Why such a vast difference in musical tastes between the U.K. and the U.S.A.?

Question

examples would be bands like Oasis ,Blur , The Stone Roses etc. Enormously popular overseas but never take off in the North American market.I guess the same could be said vice versa , but it seems like in North America we don't have the same talent pool that they do in Britain

Answer 1

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Well, it depends on how old the person is
you ask, or how far back they go. I like all
the British Invasion bands, and I have lived
in USA always. The Kinks, Beatles, Zombies,
The Who, Stones, even DC5. And Zeppelin.
Wow. Like I said, it depends on what era of
music the person listens, and to a certain
extent, age.

I liked your question, hope you get more Answers.




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Answer 2

Well, there are hundreds of reasons. It's the same the world over though, bands that are big back home aren't as big overseas, but you just don't think of it like that, because yolu don't see overseas.

The other thing is the sheer mood of any given place at any given time. Oasis and the Stone Roses were both born out of Manchester, and both from a similar social situation, Blur are often considered a reactionary band to the whole 'brit pop' thing that Oasis popularised, and modern Indie bands are pretty much doing the same thing, and progressing beyond it.

I can't comment for America outside of bands that have made it big over here, but popular music always comes in waves, and those are different for different places around the world.

Answer 3

That's an interesting question, that probably can have a ton of answers. I think it is more just exposure. I mean there are bands in Europe that are extremely popular there, but never seem to quite make it here...like Rammstein, or even Yngwie Malmsteen, but as popular as they are there, there are so many bands, good or bad, here that are vying for those same ears and have better access to the airways. There is probably more money involved than the purity of the music. Take jazz for instance, it is an origin American music form, yet it is more prevalent in Denmark and Sweden, then it is here right now...just go to your local record store and count the columns. There isn't a big market here anymore for it, but Europeans love it.

Answer 4

Alot of it has to do with the bands being pushed. Simply put, American bands and English bands are usually only pushed in their own countries. Although with the interenet is is alot easier to cross Atlantic promote home bands, but for years it was very costly and very time consuming not to mention if a largly populer band on either side of the pond tried to cross over and things didnt go well they may return to the homefront viewed someone what as losers and that could cause lower local sales.

Answer 5

I don't why it is that way today, but in my day it was because of racism, the people in the U.K were years ahead of the U.S. the blues greats and rock legends that were right here in our own back yard couldn't get radio air time because us Caucasians called it the devils music. Rolling Stones, Beatles, Yardbirds, Clapton, Zeppelin they were all influenced by the likes of Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Elmore James, John Lee Hooker, B.B.King, Chuck Berry all musicians that Americans had never heard of til white Europeans, mainly Englishmen started playing the songs these people had been playing for years.Because as whites they could get their music on the airwaves. which like one of the posters above me states, it comes down to exposure.
Its kind of hard to tour when you can't eat in restaurants, sleep in hotels or use public facilities. Luckily for all of us now the U.K. wasn't as backwoods as we were and these musicians got the exposure they so richly deserved. Most of all I am gratefull that many of them were able to live long enough to see it.
I guess maybe the youngsters of today inherited their musical taste from their parents and grandparents.May just take a little time to cross the big pond.

Answer 6

I think the UK is more tolerant of creativity, and gay pop stars than the US.
There's still a lot of kak in the UK though.
Girls Aloud spring to mind.

Answer 7

that`s true, i rarely listen to much of anything that comes out here in the u.s., all of my favorite bands are european...