Every once in a while, I stumble across the Billboard charts and am flabbergasted by how unhip and clueless I feel -- or at least disconnected from the mainstream of pop culture.
Then again ...
Is there a mainstream any more? Isn't it amazing how segmented and almost bizarre the music industry has become in this era of iPods, single-song downloads and satellite radio?
Two things got me thinking about this.
For starters, the charts. The No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 right now is "Epiphany" by Chrisette Michele.
I've never heard of Michele, a budding soul singer. In fact, I had to make sure her name wasn't Michele Chrisette.
I asked some co-workers and they hadn't heard of her, either. One co-worker even asked "Is that a person?"
Here is the deal, though: "Epiphany" topped the charts with sales of 83,000. In 18 years since Soundscan began tracking sales, that's the lowest sales ever for a CD debuting in the No. 1 spot.
It just shows you what a mess the music industry is these days.
That brings me to the second point.
The CD "Only By The Night" by Kings of Leon is 16th on the chart this week. It has been on the charts for 33 weeks and sold 23,919 copies last week, pushing its total to 672,889.
I saw a little bit of Kings of Leon's show at Summerfest a year or two ago and it seemed to be a hard-charging, entertaining set. I've seen them on TV a couple times. I like what I've heard, but haven't really dived into the band's catalog or given them much thought. There just aren't enough hours in the day, I guess.
This week, I heard they are headlining Sept. 26 at the Bradley Center. My reaction, honestly, was "Huh?"
I thought it was a misprint. The Bradley Center? Really? I could see Kings of Leon playing the Bradley Center -- opening for Bon Jovi or some other band with a track record of selling out big venues. But as a headliner?
I'm confident that more of my friends are familiar with Kings of Leon than Chrisette Michele. But, I'm stunned that the band is going to play at the Bradley Center. It seems like a group that would sell out The Rave. The Bradley Center is three or four times larger than The Rave's ballroom.
Unless Kings of Leon experience a surge in popularity, I just don't see them drawing a huge crowd for a Bradley Center show. The funny thing is, I'm pretty sure that Kings of Leon would have been a decent draw at the Marcus Amphitheater at Summerfest. But, that's a festival. I just don't think a whole lot of people are going to head to the Bradley Center to see the group, even if ticket prices are low.
What's the point of all this? I don't know. There certainly isn't a shortage of great music out there these days. There just doesn't seem to be a "center" of the music industry any more. Music radio has been marginalized nearly to the point of extinction and the only thing that seems to galvanaize people is freaking "American Idol."
Is this good or bad? It seems good for consumers and perhaps bad for record labels and artists.
Thinking about it gives me a headache.
Host of “The Drew Olson Show,” which airs 1-3 p.m. weekdays on The Big 902. Sidekick on “The Mike Heller Show,” airing weekdays on The Big 920 and a statewide network including stations in Madison, Appleton and Wausau. Co-author of Bill Schroeder’s “If These Walls Could Talk: Milwaukee Brewers” on Triumph Books. Co-host of “Big 12 Sports Saturday,” which airs Saturdays during football season on WISN-12. Former senior editor at OnMilwaukee.com. Former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
