the new old artist
Figures for the best selling global artists came out recently which showed that within the top 10 best selling albums of 2014, five and a half* of them were UK acts. The other four were, unsurprisingly, American. Of those UK acts, only one is a “manufactured” group, coming in at number 2, One Direction. (The diversity of those five and a half acts is another matter, another topic for another time.)
Over the past few years, perhaps stretching back into the last decade as the wear of “pop” music tires us, it seems we’ve entered the age of “the artist”. Simon Cowell may still be trying to maintain his share of the UK Top 40, but as we all know with dwindling audience figures, even his pop bubble is about to burst - though, even Cowell and his X Factor crew have noticed the shift to the artist and entering the new decade started allowing contestants to audition with instruments, normally guitars, giving us the likes of James McArthur, Lucy Spraggan and Luke Friend.
But with Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith dominating such important figures with songs baring the truth of their souls, it seems audiences don’t want to listen to music twice removed from the singer who wants you to believe every word they’re singing.
Our old popular culture has become our new pop cult. Maybe we have “hipsters” to blame, or thank, for that, but either way, as their influence declines, spoofed and mocked by mainstream, the impact still remains.
As I walked out of Spitalfields Market carrying my new old Olympus film camera, it wasn’t hard to see that the new old artist isn’t just in music.
“Our old popular culture has become our new pop cult.”
Framed photographs and paintings, handmade jewellery, small business fashion designers adorn the marquees as my brown paper bag cries “Film’s Not Dead”. Maybe this isn’t so new, what do I know, I’m in my mid-twenties, but something tells me this new artist is going to be here a while.
Call me a “hipster” because you’re uncertain of things outside of the mainstream, but what if these outsiders are the new mainstream? More and more people are deciding that what’s on offer isn’t good enough and they’re going to make better themselves. And it’s not just in music or fashion or photography. Food and drink are being honed by the artist as well. Not because they’re wankers, but because they truly have a passion for it. Call them wankers if you want. I don’t think they’ll care. They’re doing something they love. What about you?
*AC/DC is AUS/UK, founding members Malcolm and Angus Young were born in Glasgow, but the band was formed in Australia.