[cawlin]

I think CSOund's popularity with art projects and the elctoacoustic scene in general comes down to interface. CSound is great if you're supplying/inventing the interface or program to create the sounds/music.

Compare a CSound IDE to something like the Ableton Operator interface or even PureData as someone else mentioned. Very different (and both great for different approaches and people!). A lot of folks want flexibility in the sound by exploring an interface/instrument without having to come up with that interface/instrument themselves.