Perennially obsessed with the machinations of influence, Forbes has set its sights on who holds sway over the music industry’s tastes and direction. The mag describes its criteria:
This is not meant to be a belated ‘best of’ list for 2006, but rather a roll-call of recording artists who’ve had an uncommon artistic or commercial impact on the market … To compile our list, we took into consideration U.S. music sales as measured by Nielsen SoundScan, press mentions going back to the beginning of 2006 as referenced in Factiva and feedback from knowledgeable figures in the industry. We also identified some artists whose modest sales belied the significant impact they had on the music scene, especially on their peers in the business.
For most tastemaking artists in The Year Of You, Forbes nominates:
The Roots
Gnarls Barkley
My Chemical Romance
TV On The Radio
Shakira
Dixie Chicks
Rascal Flats
Joanna Newsom
Solomon Burke
Justin Timberlake
Pop’s tastemakers, huh. Don’t they read the Voice?
 |
 |
%s1 / %s2
Wow. How does one respond to this? I could slag off on these guys but they did provide the qualifying statement. Are TV on the Radio really that strong of an influence? And if so, who let this happen??
Meh!
really surprised to see joanna newsom’s name on that list!
she deserves it though…
i was kind of surprised to see the roots on there. their last album was alright, but are they still a highly influential group? i definitely think there are bigger ‘tastemakers’ than them, especially since they are the only representative of rap or hip-hop on this list (gnarls and jt are their own genres).
Geez, let’s hope they don’t put a picture of Justin Timberlake riding a tricycle over one of the TVOTR guys…
I remember when Time named Trent Reznor one of the 25 most influential people in America. Almost ten years ago.
Come on now, how influential can Solomon Burke really be these days? That list is stupid.
the roots last album was fuckin’ awesome and really different and new.
ah Forbes magazne , the ULTIMATE destination for MUSIC FANS
shit list? i wouldn’t even wipe my ass with that rag!
If Justin Timberlake and My Chemical Romance are considered “tastemakers”, maybe I should be considered an accountant!!!