Mainstream is a term that is not part of the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ), although it is often used in our language. The word belongs to the English language and can be translated as “mainstream.”
Mainstream is mentioned as the predominant or most popular trend in a certain area. Mass culture and the entertainment industry are also called mainstream, as opposed to underground .
Mainstream music , for example, is that which is usually heard on radio stations and TV . These are genres and styles that adapt to the preferences of the majority of the population and, therefore, are easy to market. That is why mainstream artists have the support of record companies, since they generate a product for mass consumption.
A pop singer with catchy songs and an aesthetic considered attractive is likely to become a mainstream figure. On the other hand, a death metal band will not be part of the mainstream because their songs , due to their characteristics, are not broadcast in the main media and do not reach millions of listeners.
Sometimes an underground artist ends up becoming a mainstream artist. This may be because he modified his style or because society changed and, for some reason, he began to consume another type of music, previously chosen by a minority.
Beyond music , the notion of mainstream also appears in cinema, theater and other branches of culture. The idea is always associated with massiveness .
In addition to all of the above, we cannot ignore the existence of what is known as mainstream media. This is a term used to refer to the main media of a place. Thus, for example, if we talk about the mainstream media in Spain we can establish that among them are from the newspaper “El País” to the television network La 1 of RTVE through the radio network SER.
At an international level, mainstream media includes the newspaper “The New York Times”, the CBS television network, the Associated Press news agency and even the CNN television channel.
Likewise, we cannot forget the mainstream concept of gender. This is synonymous with transversality and it is a concept that has been created recently to establish the need to incorporate the gender perspective into the lines of work of the different public powers. That is to say, among other things, it is committed to the fact that equality between men and women is a reality at all levels of society.
Precisely for this reason, different initiatives are being carried out to achieve the aforementioned objective. This would be the case, for example, of the initiative developed by the UN whose main ambassador is the British actress Emma Watson, who has been working for years to promote this aforementioned equality.