Thou shall not stop liking a band just because they become popular

[zznɟ ǝɥʇ]

Why do so many people suddenly hate a band because they become popular? Many bands shift their sounds, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't....

I think a blurb in the most recent Belle & Sebastian album's booklet is particularly good. (They had questions fans asked with answers.)

"From Katrina

Q. I'm excited to hear your new album that you are now recording, however, I have fears like a previous writer, Tristam, had about your album being overly produced. It seems that when bands make it big--they record in LA; work with some big name famous producer; and decide to move their music in another direction to either make it mainstream or to acquire that 'one hit' or attempt to make it artistically experimental. The outcome is usually dismal and the purity of the music is lost. Please alleviate my fears, Katrina.

A. Do you think and do the exact same things as you did nine years ago?
Richard"

[Wibbler]

There are some rather snobbish people who will stop listening to a band just because they become popular and they no longer have that feeling of superiority over others. But on the other side of the coin there are some bands that become popular for all the reasons their fans fear, selling out and drastically changing their sound to what they know will succeed in the mainstream rather than continue with their own style.

[Sebdeas]

It's really typical for alot of people who listen to indie.

Ps: The song with the lyric from the thread title is really cool

[Niles Crane]

You know, I would love it if more people started listening to Procol Harum. Then I could talk about it with them. The popularity of a band shouldn't matter.

[Gary88]

depends if they sell out (ie change how they sound because its more succesful as opposed to it being the music they naturally would make) but i hate it when people only like cult bands. you enjoy their music whether you like it or not dont be a prick and stop listening to them because everyone else does

[Stalins Ghost]

While I wouldn't stop liking a band simply because they're "too popular", I would like to highlight that:

1) Bands that become popular may well have done so via watering down their music, making it largely homogeneous with whatever else is selling well.

2) A hugely important aspect of a band is its fan community. If a band's fan community is made up of peoples whose taste in music is utterly soul-less, then it taints the music sometimes.

3) Overplay. Probably the main thing that even excellent bands suffer from. Hear a great song on the radio a few times, and it's great. Hear it 5-10 times a day every day and you will end up hating it. I regularly get annoyed whenever I hear anything off the new Muse album any more as one example. Plus it's clearly inferior to the previous two, that doesn't help. I just hope they don't suffer number 4...

4) Critics do not know how to recognise the good from the bad when it comes to popular bands. They stop judging the music on its integrity and genuine greatness, but instead on the popular movement it follows. Thus good bands may put out a bad album, and still get rave reviews, giving them reason to continue on the slope that album brought them on.

5) Ego for no reason. 'Nuff said.

[Gary88]

Thus good bands may put out a bad album, and still get rave reviews, giving them reason to continue on the slope that album brought them on.

qft
Funeral For A Friend, first album amazing...good reviews
second album, good...very good reviews
third album, utter ****...rave reviews

[Earl of Rochester]

While I wouldn't stop liking a band simply because they're "too popular", I would like to highlight that:

1) Bands that become popular may well have done so via watering down their music, making it largely homogeneous with whatever else is selling well.

2) A hugely important aspect of a band is its fan community. If a band's fan community is made up of peoples whose taste in music is utterly soul-less, then it taints the music sometimes.

3) Overplay. Probably the main thing that even excellent bands suffer from. Hear a great song on the radio a few times, and it's great. Hear it 5-10 times a day every day and you will end up hating it. I regularly get annoyed whenever I hear anything off the new Muse album any more as one example. Plus it's clearly inferior to the previous two, that doesn't help. I just hope they don't suffer number 4...

4) Critics do not know how to recognise the good from the bad when it comes to popular bands. They stop judging the music on its integrity and genuine greatness, but instead on the popular movement it follows. Thus good bands may put out a bad album, and still get rave reviews, giving them reason to continue on the slope that album brought them on.

5) Ego for no reason. 'Nuff said.

There is really nothing else to say, its obviously stupid to stop liking a band because they become famous, but with fame can come many negative side effects.

[Thanatos]

Considering the fact that almost none of the music I listen to is mainstream, I have no need to worry about that.

[Hookah Smoking Caterpiller]

current british 'indie' music is the opposite of indie... i find it perplexing.

[zznɟ ǝɥʇ]

current british 'indie' music is the opposite of indie... i find it perplexing.

Very true, take a look at bands like Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinad etc etc.

It's seems odd at first but indie is now a style of music and a level of record deal...very confusing. Are The Decemberists no longer indie because they are on a major label? Well, their sound hasn't changed...

Very interesting...

[Earl of Rochester]

Very true, take a look at bands like Bloc Party and Franz Ferdinad etc etc.

It's seems odd at first but indie is now a style of music and a level of record deal...very confusing. Are The Decemberists no longer indie because they are on a major label? Well, their sound hasn't changed...

Very interesting...

Indie is taking the route of Alternative.

Alternative once was the underground alternative to mainstream rock on the radio. Which was at the time Grunge. It had not particular style, just meant as it sounds alternative.

And now it has become a genre with a distinct sound. Indie is really taking the same route. Its very much becoming a genre to itself.

Soon a new word will be needed to describe underground music.

[Racer X]

I've never really had to stop liking a band because they became popular, because all of the recent music I listen to these days is either alrady very mainstream, or almost completely unknown out of local areas. And even then, I would have no problem if some of the lesser knowns hit the charts in a big way. Isn't it something of a dream for everyone?

Though, I have seen cases where bands actually declined in quality as they became more popular. I never liked them to begin with, but I know this is what happened with Against Me!.

[Stalins Ghost]

Funny thing is, Indie really started in the 80s

And most Alternative Bands have roots in Indie scenes :S

It's a complex and abstract concept overall lol.

[Earl of Rochester]

Funny thing is, Indie really started in the 80s

And most Alternative Bands have roots in Indie scenes :S

It's a complex and abstract concept overall lol.

honestly they need to just stop making these catch all phrases and define music only be sound. Such as Progressive, Punk, Grunge, Metal, etc etc.

Terms like Alternative and Indie are simply bound to cause confusion.

[removeduser_426582376423734]

As a side note, thou shalt not question Stephen Fry.

[Stalins Ghost]

honestly they need to just stop making these catch all phrases and define music only be sound. Such as Progressive, Punk, Grunge, Metal, etc etc.

Terms like Alternative and Indie are simply bound to cause confusion.

Agreed man, agreed.

[the_mango55]

honestly they need to just stop making these catch all phrases and define music only be sound. Such as Progressive, Punk, Grunge, Metal, etc etc.

Terms like Alternative and Indie are simply bound to cause confusion.

If you think about it, "Progressive" is just as confusing, if not more so, than Indie and Alternative. What is it progressing from now? Is a song still progressive if it is 10 years old?

[Lemonjello]

Bands have a tendency of altering their sound to selling more records when they become popular (i.e., corporate sellout ****s) to appeal to the masses, who are ****-eating consumer whores. So yeah, they make **** music then. Sorry, fact of life.

[Earl of Rochester]

Bands have a tendency of altering their sound to selling more records when they become popular (i.e., corporate sellout ****s) to appeal to the masses, who are ****-eating consumer whores. So yeah, they make **** music then. Sorry, fact of life.

But some bands make their best music when they are famous.

Pink Floyd for example did some very avant-grande stuff in their early days, that a majority of people do not find to be all that great.

But then they began to become more mainstream and became one of the more loved bands in history. Sometimes bands are selfish and make stuff that is very artsy but not actually good. Fame can make bands make better music. I know many of you will disagree, but its something I find to be true.

Not always, not even usually, but it can happen.