State of the Music Industry: The Public View

Participants in a large interactive panel discussion on the future of the British music industry believe that the pop single is on its way out, that the talent pool has been overshadowed by the bland, lifeless, mediocre pop stemming from reality TV shows, and that the ‘dance culture’ popular among British youth has created a generation which is much less likely to buy traditional albums at all. Singer Beverly Knight summed up the feelings of many in the discussion: “Back in the day the chances were that unless it was a novelty record, it was a really good song. It’s hard to sit at home and watch bands you know have been put together by a TV show. It’s mediocrity dressed up as greatness.”