If the pie charts tell us one thing for certain, it’s that new music is a niche market. I mean, since the ratio of Poop to Not Poop in both New Music and Pop Music is equal (+/- 1%, of course), then it stands to reason that the skewed popularity ratio between New Music and Pop Music is not the result of Pop Music possessing greater quantities of Not Poop, but rather that Pop Music is, well, more popular. Question: Is there anything wrong with being a niche market? Think about it, but also think about the following quote from this mostly Not Poop post via the Proper Discord blog:
“All too often, we confuse ‘niche’ with ‘endangered’ when in truth the top end of any market is usually quite unpopular. Mercedes Benz has a 3% share of the US car market. They aren’t worried about extinction. Why should we be scared?”
Before going any further, let’s highlight some of the similarities between Mercedes Benz and Classical/New Music. A Mercedes Benz is a solid, well-crafted, finely-tuned machine. Classical musicians are highly-trained and capable of great precision. A Mercedes Benz is expensive. So too are tickets to many classical music concerts. People who can afford a Mercedes Benz are generally part of an elite social caste. People who like classical music are stereotyped as being elite. So with all the similarity, why doesn’t Classical/New Music share the same sort of niche market perks as Mercedes Benz? Here’s one possible reason:
I don’t think being a niche market is all that bad. (N.B. This is coming from a lifelong Red Sox fan. Translation: I have been raised to root for the underdog.) I also don’t believe that being a niche market means being headed for extinction. Ain’t gonna happen. Too many people pay too much money to go to college and learn the craft of classical music to let that knowledge just sit around and rot in their heads. We’ve just got to do a better job getting that information out there in a manner that says, “Hey, this is neat. You should listen to it,” and not, “Hey, I’m way smarter than you.” Are there ways we can change from perceptions of elitism so that we might move away from snob characterization to hot chick characterization?
It’s also not impossible that a niche market gains a following, becomes more popular, and then more mainstream. Remember MTV in the 1990s? That whole alternative music, Seattle grunge scene thing? But if mainstream acceptance like that happens you’ve got to be prepared for name calling (“SELLOUT!”) and the possible loss of the music’s true soul and quality. Surely there are ways to have your cake and eat it too. Right?
