This Is Why I Don't Listen To Pop
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Am I the only one who instantly imagined a dingy bar where the plucky heroes have come to seek the help of an old, washed-out songwriter who had to retire in some terrible accident/controversy?Mushroom 118i said:
"I can't help you boys, my sonwritin' days is over. I'm just an old man..."
generic Punk sounds the same innovative punk does not!MelasZepheos said:
Im happy with pop as it is if this remains popular then they won't look for the next big thing and create a diluted and poisoned version of an underground scene like they did with emo,pop punk and metal/rap!
If these weren't songs commonly played on the radio, I would just chalk it up to popular imitating popular*.
Not "art imitating art". This isn't art; there's no real message outside of its marketable trite, and zero effort has been put into making these songs outside of some technical tropes (tropes that I hate, like Autotune, random Oscilloscope sound effects and irrelevant rap breaks).
Junk food might be edible, popular, and cheap, but it's certainly not good cuisine; nor will it ever be.
Mass-created media is always going to sound like samey-shit, no matter the genre.
Of course, I find 99% of pop-music to be shit anyway. I thought that in the 80s, I thought that in the 90s, and I doubt this trend is changing any time soon.
Why is it popular? Because of social pressure. Music is a network good (in economical terms); the more people who know others who like it, the more popular that song/performer will become, no matter how generic, annoying or boring they become.
Boy Bands were hot shit at the turn of the millennium, now it's the Autotune Hip-hop+Rap groups.
The real question is 'How long will it last until something else comes along and shifts the genre a little more?'
Not "art imitating art". This isn't art; there's no real message outside of its marketable trite, and zero effort has been put into making these songs outside of some technical tropes (tropes that I hate, like Autotune, random Oscilloscope sound effects and irrelevant rap breaks).
Junk food might be edible, popular, and cheap, but it's certainly not good cuisine; nor will it ever be.
Mass-created media is always going to sound like samey-shit, no matter the genre.
Of course, I find 99% of pop-music to be shit anyway. I thought that in the 80s, I thought that in the 90s, and I doubt this trend is changing any time soon.
Why is it popular? Because of social pressure. Music is a network good (in economical terms); the more people who know others who like it, the more popular that song/performer will become, no matter how generic, annoying or boring they become.
Boy Bands were hot shit at the turn of the millennium, now it's the Autotune Hip-hop+Rap groups.
The real question is 'How long will it last until something else comes along and shifts the genre a little more?'
There was never any iteration of reality where I would intentionally click on and then listen to a video purporting to combine Katy Perry and Keisha, so I will take the OP's word that they sound remarkably similar. Sounding very much like other things though isn't the reason Pop is banal pablum targeted at the musically illiterate, it's just one of the many many reasons that Pop is banal pablum targeted at the musically illiterate.
What do I mean by "musically illiterate" exactly? Well "illiterate" isn't the right word really, as that would imply you can't properly hear music in the way that someone who is actually illiterate sees strings of interconnected letters and perceives them as meaningless gibberish instead of words and concepts. So I'll let something Alexander Macris (publisher of The Escapist) wrote a while ago explain it for me:
What do I mean by "musically illiterate" exactly? Well "illiterate" isn't the right word really, as that would imply you can't properly hear music in the way that someone who is actually illiterate sees strings of interconnected letters and perceives them as meaningless gibberish instead of words and concepts. So I'll let something Alexander Macris (publisher of The Escapist) wrote a while ago explain it for me:
Basically, the general public is perfectly content with See Spot Run, while music snobs[footnote]Which is almost everyone in this thread by the way.[/footnote] hear those same songs and derive much less enjoyment from them (at best), or feel actively insulted (most likely outcome, given the preponderance of music snobs creating threads just like this one to complain about Pop).Alexander Macris said:
As soon as I read Kesha I refused to press play. I fucking hate Kesha.
Pop in general is generally bad IMO.
Pop in general is generally bad IMO.
Pop music can be done right! EXAMPLE!
Good music is about good songwritting, all genres of music have their shit moments, pop music doesn't have a monopoly on crap.
But then again these are Indie artists, and I think that is the distiction between ALL music. Generally anything mainstream on a major label has a high probability of sucking.
Good music is about good songwritting, all genres of music have their shit moments, pop music doesn't have a monopoly on crap.
But then again these are Indie artists, and I think that is the distiction between ALL music. Generally anything mainstream on a major label has a high probability of sucking.
TOUCHE! Ultimate rebutal. I'll leave it to everyone else to decide whether or not that changes their opinion about pop, but it certainly shows that the thread topic won't cut it.comadorcrack said:
Doesn't suprise me whenever i hear the top 40 on the radio i can't tell any of the songs apart. However this doesn't just happen with rubbish pop music lots of great musicians such as Dylan, The Beatles, Pink Floyd reuse beats and chord progressions for different songs. What matters is that the song is good which is the main problem with this "pop" music is that it is not good.
You see, there are these things called "scales", which trigger different emotional reactions when notes from specific scales are played in sequence (ever wonder why all Indian music sounds the same to us westerners). Pop music, being memetically engineered to make maximise profit, sticks to one scale that triggers emotions people are commonly addicted to without even knowing it. You might easily say it's a bad thing if we were talking about heroin, but there isn't enough scientific data yet to determine the lasting effects of our obsession with these specific emotional states.FreelanceButler said:
The problem most intellectuals have with this is that it's blatant brainwashing. It would be obviously evil if it were pushing some kind of agenda, but in truth it seems that nobody is actually at the wheel. I think the problem is that while we're being hypnotized by the sounds, the messages being sent by the industry are so vacuous that it's become unhealthy. Like junk food: all taste, no nutrients. The reason Jazz and Classical music are usually only appreciated by intellectuals and are considered "acquired tastes" is because they stand in direct conflict with this "pop" mentality, being complex and changing.
Ultimately, it's disturbing because it's using carefully crafted sound waves to tap into your emotions and make you want something you wouldn't have previously wanted. I know it sounds like crazy conspiracy theory talk, but there is no conspiracy, they just want your money and know how to get it.
This is why I haven't listened to the radio of my own choice in six years.
These links lead to good music, BEHOLD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDBKM64Fzl4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cegdR0GiJl4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLUX0y4EptA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoD6YRzofZk
These links lead to good music, BEHOLD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDBKM64Fzl4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cegdR0GiJl4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLUX0y4EptA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoD6YRzofZk
Lady Gaga is no more original than anyone else. It's S.S.D.D. with her songs, too, she's just fooled everyone into thinking that she's an "artistic free spirit" by dressing and/or acting in a manner that is guaranteed to get her attention. She's one part Madonna, the other part Alice Cooper/KISS/Marilyn Manson. She tries sexualizing near everything (Madonna) even things that shock people (Alice Cooper/KISS/Marilyn Manson). She's no more free-spirited than anyone else in pop, she's just better at getting attention.InterAirplay said: