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Although this place hates being like Pitchfork...

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KharBevNor:

--- Quote from: KvP on 12 Oct 2009, 10:25 ---Actually I haven't listened to top 40 radio in awhile, so maybe they've been playing Antlers and Arcade Fire and I just don't know what I'm talking about.

--- End quote ---

I dunno about the US but a lot of this stuff gets played on the radio in the UK.

Reed:
I haven't heard the Antlers, but I have heard one of the more popular stations out here play Arcade Fire.

Alex C:
Top 40 radio isn't necessarily that great of a yardstick of mainstream awareness anyway since we're not in a world with only 3 tv channels anymore; between cable and the internet, you don't have to make a splash on the Tonight Show just to get your name out there. The Billboard 200 by its very nature can only show us a very thin slice of consensus.

KharBevNor:
Even on last.fm, which necessarily only shows a tiny slice of people from around the world, Arcade Fire have 1,155,590 unique listeners. They're pretty goddamn huge.

KvP:
When I think "mainstream" I'm thinking of acts that book arenas, or are the type of bands that sound like they want to. Off the top of my head - Green Day, U2, Oasis, Jay-Z, Kanye West (who's on the list, isn't he?) the most recent American Idol winners, etc. etc.

Arcade Fire I think is probably in the same position R.E.M. found themselves in around the time of the late 80's - They were the most popular college radio act in America but it didn't quite fit to call them "mainstream". I mean, Springsteen likes them and Neon Bible was pretty popular but they haven't quite made their Automatic For the People yet. I'm wondering if it's even possible for a band to cross over from indie appeal to the big leagues the way they used to - The majors are pretty dumb at utilizing the internet. Otherwise, you can tell me that Animal Collective and BSS are mainstream but I really don't think they are - tastemakers just talk endlessly about them, and after awhile it seems like they're institutions when they're not. Feist has a bigger profile now than BSS proper does.

Radiohead's at #1, and they are admittedly pretty mainstream at this point. They've got a huge cult, but they're still big figures.


--- Quote ---Even on last.fm, which necessarily only shows a tiny slice of people from around the world, Arcade Fire have 1,155,590 unique listeners.
--- End quote ---
Man, I don't know if Last.fm is the best gauge for audience. If your numbers jibe with mine (and Arcade Fire shows 900,000 or thereabouts right now. Is this real-time?) then Arcade Fire is more than half as popular as the Beatles are, and nearly twice as popular as Jay-Z. Granted Arcade Fire has wide appeal but as far as gauging the lay of the land goes, the internet tends to be really distorting. It's an echo chamber.

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