thanks for posting about these guys, the music is solid & really enjoyable.

Though I'm sure this answer is one you've heard, I myself am just now getting acquainted with the fact that not only are most artists more appreciated here after having a career outside of the US, homegrown talent (I mean real talent, not just the bubblegum Auto-Tune brigade) has long since made the exodus to places like England, France, Germany, and the Nordic lands to create a music-based brand - poignantly, many of them have never looked back. This is only because Europe, like Asia, is far more inclined to respect the quality of the content of the records & base their support mainly on that factor. It's not unheard of to have someone like a Beyonce touring in Paris and have that same audience flock to see a new R&B/Pop artist of far lesser fame, simply because they know the music is good. Non-US ears have not been fully tainted by the American-style form of music marketing, which (as you certainly know) is to exploit the few top-selling entertainers and use their profits to flood the airwaves with like-sounding fodder so as to keep the audiences locked in & buying the merchandise.

Sadly (well, it depends on how you view it), what keeps many artists here, struggling in vain to make their lane in an over-saturated, poorly managed music industry, is the very thing that we as a market of listeners have decidedly abandoned in our quest for good Pop culture: the Homegrown aesthetic. Deep down, a good lot of us who are from here who make music know that we want to be loved for our music right here, in the good ole' U-S-of-A. We want to be recognized for what we do by people we understand. We thirst for an audience that's going to come to our shows, support us, and then go back to lives similar to ours and tell their friends. At this point in my career, I would enjoy nothing more than to do a 4-week concert series at a sold-out Beacon Theatre in New York City. However, it seems folks are more inclined to book Trey Songz, whose brand is fixated on sex appeal toward the adolescent & college-aged female Urban market. And to be fair, who am I to fight that?

I'd rather head over to Austria, learn German, and be loved by people who get what I'm doing than fight my way through mediocrity here.

Just some thoughts.

This specific is 1 of the nicest article post on the blog that I have read till date on this subject matter. Essentially broad yet to the point with out just about any nonsense.

Remarkable article which has received me considering in regards to the possible of the idea. Truly actually wonderful.

Do you mind if I use your site as a source in my paper? Thx! Jessi

UPL (Akim here): Not a problem Jessi! Good luck with the paper...

Good job once again! I am looking forward for more updates:)