Bruce, of course the public decides what it likes, but there's a world of difference between a particular, self-selecting portion of the public who wants to listen to, for instance, a Canadian singer songwriter of a certain vintage (!) and the public as a whole. The public as a whole is a bloody awful critic, because it nearly always gives the highest praise to the lowest common denominator, usually after being led by the nose by a tabloid press more interested in the colour of a singer's underpants than the quality of their product...

The three bestselling UK albums of 2007 were Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis and Mika. Fine if you like that sort of thing: personally, I don't, and I'm not gonna change my listening habits to fall into line with mainstream public taste. Not because I'm any better than people who like that sort of music, just because it doesn't float my boat and there is plenty of stuff out there that does.

I don't have to worry about pleasing audiences because I'm just a member of the audience. As an audience member I do hope that there will remain enough artists out there who are wilful enough to do their own thing rather than just give us what they or the multinational music & light entertainment industry think we all want...

By the way, I should add that I am a complete musical snob and I have far better taste than anybody else.

Cheers,

Nigel