LONDON (
Reuters)
Forget manufactured pop -- after suffering a surfeit of Reality TV shows that propelled instantly forgettable stars into the charts, music fans have had enough. And so has the record industry.
Durability is the new buzzword as the music business hands out its annual awards after a buoyant year.
"There is a massive appetite for artistic bands like Radiohead, Coldplay and Franz Ferdinand that the industry has spent time investing in," said Matt Phillips of the British Phonographic Industry umbrella group.
"We have a solid base of bands coming through that have durability," he added.
That is reflected in the shortlist for Wednesday's Brit Awards -- Scottish rockers Franz Ferdinand are leading the field with five nominations for the industry's premier prizes.
Pony-tailed record executives are masters of hype, talking up every new band as the new Beatles.
But the latest sales figures show there are grounds for optimism in the world's third largest music market after the United States and Japan.
The British are the world's biggest music consumers per capita and album sales rose 2.3 percent in 2004.
"That is the highest ever total for album sales which provide 95 percent of revenue. The industry is in good health," Phillips said.
That, however, does not reflect the global scene.
The international music industry blames illicit online file-trading for a dramatic fall-off in worldwide sales over the last several years.
But, despite all the fears about piracy, music critics believe executives have plenty to smile about at the Brits, their annual orgy of self-congratulation.
"The music business has many problems to face in terms of income and revenue streams. But creatively it seems to be buzzing," said Daily Telegraph music critic Neil McCormick.
It would be great, he said, to see another British invasion of the U.S. charts to match the glory days of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
"We are starting to see a wave of groups that will last," he told Reuters. "The most successful bands have been Coldplay, The Darkness and Franz Ferdinand and there is certainly nothing manufactured about them.
"It was not a good year for manufactured bands. Record companies have woken up to the fact they cannot create bands that young people will tap into."
Gareth Grundy, deputy editor of music magazine "Q," was equally upbeat.
"There are bands that are in for the long haul like Keane and Franz Ferdinand. Coldplay could be of the same stature as REM -- a proper global force," he said.
"What is selling in Britain is what is good," he added. "That is hugely encouraging. Right now we are in a very healthy place -- I don't see bands as interesting or as original as Franz Ferdinand, Muse or the Libertines coming out of America."
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