I've been trying to figure something out. What does it take for a UK band to break the US? Is there a secret formula?
There's no doubt about it. Some of the world's greatest musicians and bands have hailed from that little island called England. From the days of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles, British music has come a long way over the years and has come to produce the likes of Oasis, Coldplay, James Blunt, Corinne Bailey-Rae, Lily Allen, Radiohead and of course, most recently the girl-of-the-moment Amy Winehouse. On one hand, hindsight is a wonderful thing but no one can honestly tell me that they 100% believed that Amy would come to the US and find more success here than she does back home. After all, even Amy had her doubts. On the other hand, when Robbie Williams (the UK's golden-boy) signed his record-breaking $80 million record deal to 'conquer America'- he came, he saw, and got sent back packing!
So what's the secret to success in the US? In my mind- there is no one thing that guarantees you success out here. Instead, it is more to do with having the perfect mix. Just the right amount of everything. Quality counts and attitude sells but having just one of the two is not enough. You need both. Like any simple math equation, the more you have of each - then the bigger the result. It works too. Look at Winehouse, she has both quality and attitude in abundance and she's the biggest artist in the US right now (currently staring at me from the covers of Rolling Stone and SPIN Magazine). Simple as that! Right now, the jury is still out on a whole bunch of artists including Paolo Nutini, M.I.A, Dizzee Rascal, Arctic Monkeys, Razorlight and Bloc Party. All these musicians have massive profiles in the UK regularly playing to audiences of over 30,000. They have massive fan bases. They sell tens of thousands of records and are hailed by some of the most respected magazines and publications the world over. However, one thing that all the acts, I just mentioned, have in common is that they are all still trying to kick the door even slightly ajar here in the US of A.