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| From | Sam Smith <sam@lullabypit.com> |
| Subject | Re: Musical Cultural Question |
| Date | Fri, 28 Jul 2006 14:27:31 -0400 |
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Josh Chasin wrote:
> How would you fill in the blank here?
>
> Baby boomer ('46-'64) musical icons: Beatles; Dylan; Motown
> Gen X ('65-'76) musical icons: U2; Kurt Cobain; Michael Jackson
> Gen Y ('77-'88) musical icons: _______________
>
> Who goes there?
>
First, let's adjust some things.
* Boomer was more like 1943-1960.
* Please don't hang Michael Jackson on my generation. Please?
* "Gen Y" is a really misleading term - makes it sound like they're
a follow-on to X, when in fact they're a direct reaction against
it. "Millennials" is more the standard term. And the dates there
are more like 1980-2000, roughly.
That said, this is one hellacious tough question because the market has
been SO fractured and nichified that it's hard to imagine any act
attracting more than 10% of the gen's interest. Also, since the front
edge of the gen is only about 26 or so, it's way too early to tell.
While I agree completely with the U2 and Nirvana assessments for X, when
the front edge of X was 26 THE JOSHUA TREE was just being released and
nobody had heard of Kurt Cobain.
I'm damned if I'd know how to begin answering it with any authority.
Maybe I could take a whack in another five years. Maybe.
--
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