This is a teen's world

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Feb 23, 2000 Source: The Toronto Star Submitted By: brown99 Have a band and over 20? Good luck getting a record contract By Betsy Powell Toronto Star Entertainment Reporter During the mid '90s, Howard Melbourne and his wife Paige thought their time had come. They were signed to a recording contract, playing steady gigs and lighting up the dance charts with hits such as ``Before The Next Teardrop Falls'' and ``Just The Way You Like It.'' Then, the teen-pop tidal wave rolled through. ``Today, everybody wants (singers) between 9 and 13,'' laughs Howard, who was one-half of the rhythm 'n' blues duo M2P. ``Where does that leave us as artists in their 30s? You're old compared with what they're signing nowadays.'' Commercial music has always steered toward young turks. But, at least here in Canada - a market that has always had a giant soft spot for guitar-based rock - the appetite for adolescent pop has never been stronger. And that has spurred the music industry into an unprecedented signing spree of teenage and prepubescent talent, not just in pop, but in every genre. In its youth stable, record label Sony Music Canada has 14-year-old Edmonton country singer Adam Gregory and b4-4, a pop-harmonizing trio from Toronto. The company is also handling distribution for foul-mouthed teen rock quartet Kittie of London, Ont., while Newmarket rap/rock act Serial Joe, made up of high schoolers, is signed to the company's Epic label outside Canada. Neil Young's label, Vapor, has added Tegan & Sara, 19-year-old twins from Calgary, to its roster. Universal is backing pop trio SoulDecision. Def Jam/Mercury in the U.S. has just signed Ajax teen rock act SUM 41. Small wonder the Melbournes, who live in Huntsville, Ont., have put their own careers on hold to concentrate on daughters Sandra, 13, and Genia, 12. Performing as pop-styled Sangia, the kids are being courted by major record labels and are tapped to play for industry bigwigs next month at the Juno Awards - hosted by teen sensations and EMI Canada recording artists The Moffatts. This was all inevitable, really. The initial run of teen-targeted acts opened the ears of a younger, previously untapped group of music consumers, the 8- to 12-year-olds, which has, in turn, sparked interest in younger performers. ``The fact that I'm young means my music will appeal mostly to a young crowd,'' Lauren Taylor, a 16-year-old pop songstress from Montreal, says in the press material launching her debut CD, Let Me In Your Heart, on independent label Soft Cell Records. Nor does teen pop's renaissance show any signs of slowing down. A quick glance at the Top 10 albums in this week's SoundScan chart shows no fewer than seven dance/pop entries, from the compilations MuchMusic 2000 and Europop to the debut CD from U.K. act S Club 7. This, a full three years after the initial blow-up success of international pop acts ranging from the Spice Girls and Hanson to the Backstreet Boys. ``Trends - you have to (follow them),'' says Steve Hoffman, who manages such acts as rockers Tea Party and Matthew Good Band, and now b4-4. Sound familiar? It happened when record companies clamoured to find the next Jewel or Sarah McLachlan by singing countless female singer-songwriters. Before that, in the post Nirvana-era, a glut of alt-rock guitar bands landed record deals. And before that heavy-metal hair bands, and before that . . . well, you get the picture. ``That's what's selling, so that's what the labels have to sign,'' growls Tim Baker, buyer for retail chain Sunrise Records. ``The labels can't tolerate a boy-band gap.'' Others argue the teen-pop explosion seems bigger this time - compared to the eras of David Cassidy, Debbie Gibson and New Kids in the Block - ``because all of the vehicles we have to promote it: television, radio, all these things geared to young kids,'' says Michael Roth, who runs Sony's A&R (artist and repertoire) department. Indeed, the pop explosion was initially achieved without the help of radio, an advertising-driven industry which has always favoured formats geared to income-earning adults. But then changes to broadcast regulations ushered in the return of contemporary hit radio. For instance, Hits 103, Energy 108 and KISS 92 gave teen-oriented pop a place on the Toronto FM dial. Yet critics say the music industry is in danger of taking something and running it into the ground. ``They don't realize what they're doing is shortening the life of the genre,'' warns Sunrise's Baker. ``It took us years to get preteens and teens to buy music again. Now they're going to end up overexposing it . . . by shoving a glut of copycat acts down everyone's throat.'' That won't happen if labels keep their eye on quality, responds Roth, who signed b4-4 and Adam Gregory. Roth calls Gregory a ``little James Taylor,'' adding that if he was 26 ``I'd be just as interested. That's how good he is.'' He admits, though, while talent may matter, age seems to matter more to some scouts. ``There were a couple of other acts that were out there that I didn't sign and I didn't feel they were good enough, yet everybody was just using their age as the number-one positive,'' he said. ``I said, `You know what? That's not enough. It's got to be the music and the talent that's got to drive it . . .' To me, people get fixated on it sometimes. You know what? If all these young acts go bust, it'll be the last thing anybody signs anymore.'' So what does the current pop climate mean? For Laura Bartlett, president of Zomba Records, home of the Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears, it means going after artists with an ability to craft ``great songs'' aimed at Top 40 radio. ``We're answering what customers say they want,'' she says. For the raunchy-rock loving Baker, it means something else. ``For every action there's a reaction, the yin and the yang. As music gets softer and poppier, rock music is going to get harder, and that is a great thing.'' But in the short term, ``I wouldn't want to be a 23- or 25-year-old rocker in Canada with a band trying to get signed,'' says Larry LeBlanc, a veteran music writer for Billboard who is helping steer the Melbourne sisters to a recording contract. Pop ageism may even apply to a best-selling band of established 20-somethings. Signed by ex-Polygram Canada executive John Reid, Vancouver's Matthew Good Band and manager Hoffman figured they were a shoo-in for a U.S. deal when Reid left for a top job with Def Jam/Mercury. Instead, Reid signed SUM 41, the Toronto teen-pop trio. William ``Skinny'' Tenn, a self-described rock guy now managing Tegan and Sara, suggests it's inevitable the popularity of teenage acts will make it tougher for anyone else vying for commercial exposure. ``I saw a great band last week, but I felt exasperated at the idea of trying to sell this band . . . and they were really good,'' he says. ``It's sad because basically we all get better at what we do the more we do it.'' Hoffman, however, sees a silver lining for future generations in the rock brigade. ``I think it's very important to have the Backstreet Boys and Spice Girls. It's training wheels for the youth,'' he says. ``The more enthusiastic fans are, the better, and the more obsessed they are about a group . . . it's better for the industry, it'll translate to rock bands. No 8-year-old is going to wake up one more morning and say `You know, I'm a big Nine Inch Nails fan.' They need to learn.'' Nothing would please Howard Melbourne more than if young listeners use Sangia as their ``training wheels,'' even at the expense of his own recording career. ``For us, any success that the girls would gain, would be because of what my wife and I have put into them. For us, that's enough. Being on the stage, in the lights, is not something we really yearn for . . . for us. Let the kids have it. ``It's like the grandparents who never got to university or finished high school - they made sure you did.'' Comment on this item. Recent Comments Submitted by: geroin9l Submitted by: nikelir Submitted by: marvilkg Submitted by: David Submitted by: James Submitted by: Carol Clark Submitted by: Kelly Submitted by: Shawn Submitted by: Mark Submitted by: Kevin Shen Click here to see more comments. Comment on this item. Next Item: Grammy's Kids Are Already The Winners Prev Item: Grammy's sell-out is music fans' loss