Why don't the British like songs in a foreign language?

[ViolentPanda]

What pomposity!!!

Indeed, the very term "world music" speaks volumes.... If we're serious - it's quite irritating...

Are you sure you've rolled your eyes enough?

if so, how about actually addressing the points rather than acting high and mighty?

Alternately, you could just remain your usual sententious self.

 

[gorski]

I did but you didn't, so piss off, you pompous git without any base for it...

 

[northernhord]

I cant speak Urdu or Hindi but i can really appreciate auld Nusrat Fatah Ali Khan, worra larynx that geezer has, not to mention the absolute and pure sincerity in his voice.

 

[chymaera]

The British charts are hardly even blessed with a song in a foreign language.

Probably because (rhymes with bankers) like Bob Geldof think no-one wants to listen to foreign music. Personally my music collection is full of foreign language music from Zhosa to Breton.

 

[Dhimmi]

Similary the English speaking muscians and music listners feelings of superiority towards anything foreign.

That's a bit harsh isn't it?

It's probably more to do with having a wealth of music with English lyrics rather than any hint of national superiority.

Ska, Reggae and Dancehall are typically West Indian and very popular, Blues and Jazz are generally from the US and popular too, Rap is big and that's seppo too. Even Rammstein sell out when they play here.
All foreign and all greatly enjoyed.

Don't see what you're looking to gain in not understanding something and imposing such misplaced and rude judgement on it. I'd always pegged the Dutch as a bit smarter than that...

 

[ramjamclub]

It does seem than many of the posters do not belong to the "main stream"
of the music listnening public in Britain. That is reflected in their choice of foreign language artists which hardly get exposure in the UK.
It's great to see the interest in other countries.
My personal experiences of playing foreign language music to Brits has been that the shutters come down because they are not used to hearing anything else than English Lyrics.

reply to Dhimmi's post: West Indian and North American music is not in a foreign language. By the way I'm British and worked in the music industry before emigrating to Holland.

 

[Dubversion]

It does seem than many of the posters do not belong to the "main stream"
of the music listnening public in Britain.

always a slightly dodgy tack - make a broad generalisation, and when it's widely contradicted, conclude that the people responding aren't typical.

 

[northernhord]

I have that one in my collection.....It's an old album though, must have had it 10 years or so.

This is about English people and foreign music isnt it, not when I made the purchase of the cd

 

[ramjamclub]

always a slightly dodgy tack - make a broad generalisation, and when it's widely contradicted, conclude that the people responding aren't typical.

Not really. If everyone is mainstream the why is not reflected it the uk charts?

 

[Idaho]

Music in non-english languages is always going to be a small part of the music sales in the UK simply because the english language music industry is so huge. There are so many promotors and labels and artists in the UK, and even more so in the US, that the vast bulk of available music will be in english.

Saying that there are plenty of people who are interested in hearing and buying music from other parts of the world and in different languages. Personally I like to understand the lyrics, but that doesn't stop me having a fair amount of non-english language music. But even those... hmm.. perhaps 15 albums are dwarfed by the 100s in english.

Does that make us all closet racists and xenophobes? Well if you want to come to that conclusion then fill your boots, I don't think it'll get you anywhere.

 

[Dubversion]

Not really. If everyone is mainstream the why is not reflected it the uk charts?

as someone who's worked in the music industry, i'm sure you're as aware as i am how little the charts reflect national tastes, especially these days when chart placings involve much lower sales than previously.

 

[subversplat]

All you have to do is work in a high street music shop for a few weeks and you'll find that "The UK Charts" demographic is made up of either 11 to 16 year olds or 65+ year olds (probably buying presents for the 11 to 16 year olds )

Real people don't buy singles. A more accurate representation would be the album chart I suppose.

 

[Dubversion]

as has been said numerous times, of course there's more Anglophone music in the UK - firstly it's anglophone itself, secondly it's dominant by sheer volume, thirdly, culturally obviously most countries will look to themselves and their main cultural counterparts (in our case, the US) first.

This does not equate an antipathy towards non-anglophone music in any sense.

 

[billy_bob]

the majority of my music is probably japanese

well over 50% i'd guess

Fuck me, really?

 

[Structaural]

Not really. If everyone is mainstream the why is not reflected it the uk charts?

I always thought the charts reflected the buying habits of those who purchase music from Woolworths...

 

[Shippou-Sensei]

Fuck me, really?

actully what do you count it as if it's a japanese song sung in bad english?

 

[billy_bob]

actully what do you count it as if it's a japanese song sung in bad english?

"ingurisu popuzu"?

(I'm doing that phoenetically, forgive mistakes....)

 

[Dhimmi]

reply to Dhimmi's post: West Indian and North American music is not in a foreign language. By the way I'm British and worked in the music industry before emigrating to Holland.

Well I was replying to the assertion of superiority over anything foreign.
Glad to hear I can keep thinking of the Dutch as smart though.

 

[Bazza]

Have to disagree with you there Bazza I think that this is a perception created by the fact that music in English is more widely explored, promoted, and produced.....I mean there is a lot of crap stuff sung in English but just because of production and distribution it can become popular iyswim..

Take your point, I simply meant compared to languages like Dutch or Scandinavian languages.

Much like Italian lends itself to opera far better than English or any other language.

 

[Dubversion]

ramjamclub has gone a bit quiet - perhaps it's cos he's realised he's talking over-generalised arse

 

[Yetman]

I was listening to some japanese rap this morning, and I've got a lot of spanish and french stuff as well, but thats cos its good choons and the lyrics arent really important - I wouldnt buy a chinese folk song or something though.

 

[ramjamclub]

ramjamclub has gone a bit quiet - perhaps it's cos he's realised he's talking over-generalised arse

When i posed the question it was based on personal experiences and observations which have to include generalisations. The charts are by nature generalisations. All the posters who have commented and enjoy listening to foreign music I can only say "great to know you aren't a xenophobic"
That still leaves 59.999,900 of the UK left, minus lets say for argument 9 million of enthnic origin. So the masses who do buy music are the general public.
If you live in area with highly populated with people from different cultures then there is more chance of coming in contact with foreign music than if you live in the cotswolds for example.

 

[Dubversion]

So if you don't like "foreign music", you're automatically xenophobic?

Sounds like bollocks to me, ramjamclub.

 

[ramjamclub]

So if you don't like "foreign music", you're automatically xenophobic?

Sounds like bollocks to me, ramjamclub.

succinct as ever and missing the point, wake up

 

[Dubversion]

you said:

All the posters who have commented and enjoy listening to foreign music I can only say "great to know you aren't a xenophobic"

so by implication, those who DON'T enjoy foreign music are xenophobic.

Wake up yourself, mate.

 

[ramjamclub]

you said:



so by implication, those who DON'T enjoy foreign music are xenophobic.

Wake up yourself, mate.

= original question Ramjamclub
We went to a concert last night of Georgos Dallaras, a famous Greek singer.
The audience was 95% Dutch and 5% Greek expats. You can safely say the over 90% of the audience could not understand the lyrics of the songs.
We just love the sound of his voice, which is just amazing.
The British charts are hardly even blessed with a song in a foreign language.
Dutch charts have music from Spanish, Turkish, French, Italian, German and even Indonesian singers. I took some great songs in Spanish and Greek back to England and played them to family and friends. they could not appreciate them as it they were not in English. Does this mean that the British are xenophobic when it comes to music? It seems just a shame when there
is so much good music waiting to be dicovered if one could just get over the language barrier.
I must have more than 100 cd's in other languages than I understand but still appreciate.

dubversion...read above again
your implication is misconstrued

 

[Dubversion]

dubversion...read above again
your implication is misconstrued

Not from the post i quoted.

Perhaps you're being inconsistent then?

you're certainly making a series of sweeping and unsustainable generalisations.

 

[art of fact]

i listen foreign language music all the time... was listening to french hip hop and favela funk bizznizz earlier today.

 

[Stigmata]

- the Turkish Cliff Richard. He looks like a wizard.