It's much the same in the mainstream world. If there is a block of people who listen to whatever they are told is cool by Mtv and other mass media, then change what the media tells them is cool. Simple, yes?
It's not simple to change either group. If you have a way to influence the media at large, then hey, more power to ya.
I know that for myself, there came a point where I went through a bit of a paradigm shift in terms of what I considered to be the source of what was cool. It used to be whatever was Top 20 on Christian radio or got write-ups in CCM Magazine or whatever - I mean, I didn't
automatically like stuff because of that, but it was how I got exposed to the lion's share of new artists. The biggest thing that changed that for me was the Internet. That suddenly exposed me to the ability to try almost anything free of charge (thanks to my brother tipping me off about Napster in those early days), and it connected me with communities of people such as this one right here. Basically it had to do with a lot of folks saying, "Here, if you like this, you might want to try that", and sticking up for an underrated artist that they believed in. Which is now what I do.
It's a one person at a time sort of thing. It probably won't change the whole culture - I'm realistic about that. But the more of it we can "infect", the better.
