Let’s face it, you’ve probably dedicated an abnormal amount of time and money listening to music and with your (relative to the average) expertise earned the right to be a little patronizing. After all, you’re browsing through an indie rock forum. Even if you don’t find your music particularly enlightening, I’m sure you’ve had the urge to expand your friends, coworkers, family members, newly met acquaintances, and/or significant other’s musical tastes and/or artist appreciation. What strategies do you think or have you found work best to introduce your favorite music to others, and which ones have backfired?

How would you best go about sensitively introducing to someone who’s been weaned on “hot 93.3 the corporate mix” filtered songs to artists and genres like shoegazing, Sonic Youth, and Canadian indie pop super groups?!? In other words – since this is posted in the indie rock forum – what particular albums/artists do you think would universally attract ‘mainstream listeners’ into this or other genres labyrinths? Conversely, how do you convince Mr./Mrs. Pitchfork to lighten up and get in touch with their inner Sexyback (bad example – I know)?

Sorry if this topic is all over the place. I’m not sure if this will turn out to be interesting, but why not give it a try? Also, I’m NOT trying to advocate that you peer pressure anyone into becoming an idolizing conformist. However, sometimes you might just want to have some collective screening of YOUR top 40 at work/school/ or with your friends, and not Casey Kasem’s.

(Don’t give me the “just put on your headphones bs” – that’ll make you go deaf! Also, I realize sharing goes both ways, but drop the modesty and indulge a little.)

I’ll start:

One of my close high school friends and I used to be very much into the same music, mostly radio alt. metal. In college I underwent a renaissance. I’ve come back to find that this friend has now progressed to lighter tastes, but was in an ‘emo-screamo’ rut (you know, pre-pubescent Blink-182 rip offs yelping out ballads). And while I admire his steadfastness, I think that he’d enjoy bands like Feist, the New Pornographers, Matt Pond PA, and other indie chamber pop stuff. IMO, Arcade Fire would be a too strong. Plus, I can only take so much screamo when riding in his car or going to parties he hosts. (Yeah, I’m a condescending selfish ass. Shocking).

So I sent him just a few select tracks online, such as Mew’s “Her Voice Is Beyond Her Years” and some New Pornographers. It was mostly met with – “interesting.... here, you should listen to this Jewel song”. A few weeks later I was at his house for a party and much to my surprise I hear “So Begins Our Alabee” by Of Montreal blasting in through the mix. Because it was so out of place, some people started to gather round the itunes playlist and were like “wtf”. Alas, Of Montreal prevailed and won a few converts. Then a few weeks later the Outback steakhouse commercials featuring Of Montreal made me feel very obsolete.

Anyways, I guess the lesson learned is that finding common ground is more or less a crap shot/all out exchange war and that what sticks might be surprising on both ends. Hurray! To sugar coat the already sappy ending, my friend recently introduced me to the new Paul McCartney album, which I’m very much enjoying and otherwise would have passed under my radar – that is until I saw the itunes commercial featuring “Dance Tonight”. Damn commercials.

P.S. - I should cite Ishmaels coffin's post as an inspiration for this post, though I don't think this is a remake.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Winterlong Pixies,

quote:

Then a few weeks later the Outback steakhouse commercials featuring Of Montreal made me feel very obsolete.

I heard OM at an Urban Outfitters. Anyway, to answer your question, i think you've already started well. Mew, TNP, OM - these are great "poppy" indie bands. Also, The Shins, The Decemberists, Okkervil River, +/-, Tapes 'n Tapes. These are bands that should go down pretty smoothly. Definitely get 'em hooked on these first, before you try these:

My Bloody Valentine
Deerhunter
Battles
Parts & Labor
Deerhoof

quote:

posted by pixiestame
P.S. - I should cite Ishmaels coffin's post as an inspiration, though I don't think this is a remake.

Wow! I'm an inspiration.
How bout that!
It's a thrill to be cited,...I'd like to thank my parents, God....

Hey pixiestame, I am genuinely excited that we posters can inspire each other, and I don't think your post is in any way a remake of mine.

But, I don't know quite what to say just yet.
umm. maybe try The Books (their production values might appeal to your mate's mainstream-ish tastes); Placebo have got a bit of attitude, rocky, but still on the edge...
Hmm, I'll have to think more...

I start a lot of my friends with Spoon. They're pretty accessible and tend to sound vaguely familiar. That said, any band that is particularly hook-y is a good place to start since there is little effort required.

HA, nice Ishmael. I meant to qualify it as "an inspiration for this post", but of course you've been an inspiration for my whole life . I figured I would mention it to cover all my bases, because I know how much you guys hate redundancies. Everyone seemed to respond well to that post and I figured this was kind of a progression - someone had to introduce you to the music you like now, so how are you passing on the torch? I've never head the Books (gulp) but Placebo is a good suggestion.

ezkc, the Shins are one that came to mind early on. But how many people have heard the Shins and then never progressed to other 'indie rock' bands. It was really hard for me to get past Colin Meloy's voice but after a while, and much coaxing from friends, I thoroughly enjoy the Decemberists. I never would've thought about Tapes 'n Tapes or +/- so thanks for the suggestion. I'm not sure how any mainstream listener would react to a whole album of Deerhoof....that would be interesting.

PRG, Spoon is definitely an ice breaker band and has universal appeal. Nice choice.

Keep on contributing, and please post some personal stories if you're so inclined. I guess I offered my anecdote as an example, not necessarily a problem to be solved - though suggestions are always welcomed.

I am always with you my child...

But seriously, re the 'Hoof: I played Deerhoof to a mainstream music loving mate last year, and he almost jumped out of the car we were in!
Bit too out there maybe.

I'm a huge bore for getting my friends to listen to all the new stuff I get into, but I've found that, in general, people are either really into the idea of exploring art or not.
So hard to convert unless you apply psychotropic drugs beforehand, ha ha.

My friends who are not much for music, save as just one more everyday thing, just glaze over most of the time.

Good luck with your mission.

I usually have the best luck turning friends over to my side music wise after I get to know their individual taste a bit at first.

For example, I hung out with a new roomie and a friend of his the last couple weekends. They were way into hip hop, and I learned some new stuff that way. But I also learned that the friend sounded excited when I mentioned free jazz. I tried playing some Sun Ra, but that didn't really fly (a mite too ambitious, I gotta admit). But later I got them into some dub (the congos), cos it has a similar mellow flow to a lot of the hip hop that the guys like. I think there's been a similar theme through a couple of the previous posts - i.e. start with baby steps and then work your way up when you get to know the person better. It's a two-way street, eh?

I really don't try to convert people. You've pretty much got to get them to want to invest some time in it or else play some of the same stuff around them a lot, and I don't like doing that. If I had really close friends I'd probably try to make them fans of certain bands, but I don't have any close friends.

This year, I passed around a mix cd to almost 50 people at my school. I didn't try pushing anything really unheard of on them, but I didn't give them anything that they might've heard before. Bands like Broken Social Scene, Califone, Fruit Bats, American Analog Set, The Most Serene Republic, etc. The only band I put on there that's gotten any radio play was Modest Mouse, but it was old Modest Mouse.

quote:

Originally posted by pixiestame:
HA, nice Ishmael. I meant to qualify it as "an inspiration for this post", but of course you've been an inspiration for my whole life .

Hrmmm. You know, as documented elsewhere, Ish did get around a lot in his youth. Are you thinking what I'm thinking? Paternity Test!!!

I suppose since I'm responding to this topic, my friends don't really like music like I do. At the very least, they don't want to feel pressured into listening to anything. That makes it very hard to convert them. They also tend to have more narrow tastes. I'll learn more from them than they do from me, because I actually have a genuine interest in learning about new music.

The only person I ever actively play stuff for is my brother, just because I've got a very good feel for what he likes. We are twins after all.

I've introduced people to bands before but only indirectly. People riding in my car, walking in while I'm listening to something, other random occurences. It's cool when someone else is enthusiastic about a band you like. Even so, my approach is to never play up a band too much. I know from personal experience that it can be irritating when people try and get you to listen their new favorite band. So even if I really like a band I try to take be pretty laid back. I usually try to do the best I can to relate the band of interest back to something the person probably knows. Sometimes they're interested, other times they're not. What else can be said? Some people just aren't excited about music the way we are.

I always wonder if throwing them into the deep end might be the best method of conversion. It's hard to tell if Animal Collective will grab their attention with an iron fist or scare them off entirely.

It almost always fails, unless the person is already a lot like you. I've tried a couple times. That's why I don't try to "convert" people any more. Rather, I've branched out enough that often enough there's something I enjoy that is close to just about anybody's taste. The only difficulty is figuring out just what that might be for any given person.

Oh yes, guilty. Luckily I realized recently how shitty it is to try and force my standards on other people. My parents, g'bless 'em, at this point I'd be content for them to have MEDIOCRE taste.

But, they do like a lot of classic rock, which is the thing. Bands like Led Zeppelin will appeal to pretty much anybody that likes rock. Usually to be really, really good you have to be pretty specific I think, you have to fit this niche for this audience, like you're taking the appeal of a ton of people and saturating it into a small crowd. Of course every once in a blue moon you get something like Thriller which appeals to everybody AND is pretty good. And that's when you sell eighty-seven trillion copies.

What I like is that you can put music into different spectrums, so if you're at A and someone else is at C there's a B out there you can settle on. If you're really interested in just your friend, I'd say logically go for good (scr)e(a)mo. Which is like, Rites Of Spring, Fugazi...Les Savy Fav kinda fits the bill in a modern package.

See, I think it depends on the individuals. Led Zeppelin appeals to many, but if you don't like rock at all you don't even like the Zep, sadly. Unless, you know. Thriller. In which case you don't need me to tell you it appeals to everyone

For me, I realized you gotta try to meet people on their own grounds if you want to secretly force your sensibilities on them. "Oh yeah, I know that band. If you like them, you might like ___________, they're similar in that..." Seems pretty basic, but honey does in fact go a long way to get what you want. And if they like it everybody's happy.

Other way 'round, I don't know. I like to think people don't like good underground bands because they're oblivious to them. If someone doesn't like mainstream stuff I don't think there's anything you can do for them. Just gotta figger it out on their own I guess.

First off, sorry if I'm being negative. However, although I certainly do enjoy my fair share of Indie bands, I also like many mainstream bands. What bothers me is the way that many Indie fans act superior to those who aren't as "cool" as they are because they don't listen to Indie (maybe read "unpopular") music. A case in point being that one needs to convert pop listeners to the Indie school in order to save their immortal music souls). It all feels like high school cliqueiness in that there used to be the "popular crowd" (represented here by those who like 93.9 Rock FM All-rock-all-day-all-night hosted by Don, Joanne and the Coach) and then those who secretly "knew" they were superior to them because they could "think for themselves"). Just because a band is Indie does not, by default, make it musically superior to a mainstream band. It is equally irksome when a band's fans jump ship as soon as their favourite band gains some level of success because they don't want to be seen as liking "popular" music (even though they obviously used to like said band; it's as if they are saying "I value the image of being an Indie-lover more than I value respecting my true love for this band"). These are the same people who will say "I USED to like their music before they became popular"; so how - pray tell - has the music (especially the older catalogue) changed?? Popularity does not necessarily equal banality; Indie-status certainly does not equal musical genius. To me, many Indie bands (The Arcade Fire chief among them) are so high on their "I'm a cool and wacky Post-rock, post-punk, post-whatever act" with their faux brooding and alienating intellectualism that those who claim to love their music while decrying "popular" acts may be doing so more because it seems like the "cooler" thing to do; which is really just another form of conformity. Sort of like when you see a punk on the street with a two-foot tall mohawk who rails against the "in crowd" because they care so much about image when in fact it probably took the punk longer to get their hair like that to achieve THEIR desired image; in the end it defeats the purpose.

Anyway, I respect the desire to spread good music, but please let's not get on a high-horse and cry to the hills: "my music is better than yours" because I believe it is precisely THAT attitude which makes it difficult to introduce people to new music. People like what they like, they don't need someone telling them their taste is crap and that they OUGHT to like someone else's version of "cool"...

quote:

Originally posted by Makjj:
First off, sorry if I'm being negative. However, although I certainly do enjoy my fair share of Indie bands, I also like many mainstream bands. What bothers me is the way that many Indie fans act superior to those who aren't as "cool" as they are because they don't listen to Indie (maybe read "unpopular") music. A case in point being that one needs to convert pop listeners to the Indie school in order to save their immortal music souls). It all feels like high school cliqueiness in that there used to be the "popular crowd" (represented here by those who like 93.9 Rock FM All-rock-all-day-all-night hosted by Don, Joanne and the Coach) and then those who secretly "knew" they were superior to them because they could "think for themselves"). Just because a band is Indie does not, by default, make it musically superior to a mainstream band. It is equally irksome when a band's fans jump ship as soon as their favourite band gains some level of success because they don't want to be seen as liking "popular" music (even though they obviously used to like said band; it's as if they are saying "I value the image of being an Indie-lover more than I value respecting my true love for this band"). These are the same people who will say "I USED to like their music before they became popular"; so how - pray tell - has the music (especially the older catalogue) changed?? Popularity does not necessarily equal banality; Indie-status certainly does not equal musical genius. To me, many Indie bands (The Arcade Fire chief among them) are so high on their "I'm a cool and wacky Post-rock, post-punk, post-whatever act" with their faux brooding and alienating intellectualism that those who claim to love their music while decrying "popular" acts may be doing so more because it seems like the "cooler" thing to do; which is really just another form of conformity. Sort of like when you see a punk on the street with a two-foot tall mohawk who rails against the "in crowd" because they care so much about image when in fact it probably took the punk longer to get their hair like that to achieve THEIR desired image; in the end it defeats the purpose.

Anyway, I respect the desire to spread good music, but please let's not get on a high-horse and cry to the hills: "my music is better than yours" because I believe it is precisely THAT attitude which makes it difficult to introduce people to new music. People like what they like, they don't need someone telling them their taste is crap and that they OUGHT to like someone else's version of "cool"...

I'm not going to call anybody uncool for liking mainstream bands; in return I would appreciate it if you don't call half the world "conformists" for liking what they listen to. Some people are snobs - there is no getting around it. But those people don't really have a clue, and name calling or insinuating disparaging things about them isn't going to change that.

Bottom line: there's no way I'm going to let anything stop me from searching out new (sometimes unpopular) music and enjoying it more than I could ever enjoy most mainstream music.

Your point is a good one. To clarify, I'm talking about those snobs you mentioned... I also mentioned that "People like what they like, they don't need someone telling them their taste is crap"... When mentioning conformity, I was referring to those people who listen to music for the image more than the substance, and then judge others for listening to "popular" music. As mentioned, you like what you like and that should be good enough

I'm a snob. Mainstream music sucks. You don't get it.

Oh, and the Kid A review is some of the best writing this side of Hemmingway.