Edit: I finished my other musical rant earlier than expected, and it likewise deals with Celtic Woman. Check it out here: http://ashley-ramblingsofageek.blogspot.com/Here is a musical rant I've slowly been working on for the past few weeks, and today I have finished it. This deals with how Ireland is promoting itself in the music industry in regards to PBS specials such as Celtic Woman and its rival Celtic Thunder.It appears that there are several ways for a musical group to get started. For Clannad, it was playing in their father/ brother-in-law’s pub. For Colbie Caillat, it was posting her songs on myspace and shooting to overnight fame. For Hayley Westenra, it was busking with her sister in New Zealand when she was a child. For Feist, it was starting as a Canadian indie pop artist and then shooting to fame when iPod used her song “ 1 2 3 4” for a commerical. It seems we love success stories, stories of those underdogs who strive to be famous and then unexpectedly become household names, remembered for years to come. Perhaps we love them because we often have the same aspirations and these humble beginnings tell us that it could happen to us. But what is that magic ingredient that shoots a person to fame? I say, there is none. Sometimes some groups pop up out of nowhere unexpectedly and take us by a storm, and then when other groups try to do the same thing they fail. This is currently happening to Irish shows that are trying to make a dent in the US by following the example of Celtic Woman’s fame.
As said elsewhere earlier, Irish show Celtic Woman (I refer to it as a show because of the lights, costumes, backgrounds, etc… that are not present for a normal musical group) shot to fame thanks to PBS using their original DVD performance for pledge drives back in 2005. Ever since then, PBS has solely promoted Celtic Woman, their CDs and DVDs, and then their live shows on their tours. Now Celtic Woman is quite a money-bringer for PBS, has they’ve worked with them for over four years and has no intention so far of letting them go. Because of PBS’s promotion, Celtic Woman’s CDs and DVDs have sold very well, placing number 1 on the US Billboard World charts on a few occasions though now they’re facing some competition from rival show Celtic Thunder. Needless to say, Celtic Woman has won a huge fanbase in the United States though not as much in Europe or Asia, thanks largely to the success of PBS. However, now that Ireland has such talent touring all over the world, other groups are eager for their piece of the pie of wealth and fame, and it is because of Celtic Woman that there is a trend occuring lately with PBS and Celtic music that has been growing and has me wondering what will come next.
Sometime in 2007, roughly around the same time, I learned that Celtic Woman was getting two male spin-offs, one of which was run by Celtic Woman’s original founder Sharon Browne and the other run by Celtic Woman’s manager Dave Kavanagh. The one run by Sharon Browne is Celtic Thunder, a “pop-ified” male version of Celtic Woman that sings mostly American pop music (which makes me wonder why it has the “Celtic” label though I could ask the same about Celtic Woman most of the time). Kavanagh’s show is called The High Kings, a group of four men singing traditional Irish ballads and using traditional instruments; High Kings has grown in popularity in Ireland thanks to its less “pop-ified” nature than Celtic Woman or Celtic Thunder, which I imagine sits better with the Irish than over here in America. Both of these spin-offs have been sponsered by PBS, and both have released their first recorded shows on CDs and DVDs, much like Celtic Woman has done. I believe Celtic Thunder is currently holding the #1 position on Billboard World Charts, which makes it a force to be reckoned with by Celtic Woman. While at first glance, it doesn’t seem surprising that the management of Celtic Woman is doing a few spin-offs to bring in more money, but what happens next was a bit surprising as non-Celtic Woman- affiliated parties are seeking their own fame via PBS.
Around the same time that Celtic Thunder and The High Kings were announced as PBS’ new moneymaking machines, Irish choral group Anuna announced that they were giving PBS a shot. In fall of 2007, they recorded a live show (I’m pretty sure it’s live, as the voices sound real and not fake like Celtic Woman, Celtic Thunder, and the High Kings) in Cleveland, Ohio and released their CD “Celtic Origins” and accompanying DVD, except Anuna took a different route. For one thing, Anuna is not a show and so they don’t need to promote themselves and go into a big theater and perform. On the contrary, probably also due to their partnership with Boarders (who almost exclusively sells their CDs and DVDs), they set dates for a few Boarders locations and send about four or so members to perform there. However, also because Anuna is not a show, it can still work independently of PBS and Boarders to release albums and DVDs. Their next CD “Sanctus” is due out soon hopefully, as is their DVD “Invocations of Ireland,” neither of which so far have been promoted by PBS or Boarders.
There are two other solo artists that are also using PBS to gain a foothold in America but not to the extent that the Celtic franchise has. Clannad singer Moya Brennan announced a few months ago she was doing the soundtrack for some upcoming PBS show about US foreign policy. She has never had much fame in the US, and this would be a good marketing way for her to set a foothold in the US. Former Celtic Woman Orla Fallon next year is recording a DVD with Jim Brickman which is (surprise, surprise) being done by PBS.
Not only are the Irish using PBS to gain audiences in the US, but apparently so are the Scots as well. A month ago, I learned that there is a new show being promoted on PBS called Highland Heartbeat. Basically, it is a Scottish version of Celtic Woman, though I’d consider it closer to Celtic Thunder music-wise. I watched a promotion for it recently and had to shake my head afterwards. I know very little about Scottish music, since I can’t stand the shrill sound of bagpipes and also because it is not as common as Irish music, but I was disappointed. It is basically singing a few pop songs by Scottish artists and then also giving traditional songs a pop-makeover. Then there were the lights, the horrendous costumes (and I thought Celtic Woman’s costume designer was bad), and then the general show atmosphere. It didn’t appeal at all to me, and I turned the video off before it was done.
You might be asking “why is Ireland selling its soul on PBS?” This is the reason. Irish, and now Scottish as well, music is seeking to gain audiences in the US and thus a big market of promotion, is following the example of Celtic Woman in an attempt to become famous as well. So, instead of focusing on remaining true to its musical roots, Ireland is focusing more on “what is marketable in the US? How can we twist it around to be more appealing to Americans?” As a result, the music has become fairly watered down and more pop-ish, with the shows being about lights, costumes, and choreographed movements that seem cliché after a while. Instead of quality, it has become more about quantity and how much money it can bring in. I read a blogpost by Anuna founding member Michael McGlynn who talked about something similar concerning Riverdance (I hate Riverdance, but that’s beside the point). He said he was proud to have been part of Riverdance back in the mid 90’s but also said that he does not like what it has turned into: something marketable, like plastic shamrocks, as he puts it. That is what Irish music is becoming: something to be watered-down and sold. Granted, not everyone wants to hear music like The Chieftains or Solas, but there is a way to market one’s music without giving up one’s soul. Anuna, I believe, has done it the best, trying new things but still maintaining the quality and beauty of their music. I cannot say the same for other Irish shows that are converging on the US. While I enjoy listening to them, I cannot help but think of the showiness of it all and be grieved that Ireland has decided to go the show business way to promote itself instead of relying on its excellent raw talent to go far.
I am currently working on another rant dealing with raw talent, so expect that one soon either here or on my other blog (see a few blog posts below for the link for my new blog).
