The article below is credited to Moneyweek Magazine and the 2nd ulr link to the Economist

Soul music is enjoying a revival, says The Economist’s Prosperoblog. British artists such as Amy Winehouse and Adele have had huge international hits with modern variations of soul,while in America, the home of the genre, old soul labels are backin business. “It is easy to understand” this resurgent popularity.
In Britain, audiences face public spending cuts and a sluggisheconomy, while “two wars, a recession and rising educationcosts” have taken their toll on Americans. No wonder listeners are shunning “shrink-wrapped pop” in favour of grittier songs.
Original soul grew out of the blues, R&B and African-American church music and is “inextricably linked to America’s brutal history of slavery and racism”. Yet unlike the more doleful country
music, “soul tends to convey stories of shattered dreams and lost love with a more robust up beat”. It’s “about having a good time despite the hard times”. So it makes sense that in a restless, post-
Arab-Spring, post-Occupy world, soul may be the new punk.

Full economist article here
http://www.economist.com/blogs/prosp...urn-soul-music