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¤3¥2UNDERGROUND BECOMES¥1

         ¥2MAINSTREAM¥1¤1


In the  beginning of the  eighties the
rap entered the music scene.  A lot of
people hated it already from the start
but just as many  loved this new music
style.
  Now,  ten  years  later,  the market
seems to have come to maturity.  Still
some people  like rap,  but a lot more
has opened their eyes (and ears!)  for
the so called underground scene.

It already started in 1991 when groups
like  ¤2Nirvana¤1,  ¤2R.E.M.¤1,  ¤2Red Hot Chili
Peppers¤1  and ¤2Metallica¤1  made names for
themselves on a broad front.  They are
all dogged  working music groups  that
slowly have appropriated a  bigger and
bigger audience.
ð
  For them  music used  to be  a hobby
and  definitely  not  a way  of making
money.

¤4What  has  happened  is that  the line
between mainstream and the alternative
underground scene has been wiped out.¤1

Throughout  1992   it  continued  with
¤2Sugar¤1, ¤2Alice In Chains¤1 and some more.

Artistes like  ¤2Pearl Jam¤1, ¤2Sonic Youth¤1,
¤2Faith No More¤1,  ¤2Megadeth¤1  and  ¤2Jesus &
Mary Chain¤1  have become  more and more
famous during  the last two  years and
especially during 1992.

Labels as  alternative and underground
has  lost all  sence.  It became  real
absurd  when the  American Grammy jury
in  the  beginning  of  1992   awarded
¤2R.E.M.¤1 and their album; ¤5Out of time¤1 as
best  alternative record.  This  album
Ð
has now been sold in almost ten miljon
copies!  What is real music then?  The
alternative    has    simply    become
mainstream!

The  question  is  whether  this trend
will  continue,  and for  how long.  I
think that the above  mentioned groups
will stay at  the top eitherway, since
the market has  learned to  like their
music.  But will there be new ones?  I
do  think so,  but the  question is if
they will be just as popular as R.E.M.
and Nirvana.  We'll just  have to wait
and see!
Ð