Is American Culture Being Overwhelmed By Foreign Cultures?

[St Leo]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I live in America. Everyday, I see gradual eradication of American culture by foreign cultures.

Yeah, kids these days just don't respect Totem Poles the way we did.

[Dr Strangelove]

Tell me about it St Leo! All of the best hunting grounds are gone! The rivers are no good for fishing, the herds of bison are no more. The forests, such as they are, are devoid of bear, and deer. How are we supposed to raise the kids in the old ways? No wonder they squander their lives away on firwe water.

Bury my heart at Wounded Knee.

[Velociryx]

Exactly right, Spiffor. French bands have a beautiful thing called "comparative advantage." They can make the kinds of music that American bands either can't or won't make (ie - French music). If there's a market for it, it will thrive *without* government intervention.

If there's no market for it or if there's a general state of ambivelence toward it....it won't (and didn't, prior to a federally mandated decree that it should).

Not a lot of mystery to it.

-=Vel=-

[Dis]

american culture is Jerry Springer

[Zylka]

******!

Originally posted by St Leo
I don't know about the rest of you, but I live in America. Everyday, I see gradual eradication of American culture by foreign cultures.

Yeah, kids these days just don't respect Totem Poles the way we did.

Was the term "AMERICA" coined by natives, there LEONS? I don't know if you have enough rolleye emoticons tucked away to respond - so please don't feel the need to

[Zylka]

Originally posted by Velociryx
Exactly right, Spiffor. French bands have a beautiful thing called "comparative advantage." They can make the kinds of music that American bands either can't or won't make (ie - French music). If there's a market for it, it will thrive *without* government intervention.

If there's no market for it or if there's a general state of ambivelence toward it....it won't (and didn't, prior to a federally mandated decree that it should).

Not a lot of mystery to it.

-=Vel=-

Interesting that this same bullsh*t goes on elsewhere. The federal radio laws CANCORD (or something) demand that 30% of all programming be of Canadian content. Even doing a radio show at the low level University station, we had to worry about this quota or risk legal action - Whose brainchild was this?!

Try mixing a techno show on Canadian staples. If I had complied, all of my "Max Graham" records would be worn polished by now

[DAVOUT]

Originally posted by paiktis22
to make a local TV program you need 100 euros.

To rent one from the US you need 10 euros.

Do the math, the chanels choose based on this primarily.



now the WHY american program is 10 euros?

beause the US has most of the mass media outlets. = unfair competition, remedy just around the corner


and of course this wouldnt be a problem if the reasons i explained didnt exist.


but mass culture producst will alwways be blunt and harmful and in order to have global "penetration" yopu need to be a mass cultureprogram.


it's a vicious circle really, so there isnt even a questionof what must be done

Australia is facing the same problem.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2985302.stm

[VetLegion]

Interesting that this same bullsh*t goes on elsewhere.

But interesting how it doesn't go on everywhere. Speaking from a country of mere 4.5 million (therefore much more "endangered" then either France or Canadia) I can testify that domestic music can do just fine without such restrictive measures.

The reason is simple. Although new thing by Kylie Minogue may be catchy, nothing can touch your soul like some poor thing screaming something in your native language

There are local stations here that air only/mostly homemade music because believe it or not that is what is in demand.

There is also one national frequency radio that airs only homemade music, and I am not sure but I think it is the most popular station countrywide. Most shopping centres and such have it permanently on. Son of the owner went to school with me, I know they are .. doing well to put it mildly

Spiffor's argument has some merit if it can be proven that most people buy what they randomly hear on the radio. I seriousely doubt it. I would rank recommendations from friends above that, and maybe few other things..

[Zylka]

That is exactly what needs to be understood, that if a local style is actually important to the culture - it will thrive. Forcing broadcast to be a certain percentage of homegrown talent not only promotes mediocrity, it's blatant censorship.

[HershOstropoler]

Originally posted by Spiffor

Not exactly. Radio stations played cheap tunes that they expected the people wanted to hear. The figures of the actual sales, now that the playing field has been evened (40% French music minimum on radio, 60% USUK maximum), show that the people didn't necessarily wanted to hear US music all day long.

I wonder, when this law was introduced, how was the radio business regulated? How many stations were licensed, how many are now?

[Bereta_Eder]

Originally posted by DAVOUT


Australia is facing the same problem.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/2985302.stm

read the thread, australia was my first example of that

greece isnt facing such a problem, but it doesnt hurt to look around.


for everybody interested in the matter discussed i cant recomend more highly hamelink's book: cultural autonomy (in the global communications society)

[Bereta_Eder]

and as i said before preexisting cultural proximity in key elements (such as language) increases the vulnerability of coutnries (hence australia but also others)

[Bereta_Eder]

Here's the first link I found

http://www.isbn.nu/0582283582

It is a real eye opener.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Velociryx
Exactly right, Spiffor. French bands have a beautiful thing called "comparative advantage." They can make the kinds of music that American bands either can't or won't make (ie - French music). If there's a market for it, it will thrive *without* government intervention.

Fact is, there is a market for it.

Maybe your analysis in terms of "pure and perfect competition" and things like that are unaware of a few things in the French radio :

1. The amount of radios is limited. To create a new radio, it is a bureacratic hell, as the Conseil de Surveillance de l'Audiovisuel (CSA) must first allow them and give them their frequency (9 months max.). As such many "spontaneous" university or associative radios simply do not exist because of the bureacratic hell. I agree that it sucks.

2. Some big radio stations are then extremely generalist, to be catch-all radios (Information, music, humour, all on the same station), some specialize in one form of music to corner a monopoly or semi-monopoly on this market. A few are old stations made for political propaganda and aren't listened to.

That's why commercial radios hold the music broadcasting scene in France. You cannot expect a competition to rise suddenly.

3. The problem with the music industry is that it rests for a big part on public passivity. As long as the music broadcasted on a station is good enough, the listeners don't strive for better, mainly because radio listeners aren't all music lovers (otherwise, how could you explain the success of the Spice Girls ? ).

That's why, even if there could have been radio stations specializing in French music (I don't know), nobody would have bothered looking for them, as long as their usual radio station aired tolerable music. Besides, in order to be profitable, such a radio would have to air well known French music, i.e the hits of the 60's and 70's.

The half assed and cheap music broadcasted on the radio becomes part of the everyday culture and socialization, to the point that the young generation, in 1994 when the law was passed, couldn't imagine to enjoy French music except for a very very few hits. This belief was extremely dangerous, as it theatened French music as a whole long term.

Curiously enough, the young generation in 2003 has no problems listening to Lorie or Priscilla (it is the same crap for pre-teenagers, but at least it is OUR crap )

4. You can believe all you want that demand will always meet supply. In the French radio scene, it was simply not the case. If it can help you feeling good, tell it is because of the problems by creating a new station / competitor (even though it has mostly to do with customer passivity). The law has evened the playfield. I went to see the specifics, and they're like it :

- radios which are emphasizing "musical heritage" must air 60% of French speaking tunes, including 10% of new products (among which old stars' new albums)

- radios specialized in "promoting new talents" must air 35% of French speaking tunes, including 25% of new products.

Since current French-speaking music is now more appreciated than English-speaking music, I guess the law has just helped demand to meet the supply. Yes, it may not be the best. Yes, it is sad that the obvious demand for other-language-tunes cannot meet a supply (a law for that would maybe be needed ? ).
But it's a good thing already that the flaws of the market concerning French music are gone. The Swiss are looking at our quotas with envy. I sure hope they copy the idea

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Zylka
Forcing broadcast to be a certain percentage of homegrown talent not only promotes mediocrity, it's blatant censorship.

The actual sales of music has nothing to do with its quality. Broadcasting companies exert their own form of censorship by conservatively choosing for "things that work", at the expense of new artists who aren't backed by a huge marketing machine such as Sony or Vivendi Universal.

In effect, broadcasting companies exert their own little form of censorship, and the law has fought against it, with some success :
Never had the French music scene been as good, diverse and dynamic that since the law is around. If the law has done one good thing, it is to promote quality

I wish the law would force radios to air new products in other languages too, that way we could here some quality from abroad.