# So how big is Ani Difranco? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 12, 2003, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229 "2003-04-12T08:12:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Short\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Short\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/1 "2003-04-12T08:12:11Z")
I’ve been wondering this for a while. Here in Europe, Ani Difranco’s not very well known (I know maybe six or so people who know her), but her albums are available at most record stores and I’ve seen her live here, so it’s not like she’s completely unknown. My question is: how ‘big’ is she in the States, compared to other singers like, say, Tori Amos or (shudder) Sheryl Crow? ---
**Author:** ![Michael\_Ellis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Michael\_Ellis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael_Ellis)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/2 "2003-04-12T10:47:36Z")
Who? ---
**Author:** ![Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aslan_of_Narnia)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/3 "2003-04-12T10:49:50Z")
This is the first time I’ve heard of her. ---
**Author:** ![Short\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Short\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Short_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/4 "2003-04-12T10:54:49Z")
Hm. Interesting. Well, there have been some threads about her in the previous months, so I’m guessing some people here have heard about her. And people have assured me that she’s a lot better known in America than in Europe. :s ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/5 "2003-04-12T10:59:11Z")
I’ve heard of her, she seems to be popular among those who like “alternagirl”-kinda singers in the Tori Amos vein, at least among the people I know. ---
**Author:** ![Severian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@Severian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Severian)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/6 "2003-04-12T11:12:50Z")
Being a Minnesota native, she has some name recognition with me. However, once you get outside the immediate circle of fans she’s not as big as Tori Amos or Sheryl Crow. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/7 "2003-04-12T11:30:08Z")
She is not even in the same ballpark as Tori or Sheryl as far as popularity goes, but I think she used to be pretty hot. Haven’t seen her in a while so can’t really say now. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/8 "2003-04-12T12:24:06Z")
Yeah, not at all. She seems to inhabit the alt-girl somewhat political feminist niche. And it’s not a widely popular one. Sort of a female Billy Bragg. ---
**Author:** ![starman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@starman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starman)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/9 "2003-04-12T13:37:01Z")
Ani Difranco is a bit more popular here in Aus, judging by your responses. She certainly gets fairly regular airtime on at leas one major radio station (Triple J). ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/10 "2003-04-12T14:43:52Z")
She’s kind of a fringe figure. She handles her own production and distribution, and is the very model for how a musician can do this and make a decent living without label representation or significant chart action. She’s not in Sheryl Crow’s ballpark, but she is in John Prine’s, Sleater-Kinney’s and Christine Lavin’s. Compare her career to, say, any former Spice Girl’s and then tell me you can dismiss her career path. (Not that anyone actually said that…) ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/11 "2003-04-12T15:07:20Z")
She gets little or no mainstream airplay in Philadelphia. She is lionized on on the University of Pennsylvania radio station, WXPN. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/12 "2003-04-12T15:14:15Z")
She looks bigger on stage on in her platform heels or big shoes, but she’s actually pretty tiny 5’1"- or 5’2" in socks. > [@](#): > > Her own office at the label, which has sold more than two million of her records, is smallish, and at any rate didn’t have any chairs at the time of our interview. The bounce is exaggerated by the thick rubber soles of her platform boots, which honestly have a good way to go if they’re going to make her appear tall. The first surprise about Ani DiFranco is that she’s so damned little. Sure, her guitar looks big in her sinewy arms, but stages have a way of making people seem bigger, especially when commanded by a strong presence such as hers. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/13 "2003-04-12T15:19:36Z")
I’ve met her. She’s about shoulder height. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/14 "2003-04-12T16:02:34Z")
Did she do the ‘I Kissed a Girl’ song that got some radio play a few years back? If not, I never heard of her until I met my ex-wife, who was a big fan of hers. I guess that should have been some kind of warning sign. ---
**Author:** ![Profane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47774/32.png) [@Profane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Profane)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/15 "2003-04-12T16:13:36Z")
No, that was Jill Sobule. ---
**Author:** ![moi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@moi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moi)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/16 "2003-04-12T17:05:30Z")
I would place them, in order of “name recognition,” as Sheryl Crow Tori Amos Ani Difranco I’m familiar with Ani (own some albums, seen her live, etc) and expect that people who listen to college radio stations are also familiar with her. She does not receive airplay on mainstream radio stations or even conventional alternative commercial stations. I expect, from personal experience, that she is, however “bigger” in the states than in Europe. I saw her play in London and most of the people around me were American college students abroad, rather than Brits. ---
**Author:** ![that\_darn\_cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/59ef9b/32.png) [@that\_darn\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/that_darn_cat)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/17 "2003-04-12T18:35:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by moi \* > I’m familiar with Ani (own some albums, seen her live, etc) snip That’s putting it mildly… She’s pretty big if your into folky altenative music, but she doesn’t get any commercial airplay. She recently toured whith my favorite artist, the even more obscure [Hamell on Trial](http://www.hamellontrial.com/) . She’s pretty cool if you like the femist rocker type. (And I do.) ---
**Author:** ![moi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@moi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moi)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/18 "2003-04-12T19:34:37Z")
Be gone, thread-stalker! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![that\_darn\_cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/59ef9b/32.png) [@that\_darn\_cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/that_darn_cat)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/19 "2003-04-12T21:05:15Z")
- Every breath you take/ Every move you make/ I’ll be watching you…\* 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2003, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229/20 "2003-04-13T01:07:15Z")
I am familiar with Ani DiFranco, own several of her albums, and have seen her in concert (fantastic show!) I agree that she is not “popular”, but that in no way means she is not talented or unheard of. Her songs are very well written, she is musically sound, and she has grown considerably in the production aspect over the years. I was one of the few men at her show at the U of Delaware a few years ago, as she tends to draw the ladies at a ratio of, I’d guess, 80/20. My wife (girlfriend at the time) got me tickets to the show, she had never heard of her, and we made a long weekend out of it. After the show, I wanted a poster, and she volunteered to stand in line for me. As she was getting the poster, a crowd had grown behind her, and she had a hard time working back through the crowd. She started saying “Excuse me…excuse me…coming out…coming out…” when a girl (17, 18 maybe) tapped her on the shoulder and said “I’d say something else to this crowd, if I were you, unless you really mean it.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-big-is-ani-difranco/168229.md?page=2)