So. Something occurred to me. Do musical artists actually actively try to "go mainstream"? Like, do they sit around and discuss amongst themselves, "We've got a pretty cool thing going, and our fans love it, but we should really dumb down our music so we can get more radio play and get more fans?"
If they do decide to try to "go mainstream," do they think it'll actually work? It seems like it almost never does. There are a handful of success stories of bands that widened their appeal to achieve mainstream success (e.g., Genesis, Rush), but it seems like the majority do not. KC didn't do great trying to play pop music, nor did ELP, Camel, or Renaissance. A few stragglers got lucky in the 80s, but most everything else was "meh".
This phenomenon isn't unique to progressive rock, either. I saw it a lot in punk/hardcore in the 90s. Bands with a unique sound and a decent fanbase (but not necessarily enough to live off of) would jump to a major label, then produce a boring rock album with no character. And then they face the harsh realities of being a yet another failed investment for the music industry.
I get for some bands/artists, it's an evolution of their sound .. trying new things, etc. But for others, it seems like an attempt to "cash in." But it seems like it rarely actually succeeds. So why do they do it?
Discuss.
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