Crazy Frog? Definitely crazy.
At the time of writing, the 'Crazy Frog' has just reached the top of the charts for the fourth week running. You know the one, the noise of a guy comically imitating a motorbike set to the animation of an anthropomorphic blue frog. It was 'remixed' into a full length track and released by artist (in the loosest sense of the word) Axel F.
Over the years, the charts has had its ups and its downs. We've had some of the greatest and most talented singers and musicians in the world. We've also had some of the worst. There's something seriously wrong with the music industry when the most popular song in the whole of the UK for an entire month is a cartoon frog making a stupid noise, based off a mobile phone ringtone. It's the sort of thing that makes you begin to lose faith in people and the music industry.
The UK chart is calculated based on record sales from major high street retailers such as HMV and Virgin. Sales from some smaller stores are also counted, but not all. Fewer and fewer people are actually paying attention to the charts these days compared with ten years ago. I never listen to mainstream radio when I'm at home, so I generally don't keep up with the latest music. I went back to visit my parents after a three-month absence. I listened to the radio for about an hour, and recognised every song they played. There was nothing new - at least nothing new that the station thought was good enough to bother playing.
The music industry is changing. People are beginning to realise that they're paying too much for their music, and are buying more albums rather than singles, and downloading them (both legally and illegally) where possible.
There's also the fact that at the moment people are a lot less likely to have a single artist that they admire, opting for a group of artists within a particular genre. With the growth of the internet, groups that would otherwise have been simply 'local' are gaining more popularity. People are more confident in going against the grain of the traditional pop(ular) music and finding other things that they like. Subcultures based around music are growing and dividing.
Music is becoming more accessible, and the mainstream music industry is failing to keep up. Broken and biased statistics suggest that a stupid blue frog is the most popular sound in the UK.
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Comments
From: Jenny
The Number One isn't a particularly representative 'best' song out of every song currently in the chart. I say this because most of the people who buy singles, are the young population, who don't have quite enough money to buy a whole album. Therefore the No1 is (usually) only the songs which may appeal to this particular audience the most.
- Precisely why there needs to be a change in how the chart is calculated if the mainstream music industry wishes to stay alive.