2010 Grammy Round up - A Wall of Sound

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Just watched the Grammy awards and saw Beyonce win six (most by a female at one show in history) and Taylor Swift win four awards (including youngest female to ever win album of the year). It was a weird night with some pretty good performances. My favorites were Lady Gaga and Elton John, Pink sailing above the crowd in a quite pleasing performance, Green Day with the Cast of a new Musical performing their song 21 Guns, and Bon Jovi from New Jersey proving that the Jersey talent continues to run deep.



Perhaps the reason album sales in America have collapsed the last decade is because so many songs are so over-produced they simply engulf the listener in a wall of sound that makes the words impossible to understand and the instrumental mix a clutter of competing sounds. Maybe the lyrics are over-powered by the music because the story line is inferior. Crisp lyrics, strong arrangements, diverse orchestration and a mix that made you appreciate each of these factors made music much more enjoyable in the past.



In 2000 there were 785 million albums sold in America. In 2009 there were just 374 million sold, a loss of over 52% in record sales during the decade. Record labels say it is because of the Internet and theft from downloading but I believe it is because the record buying public thinks so much material is terrible they won't waste their money.



Back to the Grammy awards, the worst performance was by Taylor Swift, whose album Fearless was named Best Album of the Year. Her duet with Stevie Nicks was hard to listen to as the young pop princess again proved singing live is her Achilles heel. Don't take it from me, here is what the expert critics said.



Los Angeles Times - Ann Powers

The most telling statement of the night, in fact, came from comic Stephen Colbert, who told the crowd that the Grammys were "the highest honor that the music industry can bestow, other than your song being covered by the cast of 'Glee,' " the popular TV show about a high school choir. Today's most powerful songs often reach listeners as ads -- the specialty of the Peas -- in YouTube video tributes, as with Beyonce's "Single Ladies," which won song of the year, or in other "nonmusical" contexts.



And more than ever, today's biggest stars are those who embody powerful archetypes so well that a misplaced note or two may be kindly overlooked.
That last situation applies to Taylor Swift, who continued her winning streak by taking home album of the year for "Fearless," a recording that has seemingly won every available prize in the last year. Swift, 20, is a songwriter; she thanked her record label for "letting me write every song on my album" while accepting one of her awards.

But as well-crafted as her platinum-selling tales of suburban high school life are, it's Swift's persona that really sells. This smart young woman comes across as a perky, living American Girl doll, and that appealing version of traditional young womanhood, not her music, is at the heart of her stardom.

Her singing certainly can't be credited. Appealing enough on record, it always seems to let her down live. Swift gave a strikingly bad vocal performance at Staples Center on Sunday, sounding tinny and rhythmically flat-footed as she shared the microphone with the distinctive Stevie Nicks. Swift's inability to match or support Nicks as they worked through a medley of each woman's hits stood in stark contrast to the evening's other pairings, particularly soul man Maxwell's sensitive response to Roberta Flack and Lady Gaga's bravado turn with Elton John.



The Envelope - Randy Lewis

Beyoncé and Swift's combined 10 awards honored recordings that sold in numbers last year that defied the beleaguered music industry's downward trend in recent years, saluting broad-based success at a particularly difficult time in the record business.

"For me, genres have really become something that I don't think people focus on anymore," Swift said backstage. "Country music is my love. [But] when you're making music, I think the healthiest thing to do is remove titles or stereotypes from what you're trying to do. It's not country versus rap . . . it's not anything you don't make it. It's about trying to make an album you hope is good enough to win album of the year."

MLive.com - Jessica Nunez

Taylor Swift with Stevie Nicks
Poor Stevie Nicks. She's long proved herself in the music world and delivered once again last night on a trio of Taylor Swift songs. But Swift, who won four Grammys including Album of the Year, proved once again that the stage is not her friend. Nicks' raspy voice combined with Swift's pitchy performance was almost cringe-worthy. Taylor Swift is cute and her songs are catchy, but it's just plain hard to watch her live.



Green Day

One of the better performances was by Green Day and the Cast of a new Broadway musical of their album American Idiot. Check it out. This punk band trio from California has matured and evolved into a versatile singer/songwriter group.



Susan Boyle missing in action

Snubbed by the Grammys but loved by the world is Susan Boyle of Scotland. Her debut album, I Dreamed A Dream, was beat out by Taylor Swift by 100,000 sales for best seller of 2009 but wait a minute, all is not as it seems. Taylor Swift released Fearless in November, 2008. Boyle released Dream on November 23, 2009. Swift's was on the market over a year and one month while Boyle's just five weeks and still they almost tied.

Does that seem fair? By the end of January Boyle had caught up to Swift and worldwide has sold an amazing 8 million copies, in just 9 weeks. Still she was snubbed with no Grammy nomination. What is it about this strange 48 year old from Scotland? I say Boyle is the Sarah Palin of the music industry, a fan favorite while being snubbed by the critics.



Ironically Boyle has no regrets about the Grammy snub and as a lifelong Catholic her goal this year is to appear before the Pope when he comes to Scotland this fall. Of course she will also be taking America by storm with her first world tour.

This is what Laura Ferrerro had to say about Boyle on the PopEater blog.

Scottish songstress Susan Boyle seems poised to conquer the world. The unassuming 'Britain's Got Talent' star has already sold more than 1.8 million copies of her debut album 'I Dreamed a Dream' in its first three weeks of release in the U.S. (not to mention the millions she's sold worldwide). She also set an impressive record for the best first-week sales of any woman since SoundScan started tracking in 1991. If Boyle continues to sell albums at this pace, she'll likely steal Taylor Swift's crown as top selling artist of 2009.

So what is it about this homespun 47-year-old charity worker who lives alone with her cat that has us running to our nearest record store to pick up her debut album? We at PopEater checked in with some renowned pop music critics to see what all the fuss is about.

It's Boyle's "every woman" quality that's so appealing believes Aidin Vaziri, San Francisco Chronicle's Pop Music Critic. "She's ordinary. She's like us. People can relate to her," he says. "When she got onstage to face Simon Cowell she brought a million office workers' daydreams to life. I think everyone who saw the ('Britain's Got Talent') video felt moved by it wanted to be part of the story and make sure it had a happy ending."



It's Boyle's "underdog" status combined with our obsession with reality show sagas that has us rooting for her says Gaylord Fields, Senior Editor of AOL Music. "Susan Boyle's story is a classic underdog tale -- yet one that played out in front of the entire world," said Fields. "It embodies a couple of popular reality-show trends in one: it's a music competition coupled with a makeover story, with a hint of medical program savant syndrome thrown in."



"Shows such as 'American Idol' and 'Britain's Got Talent' are as interested in a potential star's looks as much as their talent," said pop music critic Stephen Humphries. "Boyle managed to up-end all that. Dowdy and close to age 50, she seemed to have no right to be trying out for a market most interested in youth and sex appeal. But her voice trumped all that. I think the fact that Boyle isn't a particularly self-confident or precocious person only added to her underdog appeal."

Fields concurs that it is these personal attributes that make Boyle so relatable. "The juxtaposition of Boyle's one-in-a-million voice with her modest looks and her seeming simplicity and innocence add up to something unique -- and ultimately relatable," he says.

Taylor Swift carries Country Music industry but may soon be lost to Pop

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Carrie Underwood - Yet Another Country Act Like Taylor Swift Lost to Pop?



Country music continued a decline in sales dropping 9% in 2009 although it was not because of Taylor Swift whose Fearless album was the top seller of the year in all categories of music and her millions of sales and sold out tours kept the country music industry from falling flat on it's face.



Like it or not Taylor Swift is a genuine pop star and her sweep of all kinds of awards this year have established that beyond a doubt. But she belongs in the pop world. Her lyrics, music, videos and appearances long ago left country music behind. More important, she made it with the sacrifice and help of her mother, not the production company from American Idol like Carrie Underwood, and all the while Taylor has carefully maintained creative control of her life while Carrie never had creative control.

In fact I was surprised Taylor Swift bought a condo in Nashville and not Los Angeles but with her wealth a second mansion in LA should be just around the corner. She should enjoy and take advantage of her position as the top selling female artist of all genres of music this year. To young Taylor Swift country was a stepping stone, not the end game.



Like a young Olivia Newton John, Taylor's transition from new country artist of the year to pop was lightning quick. As she solidifies her position in the pop world through her media savvy and television show appearances she will take along with her the millions of adoring fans who were new to country music this past year because they were not country fans in the first place but young teens who related to Swift and her saga of a teen's life.



She has a lot in common with her friend Miley Cyrus who is a wannabe fellow Disney protégé like Britney Spears, at least a Britney without all the hang ups, and also a young teen sensation. Country music is not their natural home, lifestyle or future.

Forget their roots, Hollywood has first claim on these rising stars with the combination of a far greater pop fan base, motion picture and television contracts, TV appearances and more money than Midas. It is a pretty irresistible lure for a teen queen and perhaps more so for someone later in their career. In truth they should capture the moment for such a moment may never come again in a lifetime. Celebrity worship in America is a very fickle and overwhelming occupational hazard.



Carrie Underwood is not Swift however. Urban backgrounds and leather outfits do not make one a pop star. Hers will be a more difficult path than that of her younger peers like Taylor and Miley. Underwood could have been a country queen but in the end I fear her country music career will suffer as she continues to push her way into the pop field. None of the ladies mentioned are pure country or even country pop and their fan base has not helped other artists sell records unless they happen to be touring with Taylor Swift.

Yet the country record labels will be betting their futures on finding the next Taylor Swift and more traditional country music will be pushed farther into the background with less opportunities for record deals and less opportunities for older, established artists. We will watch the next five years as country labels chase the dream of the next Taylor Swift and lightning doesn't strike that often. While pop songs and teen stars are pushed on the public the real country writers and artists will once again be shoved into the background with the door slammed shut rather than opened.

The handful of kings and queens of country will still rein supreme but the aspiring country songwriters and artists will have to adopt the pop genre to get a deal and make it on the concert tour. Once again country music seems to be self-destructing in the interest of maintaining formula songs and copycat acts.

Once upon a time country music encompassed a great range of styles and looks. Once upon a time country was the innovative genre in music and country fans embraced a wide diversity of styles and looks but once upon a time seems to be a thing of the past. In the world of today many great older acts will be pushed into early retirement by an industry whose obsession with the dollar will always trump their interest in preserving all that is good about country music.

As for Carrie Underwood, who could be a country artist, her handlers have demonstrated over and over again that the American Idol approach is the only one. How much do they understand the record buying public? Well they have captured some impressive pop sales from Idol but look at the enormous exposure it took to pull it off. Any aspiring artist given a television audience of 20-30 million week after week could sell records.



But do they always know what works? Simon Cowell is the genius behind American Idol and locks up the singers participating with his music company. He then works out deals with record labels to sell the records. Carrie Underwood and Kelly Clarkson are country singers who won American Idol and both are being pushed into the pop fields. Surprised? Don't be. Look at the demographic profile of American Idol, which the New York Times’s Bill Carter described as “a phenomenon built on new artists singing mainly middle-of-the-road pop songs of the ’60s and ’70s.”



Susan Boyle, the frumpy Scottish loser of the British version of American Idol, also controlled by Cowell, came within an eyelash of beating Taylor Swift out for the most album sales of 2009 with her new and first CD, I Dreamed a Dream, shooting past 3 million in sales the first month. Music companies thought it would not succeed because she mixed a variety of pop styles on it and it was primarily marketed as a real CD, the kind you had to buy in stores.

The same American Idol team produced Carrie Underwood's televised holiday special that I watched just before Christmas and it confirmed my belief that yet another young country music artist has been lost to the lurid lure of the pop world joining fellow rising star Taylor Swift.



The special was billed as a holiday feature but there was very little country or holiday in it as far as I could see. The producers chose to have Ms. Underwood start the show by forsaking all that is good about country and appearing in a skin tight leather outfit far more suited to a Las Vegas lounge than a family audience. Even her song, Casanova Cowboy, was far from a holiday offering.

It was the same when Underwood and two friends, all white, pimped the Black groups of the 1960's and sang songs like Leader of The Pack, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, and Be My Baby with Kristen Chenoweth and Christina Applegate.



Her pop arrangements along with several others was most certainly intended for the American Idol audience, not CMT, and though she did have Brad Paisley and Dolly Pardon appear, they were almost after thoughts to the pop feel and urban bawdiness projected throughout. They almost seemed uncomfortable being part of the show.

The sexy costumes, staging and songs were far from the country music I grew up listening to and watching, and were augmented by rather stupid skits about Jesus and gays which contributed nothing to the holiday season or Underwood reputation. If it were billed as anything but a family, holiday, country music special it would not matter.

Other skits made Carrie out to be an egotist which hardly seemed to be the Underwood I remembered. Clearly the American Idol crowd who controlled the special and control Underwood have no clue about the value of traditional American music during the holiday season. More clearly, they are trapped in their own egos and developed a script for Underwood that made her seem like a juvenile jerk.

Anyway, it was symptomatic of the perilous future for the country music industry. It was almost as if she was reaching far beyond her comfort zone to try and establish her standing in the Taylor Swift world of pop music, as if saying I belong there and I was first. It hardly seems like the Underwood of the past but it is consistent with the American Idol money machine.

Taylor Swift found her own way to the world of pop with her independence, charisma and hard work. No multi-million audiences every week on American Idol. Carrie Underwood had the audiences and sold out to the show producers and now is being pushed out of country into the more profitable pop world. Time will tell if it is a smart move.

Country music in general, and aspiring country writers and artists in particular will be the ones to really suffer. They have no where else to go until the Internet takes over the future direction of the country music industry from the ditto record labels.

Holiday Highlights

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In an effort to brighten up your holidays we are selecting some of our favorite feel good stories of the year to share. First has to be the story of the homely 47 year old from Scotland, unemployed, who dared to dream and entered the televised show Britain's Got Talent.

Her first performance on the show can be viewed here and it catapulted her into international fame. Though she finished second in the competition, she won the hearts of the world and her recent release of a new album made her the fastest selling female singer in the world.

Her new record also shattered record label perceptions that a single genre of music had to be on an album as Susan included many different types of music. Her video was the most watched on YouTube for the year and equalled the total of the number 2,3and 4 videos combined. Thank you Susan for giving us a reason to smile.

Double click on the YouTube video to enlarge the picture.

Here's Susan Boyle Again!

Susan performing in the semi-finals of the Britain Idol program. She made it to the finals with this performance. Go Scotland...