at work we have a radio when cooking, and when this one girl is in charge, she always has this station on that plays like 8 songs that are about a week old (and i've told her that before). it is so harsh to listen to for one hour, let alone a whole shift. thats why i listen to off the wall and bizarre stuff there, like worm quartet "totally weirds her out" in her words
The shallow world of Popular Culture.
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In my opinion, the motive for making music has shifted as a whole. Artists and bands are getting into the music business with the money in mind, wanting to make the next big hit that can be marketed and sold to an entire generation, as opposed to composing for the love of music. There's a proven method of money-making in the world of popular culture, so why would they change it? The same, repetitive beat used in every other song and a catchy chorus is the formula for making money, I'm afraid, aimed at teenagers who are easily influenced and don't want to appear out-of-sync with the latest craze. It's a sad world, and all very money motivated.
My advice, try to ignore it. To me, it's absolutely terrible, talentless drivel, made on computers and synthesizers, by spoilt kids who never learnt the meaning of 'no'. It's not going to change, so learn to blast your BTBAM whenever possible and block it out
My advice, try to ignore it. To me, it's absolutely terrible, talentless drivel, made on computers and synthesizers, by spoilt kids who never learnt the meaning of 'no'. It's not going to change, so learn to blast your BTBAM whenever possible and block it out
In my opinion, the "modern" music (and in this situation i use the word VERY loosly), forms Rap and Techno. Is nothing if not a complete disgrace, i dont feel it deserves to be called music, now please allow me to take a bit of your time, to explain why i think this, so that this is not just a rant. Now, i have a few reasons for this opinion, firstly nearly all modern "Musicians" use a little thing called "Auto-tune" now, auto-tune is a program that can be used for "correcting" false tunes, giving a metalic voice to the singer, dependant on how bad the singer sings. (Kayne West used this in 808s & Heartbreak) Second i find the lyrics in nearly all modern rap songs to be horrible, do to them contained nearly only variations of: "Ugh! im totaly gansta!", "I drink all night long" or "im gonna have s-x with this totally hot girl"
You see what i mean? Well if not i dont care i have my opinion and you have yours.
I am however writing this while one of my classmates is playing some absolutely horrifying "music".
You see what i mean? Well if not i dont care i have my opinion and you have yours.
I am however writing this while one of my classmates is playing some absolutely horrifying "music".
Well, if you want to find rap that's a bit different, look into Nerdcore.Mastermax009 said:
Most of the rap that I've heard I don't care for, because there's no substance.
Being forced to listen to Creed's Greatest Hits album for 12 hours a day for six months is almost a valid form of torture.
If the time music 'lives' (or: is remembered) is correlated with how good it is, it is natural that the further back we go, the better music becomes. I am fairly sure that there has always been popular music that has been bad, but it is quickly purged from society (in most cases).
That people listen to bad music may just be selective judgment, and in reality people listen to 'all' music given to them. I lean towards the possibility that good music is more difficult for people to understand if they're just a casual listener or have less interest in music. Or that many don't have the cognitive capability to pick up the intricate details and depth that tends to be in better music (as in 'the music is too complicated').
Though I must say I've never reached a satisfactory conclusion as to why people listen to 'popular' music.
That people listen to bad music may just be selective judgment, and in reality people listen to 'all' music given to them. I lean towards the possibility that good music is more difficult for people to understand if they're just a casual listener or have less interest in music. Or that many don't have the cognitive capability to pick up the intricate details and depth that tends to be in better music (as in 'the music is too complicated').
Though I must say I've never reached a satisfactory conclusion as to why people listen to 'popular' music.
Here we go. Dictionary.comHiikuro said:
Popular, entry #6 - suited to or intended for the general masses of people: popular music.
There's only one thing I can think of that would cause this noise to be considered popular music.
"Think of how smart the average person is. Okay, now remember that half the people aren't that smart"
The beautiful thing about a democracy is that it's fairly easy to convince idiots NOT to vote---simply advance a few good conspiracy theories at them and suddenly they've disenfranchised themselves, leaving the application of the Median Voter Theory in economics (that any view that deviates from the center voter will be voted down by the majority thus created on one side of it) to apply to a higher overall segment of the population.vxicepickxv said:
(then again, take this with a grain of salt because---disclaimer here---I think universal suffrage is one of the worst ideas ever devised by man.)
Pop music is not one cohesive entity, there's a large difference between something like Taylor Swift and The Black Eyed Peas.
They are all popular for a reason. Some things are just made to mindlessly dance to like "Like a G6" or the Peas. And that is fine, if people want something mindless to dance to they should be able to have that.
Then there's the sweet hearty things like Bieber or Taylor Swift which as much as they are hated is fine too. Tween girls want this kind of love-centered sweet singing and they should be able to have that aswell. Both Bieber and Swift have actual undeniable musical talent, and according to the industry atleast Taylor writes her own songs.
Then there's the big person-driven popstar. They can be manufactured and without very much musical talent,(proffesional songwriters, dress pickers etc.) See Britney Spears. Others may have actual musical talent and write their own stuff like Gaga (there are most oftenly a producer in charge of the backing track though, much like how it is with rap). These thing are always catchy and well produced, to make them easily likeable. But really, there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, how can it be wrong to make music people will like?
Marketing obviously plays in, but not even tweens will buy an album unless there's atleast one song they genuinely like. And then again, some people doesn't have to be marketed. They are already innately "cool". Hating pop is pointless, it's not one cohesive thing. Liking or disliking individual bands or artists (like i do) is far more reasonable. But even if you don't like them, talking shit about them will only serve to A. Anger people who like them B. Have someone agree with you, at which point you're preaching to the choir C. Alert other of their existence. They win in all the above cases, and acting like an ass towards someone because of the music they listen makes you an douchebag. It doesn't matter if it is hipster rock, metal or pop.
They are all popular for a reason. Some things are just made to mindlessly dance to like "Like a G6" or the Peas. And that is fine, if people want something mindless to dance to they should be able to have that.
Then there's the sweet hearty things like Bieber or Taylor Swift which as much as they are hated is fine too. Tween girls want this kind of love-centered sweet singing and they should be able to have that aswell. Both Bieber and Swift have actual undeniable musical talent, and according to the industry atleast Taylor writes her own songs.
Then there's the big person-driven popstar. They can be manufactured and without very much musical talent,(proffesional songwriters, dress pickers etc.) See Britney Spears. Others may have actual musical talent and write their own stuff like Gaga (there are most oftenly a producer in charge of the backing track though, much like how it is with rap). These thing are always catchy and well produced, to make them easily likeable. But really, there's nothing wrong with that. I mean, how can it be wrong to make music people will like?
Marketing obviously plays in, but not even tweens will buy an album unless there's atleast one song they genuinely like. And then again, some people doesn't have to be marketed. They are already innately "cool". Hating pop is pointless, it's not one cohesive thing. Liking or disliking individual bands or artists (like i do) is far more reasonable. But even if you don't like them, talking shit about them will only serve to A. Anger people who like them B. Have someone agree with you, at which point you're preaching to the choir C. Alert other of their existence. They win in all the above cases, and acting like an ass towards someone because of the music they listen makes you an douchebag. It doesn't matter if it is hipster rock, metal or pop.
Ever think maybe its popular because its good? And that people i dunno, Like it?? People do enjoy it, my main preference for music is rock and metal but im not saying theyre any better than other genres, i like the occasional pop song because a lot of them are good, its just its not really my type of music
True. There's actually some kind of formula for happy pop music. This is just what came up when I searched it: http://www.suite101.com/content/music-formula-writing-the-perfect-song-part-2-of-2-a225502 So I'd say it isn't just the marketing. Tbh, I kind of understand the appeal of some pop songs. They're just catchy. Tbh, I sometimes listen to Lady Gaga remixes, a bit of electronic dance, and cheesy 90s europop, but a lot of pop music is just "meh". I had this theory that not many really like pop music and they just tolerate it at social events because they think everyone else likes it, when everyone else is really thinking the same thing, with the exception of the minority group of extreme extroverts.Irony said:
People want to feel accepted and advertising creates a perceived social norm. Kids are particularly vulnerable to this. The thing with slightly older people is to convince them to believe something is unique and innovative even though it can't really be too unique and innovative because it has to be catchy and easy on the ears. Just a slight deviation like Lady Gaga's weird clothes, rebellious teenage angst themes (think mainstream pop punk), or Taylor Swift's innocent image will work.
There's plenty of obnoxious mainstream music to be relished by obnoxious extroverts, and there's also the target audience made up of the slightly "different" kids. As for popular "alternative" music, meaningful new genres emerge and copycat bands pop up all over the place to be snatched up by major labels and commercialized until the genre becomes devoid of its original meaning and fourteen year old tools believe wearing the neat, identical mass-produced merchandise is an expression of individuality. It happened to punk rock and its various derivatives.
Whether or not Mozart would be liked by most kids if he were mass-marketed... I don't know. I'm not sure whether to put more weight on the influences of marketing or how it actually sounds or the cultural connotations.
I have three words for you: Singer-Songwriter Movement.Alucard832 said:
There's a lot of bad pop pre-90s. There really was no higher standard. People still would have (and did) listened to crappy pop in the 60s.
If this pop shit is just like rock and roll from the 50s/60s, im sad for my children...Kortney said:
Lol its funny how stupid your argument actually is, nobody is forcing you to listen to this music so why not just STFU and listen to your own music and not bash the majority's genres just because you don't like it.
Popular things are popular for a reason meaning that most of the people like it better that the other genres, such as metal, and mozart :/
I could sit here all day and say that all metal music is just a chronic manic depressive screaming incoherent lyrics about depression and murder to the same tune that all metal uses but i can appreciate how others like it but that i PERSONALLY dont like it and bash it because of my personal tastes.
Popular things are popular for a reason meaning that most of the people like it better that the other genres, such as metal, and mozart :/
I could sit here all day and say that all metal music is just a chronic manic depressive screaming incoherent lyrics about depression and murder to the same tune that all metal uses but i can appreciate how others like it but that i PERSONALLY dont like it and bash it because of my personal tastes.
Yes. And i experienced this multiple times first hand. I have almost zero pop-music in my collection, and yet, a lot of what i like isn't "freakish" - different, yes, but not out of the comfort zone mostly. When people visit me, i already know beforehand that i will be asked, and if its a first time visit, it isn't unusual that i get to literarily hear "I didn't know that music like this exists. What is this and where do i find this?".SimuLord said:
In closed feedbackloops, cause and effect become inefficient concepts. More relevant is how changeable the loop is by whom, rather than "who did it".
Mainstreamers are not up for rapid big changes. If however you'd create a fluid transition, and (important) also provide a "counter" to this, so that the rebels get their fix, then yes, it would happen.
As i mentioned already, in closed feedback loops, its less about "who did it", but rather who can modify the process how much (and more importantly: who WANTS to modify it). Let's take videogames as an example, shall we? Escapists complain all day about how "shallow" current mainstream games are. They make up all kinds of complains about why something sucks, and that this and that isn't important to them.
Result? They continue consuming the stuff regardless. Oh, sure, the escapist comm does have an unusually high share of people who "dropped out" (including me), but this "unusual high share" is still a minority. Look at the topics. It's easy to complain. It's harder to live up to the words and change.