Interesting report on the lack of a "British Invasion" in the US rock scene. One of the side issues mentioned within the piece details the dominance of a few large media outlets within the industry. Exposure to new and varied sources of music is increasingly rare - as nearly all stations air the same miasma of classic rock, rap/metal, and slick pop. American music tastes are effectively being cloned on a mass scale, ensuring that all pre-teens listen to Brittany, effeminate boys dancing like robots, or golden blondes shaking their big booty. Even "rebellious" rock & roll is machine crafted by indistinguishable nu-metal acts, pimp-rolling rappers, and hair band reprise acts like Creed and Nickelback.

What is not understood is that most popular music is never very good. Anything designed to appeal to the broadest of tastes in a mass market must appeal to the lowest common denominator. Since most music outlets are controlled by the corporate oligarchs, the American listening public is assaulted from all angles a steady stream of bands low on talent. For every Limp Bizkit there are hundreds of never heard of bands making bolder statements. For every caterwauling Dave Matthews there is a fleet fingered guitar god strumming finer tunes on love, life, and loss. For every booty shaking Shakira there are countless others gettin' jiggy wit it. But the majority of us will remain ignorant of their existence as long as we continue to accept the state of music as it is.