There's barely a British voice in the top 20 at the moment. Perhaps we should just submit to sounds from America and Europe
British music is under threat from its European and American rivals, so screams the Independent in an article headlined "The day the music died". Last week just one act in the UK top 10 hailed from these fair isles ? Lauren Bennett, a Kent-born singer on American dance goon's LMFAO's No 1 single, Party Rock Anthem ? while the situation was improved slightly this week when the Saturdays scored another top 10 with Notorious. Still, their presence only boosted the Brit count in the top 20 to three acts (Jessie J being the inevitable other).
Talking to the Independent, Music Week's Paul Williams claims the singles chart "now resembles the Eurovision scoreboard", with the musical challenge not just from the US but "from the dance acts on the continent too". The article seems upset that one pop act is from Romania, the subtext being that if a Romanian act can get into the UK top 20 then it must be over. So, what's the problem? Generally, having music from different countries with different influences would be something to celebrate ? like that time Vanessa Paradis went top 3 with Joe le Taxi ? but the crux of the issue is that regardless of nationality, most of the music sounds homogenised. Snoop Dogg's current top 10 single, Sweat, has been remixed by French producer David Guetta to sound just like David Guetta, while his own single featuring Nicki Minaj isn't too dissimilar to the giant house riff on Chris Brown's Beautiful People. But to talk about it in terms of British music being suffocated by an influx of foreign imports seems reactionary, not least because music trends generally work in cycles.
As has been previously reported, guitar bands ? the cornerstone of British music ? are currently out of favour, such as Liam Gallagher's new band Beady Eye missing the UK top 40 altogether with their latest single. Even Arctic Monkeys ? one of the few indie bands to still sell by the truckload ? have failed to set the charts alight with the first single from their new album. For all the support Radio 1 is giving these bands (as well as the likes of Hard-Fi, the Wombats and the Vaccines, who are all currently on their A-list), people don't seem to be buying their records. You could also argue that this week's charts provide only a snapshot of a music scene that's cultivated the current dubstep explosion (with the likes of Katy B and Magnetic Man, who have both had multiple top 10 hits) and created worldwide superstars such as Adele, Plan B, Florence and the Machine and Tinie Tempah.
One idea suggested by the the Independent is to introduce a French-style quota system. French radio, by law, must play 40% of songs in French and half from new artists. This seems not only drastic but also defeatist to suggest that British music can't succeed by itself. With the music industry on its knees, it seems counterintuitive to panic about the charts being dominated by acts from outside the UK. British music has always thrived on its eccentricities and if the backdrop is slightly pallid at the moment then it will only make the ones that stand out shine even more.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/jun/02/uk-charts-dominated-foreign-imports
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