Pop music: beginning to take a bad route?

[Vanguard_Ex]

Let me start by saying I'm not a fan of pop music. I've only noticed this because it's one of the genres of music that's near impossible to escape unless you live below sea level.
It's come to my attention lately that pop music seems to be taking a route in which some of its most popular artists are just taking tunes and/or lyrics from older songs and reworking them. Case in point this:

Spoiler

and this​

Spoiler

For the second one you should skip to 0:46 and you'll see what I mean when the chorus comes along.
Its quite weird really. I mean, remixing songs is one thing. But taking the tune from a 1992 Right Said Fred song and reworking it to a 2009 club song is just...odd.

You're probably wondering if I have a point now. Indeed I do; I find it almost quite annoying that some artists nowadays can be praised for 'making good songs' when they haven't really made a song in the same way I can't repaint a car and say I've made a new one. Especially when they get more praise than artists who actually write their own material from scratch.

Have any other Escapists noticed this ripping-off trend? I wouldn't be surprised if not, given the average music taste here.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

It fucking pisses me off when I'm at work (where the radio is played for the customers) and I recognize a song only for it to be a fucking sample in a pop song...

Exactly, it seems like bastardising old material might soon become a staple in pop music...

 

[Sronpop]

Its popular music for a reason, when enough people with bad taste come together they can achieve anything. Anyone rememeber crazy frog, awefull aweful music, yet it got to number one, because enough tastelest people 'liked' it.

But its amazing what can happen when people who have taste can make happen, Iron Maiden getting christmas number 1 anyone? Sure it was one of their worst songs but the sheer fact that metal even though it is never played on the radio can get the biggest hit of the year due to sheer organisation.

The fact is, everyone has different tastes. And people who have taste would rather listen to their own music personnally instead of hearing it bastardised on the radio. Let the idiots have their radio, I have my ipod and I have never been happier.

The the thing I hate the most is, in the uk there is a show called the uk top 40, and they do albums or songs or whatever. I watch it the odd time for the laugh. But its rediculous they claim to play all the songs, but when like Metallica or Slipknot get No.1 they completely skip it and play last weeks no.1 instead. Its retarded, and propaganda at some level. Some of them even play, 'Future hits'. Are you fucking kidding me! You know what songs are going to be in the chart before they are even released due to them being the 'It' band or it following the same money making formula as the last 'artist' that got to no.1. Its rediculous.

 

[Nemorov]

When done well, it can actually be quite interesting.

But it's not typically done well.

 

[Proteus214]

I've never been a fan of mainstream popular music of any era. It never has the kind of creativity or the kind of raw edginess that you see in indie and other genres. This only goes to further cement my opinion of popular music.

 

[Affero-Dolor]

I think it's annoying that they're doing it, however sampling old tunes has always happened, check out 'Under Pressure' by Queen and Bowie and then 'Ice Ice baby' by Vanilla Ice. It may just be that these new artists just really like the old songs and love to rework them. However if everyone did this we wouldn't get any new material.

There's a lot of acts out there that clearly aren't doing this though, and I think pop music is heading in an ok direction with people like the Kings of Leon, Killers and Ting Tings (random selection I know) playing pop music that's good and not neccessarily mass-produced. Better than the 90's were anyway, huh?

 

[Christemo]

ever since the 80´s ended pop music has gone FAR off the tracks. im gonna bet 10 bucks that none of the "good" artists these days can sing without a soundboard, a fixed mic or without doing playback. case and point:

everyone from hollywood records.

 

[ICantBelieveItGoesBoom]

Right Round by Flo-Rida is also a rip-off of yet ANOTHER shitty song You spin me right round by Dead or Alive. It seems to be his "thing" I guess.

 

[wooty]

Let the idiots have their radio, I have my ipod and I have never been happier.

.

here, here. Well said

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

Its popular music for a reason, when enough people with bad taste come together they can achieve anything. Anyone rememeber crazy frog, awefull aweful music, yet it got to number one, because enough tastelest people 'liked' it.

But its amazing what can happen when people who have taste can make happen, Iron Maiden getting christmas number 1 anyone? Sure it was one of their worst songs but the sheer fact that metal even though it is never played on the radio can get the biggest hit of the year due to sheer organisation.

The fact is, everyone has different tastes. And people who have taste would rather listen to their own music personnally instead of hearing it bastardised on the radio. Let the idiots have their radio, I have my ipod and I have never been happier.

The the thing I hate the most is, in the uk there is a show called the uk top 40, and they do albums or songs or whatever. I watch it the odd time for the laugh. But its rediculous they claim to play all the songs, but when like Metallica or Slipknot get No.1 they completely skip it and play last weeks no.1 instead. Its retarded, and propaganda at some level. Some of them even play, 'Future hits'. Are you fucking kidding me! You know what songs are going to be in the chart before they are even released due to them being the 'It' band or it following the same money making formula as the last 'artist' that got to no.1. Its rediculous.

Yeah, it does tend to be the catch net for tastleless people. Not always though. What really doesn't make sense is similar to what you said about 'future hits', when they'll play brand new music which is apparently somewhere in 'the charts' when it couldn't possibly be in any charts yet.

 

[Baby Tea]

I'm annoyed by this rip-off sampling, no doubt.
But I'm far more annoyed that every song seems to revolve around sex.
I'm a young married guy, and enjoy sex as much as the next person, but it is, really, such a minor part of life. Aren't there other things to sing about? Friends? Waiting for the bus? Not liking work? Liking work? Going bowling?

If they are attempting to be edgy, they aren't. Music is so saturated in sex that it's actually abnormal to sing about anything else. And that's annoying.

 

[Denmarkian]

Pop will eat itself

 

[sneakypenguin]

I'm annoyed by this rip-off sampling, no doubt.
But I'm far more annoyed that every song seems to revolve around sex.
I'm a young married guy, and enjoy sex as much as the next person, but it is, really, such a minor part of life. Aren't there other things to sing about? Friends? Waiting for the bus? Not liking work? Liking work? Going bowling?

If they are attempting to be edgy, they aren't. Music is so saturated in sex that it's actually abnormal to sing about anything else. And that's annoying.

Song about teeth lol.
Vanilla Twilight is also good by them, for sugery pop songs anyways.

 

[Latinidiot]

I'm annoyed by this rip-off sampling, no doubt.
But I'm far more annoyed that every song seems to revolve around sex.
I'm a young married guy, and enjoy sex as much as the next person, but it is, really, such a minor part of life. Aren't there other things to sing about? Friends? Waiting for the bus? Not liking work? Liking work? Going bowling?

If they are attempting to be edgy, they aren't. Music is so saturated in sex that it's actually abnormal to sing about anything else. And that's annoying.

hear hear.

 

[VargRaev]

I'm annoyed by this rip-off sampling, no doubt.
But I'm far more annoyed that every song seems to revolve around sex.
I'm a young married guy, and enjoy sex as much as the next person, but it is, really, such a minor part of life. Aren't there other things to sing about? Friends? Waiting for the bus? Not liking work? Liking work? Going bowling?

If they are attempting to be edgy, they aren't. Music is so saturated in sex that it's actually abnormal to sing about anything else. And that's annoying.

The worst part of the whole sex thing is that they never really sing about sex in general, but more about how many women they knocked up, and how cool they.

 

[historybuff]

Not a fan of pop music, personally.

I really like people who can write their own music and play an instrument. They deserve way more credit.

 

[Affero-Dolor]

I'm annoyed by this rip-off sampling, no doubt.
But I'm far more annoyed that every song seems to revolve around sex.
I'm a young married guy, and enjoy sex as much as the next person, but it is, really, such a minor part of life. Aren't there other things to sing about? Friends? Waiting for the bus? Not liking work? Liking work? Going bowling?

If they are attempting to be edgy, they aren't. Music is so saturated in sex that it's actually abnormal to sing about anything else. And that's annoying.

Hahaha, I would absolutely LOVE to have someone write a song about waiting for the bus, and then maybe not having the right change, so walking instead. It would make for much better music than sex. Music is for listening to DURING sex, it doesn't have to be about it. That's like masturbating to manga you drew yourself.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

this has been a standard of rap music since the beginning for the most part. they used to mainly use obscure jazz artists but from time to time they moved into hits of an earlier era

this isn't anything new and has been happening for many many years