It's never this simple, though. Yeah, if the audiences were beating down
the gates the industry would respond, but we know certain things about
popular culture audiences. By and large, they're not going to think
somebody is an icon if the industry and press don't treat that person
like an icon.

It's kind of like it is with elections. You know candidate A isn't a
serious candidate because the evening news never mentions him. And the
news, of course, can't be expected to cover people with no poll numbers.

  Sorry...I blame the audiences. I don't see the Foo Fighters or Green
  Day or My Chemical Romance making the top dollars. Why? Because
  audiences haven't turned them into icons with their purchasing
  dollars. They're either going to safe standbys like The Stones &
  Madonna or flocking to safe newbies like Nickelback and Dave
  Matthews. The labels aren't the ones putting the acts on tour. The
  labels aren't the ones making people go (or not) to rock shows. Who
  determines what acts draw the biggest at concerts? The promoters who
  gauge audience supply and demand and therefore audiences themselves
  for attending. It isn't about the music...or who's getting the push
  from their label...it's about audience (lack of) taste.

  If 45,000 people showed up outside the Whiskey A-Go-Go one night to
  see a sneak preview show by, say, Fountains of Wayne or Sugar Ray or
  Weird Al you can bet there'd be a promoter making these acts into
  stadium fodder the very next day...at $150 a seat.



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Sam Smith

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