Remaining successful in the modern musical world, yes, is no easy feat. In order to be a successful artist today, one must stay relevant.
But what does that mean, you may wonder?
Well, relevance doesn't mean playing on terrestrial (or satellite, or pirate) radio, being on display, running in print, pixelated online and what not.
Instead, for one to remain truly relevant, it has to start, and end, with the kids--the younger crowd and what they perceive to be accessible and worthwhile.
In dealing with our ever-changing musical landscape, artists must find ways to adapt to the newly constructed façades of entertainment en masse.
This rings true for classical, jazz, even avant-garde and any other sounds, really, catering to the counter-culture.
The mainstream may be fickle, but, alas, it determines the trends and trajectory of what will be successful, in the most immediate sense.
It isn't meant that being "relevant" indicates having a loyal niche audience. No.
There is actually a need for a younger demo with mainstream tastes to affect the outcome of what music will become popular, or, alas, what will be shelved.
For experimental post-punk groups like Joanna Gruesome and Sonic Youth, placing them in the zeitgeist may not be plausible.
"I'd been listening to Weird Sister, the newest release from a post-punk band with the wonderful name of Joanna Gruesome, and at a certain point I noticed something odd," recounts NewMusicBox columnist and composer Alex Temple.
"The album reminds me by turns of Sonic Youth, Pixies, Bikini Kill, My Bloody Valentine, Splendora--but nothing that's happened since. It's not that the band doesn't have an original voice; it's that they sound like a band with an original voice from 1993. I like them, but I can't figure out how to plug them into the cultural landscape of 2013," the Northwestern grad student continues.
Without mainstream appeal, the idea of being "relevant" in today's society is impossible. There must be some sort of recognizable allure to one's own creation, in order to keep the eyes and ears upon you.
Thus, to be a long-standing musician in the landscape of today's aesthetic culture, there must be an underlying attraction that is subtle, yet too straight to deny.
Not unlike, say, Ms. Alex Temple, herself.
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