The Breaking Out of the "World Music Ghetto" conversation continues... When I asked various music industry players and musicians themselves "What factors do you think leads to crossover success of world music artists," this is what Matt Moran, founder of Slavic Soul Party! said about the role of pop celebrities and the changing audiences...
In considering your survey, I found it hard to answer the questions regarding the world music market. The obvious big world music acts that cross over -- Youssou N'dour or Ladysmith Black Mambazo come to mind -- get over because they get "discovered" by a Peter Gabriel or a Paul Simon. In effect, they get knighted by a powerful western pop person, and then no longer function in the "typical world music market". But what's more interesting to me is that the "typical world music market" is in flux, with more and more people considering non-western-pop music as equally enjoyable and uplifiting and relevant to their experience, wherever they live.
I think the market (meaning people who have ears) are more open than the arbiters of success (meaning the people that still control the dominant distribution companies and radio stations and booking agencies). The people who control the booking agencies and other powerplayers want to maximize profit, so they convince everyone else that acts from the world music ghetto aren't going to have the relevance or draw of an American artist, unless they see some specific reason that their profit will come out the same (knighting or spectacle, as in the Koto drummers in the '80s and Riverdance in the '90s).
--Matt Moran, Slavic Soul Party!
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