A few days ago, the UK's Co-Operative supermarket chain made the decision to play music only from unsigned artists. In what seemed like a positive step forward for the unsigned music community, was greeted by many negative comments from the staff of Co-op stores.

The negative response from staff has now forced the Co-operative to change its music policy again. Now, they are playing a mix of unsigned and signed artists.

The bosses of The Co-op brought this new idea of playing unsigned music in a way to help local artists and communities. They felt it was an innovative way to connect local music talent with listeners.

According to The Co-op, the move to play unsigned music was nothing to do with being a money saving exercise, but more of a way to promote local music talent.

A Co-op worker posted on Facebook saying:

"Think I need to invest in a pair of earplugs for my next shift, co-op radio is sooo bad!" Laura Polley posted on the Co-operative employees' Facebook page.

There were even reports the customers were complaining.

For what seemed like a breakthrough for unsigned artists, has ended up causing somewhat of a stir. The outcome being a compromise between famous and unsigned artists. Many unsigned musicians said they felt privileged to have their music played and saw it as a great idea. For artists who were members of PRS, this would also mean they'd get paid royalties every time their music aired.

This once again proves how hard it is for unsigned musicians to break through into the music scene. It seems people are scared or uncomfortable to listen to anything not considered 'normal'.

So it seems that people would rather not help their local musicians both financially and exposure wise. Communities seem more content in lining the pockets of huge rich record labels and famous music figures.

{jcomments on}