Andrew Sullivan points to this important query: Why are white men singing so much less in popular music these days? I don't know! Also, while I have you here, let me just mention that I, while late to the party, have been listening to Julia Holter's Tragedy pretty much nonstop over the last couple of weeks. It is an amazing record, although it is probably not for everyone. There are a ton of elements that could seem gimmicky or annoying in the wrong hands, but these hands seem to do everything right. Give it a listen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhMrFUZekww
@Miles Klee This is very good.
There are still lots of white males on the radio; they just aren't on top-40 radio, which has had Euro-influenced clubpop run it over almost completely over the past two years. (Lady Gaga's earliest singles were a portent of this trend, which is why it makes sense that she's looking back to the '80s and early '90s for her Madonna homages and Top Gun-love-scene-appropriate tracks these days--and not getting on the radio nearly as much. See also Beyoncé, whose album does not fit this template at all and whose singles have been suffering, airplay-wise, as a result) They're quite plentiful, though, on rock radio both classic and "new" (although the number of stations playing the latter is dwindling by the day, and even those stations are in a tussle between playing the new sort of alt-rock acts like Foster the People and Cage the Elephant and the old guard of post-grunge acts like, yes, Alter Bridge). Country, too--the No. 4-selling album of 2011 was by Jason Aldean. Both of those genres, though, are what you might call "uncool," or at least not easily remixed in the four-on-the-floor style that's so dominant. The few white-male-fronted acts that did break through to the Hot 100 put their pop feet forward, for better or worse--Maroon 5, Cobra Starship (sigh, RIP "Guilty Pleasure" era), OneRepublic. And even then, a lot of those bands saw their real successes on adult-contemporary radio, which is sort of the shadow Top 40 without all that pesky rap. (Fresh, Lite, etc.)
Also:
"Logically, then, I'd expect white guys to be buying a lot of hip-hop, as everyone else does. So why aren't they *singing* it?"
Frat rap to the white courtesy phone!
I wrote that comment, by the way, while listening to the new Van Halen single. Which, putting aside all comments on its quality (I'm not really sure what to think of it right now, to be honest, especially in the wake of them kicking ALL THE ASS on Thursday at Cafe Wha?), doesn't really have much of a place on the radio right now--and this is one of the biggest bands in the world, still. But aside from a few curiosity-spins on stations that still have "Unchained" in its rotation, it really has nowhere to go, radio-wise.
@Maura Johnston Frat rap was quietly napping and leaving everyone alone. I hope you didn't wake it!
@Maura Johnston Why is Clear Channel still allowed to exist?
@boyofdestiny I wish that were the case, but alas.
@dntsqzthchrmn Too big to fail?
@dntsqzthchrmn Because people enjoy listening to it. #answersyouwon'tlike
@deepomega Yes people always *love* monopolies -- because they have no idea what they're missing #answersyouwon'tlike
Wait, wait, wait. Suffering airplay-wise? I listen to terrestrial radio. I have a car. It is literally impossible to switch channels in the Washington, DC, metro area and not hear "Party" every 5 minutes. I love Kanye, but if I hear him say "SWAGU" one more time I'm going to punch a hole in his throat.
@dntsqzthchrmn A monopoly? I mean they're definitely easy to find, but there are other radio stations - and as long as there are colleges, this will be the case. And that's all aside from the part where they're competing with your Pandoras/Grooves Shark/etc.
Basically, you'll find life a lot easier when you accept that a plurality of Americans think that Moves Like Jagger is a really great song, and this is not just because they haven't heard other music before.
@Matt I'm talking about Top 40 airplay here. Sorry, should have been clearer on that point.
@deepomega Thanks for your concern about the ease of my living, but I'm actually thinking about a different problem.
@deepomega "as long as there are colleges, this will be the case"
Not true at all. Lots of colleges are ditching their radio stations for various reasons, many of them financial.
@Maura Johnston Really? I know a bunch that've moved from FM to solely streaming, but didn't know there were a bunch of closures happening.
@deepomega A streaming radio station is a dead radio station.
@DoctorDisaster A little weird to talk about "live" vs "dead" radio stations. Like saying "an online newspaper is a dead newspaper."
@deepomega Not really. Radio captures its market during the commute when they're trapped in cars and streaming stations can't reach them. Broadcast stations also benefit from geographical limitations of the technology; any given metro area only has a few stations available. Internet "radio" has to compete with people's personal music libraries, customizable streams like Pandora or Spotify, and every other station and podcast on the internet. In terms of market share or cultural impact, there's no contest.
Online newspapers reach audiences at their desks or on their phones — situations comparable to the deadtree predecessor. The radio analogue of web news would be satellite radio. The newspaper analogue of a streaming-only radio station would be a zine.
@DoctorDisaster I don't want to fall too far down the hole of technology extrapolation, but in ten years everyone's gonna have broadband in their cars. It's hard to imagine "radio over the air" not having to adapt to that, so I tend to feel like Clear Channel is just hoarding deck chairs on the Titanic.
@DoctorDisaster Dead, you say?
@Maura Johnston I, for one, would welcome a release from the guilt I feel about all my local college station's over-long mic sets pulsing out across the universe forever, as radiowaves are wont to do.
@Matt Whenever I drive through DC, my main thrill is to geek out to CSPAN radio. Are you telling me it loses its luster over time?
Newt Gingrich's sour concession speech in Iowa was MUSIC TO MY EARS! #betterthanAdele
Something something The Bell Curve.
What about Drake?
Those white males are busy participating in "studies" about how blacks are less intelligent than whites.