Redefining Terminology

A few months ago, a singer named Gotye was brought to my attention. He is from Australia and has some music that I really enjoy. You may have heard his most popular song in the US:

The new lab I work in is really big on playing music. It's a huge difference from previous labs I've worked in where most people frown on noise. The major difference here is that the majority of the lab is younger people and they are all American. It makes a difference, I promise.

Anyhoo, I've become an avid Pandora user in the past several months. Whenever I hear a new band, I type in their name in the Search engine and listen to their "station". It's a great way to get introduced to other bands I may not come across otherwise. Turns out my music of choice is Indie.  I've been listening to the Gotye station off and on for months now and I really like them. 

Yesterday I was driving to work listening to the radio (I am about to max out my data usage for the month on my phone so I wasn't using Pandora).  The morning show DJ I used to listen to every day came on after playing the Gotye song above.  He said he was sure they would be a one hit wonder.  I don't know why, but that statement really struck me wrong.  I love both of Gotye's albums.  Who is he to decide what music we like?  I almost felt like he was damning the singer in the area by not recommending anyone check out the rest of his albums.  Then he goes on to say lots of groups do good in other countries, but never take off in the US. 

But then I realized this guy does mainstream radio.  He's probably right in the sense that the rest of Gotye's music may not be popular on radio stations.  They play the same 20 songs over and over again, which doesn't leave much room for new music.  So I decided "one hit wonder" needs a new definition.  I think it needs to specifically relate to mainstream pop music.  Gotye is already popular in the US.  He has performed in many big name shows, selling some out to the point they need to be moved to larger venues. 

Hurrumph!