Why is modern pop music so terrible?

[Clef_de_fa]

Here an interesting video that may shed some light on how and why our views are so different. I found many things to be quite true.

 

[socialleper]

Yes.
And unfortunately it led to the simplified formula of "Maximum payout for minimal effort"

That is the business model for everything these days. Maybe it has always been like that, maybe we had more shame about naked profit taking, maybe the public used to demand quality or quantity...I don't know.
People have posted in other threads that the idea of artists making money off their art is historically a rare thing. In the past, performers making money off performing other people's work (actors, musicians) was common, but composers and painters making money during their life times on original work was rare; and for music is a recent invention. OK, I can get that.
However, there is a Brave New World aspect to our consumption of entertainments that bothers me.

 

[blue4]

I'm surprise to not see ( maybe I didn't see it because I didn't read it all ).
I also think this is part of how things are now in our society. Everything isn't made to last, you consume and yo go to the next thing to consume in an endless cycle. The thing is with Internet, it offered the window to everyone from everywhere to sell their stuff, no need to deal with traditionnal means.

I have a feeling that it is now a very risky thing to make music like they used too and so when they do, they want ton make sure it will generate profit. So they shovel down our throat th music. Probably no one likes Katy Perry but because we hear her stuff every where, in movies, adds on tv etc thru familiarity we began to like it and so they sell it.

I disagree that people only like Katy Perry or similar artists only because of familiarity. That seems an assertion based wholly on personal taste. I know this has been said in this thread a bunch already but people who like Katy Perry also use music apps and the internet instead of radio stations for their music. Which means Katy Perry fans actually have instant access to all genres and generations of music whenever they want, far in excess of any previous generation. So they can listen to whatever they want, and despite popular TB belief it's all incredibly easy to find. It seems rather foolish to think that they only reason they like different music then I do is because they are indoctrinated and I'm not. Radio stations here in St Louis play Billy Joel incessantly. Is that the only reason people here like Billy Joel?

 

[Clef_de_fa]

I disagree that people only like Katy Perry or similar artists only because of familiarity. That seems an assertion based wholly on personal taste. I know this has been said in this thread a bunch already but people who like Katy Perry also use music apps and the internet instead of radio stations for their music. Which means Katy Perry fans actually have instant access to all genres and generations of music whenever they want, far in excess of any previous generation. So they can listen to whatever they want, and despite popular TB belief it's all incredibly easy to find. It seems rather foolish to think that they only reason they like different music then I do is because they are indoctrinated and I'm not. Radio stations here in St Louis play Billy Joel incessantly. Is that the only reason people here like Billy Joel?

What I'm talking about was also the case back in your old time.

 

[TyBo]

Katy Perry was not familiar when she first hit the charts, yet many people liked her. Same with any new performer. So it's clearly not ONLY a matter of familiarity. Beyond that ... people often come to like new kinds of music that aren't familiar at all. Personally, I developed a great love for jazz even though it was new territory for me. And so on. Familiarity can certainly matter, but it's definitely not the only factor.

 

[blue4]

What I'm talking about was also the case back in your old time.

Man I'm only 42....
I didn't think that was that old. Now I'm depressed...

 

[Clef_de_fa]

Katy Perry was not familiar when she first hit the charts, yet many people liked her. Same with any new performer. So it's clearly not ONLY a matter of familiarity. Beyond that ... people often come to like new kinds of music that aren't familiar at all. Personally, I developed a great love for jazz even though it was new territory for me. And so on. Familiarity can certainly matter, but it's definitely not the only factor.

it sounds like any other female pop singer ... Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Beyoncé, Ariana Grande, Miley Cirus, Demi Lovato etc it is all the same thing. Same beat, same focus on dance, same synth bass, same kind of lyrics ...
So yes it is familiarity

 

[Rev J]

I actually watched the video the other day and it was funny to see some of the points I made here echoed.

Before I go into this I want to say even though I'm mentioning Nirvana again it isn't a continuation of my previous rant.

When I first heard "Teen Spirit" I thought that there was something familiar about the opening riff. A little while later I read one of those "Back Page" commentaries in a guitar magazine (for the love of Christ don't ask me which one we are dealing with over 20 years of memories and although I read it multiple times it didn't occur to me to burn a mental note of which magazine and which issue in case it came up later) that pointed out the similarities between "Smells Like Teen Spirit," by Nirvana, "Self Esteem" by The Offspring and the chorus to "More Than a Feeling" by Boston. But the connections that I made were "Louie Louie," by the Kingsman and "Wild Thing" by the Troggs. All of them are I-IV-V-IV progressions with the same accent patterns. Rather than tell me how I don't understand just check out the tracks.

This is essentially a testament to familiarity.

C/S,
Rev J

 

[TyBo]

Well, people want things familiar enough for them to process and relate to, but different enough to grab their attention, generally. And being different definitely can matter - consider when rock and roll first hit ... it was generationally divisive in some degree, too unfamiliar and "loud" for the parents, but new and different enough for their kids' ears to perk up.

I remember once hearing a guy say he didn't like the Beatles because "all their songs sound the same" ... they were too far into the "different" category - for him, at the time - to relate to. Of course, "I Am the Walrus" sounds very little like "All My Loving", but if the sounds are fundamentally not being taken in or listened to, then it can be dismissed as "the same". And it is the same musicians and producer, etc., so there is some common thread to it ... but it's hard to deny that the Beatles had a LOT of variety in their songs. If a new paradigm is introduced, many people will cling tooth and nail to their old "flat earth" view ... it's familiar, and having the world turned on its head is not comfortable. But change happens, nonetheless.

 

[Clef_de_fa]

I actually watched the video the other day and it was funny to see some of the points I made here echoed.

Before I go into this I want to say even though I'm mentioning Nirvana again it isn't a continuation of my previous rant.

When I first heard "Teen Spirit" I thought that there was something familiar about the opening riff. A little while later I read one of those "Back Page" commentaries in a guitar magazine (for the love of Christ don't ask me which one we are dealing with over 20 years of memories and although I read it multiple times it didn't occur to me to burn a mental note of which magazine and which issue in case it came up later) that pointed out the similarities between "Smells Like Teen Spirit," by Nirvana, "Self Esteem" by The Offspring and the chorus to "More Than a Feeling" by Boston. But the connections that I made were "Louie Louie," by the Kingsman and "Wild Thing" by the Troggs. All of them are I-IV-V-IV progressions with the same accent patterns. Rather than tell me how I don't understand just check out the tracks.

This is essentially a testament to familiarity.

C/S,
Rev J