Now we all know that pop bands are only in it for the money. take sclub7 for instance. Paul used to be in a rock band, Bradley is obviously a hardcore hip-hop fan, but these people want money, so what do they do? Join a pop band. the sure fire way to raise your bankbalance quicker than u can say Poptart. If they really doing it for their love of the music (which they all too often like to say they are), then surely SClub7 would have a quite different sound.
I did once however, firmly believe that the proper bands really were in it for the music and that the money side - however attractive it may be - really didn’t play that big a part and I used to really respect them for it. But it seems once they have a taste of fame they want more and once they’ve had a hit record they want more, quite simply because they've made a mint. They learnt that having a top 10 hit made them more money in a fortnight than touring every town in the country for the past 10 years ever did. The latest example of this is the Dandy Warhols. They may have had a single in the top 40 way back in 97, but that certainly isn’t an instant pass to the TOTP studios, for that you need at least a top 20 smash and that’s exactly what they got in 2001 with 'Bohemian Like You' (which I hasten to add was previously released and only came out again when it the music for an advert and was popular enough to sell a few more copies). I was hoping that this success wouldn’t turn them into money greedy people like it has with so many others, but it seems to have done just that. They've got a bit of fame at last and they’re going to cash in on it by again, re-releasing another single, this time, 'Get Off'. It’s the same with King Adora who re-released Bionic. They aren’t doing it to keep the fans interested by bringing out another corker of a song, (because any fan worth their salt will already have it); they're doing it to cash in on all their newly acquired fans. If they really cared about the music they wouldn’t even consider re-releasing, they would concentrate on writing new songs which will have just as much impact. Obviously like so many other bands who hit the big time, they suddenly forget about their following of devoted fans in favor of a bit of extra cash and this is the kind of thing that looses them respect. At least when Muse re-released 'Muscle Museum' they had the balls to admit they were doing it for the money.
If bands nowadays really were more interested in the music than the money, they would continue to make songs the way they want, but as a way of getting a hit, or even as a way of maintaining a position in the industry after having a hit, its all to common for them to adopt a style of music much more mainstream, a sure fire way of maintaining airplay and consequently more than tripling their salaries. Its almost as if the fame and money side is so addictive they forget where their real passion lies - making great music. Take Offspring for example. A brilliant punk band, or at least they were until Pretty Fly (For a White Guy) stormed the charts. After that they went into pop-punk mode, and started churning our songs, which they knew would be hits, and therefore making loadsa money. Now called me old fashioned but changing the type of music you love to write and perform just to get big wads of cash, isn’t the way it should be.
