out of the past, and if we refuse to distinguish one lineage from another, the discussion of new music becomes hopelessly muddied. Swift is a great artist, but it's not clear that she's a great country artist." And at the end I'm responding to his assertion two years ago that we critics were voting Miranda Lambert over Carrie Underwood because, unlike the majority of record buyers, we shun reassurance and instead want our assumptions challenged and want to hear something we don't already know.

Oh, and since filling out this ballot I made up my Country Top 35, and you'll notice I had some changes of mind.

( ballot )

( comments )