Quote:
Originally Posted by mr dave
The exposure to artists was significantly more limited prior to cable TV and definitely more limited prior to the internet, minimizing the exposure made it a lot easier to control the stars and how the mainstream perceived those individuals.
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To get some of the more interesting stuff outside of the cities in The US, you had to be lucky to be in an area where there was a decent record store, a TV station that had a good late night line-up (Usually UHF - That's Channels above 13 in The US to those asking), or a halfway good radio station - usually the lower Nielsen rated the better.
In the small dot on the maps, it was usually finding a Cut Out - records would get dumped into the Sale Bins at the Woolworths, K Mart, and Rinks WAY back in the day. The original meaning of Devalue if there ever was one, although the Music itself would still be worth more than the price usually.
Actually for the artist how knows that they will not be part of the "fraternity," it's certainly better today. Usually, if one such artist gets picked up by a label, it was usually the same old story - resistance from DJs and PDs, no acceptance in the Midwest apart from a few people, the "sorry we can't have you around" notice, usually a heavy debt to pay off. Sometimes in The 70's, it would lead down to what's known as a Taxloss (or "Tax Scam") label, where the albums would be released unannounced and just plopped in a few places buried under a lot of other albums. Although it's just as hard now, at least the price to pay if one decides to go beyond the free route is at least better known, and the exposure is far better.
The Mainstream is not the end all be all, and times always change.