Mainstream music is lacking something...

[The_Lost_King]

I am going to be comparing mainstream music to my favorite Singer Gavin Dunne(our very own Miracle of Sound) a lot.

So I was thinking about music earlier today and why I only like so few mainstream songs and none of those half as much as some videogame music and Gavin Dunne's.

Mainstream music almost never has meaning. It is mostly just a story of how a guy banged a girl or something. It just doesn't have the deepness of Gavin's music. In all his of his songs there is a theme. In Joker's Song it was about how The Joker and Batman were so similar yet different and how the Joker wanted to make the Bat like himself. New Black Gold was about the issue of what the price of augmentation was.

The only Mainstream music that I like is the fun songs. You know like Party Rock, Sexy and I Know it. Mindless fun songs like that and still Gavin does better fun songs than them. Maybe along with it's meaning the music has also lost it's soul. It seems like so many singers are in it for the money, not the music.

Well that's my two cents. feel free to agree or disagree with me

ps. and Gavin, thank you so much for making such great music.

 

[Vault101]

I think people underestimate "mainstream" music

I mean the video...XD....I dont know why but its awsome

of coarse my definition of "mainstream" music is if it gets in the charts OR is very popular...mabye "pop" and "mainstream" are slightly different

snip.

I think you SERIOUSLY need to broaden your music horizons

 

[The-Traveling-Bard]

I am going to be comparing mainstream music to my favorite Singer Gavin Dunne(our very own Miracle of Sound) a lot.

So I was thinking about music earlier today and why I only like so few mainstream songs and none of those half as much as some videogame music and Gavin Dunne's.

Mainstream music almost never has meaning. It is mostly just a story of how a guy banged a girl or something. It just doesn't have the deepness of Gavin's music. In all his of his songs there is a theme. In Joker's Song it was about how The Joker and Batman were so similar yet different and how the Joker wanted to make the Bat like himself. New Black Gold was about the issue of what the price of augmentation was.

The only Mainstream music that I like is the fun songs. You know like Party Rock, Sexy and I Know it. Mindless fun songs like that and still Gavin does better fun songs than them. Maybe along with it's meaning the music has also lost it's soul. It seems like so many singers are in it for the money, not the music.

Well that's my two cents. feel free to agree or disagree with me

ps. and Gavin, thank you so much for making such great music.

I don't think LMFAO ( I think those are the guys that do sexy and I know it) are mainstream.. are they? I never hear about them. They're popular in clubs. It's club music. That's it.

Anyways it's because they want something to relate these days. Not everyone is going to relate to Marilyn Manson music, because most people are too stupid to understand the metaphors, and symbolism. (I am talking about his older work.. when he was in his prime) People today seem like they don't want to be challenged with deep thinking, or be required to think.

Let's pick something more modern. Look what happened to Black Veil Brides. There's a guy with deep meaning, good symbolism, good song writing. But due to society that type of character isn't accepted anymore.


Now I will admit.. BvB was complete bullshit compared to their second, and I think they're still trying to find their sound. It doesn't help that their fanbase is complete twats, and idiots. So there's the problem with band wagon hate, and I even found myself hating BvB when they first came out, but after I saw an interview with Andy Sixx. I was like..


"HOLY SHIT. THIS GUY IS INSANELY SMART, AND CLEVER!"

I think Andy is still finding himself as an artist, and it's too bad that his first album will always be his stigma. If you see his evolution throughout his career you can tell he's gotten a lot better, and the make up is more.. Rock Star than... childish? I don't know how to describe it.

I ashamed to be a fan of their music, because majority of his fans are complete fucking morons, and they make me hate BvB.

 

[thesilentman]

I am going to be comparing mainstream music to my favorite Singer Gavin Dunne(our very own Miracle of Sound) a lot.

So I was thinking about music earlier today and why I only like so few mainstream songs and none of those half as much as some videogame music and Gavin Dunne's.

Mainstream music almost never has meaning. It is mostly just a story of how a guy banged a girl or something. It just doesn't have the deepness of Gavin's music. In all his of his songs there is a theme. In Joker's Song it was about how The Joker and Batman were so similar yet different and how the Joker wanted to make the Bat like himself. New Black Gold was about the issue of what the price of augmentation was.

The only Mainstream music that I like is the fun songs. You know like Party Rock, Sexy and I Know it. Mindless fun songs like that and still Gavin does better fun songs than them. Maybe along with it's meaning the music has also lost it's soul. It seems like so many singers are in it for the money, not the music.

Well that's my two cents. feel free to agree or disagree with me

ps. and Gavin, thank you so much for making such great music.

I sort of disagree. There are themes in mainstream music; some of which you said above. I usually don't care as I'm not a fan of music for that. I want my music to be crafted well and in a way that it makes me feel emotions.

It's why I've taken a shine to progressive rock, like Pink Floyd, Rush, and Dream Theater, for my music. The music makes me feel, not forget.

It's also maybe there because I'm a musician, and anything that isn't well made musically sends me into a rage.

 

[shrekfan246]

Granted, I don't know how "mainstream" those bands are anymore...

Pop music has always been shallow. There's a reason I don't... ever, actually, listen to the radio anymore.

 

[SlaveNumber23]

To me it feels as if a lot of popular music made these days is made with the intention of making money rather than making good music. A lot of 'artists' seem to be rewarded for just throwing down a simple beat, adding some synth noises and speaking/singing some half assed lyrics about getting drunk along with it. Then there are those people who have wonderful voices but sing the most uninspired, boring and stupid lyrics, example:

 

[Spambot 3000]

Deep meaning to lyrics I find is not always too important (at least when vocals are heavily used) although my real gripe with pop music is that it's so fucking repetitive. I only get pissed at the shallowness when all the damn songs performed by pop artists keeps falling into these categories:
- The Ke$ha category: 'PARTYING AND PARTYING YEAH LETS DO STUPID SHIT'
- The One Direction/Justin Bieber category: 'Girl, I love you and only you, even though I'm performing this for millions of other girls like you, it's you that I want! Buy our album!'
- The Lil Wayne category: 'BITCHES DEY LOVE ME RACKS ON RACKS ON RACKS ON RACKS'
- The Taylor Swift category (normally exclusive to her): 'That boy didn't go out with me, but I was his TRUE SOULMATE/you wronged me in a our relationship you big baddy etc.'
- The Nicki Minaj category (again normally exclusive to her): [Insert non-sensical, mindless drivel]

If you've sung about the same thing (that every other artist may or may not be singing about) at least 3 times, sing about SOMETHING ELSE GODDAMMIT.

 

[Vault101]

I don't think LMFAO ( I think those are the guys that do sexy and I know it) are mainstream.. are they? I never hear about them. They're popular in clubs. It's club music. That's it.
.

they had a hit in the charts...it was a simple catchy beat...pretty mainstream to me

not "rhinana" mainstream who is in the charts all the time..but mainstream in their style of music

 

[The-Traveling-Bard]

I don't think LMFAO ( I think those are the guys that do sexy and I know it) are mainstream.. are they? I never hear about them. They're popular in clubs. It's club music. That's it.
.

they had a hit in the charts...it was a simple catchy beat...pretty mainstream to me

not "rhinana" mainstream who is in the charts all the time..but mainstream in their style of music

Mmm, I guess if that's consider mainstream that it is.

The way I look at most club music. Yes it's popular, but it's seems to be only popular in clubs.
I don't know anyone personally who listens to LMFAO on their own. I am not denying people do, but I don't see many people listening to them outside clubs.

 

[Calibanbutcher]

Are these mainstream?

Spoiler: Mainstreamy music I guess

Eric Clapton AND the Rolling Stones. I don't think it gets much bigger than these guys. So are they "mainstream"?

If so, I will be damned but I don't think mainstream music is "lacking" something.

 

[PleaseDele]

snip

To be honest, I think it has a lot to do with the musical value of the songs themselves. You might not consider yourself a musical genius but even so, you still hear all the notes in a piece, although maybe on a subconscious level.
All these notes and layers that go unnoticed help to build tension and a movement in the music, which makes it alive.
I found most mainstream music these days hardly works with layers anymore, unless we're talking guys like Avicii or other DJ's pulling it off quite nicely. (Though that's not fair because the Swedes tend to be good @ mainstream music)

Let's look at Will.i.am. for a moment. I often hear him using a beat, maybe on or two instruments, and his gawdawful vocals, only two switch up to a whole unrelated section later, made up form the same core principles. No sense of flow.
So what does Gavin do? He uses layers upon layers upon layers. Not just his vocals, also music wise. Firing them off one after another he has a buildup before changing sections and therefor: FLOW.

To me it feels as if a lot of popular music made these days is made with the intention of making money rather than making good music. A lot of 'artists' seem to be rewarded for just throwing down a simple beat, adding some synth noises and speaking/singing some half assed lyrics about getting drunk along with it. Then there are those people who have wonderful voices but sing the most uninspired, boring and stupid lyrics, example:

The thing is, most mainstream music IS made to make money. Sure, some other hits might happen on accident, but most of them are made to make money. In the end people don't seem to mind the quality all too much. So writing mainstream music isn't about music, it's about making a consumable product. And thus we enter a whole different ballgame: MARKETING.

 

[Jaksteri]

If you want variety, no need to turn to just the underground circles. Other countries may just as well have what you need in their "Mainstream" music. Though there is the language barrier in way, but that didn't stop me listening songs in english before learning the language itself. If the sound is good, who gives a crap about the lyrics.

 

[Nouw]

And what's wrong with that? Seriously, I don't see what's so bad about mainstream music 'lacking' something when it's that lack of something that makes it unique and successful. It's music you turn on the radio and listen to without having to ponder its meaning or be enthralled by its complexity. I'd like mainstream to stay that way because if they don't do it, who will? I have enough music to satisfy my itch for something 'meaningful.' Pardon me if I'm taking this too critically but I just don't see what the issue is when mainstream music isn't the end all of music.

 

[Auron225]

It saddens me what counts as mainstream nowadays - if music was everything then I really should have been born a few decades earlier than I really was when Fleetwood Mac, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, etc were counted as mainstream.

 

[The-Traveling-Bard]

I don't think LMFAO ( I think those are the guys that do sexy and I know it) are mainstream.. are they? I never hear about them. They're popular in clubs. It's club music. That's it.
.

they had a hit in the charts...it was a simple catchy beat...pretty mainstream to me

not "rhinana" mainstream who is in the charts all the time..but mainstream in their style of music

Mmm, I guess if that's consider mainstream that it is.

The way I look at most club music. Yes it's popular, but it's seems to be only popular in clubs.
I don't know anyone personally who listens to LMFAO on their own. I am not denying people do, but I don't see many people listening to them outside clubs.

You clearly don't know many people, or are around many people then.
That sort of music is popular as fuck, and I've never been to a club.

*Shrugs* I honestly didn't know. I just see what I see. I never met anyone who owns a club-entertainer CD, or let alone ALL of their songs on itunes. But hey things might be different in your life. Club Music could be the Second Heaven in your community.

 

[DragonStorm247]

Mainstream music seems to focus more on lyrics than on actual melody. If you want lyrics, read poetry. If you want music, listen to music.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

It saddens me what counts as mainstream nowadays - if music was everything then I really should have been born a few decades earlier than I really was when Fleetwood Mac, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, etc were counted as mainstream.

You have no idea how hipster-y that sounds. From what I've gathered, those bands were considered mainstream back in the day because there was only a fraction of the amount of artists we have today, and many popular genres of music (metal, disco, techno, hip hop etc.) didn't even exist back then. And are you implying that the Beatles AREN'T counted as mainstream anymore?

Mainstream music's lack of meaning is what makes it the most accessible sort. That's why most ultra-popular songs either have nonsensical (LMFAO) or cliched (Nickelback) lyrics, because the most common denominator is what the majority can identify with. Not everyone seeks meaning in music. They just like it as a succession of noises that clicks with them and is pleasant to listen to.

 

[BeeGeenie]

Are these mainstream?

Spoiler: Mainstreamy music I guess

Eric Clapton AND the Rolling Stones. I don't think it gets much bigger than these guys. So are they "mainstream"?

If so, I will be damned but I don't think mainstream music is "lacking" something.

No, they're not mainstream, they're oldies. (I know, 1992 doesn't feel like oldies to me either) What he's talking about is modern pop music, not the classics.

There's a reason people still listen to those songs 20 and 40 years respectively after the fact.

I, for one, don't imagine people will still be listening to Bieber sing "baby baby baby oh" 30 years from now... well, maybe ironically, or tragic cat-ladies.

 

[Auron225]

It saddens me what counts as mainstream nowadays - if music was everything then I really should have been born a few decades earlier than I really was when Fleetwood Mac, The Beach Boys, The Beatles, etc were counted as mainstream.

You have no idea how hipster-y that sounds. From what I've gathered, those bands were considered mainstream back in the day because there was only a fraction of the amount of artists we have today, and many popular genres of music (metal, disco, techno, hip hop etc.) didn't even exist back then. And are you implying that the Beatles AREN'T counted as mainstream anymore?

Mainstream music's lack of meaning is what makes it the most accessible sort. That's why most ultra-popular songs either have nonsensical (LMFAO) or cliched (Nickelback) lyrics, because the most common denominator is what the majority can identify with. Not everyone seeks meaning in music. They just like it as a succession of noises that clicks with them and is pleasant to listen to.

All I'm saying is I like older music a heck of a lot more than all the genres you just named (I actually kinda despise them all) and wish that I could turn on the radio and hear stuff I like rather than things I don't. I do like modern music, just not mainstream stuff. I've heard a lot from the wide variety of artists we have today and concluded that in general I like those bands better. I couldn't give a shit whats mainstream and what isn't - it won't affect how much I like it.

And no; I'm SAYING the Beatles aren't counted as mainstream anymore. They would definitely be considered classic - but I don't hear them everywhere I go. I hear Lady Gaga, Rihanna, One Direction, Beyonce, Justin Bieber, etc everywhere I go. VERY rarely will I turn on the radio or tv and hear them - it's just about always modern stuff.

What I'm NOT saying is mainstream music should vanish from existence. I agree, people are free to listen to whatever they want to... including me, alright? I prefer music with meaning, otherwise something fun that isn't about drinking or sex.