Arts & Literature9 mins ago
Music Stars On Tv
Would it be fair to say music artists are a lot more absent on television these days compared to yesteryear, like the 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's?
It seems growing up as a child of the 70's there was an abundance of music shows like Top Of The Pops for example. Some artists like Marc Bolan even had their own show, with a platform for more artists on there.
I seem to remember Noel Edmands Swapshop had artists playing whatever was current at the time.
Why do we think then that music shows or related are so absent these days?
Answers
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.TV production companies simply haven't got the money to pay the massive sums that the stars of the music world would demand these days. Ed Sheeran, for example, costs several million pounds to book for a single performance (and that's without the extra that his agent would want for the UK broadcasting rights).
In the 'good old days', the entertainments committee of the teacher training college I attended could book groups such as the Equals, Shaking Stevens, the Tremeloes, the Bay City Rollers and Mud (for our college balls) for very little money indeed. So TV companies, with far bigger budgets, had no problem at all in booking them too.
These days TV companies have far smaller budgets (due, in large part, to advertisers switching to using social media instead of TV commercials) at a time when leading musicians expect to receive the same sort of fees that they can get from touring. That's why our TV screens are now filled with talent shows, such as Britain's Got Talent, which are cheap to make.
I think the kind of variety shows that would book those kinds of acts are just not in vogue now. Apart from the Strictly Results show, and the odd chat show (Graham Norton, Jonathan Ross), there isn't really anything on that could use a musical interlude. Even dedicated music shows are a rarity nowadays, besides Jools.
There are many 24/7 music channels on TV playing non stop music videos such as 4Music and Brit Hits.
I agree TV shows can no longer afford to have guest music spots.
In the good old days many artists would appear free to promote their latest single, now they don't need to due to YouTube and other internet sites. You can watch all the pop stars, new and old, anytime you like
We still have Jools Holland so all is not lost.
Yes, teenagers rarely bother with TV, nor with radio, these days. Tiktok and Youtube shorts are where they hear music. The charts are dominated by solo artists like Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan, Taylor Swift and various rap/drill artists whose violent/crude/mysoginistic lyrics are not suitable for Strictly or The One Show, but children can hear the full uncensored versions on youtube etc.
I find it a shame really its ended up this way.
Its also meant that most of the current chart acts of recent years I wouldn't recognise them if they walked past me. They are basically hidden as they get next to zero exposure.
Somebody came on The One Show recently plugging his new single, and I just didn't know who he was from looking at him. If they didn't play a little snippet of his big song I would never have known who it was.
There can't be any attraction today to be a music star in my opinion.
barry; //Dads in the 60s and 70s wouldn't have known the then current pop stars if they walked past them..//
In the late 50s my dad nearly cleaned himself out buying a 'radiogram' which contained (as it said on the tin) a radio and a gramophone.
We then clubbed together and bought two LPs (Long playing records) : Frank Sinatra's 'Songs for Swinging Lovers' and 'Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book'.
A lot of music has moved on since then, but they are still both among my all time favourites.