Don't think that you're right just because you can articulate your points better than someone else, Emmz. You could be the most intelligent person in the world and still be wrong.
Here's something I found super funny. I typed into Google..."Are the Black Keys Mainstream"
Here's a funny article that came up.
"Six Signs The Black Keys Are Now A Mainstream Band"
The tipping point has been reached. The Black Keys have crossed over from being a respected band followed by devoted fans who thought no one else knew about them into a band now known by the general music buying and listening public.
It’s only recently happened with the release of the Brothers album and subsequent events following. Enough evidence has already assembled itself to suggest the band has crossed over into mainstream, popular consciousness. From here they can only get better and bigger.
It’s only taken six albums and eight years of recording and touring to happen. For any long term fan, it’s great to have seen and enjoy.
What signs have been missed? Maybe you think the tipping point is yet to happen?
The signs:
The Black Keys’ album Brothers debuted at #3 on the Billboard charts in the USA. The stats don’t lie.
The band are playing the main stages of all the biggest festivals in the world – Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Glastonbury, to name a few
They are touring with Kings of Leon for 3 weeks and supported Pearl Jam at Madison Square Garden in the USA. They are not only deemed worthy but The Black Keys seem to have finally embraced the opportunity to be as popular as possible.
The band has sold out three shows in New York on 27 & 28 July – two at the Summer Stage, Central Park, (5000 capacity) and one at Terminal 5 (3000 capacity) where they will come on stage at 11pm. New York has always been the arbiter of popularity in US music. The band’s early promotion for Brothers focussed heavily on New York where media influencers are based. It’s paid off. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere…
It may seem trite but when American Idol contestants cover your songs you know you are popular (Kelly Clarkson covered ‘Lies’, Casey James covered ‘I Got Mine’. You also know it when the most popular movie franchises (Twilight feat. Chop and Change) want a taste of your music on their soundtracks – you are ticking boxes and being exposed to an ever increasing audience.
The Black Keys are presently in the top 10 of the most popular songs on the We Are Hunted website. This is significant because this site looks at popularity of songs and therefore artists based on a range of criteria, semantic sentiment if you will. Basically, more people than ever before are ‘talking’ about The Black Keys than ever before. As any marketer knows you can’t buy word of mouth, and nothing sells better than word of mouth. We Are Hunted explains their chart thus:
We listen to what people are saying about artists and their music on blogs, social networks like Facebook and MySpace, message boards and forums, Twitter and P2P networks to chart the top songs online everyday.
In the physical world, charts are built on shipped albums. Online charts have been a simple count of digital downloads. We Are Hunted is different. We discover new music from around the web and detect sentiment, expression and advocacy to understand what people like and dislike.
Source: Link
http://theblackkeysfanlounge.com/201...instream-band/
Edit to add: You can keep arguing the point that The Black Keys aren't as popular as Nickelback, sure. But no-one ever suggested that they were, or that they ever would be. I think it's easily safe to say that the Sheepdogs, or even City and Colour (on a smaller scale) are mainstream, and they are even less known/successful (by far, even?) than The Black Keys. See, the argument isn't even properly focused here. You are arguing against points that I am not even disagreeing with.
Another thing to consider is that some people like a band well prior to the band becoming remotely successful in terms of recognition by the vast majority, record sales, radio play, etc. Once the band starts getting bigger and bigger, getting deals and said recognition/success, the fans who liked them prior to this cringe at the notion that they're becoming that successful. It's almost like they don't want to like a band that everyone likes or knows. Could this be the case for you, Emmz, specific to The Black Keys? Did you like them before they mainstream, and now you're in some sort of pretentious bias?
I know for example that there are some huge Bon Iver fans, who just cringe at the fact that Bon Iver was becoming so successful and heading towards the mainstream platform. Why? Because they tend to only want to listen to and support those 'Indie' acts, who aren't popular and well known. They don't want to turn the radio on one day, and hear Nickelback play, followed up by the Bon Iver (or whatever band they loved prior to that band becoming hugely well known).
Sure, some people couldn't care less if their favorite band that no one knows about becomes Nickelback-level famous. No doubt. But it seems for the most part that the music snob comes out in all of us sometimes in this sort of situation. I think you're delusional in that way specific to this argument in relation to The Black Keys. Maybe not.
Re: What song are you listening to?
Linear Mode
