How can you be on the cutting edge if you're only going to review bands which have already made it big? Where can I submit reviews of great local bands who OUGHT to make it big, but don't have the money to pour into advertising?

--Doe

: How can you be on the cutting edge if you're
: only going to review bands which have
: already made it big? Where can I submit
: reviews of great local bands who OUGHT to
: make it big, but don't have the money to
: pour into advertising?

: --Doe

I feel your pain, Doe, but this is a site looking at the pop culture of the 1990s. ONE GUY does this site, as well as its parent inthe80s and its sister inthe70s and can't possibly fit everything. ChuckyG's the boss, but realistically, no matter how great you think they might be, small-time regional bands are the domain of music fanzines and music-oriented websites until such time as they become popular enough to have a place on a site like this. I could give Chucky a list of 90s bands from Sydney that even people in Sydney have never heard of, but it would hardly be appropriate for inclusion here. Try looking for sites dealing with underground or unsigned bands, regional music-based websites etc.

: I feel your pain, Doe, but this is a site
: looking at the pop culture of the 1990s. ONE
: GUY does this site, as well as its parent
: inthe80s and its sister inthe70s and can't
: possibly fit everything. ChuckyG's the boss,
: but realistically, no matter how great you
: think they might be, small-time regional
: bands are the domain of music fanzines and
: music-oriented websites until such time as
: they become popular enough to have a place
: on a site like this. I could give Chucky a
: list of 90s bands from Sydney that even
: people in Sydney have never heard of, but it
: would hardly be appropriate for inclusion
: here. Try looking for sites dealing with
: underground or unsigned bands, regional
: music-based websites etc.

thanks, I couldn't have put it any better...

I actually wish I had: 1) The time 2) The knowledge and 3) The resources to do a site for just unsigned bands/struggling bands.. I've never been a big fan of a lot of the stuff record companies shove down our throats...

but I think mp3.com takes care of trying to break new bands (not that they have succeeded at all)

: but I think mp3.com takes care of trying to
: break new bands (not that they have
: succeeded at all)

Most of the MP3 software these days seems to be used by people to make illegal pirate recordings of big name bands. The inthe00s website won't have a band listing, just a listing of MP3 download websites.

: Most of the MP3 software these days seems to be
: used by people to make illegal pirate
: recordings of big name bands. The inthe00s
: website won't have a band listing, just a
: listing of MP3 download websites.

well, that's what mp3.com does right now.. just with bands who haven't made it.. and guess what, in all the time they've been running that site, not one band that has been on it, has gotten a record label deal at all..

: well, that's what mp3.com does right now.. just
: with bands who haven't made it.. and guess
: what, in all the time they've been running
: that site, not one band that has been on it,
: has gotten a record label deal at all..

WARNING: RANT STARTS HERE --Major record labels are stubbornly buried in tradition. Most of them abhor the Internet and only use it at all as a marketing tool. They (quite fairly) distrust the concept of MP3 distribution, but not for the right reasons and they never use the Web to search for new bands. A&R staff still rely on old-fashioned methods: word of mouth, good press and demo recordings submitted on CDs and cassettes. Forget MP3s as a method of getting your music to the majors--they couldn't care less. Most of the artists which get major record deals are 1) in the right place at the right time (eg. Seattle in the early 1990s); 2) know people in high places; 3) have a wild new gimmick or sound or the ability to manipulate the media (Guns N Roses, Kiss, Slipknot, Korn, Marilyn Manson); or 4) (mostly these days) are pieced together by the record label itself. The proliferation of male vocal groups is a direct result of this last. An Australian example I will mention is Girlfriend, an all-female vocal group from the mid-90s when individual mid-teen girls were recruited by a record label from a huge audition to form a singing group aimed at the Japanese market. It failed after one album and didn't even make enough money to cover the expenses it produced (Note: a television station has just done this experiment again and given the world Bardot). Stupid money-wasting ventures like this (and signing bands like R.E.M to 8-figure contracts in the twilight of their careers) is why major labels have no budget for new bands. --RANT ENDS HERE--