I kinda like Jimmy Eat World's new album...it's reasonably catchy -- although there are quite a few bands out there doing what they're doing, and doing it much better, that NOBODY knows about. Yet JE World sits atop the radio charts. I guess in my mind, MTV is what determines who will be big in music. Why did MTV decide to start playing Jimmy Eat World? If MTV had never played "Smells Like Teen Spirit", would anyone have ever known who Nirvana was? I mean, if MTV were around when the Ramones first started, I imagine they would've sold a lot more albums than they actually did. I hate MTV. So, to recap: Jimmy Eat World is not that great, yet they are all over radio MTV controls what music people listen to MTV sucks That's all.
How ironic. I've been listening to "The Middle" all day long. It's a good song IMHO. Its not like they are #1 and are becoming super smash hits, dude. Their song is like #25 and their album hasnt been anywhere the top 10 or 20 or 30... I think the song is refreshing, in a way. I mean, they are a punk band that doesn't seem to write their music to shock people with their stupid lyrics or gross-out videos. "just try your best--try everything you can--and dont worry about what the bitter hearts are gonna say when you're away..."
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Freak: I wish it was JUST MTV that controlled the music biz. There was a great article in Spin a few months back that talked about how most record companies could care less if bands do videos because it isn't nearly as indicative of record sales as it used to be.
Dude, I used to have one of their songs in my sig, so I obviously like them a bit. I also like a lot of other bands that play the same style of music, only better, that are NOT getting played on the radio or MTV. I'm just wondering...is it their management? Has their label just decided to pour a ton of money into promoting them? Do they just have some friends over at MTV? For the week ending May 3rd: Alternative Chart (from rronline.com): 1) Unwritten Law "Seein' Red" 2) Jimmy Eat World "The Middle" 3) Staind "For You" 4) System Of A Down "Toxicity" 5) Puddle Of Mudd "Blurry" I believe last week they were #1, as well as some weeks before that. Now, I'll admit that I like them better than either of the other four bands listed, but I still don't think they're at the top of their genre of music. I guess that's just how it goes, though. People can point out bands like Creed, but who else is out there playing their brand of music (which I guess would be a dull, second-rate grunge-type thing), and doing it well, that isn't popular?
That's interesting, Jeff, and contrary to what I would think. So....what is it then, if not videos? I don't watch MTV, so I'm at a disadvantage here, but I see bands like the Strokes getting a lot of pub and sales, that I can see not flourishing on MTV (they could be, I don't know). I mean, they're basically a no-nonsense-bare-bones rock band that wouldn't seem to do well in a video medium (again, I could be wrong, don't watch MTV). But again, bands like Nirvana and Poison seemed to benefit greatly from MTV.
LOL the funny thing about this thread, is that Tuesday i am probably going to buy "The Middle", i like Jimmy Eat World, another funny interesting fact is that my Math teacher at my school, whos pretty old (he has gray hair, not sure how old he is) likes Jimmy Eat World. We didnt find this out until like exam week when he brought in the cd for us to listen to. BTW, if your wondering why i am waiting until tuesday, is because thats when mark and tom from blink182 clothing company named ATTICUS is realising a cd with a mix of groups with unreleased songs from: Blink 182, Jimmy Eat World, New Found Glory, Box Car Racer, theres a lot more just dont know all of them. I suggest everyone go and pick it up tuesday.
Jimmy Eat World has a huge following among college students, and not because of MTV. Many people, myself included, heard about JEW before MTV even caught sight of them and were playing tracks like "Bleed American," "The Middle," and "A Praise Chorus" in their dorm rooms. MTV & radio is only allowing their music to get out to more people. Why do people like the music? A lot of it is catchy and the CD is very broad in the scope of tones you will hear. It's not monotonous, nor is it similar to the rest of rock you see these days. The songs aren't written badly, either... If MTV and the rest of the world didn't catch up on them, this thread probably wouldn't be here. As it is, their music is suceeding the way music USED to - coming from bands who have to work their way through the paces, from garage band to college band to finally hitting it big. A refreshing change from these contrived bands that are all over the radio waves these days.
All in all, it's just catching the breaks. For every band that makes it, there are probably countless bands just as good, or better, that were never in the right place at the right time. Hell, even those bands that are discovered, and get a deal, don't always make it. Sometimes that's simply because the labels don't plunge the money into them that they might put into a more marketable band. It's not fair, but it's typical for sure. Videos definitely aren't an indicator as much as they used to be, but MTV is probably still the standard in the video business, in my opinion. And getting on MTV will pretty much guarantee you will be seen, repeatedly, by millions of teeny boppers world-wide. A pretty important first step in hitting the big time.
Jimmy Eat World is a catchy pop/rock band made for MTV. I enjoy "The Middle" and their latest, "Sweetness"...they have catchy guitar riffs and above-average vocals. If you don't dig it, then don't listen it. IMO, MTV does control the industry...radio doesn't seem as popular as it used to be in the 90s....heck I don't know of any radio stations here in Austin with the emergence of Mp3z and MTV and such...or maybe I'm just a loser. Dammit...i need to get around more.
Why doesnt anyone listen to the radio anymore??? I think i am listening to the radio now more than i have ever before? I think MTV turned gay a few years back and i am glad they made MTV2 but i still dont watch it that much. I like to watch the MuchMusic channel. Still i listen to the radio a lot, but still the radio can be dumb and a lot of songs can be overplayed. I still would choose radio over MTV most the time, cuz MTV plays Real World and crap like that. MTV2 is ok, IMO they sorta needed that to help revive them.
The Radio sucks. The only stations i listen to is 106.9 and 94.5 and 96.5. Two of those channels are Clear Channel, but most of the time, the dial is on AM 610. I listen to 97.1 sometimes, but that is not the topic of the thread. JEW has been out awhile, it's just that I think MTV heavily promotes them when they know they got a big following already. MTV knows what is going on in music. They aren't stupid. They know what all the college kids are listening to. I don't think Jimmy Eat World is Punk, it's sorta punk, it's "emo." I remember when emo wasn't too big. But man all this emo bands on MTV and the radio, and people wearing these Kurt Rambis Lisa Loeb (or lobe?) glasses pisses me off. If you're on MTV, and people say it's punk, well then, it's NOT. How many times have you seen a real punk band on MTV? I've only seen the Ramones on MTV once. That was during the MTV VMAs. I don't know if anybody was paying attention to what Bono was saying, but he said that they were doing a very un-punk thing, and that was be on MTV. And during the Post Game Show, or Post Event show, Ian Robinson was talking about how if you're a Blink 182, or Sum 41 fan, this is what Punk really is. That's what he said or some thing like that. The Strokes This is a band that just doesn't fit MTV, yet I think they do well. I heard promos for them on the radio. ON THE RADIO. I hate how music is so flavor of the month. Also, I hate how people say if they are on MTV, that band sucks. I wish people would shut up, just because they are a mainstream band, they automaically suck. Also, is there a decent rock band out? I've been thinking about this, and hell no there isn't a decent rock band out there. No, Creed sucks. All this other rock sucks too. Puddle of Mud(d) and all that crap sucks. Papa Roach sucks, and Nickel Back, and all that what else, I don't know, It all sucks. I think MTV and basically the music industry is playing a big ass trick on us. They want a band to be the next REAL BIG THING. A Beattle-esque thing. By putting out crappy music, it's going to inspire me and you and you and her, and her uncle, and Charlie, and Earnie, to make a new band with out all this primma donna fun BS-ing
Actually I think this thread highlights a lot of the misconceptions people on this board have about 'popular' music. Unless you are a screaming teenage girl (you aren't, are ya Freak? ) MTV really doesn't decide much when it comes to what you listen to. Most people don't really like MTV, period. In addition, there are always bands that 'do what they do, but probably better, that don't get the attention'. That's just the way it is, and it's popular ammo I've seen around here when people like to trash a band. I just think its the case pretty much every time, so I don't see much weight in using that argument. As far as Jimmy Eat World goes, yeah they are somewhat popular now, but hardly superstars. And they had plenty of fans before they had a video on MTV. And yet, The Strokes probably got the recognition by many of us because of MTV. In actuality, they've been getting a lot of play there.
As crazy and outdated as it may seem, it is still the combination of heavy airplay on radio combined with a good buzz on the street that pushes CD sales. All those end cap displays at music stores really do work and that constant barrage of the same four songs over and over really does get people to buy things. MTV has become an extension of that but they don't often break bands or create an atmosphere for success any longer. The main reason is that it costs WAY too much to make a video these days. Even in the early 90's, videos were only costing $20K to $50K. Michael Jackson was doing $100k to $200k videos on a rare occasion. Today, most videos run well over $100k with some reaching to the mid six figures. That is cost prohibitive for a band who's record cost half that much to make or less. Plus, getting rotation on MTV is largely a pay to play type venture. No one talks about it but videos get into rotation for a reason and it is rarely based on quality of the video or artist. I've tried to watch some MTV recently just to see what's on. The videos aren't bad and there are some decent musicans and bands, but they all seem to have to look like movies to draw any attention and that costs big money. It is more a status symobol today rather than a necessity.
Jeff--look for the video to "No Such Thing" by John Mayer. His CD has been out since last September, and I've had it for a while...I'm suprised its taken him this long to get some degree of success, but I'm really suprised that MTV has jumped on his bandwagon declaring his video "Buzzworthy" as much as I love him and think he's one of the best things thats happened to pop music in a while, the video suuuuuuuuuucks. If that thing cost more than 10K to do, someone overpaid biiig time. So I guess the video doesnt have to be big budget to get heavy rotation.
Jimmy Eat World -- Why are they big? Ummm, hello. They ate the freaking world. You try eating the world, and I bet you'll be pretty damn big too. What a silly question.
dashboard sucks too. annoying little um, well annoying little kids that listen to them and the get up kids, and crap like that.
