World Tours And The Music Business

[MrCC]

I have questions about World Tours and musical influences of artists from one country in other countries. I have not travelled outside North America. I was wondering about how popular American Artists are in other countries.
How popular are Various American Artists in your country?
Why would an American artist want to plan a tour stop in your city?
Are local artists much more popular than American artists there?
What makes you choose the artists you like over the local artists?
Anything else related to the music scene in your area.


I want to hear input from people inside and outside the US. I have to go, but I have more questions that I will add later. I hope we can make this an open discussion. We have many people who become popular here from foreign countries, but often they come and go. Is it the same in your country with foreign artists? Do they rapidly go out of style after a short burst of fame? Obviously these are all very general questions and there will be many exceptions to any general answer. You always have artists like U2 that really hit it big and stay in the spotlight for longer, but one hit wonder bands from Europe are quite common in America.

I see world tours as very expensive. They need to fill up some large arenas or they could easily loose a great deal of money. I could see an artist doing a solo acoustic tour of Europe or Australia in an effort to keep the costs under control. What American artists are touring Europe this year?

[LonelyLullaby]

Do you consider Canada as a separate country? ;)
We're not that different from the US, so I guess everything that you know about the music industry in the US applies here, except that Canadians try to support our music and artists as much as possible. I guess I got caught in this as well because I mention Jann Arden wherever I can B)

[MrCC]

I like what I've seen of Canada. I try to go there every summer, but so far only in the Eastern provinces. I spent almost a week in Nova Scotia one year. I never got to see much music there, because it's so rural. I made a big loop and only stayed in about one hotel - the rest of the time we spent staying in "Bed and Breakfasts." There they are basically just people's homes that let you stay there. Some were real nice, but others were like "Breakfast is at 7:00 am and I need to go to work at 8:00 so you need to be gone." Ok. Honey, next time let's try that other place down the road. ;) Nova Scotia has a mixture of French speaking and English speaking people. I really could not get much of a sense of if they have a regional music scene at all.

I've driven in New Brunswick, but I realy enjoy Quebec. I went a music festival in downtown Quebec one year called the "Festival D'ete du Quebec". I only had a chance to see the great love that Quebec residents have for their own local music. There were several venues at this event, but the one I enjoyed was at night in an outdoor area. It was like a mini-woodstock in French. The people were singing along in French to the words of some of the most famous bands and I enjoyed it. I for the most part I always found that the people were friendly to us except one waiter who suggested that I should order in English. They take their language very seriously there. I heard a radio report about a Quebec terrorist that was bombing up businesses. What for? You might ask. Because these businesses were named with English names! Now that's devotion to a cause. Anyway he was in jail. :bananarock:

[LonelyLullaby]

Canada is a beautiful country :) And I know about Quebec, they don't like to speak English there. Many who know the language pretend not to ;)
But to answer to your question directly American artists are more popular here than Canadian, however we try to support whatever ours as much as possible. We have some of the biggest concerts and tours in Toronto, actually I know many people who come here especially for concerts from the US, I used to know a person that I met through the interest of Nirvana who told me that he's seen some of the best concerts here. Local artists are not more popular, but we try ;) I choose whatever music I like, I don't really look at where it's from. If they're Canadians- all the better. Makes you proud ;)
And last but not least everything that applies to US pretty much applies to Canada ;) We don't have many differences. I guess we benefit from being so close to you, I think Canada is the first country that people think of promoting their albums in outside of US, and also many artists who visited Canada loved the country, so they look forward to coming back!

[michaelsjewel]

so is celine dion doing anything with her music recently? i was just mentioning this since she just happens to belong to canada or something - and alanis - is she up for another album?????

[MrCC]

Originally posted by michaelsjewel@Apr 23 2005, 10:14 AM
so is celine dion doing anything with her music recently? i was just mentioning this since she just happens to belong to canada or something - and alanis - is she up for another album?????
There's a reason many people have not heard from Celine for a couple of years. After Celine took a break to spend time off, Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas built a 4000 seat stadium to host Celine Dion and others there. They say it's the largest theater in Las Vegas (there are much bigger stadium venues) and it's shaped a little like the coliseum in Rome. They paid her millions of dollars for a three year contract to headline the show that some have billed as "Cirque du Celine." I hear her contract is up next year. Tickets usually sell out for the nightly show at close to $150-200 each. After that contract is up she may tour again, who knows.

http://www.globosapiens.net/data/reportpix/picture/las-vegas-report-1344-2.jpg

[michaelsjewel]

i heard of that...but i would've thought that would be done by now....holy macro!

[Little Bird]

Give me names of American artists and I'll tell you if they are popular here or not. It really depends on who you're talking about so I can't really answer your questions but I'd be happy to if you elaborate.

[michaelsjewel]

how about Jewel? lol

[Little Bird]

Suppose that's as good a place to start as any. She's not that well known here. I find it difficult to even mention her name without explaining who she is and even more difficult to find another fan. I know of 2 others that I have met along the way that not only knew her, but had at least one of her albums. I am not counting my 2 best pals that got into her because that was my doing.

[LonelyLullaby]

Mike you'll probably know about Alanis much more than I do :) And Celine yes- she's not coming up with another album, she has another perfume coming out soon!
And she does huge concerts in Las Vegas. And Kiera I don't really think that Jewel would be a good example, many people in Canada or US don't know her as well ;) That doesn't mean that American artists are not more popular in general where you are than your own, right? I mean who are the most popular bands or artists there right now? And are they American?

[Little Bird]

Typically they are. Scissor Sisters or whatever they're called are very popular right now (not my taste) but the Irish artist Damien Rice (who I personally REALLY like)is extremely popular and also Paddy Casey but you may not even know who they are.

This is who is in the top 10 in the Irish Singles Charts at the moment

1 (IS THIS THE WAY TO) AMARILLO - TONY CHRISTIE FEAT. PETER KAY
2 CANDY SHOP - 50 CENT
3 1, 2 STEP - CIARA FEAT. MISSY ELLIOTT
4 RICH GIRL - GWEN STEFANI FEAT. EVE
5 LET ME LOVE YOU - MARIO J
6 SWITCH - WILL SMITH
7 ALL ABOUT YOU/YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND - MCFLY
8 GET RIGHT JENNIFER - LOPEZ
9 THEY - JEM
10 CALIFORNIA - PHANTOM PLANET

As you can see, majority of those are American so they play a very prominent place in music here.

This may be clearer. This is the current Irish top 10 Album chart. However this is a bit of a mixed bag.

1 HOT FUSS - KILLERS
2 THE MASSACRE - 50 CENT
3 LANGUAGE. SEX. VIOLENCE. OTHER? - STEREOPHONICS
4 AMERICAN IDIOT - GREEN DAY
5 HEY DREAMER - JOHN SPILLANE
6 THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION - TONY CHRISTIE
7 THE SINGLES - BASEMENT JAXX
8 LOVE.ANGEL.MUSIC.BABY. - GWEN STEFANI
9 O - DAMIEN RICE
10 LIVING - PADDY CASEY

[Angel_Eyes]

Ugh, 50 Cent is popular there also? I can't stand him. His voice is annoying and at times it sounds like he's mumbling. Candy Shop is such a bad song and the video is even worse. What the hell is wrong with people's taste in music nowadays?

[georger]

I never "got" Celine Dion. She's so darned thin and that wedding of hers was just freaky!

And I don't think she sings all that well -- on some of her earlier songs I can distinctly hear her voice breaking up as she pushes too hard.

These are some of my favourite female performers/composers (some you may or may not have heard of):

Linda Ronstadt--Susan Aglukark--Margo Timmins--Joanne Shenadoah--Heidi Moraresh--Alison Krauss--Jewel--Amy Grant--Ani DiFranco--Kim Richey--Kathy Baillie--Carole King--Gloria Estefan--Karen Carpenter--Helena Kameka--Joan Kennedy--k.d. lang--Julie James--Kat Burns--Ann Burstyn--Leann Rimes--Laura Branigan--Lisa Brokop--Martina McBride--Roseanne Cash--Stephanie Beaumont--Victoria Boland--Tori Amos, more for her piano work.

Out of these, the performers/composers whose work has had the most impact (in no specific order):

Susan Aglukark
Joanne Shenandoah
Jewel
Tori Amos
Heidi Moraresh
Kim Richey
Margo Timmins

[LonelyLullaby]

Well there you go :) US is dominating music everywhere ;)
I don't like Celine either, but Georger no Jann Adren on that list? :bang:

[michaelsjewel]

but CELINE DION is the queen of canada..... she is the best singer of the world..... lol... at least that's what she says in her skits on SNL and mad tv....and heavy.com on hehind the music that sucks...lmao

[georger]

Well there you go :) US is dominating music everywhere ;)
I don't like Celine either, but Georger no Jann Adren on that list? :bang:

- Some of the artists I've mentioned are Canadian, not American.
- Jann Arden's songs feel too depressing to listen to.

[kjm030584]

I thought Greenday was from Canada. I could be wrong, but I really love American Idiot, I'm glad to see the Irish like it as well.

[Angel_Eyes]

Nope, Green Day isn't Canadian. From their Bio HERE (http://music.yahoo.com/ar-315915-bio--Green-Day) on Yahoo Music:

...Green Day were part of the northern California underground punk scene. Childhood friends Billie Joe Armstrong (guitar, vocals) and Mike Dirnt (bass; born Mike Pritchard) formed their first band, Sweet Children, in Rodeo, CA, when they were 14 years old. By 1989, the group had added drummer Al Sobrante and changed its name to Green Day. That year, the band independently released its first EP, 1,000 Hours, which was well-received in the California hardcore punk scene. Soon, the group had signed a contract with the local independent label, Lookout. Green Day's first album, 1,039/Smoothed Out Slappy Hour, was released later that year. Shortly after its release, the band replaced Sobrante with Tre Cool (born Frank Edwin Wright, III); Cool became the band's permanent drummer....

I really want to get American Idiot (the album) sometime soon. I've been wanting to for a while now, but never got the chance to.

[nymphe]

Originally posted by MrCC@Apr 20 2005, 10:08 PM
I have questions about World Tours and musical influences of artists from one country in other countries.? I have not travelled outside North America.? I was wondering about how popular American Artists are in other countries.



How popular are Various American Artists in your country?



Why would an American artist want to plan a tour stop in your city?



Are local artists much more popular than American artists there?



What makes you choose the artists you like over the local artists?



Anything else related to the music scene in your area.





Well.... I don't live in Europe or Australia but in my country American songs really do a lot of sucess. In 80's decade the government had to do a specific law to force the radios to play songs from our country, because they're playing just English ones.

Just like every country who has a Culture "room" in the government "palace", we hear somewhere some discussions like "let's value our national culture" but it's so insignificant because recording companies make a lot to promote what they want.

Usually you can see that in the "Top 10" or in radio stations from non-English countries the singers or groups that are a "hit" are always the same everywhere. It's not because they're good but records companies promote what they want. When it's interesting to release something from Russia, as Tatu, for example, they release. But usually the girls will need to sing in English like they did. Or just like Shakira or Ricky Martin that needed to record English songs to make sucess in United States.

Despite my country is consuming a lot of English songs (not only American ones - Canadian, British, Australian, Ireland also), we also listen Italian and Spanish on radios (Sometimes some French ones... but they're quite old). People don't need to learn Portuguese to make sucess in Brazil - we accept well other languages (more than we needed)...

About valueing national music, I can say it's very relative because the most part of Brazilian songs are just copied from American pop way of doing music. Or from the rock way.... it doesn't matter. There are some original guys working for here, writing different things and singing a cool stuff that you don't see everywhere but well, they're not popular as you can imagine.

But I think it happens everywhere, isn't it? Nowadays it's difficult to do some genuine sound... even in United States.... I started to listen to singers from other countries when I was tired of Portuguese and English songs.... i've found some cool stuff in Norway, Sweden, Portugal...... it's so nice, you should try that.... B)

[MrCC]

Originally posted by little_bird@Apr 24 2005, 02:50 PM
Typically they are. Scissor Sisters or whatever they're called are very popular right now (not my taste) but the Irish artist Damien Rice (who I personally REALLY like)is extremely popular and also Paddy Casey but you may not even know who they are.

This is who is in the top 10 in the Irish Singles Charts at the moment

1 (IS THIS THE WAY TO) AMARILLO - TONY CHRISTIE FEAT. PETER KAY
2 CANDY SHOP - 50 CENT
3 1, 2 STEP - CIARA FEAT. MISSY ELLIOTT
4 RICH GIRL - GWEN STEFANI FEAT. EVE
5 LET ME LOVE YOU - MARIO J
6 SWITCH - WILL SMITH
7 ALL ABOUT YOU/YOU'VE GOT A FRIEND - MCFLY
8 GET RIGHT JENNIFER - LOPEZ
9 THEY - JEM
10 CALIFORNIA - PHANTOM PLANET

As you can see, majority of those are American so they play a very prominent place in music here.

This may be clearer. This is the current Irish top 10 Album chart. However this is a bit of a mixed bag.

1 HOT FUSS - KILLERS
2 THE MASSACRE - 50 CENT
3 LANGUAGE. SEX. VIOLENCE. OTHER? - STEREOPHONICS
4 AMERICAN IDIOT - GREEN DAY
5 HEY DREAMER - JOHN SPILLANE
6 THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION - TONY CHRISTIE
7 THE SINGLES - BASEMENT JAXX
8 LOVE.ANGEL.MUSIC.BABY. - GWEN STEFANI
9 O - DAMIEN RICE
10 LIVING - PADDY CASEY
I have not even heard of most of those artists Kiera, but I guess I'm not even sure who's on the top 10 here either. Your post has answered some questions about the music business I had - that your charts are very different there. I guess even here though you have a wide array of groups of people that like various genres of music.

We have distinct musical groups that include top 40 hits, rap, dance, hard rock, and country. Outside those groups there are obviously lesser groups like folk, "world music," classical, etc... I like a wide variety of artists, so the top 40 stuff has not generally appealed to me. I am at a loss to name the top selling artists in the US, although I can name a few that I hear much more often than I like. For example Britney, Christina, Madonna, J-lo and all the other like them who come and go. I've never been a fan of dance music, rap music, or many other styles so I can't name one artist in those genres. If that's your thing, that's fine with me - it's just not my favorite. I liek an occasional song that hits the charts, but for the most part I just know little about that genre.

I have an eclectic taste in music. In fact when I search for an online radio station I most often search for "eclectic". The music I enjoy the most has always been folk music since I was teenager. I have a relative who has been a professional musician who has earned his living at it since the mid 70's and I have followed his career since I was a small child. I also listen to Bob Dylan. I like the way he sounds out the words and the music he plays even though he can only sing three actual musical notes. Bob dylan is a terrible singer, but I like him anyway. I also like rock and sometimes when I am in the car I crank the radio to the max and blast a loud song. AC/DC sounds real good to me, but only at maximum volume. I also travelled to many Grateful Dead concerts in my younger days, but the family life kind of slowed that to a crawl. In fact I'm lucky to afford 3 good shows per year total for all my favorite artists put together. I liked it when you could get a great seat for $25, now you're lucky to get them for $100 per seat.

So Kiera (and other people in various countries) here's my list of people I would like to know about in no particular order:

1 Bob Dylan
2 Paul Simon
3 Peter Paul and Mary
4 Alison Krauss and Union Station
5 The Grateful Dead/The Dead
6 Joan Baez
7 Jewel
8 Patty Griffin

That's all I can think of right now. Keep in mind that these artists are not on the top of the charts anywhere. They're just the ones I was wondering about. Your response may be like mine - "never heard of them", but that's a good answer.

I appreciate all the input so far in this thread. There's been many great comments.
:wub:

[MrCC]

Originally posted by nymphe@Apr 25 2005, 10:26 PM
[QUOTE]Well.... I don't live in Europe or Australia but in my country American songs really do a lot of sucess. In 80's decade the government had to do a specific law to force the radios to play songs from our country, because they're playing just English ones.

Just like every country who has a Culture "room" in the government "palace", we hear somewhere some discussions like "let's value our national culture" but it's so insignificant because recording companies make a lot to promote what they want.

Usually you can see that in the "Top 10" or in radio stations from non-English countries the singers or groups that are a "hit" are always the same everywhere. It's not because they're good but records companies promote what they want. When it's interesting to release something from Russia, as Tatu, for example, they release. But usually the girls will need to sing in English like they did. Or just like Shakira or Ricky Martin that needed to record English songs to make sucess in United States.

Despite my country is consuming a lot of English songs (not only American ones - Canadian, British, Australian, Ireland also), we also listen Italian and Spanish on radios (Sometimes some French ones... but they're quite old). People don't need to learn Portuguese to make sucess in Brazil - we accept well other languages (more than we needed)...

About valueing national music, I can say it's very relative because the most part of Brazilian songs are just copied from American pop way of doing music. Or from the rock way.... it doesn't matter. There are some original guys working for here, writing different things and singing a cool stuff that you don't see everywhere but well, they're not popular as you can imagine.

But I think it happens everywhere, isn't it? Nowadays it's difficult to do some genuine sound... even in United States.... I started to listen to singers from other countries when I was tired of Portuguese and English songs.... i've found some cool stuff in Norway, Sweden, Portugal...... it's so nice, you should try that.... B)
Wow, I've never thought about the goverment passing laws to dictate what gets played on the radio. You point out some good points about the nature of the music business and the fact that they decide what we get to listen to. I like to do the choosing in my house.

I also try to listen to music from around the world, but I find that the stuff I find in online radio stations from other countries is not music I like. If I can find a radio station that features folk music from that country I enjoy it, but the top 40 stuff sounds like American pop in a different language. Cultures of the world are becoming homogenized.

I used to go to a street fair what features performers from around the world. One artist I liked played native music from Peru. "World Music" can be a great thing. From traditional Hawaiian Slack Key guitar to Celtic fiddle to Tibetan drums there are many musical styles in the world people should explore. I even listen to a bit of Bob Marley once in a while.

[MrCC]

Originally posted by georger@Apr 24 2005, 07:51 PM
I never "got" Celine Dion. She's so darned thin and that wedding of hers was just freaky!

I never "got" Celine Dion. She's so darned thin and that wedding of hers was just freaky!

And I don't think she sings all that well -- on some of her earlier songs I can distinctly hear her voice breaking up as she pushes too hard.

Hey, I saw her in person at the VH1 Divas show and i'm 99% certain she lip-synched the whole performance. I watched very closely. You couldn't tell on TV, but in person there was no doubt. She was NOT singing!

These are some of my favourite female performers/composers (some you may or may not have heard of):

Linda Ronstadt--Susan Aglukark--Margo Timmins--Joanne Shenadoah--Heidi Moraresh--Alison Krauss--Jewel--Amy Grant--Ani DiFranco--Kim Richey--Kathy Baillie--Carole King--Gloria Estefan--Karen Carpenter--Helena Kameka--Joan Kennedy--k.d. lang--Julie James--Kat Burns--Ann Burstyn--Leann Rimes--Laura Branigan--Lisa Brokop--Martina McBride--Roseanne Cash--Stephanie Beaumont--Victoria Boland--Tori Amos, more for her piano work.

Out of these, the performers/composers whose work has had the most impact (in no specific order):

Susan Aglukark
Joanne Shenandoah
Jewel
Tori Amos
Heidi Moraresh
Kim Richey
Margo Timmins

I bolded all the people I have heard of in your list. I like some of them. Your list leans a bit toward Country Music, which is OK by me. I like some country, but some I hate. I absolutely love Alison Krauss. Her voice is near perfect to me. :wub:

Here's some trivia for you. Linda Ronstadt has sang so many genre's of music that people often overlook how she first became famous. She sang for a folk rock band called "The Stone Ponies" in the late 60's. They had several hits. I had a copy of something they did at one time.

[georger]

Here's some trivia for you. Linda Ronstadt has sang so many genre's of music that people often overlook how she first became famous. She sang for a folk rock band called "The Stone Ponies" in the late 60's. They had several hits. I had a copy of something they did at one time.

I thought this went without saying?

Yes, Linda got her start singing in Stone Ponies. I have an MP3 of her singing with the group and her immense talent was apparent even way back then!

Here's another bit of trivia.

Overweight people are often the target of cruel humour. Linda's weight has increased significantly and some have attributed this to various mean causes.

But her weight gain is due to an illness called "Hasimoto's disease".

http://familydoctor.org/548.xml?printxml

It's an auto-immune disease that attacks the Thyroid. There is no cure. Like many things in life, you learn to live with the disease and try to regulate it's symptoms so they are not so intrusive.

[LonelyLullaby]

- Some of the artists I've mentioned are Canadian, not American.
- Jann Arden's songs feel too depressing to listen to.

That's too bad that you don't like my Jann :) But the first point of my post (about American music industry) was directed at Kiera. Either way since Canada is a mixture of so many cultures we do have all kinds of music available, it's just not as popular as the US top 40
Actually Nelly Furtado tries to mix her style a little bit with something more traditional- and Mike I've heard of a couple of artists from you list, but the kind of music that's popular right now are not these particular people (I guess it's just up to individual taste) but pretty much the same list that Kiera has posted. Including 50 CENT ;)

[georger]

It's not really a matter of liking or disliking Jann. But when I listen to her music I find myself feeling depressed and only depressed. A single emotion.

If she applied herself, Jann Arden might make a good Hungarian gypsy musician. If you've ever heard Hungarian gypsy music (I grew up listening to it), well it is very expressive, very emotional, taking you into a black abyss of despair one moment and a shimmering climax the next.

[LonelyLullaby]

okay ^_^