Pop Music Now Sucks According to Science

FrgMstr

FrgMstr

Just Plain Mean
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The BBC article covers a list of 5 things as to how pop music has come to suck, but two of the points stood out since these point back to AI and computer algorithms which were used to analyze the points being made that pop music's sound is becoming homogenized and repetitive.

Check out the video.


These rather low rank correlations would act as an attenuator of the sensation that contemporary popular music is becoming more homogeneous, timbrically speaking.

Of course anyone that has been alive for more than 30 years likely needed neither AI or a fancy algorithm to tell you that. Homogenized and repetitive. Now get off my lawn.
 
Aren't those qualities what define the genre though? That's what the general populace enjoy: uniform competitive inanity. Not to say it is a terrible thing but that is what it is. It's like knocking some trace songs for being repetitive when that is the point. For the most part the vast majority of Music is garbage depending on who is listening. I'm pretty sure no one else likes the genres I listen too, especially if they like pop music.
 
JosiahBradley said:
Aren't those qualities what define the genre though? That's what the general populace enjoy: uniform competitive inanity. Not to say it is a terrible thing but that is what it is. It's like knocking some trace songs for being repetitive when that is the point. For the most part the vast majority of Music is garbage depending on who is listening. I'm pretty sure no one else likes the genres I listen too, especially if they like pop music.
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Well obviously some folks like music that sucks.
 
People are told what to like. They don't care to expand their minds musically, just listen to what is 'cool'.

I can say that my son will listen to every genre there is so that he can make an intelligent decision as to what he likes one day. If that decision is pop music, so be it. At least it won't be because that's what he was told to like.
 
Worst part about this is the loudness wars, which the video brings up. It's not that I give a shit about the loudness wars with regards to pop music, the problem comes from a lot(probably most) remasters that were done after around 2005 or so of older songs, where all they did was compress the hell out of it and it becomes harder to find the original version.
 
Beyoncé said:
I'm a star, I'm a star
'Cause I slay, slay
I slay, hey, I slay, okay
I slay, okay, all day, okay
I slay, okay, I slay okay
We gon' slay, slay
Gon' slay, okay
We slay, okay
I slay, okay
I slay, okay
Okay, okay, I slay, okay
Okay, okay, okay, okay
Okay, okay, ladies, now let's get in formation, 'cause I slay
Okay ladies, now let's get in formation, 'cause I slay
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Those are some really compelling lyrics.
 
Meh. Each generation has claimed that the subsequent one had shittier taste in music. There was plenty of stupid music in the 70's, 80's, 90's, and 00's. Especially on the pop side of things. It only sounded different because the technology wasn't there to copy what was working or what people liked specifically. People have never had more access to more music than they do today either way.
 
umeng2002 said:
I think grunge rock was the last good popular genre... if you could ever call grunge popular...
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Nü-metal was it for me, though Slipknot still does well on the Billboard Top 200 every time they release a new album.
AthlonXP said:
Yeah music today just plain sucks. Most is synthesized bullshit sung by no talent hacks.
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If you go outside of what is popular there is a very diverse and good selection of music out there today. I really can't think of any other time when I've listened to so much metal. I can't even keep track of all the bands anymore. I have to rely on my bookmarks.
 
Having access to modern home computers and music production software that can give you a 64 track recording studio in your bedroom for $1000 or so is the main culprit I reckon.

20 years ago you would have had to go into a studio and pay for people to record and produce you. Then take all that to a pressing plant or burn your own CDs. It was a great barrier to entry and deterred a lot of unworthy talent from ever bothering. Happy days!

Now anyone can put together an album no matter how little talent. I also link this trend with the lowering of audio quality on most commercial releases.

You'd be amazed how many triple A contemporary albums are now recorded in hotel bathrooms/bedrooms on the fly.

Folks know shit about record production or proper sound mixing and mastering. They just haven't learnt the craft like the greats did back in the 50's to the 90's.

I basically wrote off most music after 1999.
 
JosiahBradley said:
Aren't those qualities what define the genre though? That's what the general populace enjoy: uniform competitive inanity. Not to say it is a terrible thing but that is what it is. It's like knocking some trace songs for being repetitive when that is the point. For the most part the vast majority of Music is garbage depending on who is listening. I'm pretty sure no one else likes the genres I listen too, especially if they like pop music.
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Pretty much. If humans all liked variety in music we would all be listening to Mahler or post-tonal/experimental music.

Just remember, pop music is just going through the same kinds of cycles that western art music has gone through over the last 600 years. The entire history of music consists of building complexity, reactions against it, returns to simplicity, wash, rinse, repeat.
 
Here's a song by a band called H2O. They're not pop, but here is the take.

"Popage"

I hear a song on the radio play
Can sing it all by the end of the day
Would you laugh at the words that I'm saying
Pop music is what I'm playing

I've got no shame, still nothing to prove
Songs can change you or just make you move
Parachutes, Fireworks, Beautiful Days
You're too angry to say

I've got my mind open wide
And it's fine if you despise it
Lives too short to hide what you like
Guilty pleasures are alright
Music changed my life

So what if I don't connect with all the lyrics
They get me singing every time I hear it
Even though they're not screaming for change
They pick me up when I have a bad day

I've got no shame, still nothing to prove
Some songs change you or just make you move
Ain't it fun, Don't Speak, Holiday
You're too angry to say

I've got my mind open wide
And it's fine if you despise it
Lives too short to hide what you like
Guilty pleasures are alright
Music changed my life

When I got the music I got a place to go
Underground or on the radio
You are who you are, there's nothing you can do
People will always pass judgement on you
You are who you are, there's nothing you can do

I've got my mind open wide
And it's fine if you despise it
Lives too short to hide what you like
Guilty pleasures are alright
Still got my hardcore pride

My point? You can be an old fart, but you don't have to act like one too. Or you can. Why judge?
 
theplaidfad said:
Why judge?
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I guess you missed out on the point that it was not judgment but rather science pointing to it sucking. Unless like pointed out above, homogenized and repetitive with limited lyrics is how you like you music.
 
Armenius said:
If you go outside of what is popular there is a very diverse and good selection of music out there today.
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Very true, although I think the article is basically saying mainstream music isn't as good as it used to be. Certainly I'd take the Beatles in their prime over what passes as billboard toppers today. More importantly, the article states that, "familiarity seems to be a crucial factor in making the listeners emotionally engaged with music." This is not unexpected as life has evolved to recognize and embrace patterns in the environment (and we also as mammals are drawn towards sounds that resemble heartbeats in the womb). In fact, that part of our evolution has led to everything from cancer (downside to DNA's relative stability) to addiction and compulsions (fixation on maintaining a pattern). The modern world is filled with "noise" that makes music as described in the article more inviting to the average person. In other words, shitty music compensates for our insecurities.
 
theplaidfad said:
If you say so. It's your house after all, isn't it?
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You are correct. The rules are spelled out here.

Rule 1 is the most important, which seems that you have issue with. (1) Absolutely NO FLAMING, NAME CALLING OR PERSONAL ATTACKS, NO TROLLING. Mutual respect and civilized conversation is the required norm. NO POLITICAL DISCUSSION OUTSIDE OF THE SOAPBOX SUBFORUM. http://hardforum.com/account/upgrades
 
There has always been bubble-gum music for teeny-boppers. Today's pop music is just more of the same but some people somehow believe that music aimed at pre-adults is something to be taken seriously. There is still some brilliant music being produced but you have to look off the beaten path...

...::: { Gojiria } :::...
 
the logical conclusion is that AI can write today's pop and nobody could tell the difference. In that case, who would get songwriting royalties?
 
Recently i've found that I don't really care what it is as long as its well recorded and mastered. Getting a good set of headphones really changes they way you listen to music, at least it did for me. I listen to genres i had no interest in now because its so enjoyable when it actually sounds good.
 
I do agree that today's music does suck, its just easy to produce quickly. Hell 95% of industry no longer writes their own music anymore they are just the voice talent and nothing more. That's why it sucks, nothing is from the gut or soul its just trends that writers observe and create from. Some of the best songs are from artists that can sing and write from what they are experiencing and most of which people can relate with. I promise that Katy Perry and Demo Levoto aren't living shit they sing about.
 
I agree, modern day pop is absolutely horrible! I would rather listen to the sound of nails screeching down the chalkboard than listen to that over produced/computerized crap they call "pop"!
Also, is it just me, or is the modern day country music just as bad? I'm a classic/old rock lover myself, but I appreciate all types of music. For the past ~10 years, everything popular that's come out of the "country world" sounds like pop with a fakey southern drawl.
 
Just need to move out of popular mainstream to find the good stuff. One of my favorite current bands is Halestorm which their debut album isn't 10 years old yet. Saw them in concert last year with an unknown opener called Dorothy, which had my jaw on the floor when she started singing, and she's only been active just over 3 years. The second opener was Lita Ford, and I can't say I've seen too many shows better than this one (and I've seen a lot of bands live. A lot).

I can agree with SomeOneElse above as I think that the separation of the singer/songwriter has degraded popular music. It's hard to get that same level of emotion in the music when the musicians are writing from their own experiences and feelings.
 
Chebsy said:
Quote "homogenized and repetitive." I couldn't agree more, but like Kyle says, some people like music that sucks !! There is no accounting for taste :)
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mavrocket said:
File this under non-shocking news from the world of science.
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THRESHIN said:
People are told what to like. They don't care to expand their minds musically, just listen to what is 'cool'.

I can say that my son will listen to every genre there is so that he can make an intelligent decision as to what he likes one day. If that decision is pop music, so be it. At least it won't be because that's what he was told to like.
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..pop{ular} music today is about tweens likes. If some young girl thinks the guy singing is cute then its what pop becomes. The artists remix and sample old tunes because pop artists dont always have music skills. There are a few new artists that create their own sound: puth and sheerin that sing and create. I dont know any more because they are the only two that quickly come to mind because I heard something different. Most are remix and sample ....
 
I've heard Pop Music referred to as audio porn. I think that's a fitting description.
 
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