starwire wrote:Well, who's making AMV's? Not to stereotype, but young, middle/upper-middle class people, mostly between 15 and 30 I'd guess. Sure, lots of people are buying world music, jazz, and soulful R&B, but they're not us. There's a definite generational gap here, one that fades as people grow up and get exposed to new things, but it's definitely real.
You say not to stereotype, then you proceed to stereotype. Good going! I'll not deny that the demographics skew greatly in that direction, but that's no reason for this population to have noticibly indistinct musical taste.
One would hope that AMV creators, if they take their craft seriously, would be actively seeking new and and diverse music that inspires their video collage. To limit one's self only to familiar genre seems not only uncreative, but immature.
If you're only making these for yourself and your little circle of friends, by all means, stick with what you know and like. But, if you are submitting your video to exhibitions and contests where there are hundreds of other entries, you need to do something to differentiate your work from the crowd. Unique, high-quality music can be the thing that makes your video stand out!
One needs a spirit of adventure to find really good music. Explore those corners of the snooty independent record stores that you never think to look in. Go to a night club or all-ages dance hall and buy a CD from one of the bands playing there. Type random words into the search engine at MP3.com. Listen to the local college radio station to get ideas. Go to a foreign-language record store and pull something at random from the discount bin. Be ambitious with your music selections! 8)