The music industry in America is always looking for the next big thing. Artists have to bring something innovative to every new release or be called stagnant and uninspired. This push for innovation can have the opposite effect and make every song that becomes popular formulaic and predictable because what gets pushed out on the radio and in commercial settings follow similar patterns. This not only puts pressure on artists to move on from every past release quickly regardless of how successful they were, it pressures artists to follow set patterns of music-making to even be considered for brand deals, streaming and more.
If the music industry focused on pouring into independent artists and not only promoting those signed to popular labels, pop culture would have a wider range of influences and sounds to choose from and there would be less of a focus on the next big thing and a greater focus on simply enjoying good music. The obsession with the next biggest thing forces artists to stick to a specific style of music to try and get playtime on the radio and their music pushed onto people’s Spotify homepages, and it works. Catchy songs get played in stores and get stuck in people’s heads, so their streams go up, but any song is going to catch someone’s attention. Exposure is what increases streams, not just how catchy a song is.
When squeezed into the little hole of being played on the radio and television, the music industry has to be very selective with the sounds that get promoted, but if independent artists were given the same exposure, potential fans could show their support. It all comes down to which music gets pushed out that decides what sounds are popular, and if all music was treated the same, pop culture could eventually have a wide array of sounds and styles to show to fans.
