Music

From my first day in Italy, I have noticed a common trend, Italians listen to a lot of American music. I have heard American songs in stores, commercials, and bars. The funny thing about the bars is that even the Italians get excited when Journey blares over the speakers. They know all the words and are just as happy as the Penn Staters.

To understand this better, I looked at Italy's top music as of right now. Check out the list for yourself, http://top40-charts.com/chart.php?cid=18. While I have not heard of the number one song, Madonna and Justin Timberlake are number two, followed closely by artists like Kanye, OneRepublic, and Sara Barielles. How come Italians prefer our music over their own?

I had not necessarily considered what kind of music I expected to hear here. I only gave it casual thought and considered Frank Sinatra, which in and of itself is amusing because he too was American. As an American, why do I have the right to assume that my music is better? And why are Italians buying it also?

As a comparison, I checked out some of their original top music. If you would like to do so, click on any of these links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbM72JEqfJ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZBCBDlGE0Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORDWGRlVLJE

Italy's top music is a mix of songs in many languages, a number in English. Could you imagine teens listening to music in Italian in America? Why are Italians picking up our music and we are not doing the same? I try to think about music as being universal, but for an Italian to gain popularity in America, he would have to translate his songs. Why are American artists above this?