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Alternative goes mainstream
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September 10, 1996: 1:43 p.m. ET
Music that grew out of twenty-something angst has now hit the big time
From Correspondent Fred Katayama
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) -- The guitar-heavy, garage-band sounds of alternative music have traditionally captured the hearts of teens and twenty-somethings.
But now, what began on the fringe has worked its way to the mainstream. Ever since baby boomers caught on to the craze, alternative has grown and grown.
As a result, what was once relegated to garages and dive bars has grown into a massive business. Alternative recordings now account for a fifth of all album revenues.
SoundScan says sales rose 25 percent to $49 million in the first half of 1996.
Radio stations are either switching to alternative formats, or adding it to the mix, like New York's WNEW. (QuickTime movie, 1.1MB)
"We've been able to extend our demographics a little younger to add some of the 20-plus generation into the mix," WNEW operations manager Steve Young said. "Our ratings are up, and the revenues have increased somewhere between $1 and $2 million a year."
Interep Radio president Stewart Yaguda said the number of alternative radio stations in the U.S. have quadrupled since 1993.
"It's been growing. There's no signs of it slowing down. It's getting stronger and stronger," he said.
Alternative has become a big enough deal that even Wall Street has taken notice. Some big investment banks are investing millions of dollars in new record labels featuring alternative sounds. Wasserstein Perella, for example, invested $20 million in the Red Ant label.
"It has really become the mainstream today, so we view alternative as one of the leading growth areas in the music sector," said Townsend Ziebold, a managing director with Wasserstein Perella.
And Smashing Pumpkins' sweep of the recent MTV video music awards, combined with the growing gospel of angst, might just mean more money for music's new mainstream.
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