'American Idol' impact: More pop hits

[catatoniaone]

'American Idol' impact: More pop hits


Kelly Clarkson, the first 'American Idol'

In light of recent debate about whether "American Idol" is losing some glimmer, Edison Research vice president of music and programming Sean Ross says we shouldn't forget how much influence "Idol" has acquired over radio.
"The impact on radio, and not just top 40 radio, can't be denied," says Ross.
"It helped reopen pure pop as a category for top 40. It made possible Kelly Clarkson's 'Since U Been Gone,' probably the most-imitated record of the last five years.
"Less obviously, the success of 'Since U Been Gone' helped spur artists like Avril Lavigne and Nelly Furtado to make pure pop records."
In an age when radio creates fewer hits than it used to and TV is creating more, says Ross, even a novelty download like the Chipmunks' "Bad Day" can be traced to "Idol's" role in pushing Daniel Powter's original into the mainstream.
"Idol" gave artists like Kellie Pickler and, of course, Carrie Underwood a shortcut to the country charts, Ross notes. "It's not an accident that the only major style in which 'Idol' has not produced a superstar - hip hop - is the style that most needs one.
"Even if it's at 80% of its previous influence, 'Idol' is likely to continue to spread its tentacles at radio this year."
Given the influence, says Ross, "the debate about whether 'Idol' produces serious artists is almost beside the point."

[iva.vilovic32]

t4p!

[GatorBait]

t4p. And I agree with that, but its a case of "what have you done for me lately." The WINNERS from the past few years haven't done too great since then.
As for the hip-hop part, that has NOTHING to do with idol, it has to do with music downloads. I mean, lets say AI did produce a winner who did hip-hop. The hip-hop community, at large, would spurn that artist, especially b/c they're not generally the people who watch that show, so it wouldn't be THEIR choice.

[Lewymocha Original]

it spurred avril to make pop records?

Umm how is that?

Since UMS was out before Breakaway. It seemed Avril spurred Kelly onto get a powerful image!

[GatorBait]

^DAMN right!!!
And yeah, I really do think AI is losing steam. And I have a good idea of why:
Simply put, you can NOT have the American public decide who is going to get something as big as a record contract. It simply turns into a popularity contest, as evident by the seasons where "hot" girls or guys make it far beyond the first rounds in Hollywood (the rounds after the judges say yes or no), even though they shouldn't.
My idea for the show is this:
Have the judges still do the auditions, b/c only people IN the music business truly know talent when they FIRST see it. Then have the fans narrow the list down from, say 50 people to the top 10, and then have a panel of record execs decide on who the winner is.

But yeah, like Lewis said, that is complete crap about Avril.