Consensus

Haha xpost!

and, in england at least, there is a lot of consensus still. the 12cd stereotype couldnt exist without consensus?

Maybe the shift towards fragmentation maybe began when the LP (or the vinyl single) came into vogue? Instead of the radio "telling you" what to listen to, listeners had more of a choice, and were allowed to express their individuality in their choices.

Nowadays, the nation-wide consensus seems to be overriding, with the regional consensus replaced (maybe?) with genre-centric considerations. Hip hop fans are everywhere, classic rock fans are everywhere, indie rock fans are everywhere, and while there's going to be some regional bias, the ready availability of different types of music creates more slices in the pie chart that make generalizations (that used to pass muster) tough to substantiate with any sort of confidence.

This is our Woodstock, and it's about time!

So if consensus leads to people thinking there are universals, dud.

Seems like the folks that don't put much stock in the notion of a consensus believe that the differences in opinion had within the consensus undermines the strength of the consensus, which is (in my idealized view of the world) outright nonsense. Yeah, 5+ million (or more!) people bought the Maroon 5 album, but that doesn't mean all 5 million hate rap and metal and whatever a Maroon 5 fan is "supposed" to hate, and (more importantly) that doesn't undermine the fact that Maroon 5 sold 5+ million freakin' records. Consensus != hegemony, though, which is probably the word folks poo-pooing the notion of a consensus mean to use when they refer to a consensus.

6 Music
http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/

If it's in NME/ Q / Word / Mojo - then there is a good chance the artists music will be played. It's the lazy agenda conformed by the likes of Lammo and Mark Sutherland.

Anything esoteric, exotic, experimental, extreme - is token marginalized at best [e.g Freak Zone show] or ignored through ignorance, incompetence or inability to research.

yes, definitely - among people who don't much like music there's definite consensus; possibly consensus over which specific qualities make for good music, too.

this consensus is also apparent in much of the mainstream music press which feeds/panders to these consumers, and justifies it with words like 'demographic' and 'commercial enterprise'.

This week's NME

http://www.nme.com/media/images/thisweeksnme_cover.jpg

Remind me is this year 2005? not 1995 !

Mr D. Popshots75, It's OK for you over the otherside of the Atlantic to escape Oasis !

[Mind you in the US you have to put up with Rod Thomas and Dave Matthews]

I'm not sure the "12-CD demographic" is a viable one, by the way, because people who only own a dozen CDs are that much more likely to have received them as blind gifts.

"We" the concept, "we" the reality, or, How does consensus build when nobody seems to agree on anything?

However, that discussion focused more on consensus forming among critics rather than the general public.

There is likely an ageist element to all of this ... punk split people across ageist lines, as did rock and roll 20 years earlier. The people who are most vocal about their "rap=crap" baggage almost certainly didn't grow up with the music, whereas kids who are growing up liking both Avril and 50 Cent probably think nothing about enjoying both genres equally.

Of course, in ten years those kids might be spouting hatorade at whatever new genres have cropped between now and then, and thus the process continues. But at least this antiquated idea that one "should" like either rock or rap will have gone away.

This is coming out kinda garbled.

these people are "non-music fans" as i said. or haha non music-fans, really. but, and i'm talking about my friends, not straw men: these people don't like music much. i'm aware we can go to brian eno and say, ah but background non-really listening is some okind of ideal for living, which is nice, but only people who are heavily into music like or agree with brian eno. i don't buy much music, but i like it, i'm interested in it, i read about it. they don't. the 12cd thing is shorthand.

Today everyone in the street knows who Madonna is, but only a few other acts besides.

Public consensus tends to centre around songs rather than artists, with only rare exceptions where the latter's life is driven into the public glare (i.e. Jacko).