Why does mordern pop music suck?
That's because you haven't found much current pop music that you like.
That's because you haven't found much current pop music that you like.
Enjoy the benefits of a premium membership!
Upgrade Account
-
TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
Join free Log in
Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
Great point. My wife was born in 1970, so her time of really getting hit by pop music coincided with the birth of MTV. A song from that period will come on the radio -- the radio, mind you -- and she'll exclaim, "Oh! I love this video!" To a child of the '60s like me, it's a little discouraging. Also, I'll play her something she hasn't heard before, and after about four bars, she'll give her opinion. In my day, you'd listen to an entire freaking album before deciding whether you liked it or not! We're back to the dreaded "It's got a good beat and I can dance to it!" American Bandstand era.
He is an angry person with views the entire world through a very narrow lens. Do what you want.
Ric5
Inactive
- Jan 29, 2008
- 29,772
- 30,452
- Disclosures
- I like 5, 8, 10, and 12 string basses
That is your opinion
He has millions of viewers on youtube who agree with him ...
We are all welcome to our own opinion ... like the person who started this thread who quite rightly bemoans the lack of good pop music made in the recent decades.
But Paul Joseph Watson speaks for a lot of people because they are rebelling against a failed establishment. Our art, music, culture, and civilization are crumbling because we as a people have lost our way ... And a lot us of are saying What the Freak is going on here?
Last edited:
I would blame recording technology and streaming. Back in the day you actually needed some talent to be a pop star.
You couldnt just go to a laptop studio and have them correct all of your vocal takes and then post up one song for people to stream and become popular.
Back then you had to get noticed by the right people... which meant doing a ton of leg work on your own... performing solid shows locally and/or regionally.... recording a solid demo on your own dime....then getting noticed.... then getting a deal.... then going to a studio to track a solid album... then singles were pushed on the radio.... then albums were sold because people wanted to hear the single whenever they want..... then concert tickets were sold because they loved the album.... then merch was sold at the concert.... then your fanbase got excited when your next album was announced... repeat process.
Now? Nah, skip almost every step. Oh you look decent?? No worries... my photoshop guy is a wizard.... lets buy and track one single..... cant sing well???? No worries.... my autotune guy is a wizard.... cant sing well live?? No worries... you wont be singing... need to stay relevant with more material??? nah... just get super loud on twitter about a social issue and let the internet do the rest.... and when all else fails... be a total wreck for a year or so... then people will all keep talking about you... then make a new album that sucks... but with one good single...lose some weight... stop acting crazy... people will champion your triumphant return.
You couldnt just go to a laptop studio and have them correct all of your vocal takes and then post up one song for people to stream and become popular.
Back then you had to get noticed by the right people... which meant doing a ton of leg work on your own... performing solid shows locally and/or regionally.... recording a solid demo on your own dime....then getting noticed.... then getting a deal.... then going to a studio to track a solid album... then singles were pushed on the radio.... then albums were sold because people wanted to hear the single whenever they want..... then concert tickets were sold because they loved the album.... then merch was sold at the concert.... then your fanbase got excited when your next album was announced... repeat process.
Now? Nah, skip almost every step. Oh you look decent?? No worries... my photoshop guy is a wizard.... lets buy and track one single..... cant sing well???? No worries.... my autotune guy is a wizard.... cant sing well live?? No worries... you wont be singing... need to stay relevant with more material??? nah... just get super loud on twitter about a social issue and let the internet do the rest.... and when all else fails... be a total wreck for a year or so... then people will all keep talking about you... then make a new album that sucks... but with one good single...lose some weight... stop acting crazy... people will champion your triumphant return.
its pretty simple in my opinion, before conputers came into the picture or as its known these days as "the digital age" you had a room full of musicians and charts ( wrecking crew, funk brothers, muscle shoals) and now you have one guy or maybe two or three that can "program " a pop hit. no need to hire a room full of string players at union scale, just play it on a synth or sample it. I call it music for lazy people.
that being said there are a lot of great bands out there right now making cool music the old fashion way, they just aren't Katy Perry or Beyoncé style pop music.
that being said there are a lot of great bands out there right now making cool music the old fashion way, they just aren't Katy Perry or Beyoncé style pop music.
Good point. There has away been bad art. Unfortunately, bad art are can also be popular and commercially successful. “Hanky Panky”? I remember my parents singing “I looked back to see if you looked back to see if I looked back to see” which I believe was from the 30s.
As for music, when you have better than 60% of the market not able to tell one note from another, it becomes a packaged commodity much like gasoline or medicine. Think of it this way. How many people know exactly the chemical composition of what you are pouring into your tank, or at a molecular level, how is that medicine is interacting with your cells? Not to mention what comes out the other end. Well, there is our buying public. A very trusting public at that.
Again, I’ll agree there has always been bad music, but I got to tell you, 3 hours of “Rockin New Years Eve on TV this year was a real awakening. It was awful. Stale composition, zero personalities, cliche’ after cliche’. I also agree there are some really good talent out there, but this show was all about what is currently selling, and it flat out was torcherous.
IMO, if you want to point a finger at why a good chunk of music sucking today, look no further than music videos. People are much better taking on and evaluating visual stimulus than audio. It is a natural preference and not at all surprising that music video are popular. For most it’s easier to see if 16 dancers have their arms in the right place than realizing the bassist shorted a note on the third verse cut off.
I did not mean to sound cynical. All I am saying is if the American Tobacco Institute puts me in the position to vote for my passion project legislation, let's say an effective federal education program, I probably am going to listen when they tell me that the American Tobacco Farmer needs a subsidy or a tariff on Turkish imports, or that further labeling of cigarette cartons is unnecessary.
It’s consumers. Most wouldn’t know a well crafted honest effort if it bit them in the leg. People tend to follow the herd. How the herd gets moving in a given direction is a mystery. It’s like spam mail. It’s lucrative. If we all presented a United no-click except to delete it front, it would go away. So, same thing is true of the OPs example tune. Problem is, we’re just not that smart. Unfortunately.
... aaaaaaaand I suppose we're not going to receive any suggestions, huh?
Only lip service telling us we're wrong... gotcha.
Maybe I should have added a smiley face to help convey my tone of non-seriousness.
Start loving it and your kids will seek out something else.
A young man I worked with attended Berklee School of Music studying recording. He said one of his first courses was very eye opening and depressing. Here's the story he told me of the evolution of modern music, according to his instructor, who was himself a producer from L.A.
From the 50's through the 80's musicians crafted their talent pushing their technical skills until by the 80's musicians were often virtuosos and most bands had players required to have good technical "chops." The sound of the 80's was very technical and musical. By the late 90's the pool of average band players started drying up. Why? Because everyone was switching to computer games, Guitar Hero, and lacked the motivation to learn the technical aspects of the craft, etc. By 2000 the recording industry had a crisis. No new flocks of technical musicians.
So they made a big effort to change the sound of music. Simpler lyrics. Simpler musical structures. Three chords. Boys and Girls strumming acoustic guitars and less vocal skills necessary. In the studios they still had their gunslingers, only they were becoming silver hairs, but still refining the music of the new artists. So the industry was able to craft a "new sound" for the 2000's quite different than before, and the young people, who became more dependent on computers (and now smartphones), and less dependent on live social events, bought it hook line and sinker......" This story has the ring of truth to me. Been to a GC lately? Hardly hear any smoking guitarists and gone are the days of excellent in-store jam sessions by kids....
“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.” ~ Socrates, b. 399 B.C.
From the 50's through the 80's musicians crafted their talent pushing their technical skills until by the 80's musicians were often virtuosos and most bands had players required to have good technical "chops." The sound of the 80's was very technical and musical. By the late 90's the pool of average band players started drying up. Why? Because everyone was switching to computer games, Guitar Hero, and lacked the motivation to learn the technical aspects of the craft, etc. By 2000 the recording industry had a crisis. No new flocks of technical musicians.
So they made a big effort to change the sound of music. Simpler lyrics. Simpler musical structures. Three chords. Boys and Girls strumming acoustic guitars and less vocal skills necessary. In the studios they still had their gunslingers, only they were becoming silver hairs, but still refining the music of the new artists. So the industry was able to craft a "new sound" for the 2000's quite different than before, and the young people, who became more dependent on computers (and now smartphones), and less dependent on live social events, bought it hook line and sinker......" This story has the ring of truth to me. Been to a GC lately? Hardly hear any smoking guitarists and gone are the days of excellent in-store jam sessions by kids....
“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.” ~ Socrates, b. 399 B.C.
Last edited:
Back in the day—whatever you perceive that to be—the imperative within the record business was to develop new sounds that had never been heard before. Currently, and for the last 30 years or so, the imperative has been to mimic sounds that have already proven to be commercially successful. It's just hard to bring out new, inventive sounds with that mindset.
