Modern Music and Soceity

[Lady Lyuba]

So I found this person's well thought out article here, and he is showing points that people don't understand. Everyone despises and bashes modern music, but not all of it is bad. True, I hate most modern music too, but if you dig deeper you can find something that is actually good. The sad thing is, NOBODY agreeed with this poor person's article, all failing to see what he truly meant. You might do the same, or you might not.

 

But...modern music is like fanfiction. It takes tons of filtering through garbage to find something creative. But it is out there.

 

The problem is that today's society focuses too much on IMAGE instead of sound. As I recall music is supposed to be listened to, not watched. There is a similar problem with TV, it focuses on ratings and drama more than pure entertainment. Today's soceity is nothing but oversaturation, overmarketing, and being overrated, which makes you seem "popular". It's all about being in people's faces and annoying them so much that they want to check you out. It focuses more on money and image than actual talent, even though everybody has SOME talent and potential, even these artists we so despise that are in our faces all the time. Yes, even they have talent, but we're sick of their faces so much that we say they don't. Don't despair, there are MANY talented artists out there. I do not wish to name certain ones just because this may turn into bashing which I don't want.

[Naamah D.]

Are you referring to modern music as in people like Justin Bieber, Ke$ha, and Rebecca Black? Before I go on with this I wanna make sure I know what we're talking about.

[Welcome Back Apathy]

I have to say, I agree with what a lot of what the article said. But I shall expand.

 

Regarding digitalization: I have no problem with synthetic instruments. I DO have a problem with autotune, though. It's not "less creative" or whatever--it simply sounds terrible.

 

Anyway, some people get hate mostly for their fanbase--referring to, for example, Miley Cyrus. I've only ever heard one song by her, and that was The Climb. Not a bad song. I had no idea it was from her when I first heard it, because everyone who'd made fun of her made fun of her for being a child who couldn't sing. Let me tell you--I am classically trained and have a keen ear for what is "good singing" vs. "bad singing" and she is NOT bad. I genuinely believe that people hate on her because she has the teenybopper fanbase.

 

Justin Bieber has a similar fanbase, but I genuinely think people do hate him at least partly for his voice. Personally, I think his voice would be perfect for singing solos in a boys' choir, not for pop. It just doesn't suit pop to me. I don't like to call him a bad singer, because like I said, his voice IS good for certain things, but this is not it. Also, the only song I have had the displeasure of hearing was "Baby" and I have to say--really?

 

But then again, I HAVE had the attitude in the past of "60's and 70's songs were just better!" I have thought it over, though, and it really isn't true. First of all, they're only going to play the popular ones from back then. If they have a whole score of years instead of just five years or so, they have more songs to choose from, and they can pick just the good ones. Second of all, I started listening to song lyrics.

 

"You're the cutest thing that I ever did see,

I really love your peaches, want to shake your tree,

Lovey dovey lovey dovey lovey dovey all the time,

Ooh-ee baby, I'll sure show you a good time"

--The Joker. He just rhymed "time" with "time". I won't even go into the other crap there.

 

"When I come home, baby

My house is dark and my pots are cold,

You hang around, baby

With Jean and Joan and-a who knows who..."

--Evil Ways. Has anyone else noticed how incredibly sexist this is?

 

Also, something that happened a LOT in the 60's and 70's was repetition. Same lyrics used over and over again because they failed to come up with anything new. Not an uncommon theme in today's music, either--"You Raise Me Up" has only two verses (shoot, that's no longer today's music, is it? I'm old!) and "Cooler than Me" repeats a lot. Although the latter one is quite catchy.

[Yuika]

But then again, I HAVE had the attitude in the past of "60's and 70's songs were just better!" I have thought it over, though, and it really isn't true. First of all, they're only going to play the popular ones from back then. If they have a whole score of years instead of just five years or so, they have more songs to choose from, and they can pick just the good ones. Second of all, I started listening to song lyrics.

 

"You're the cutest thing that I ever did see,

I really love your peaches, want to shake your tree,

Lovey dovey lovey dovey lovey dovey all the time,

Ooh-ee baby, I'll sure show you a good time"

--The Joker. He just rhymed "time" with "time". I won't even go into the other crap there.

 

"When I come home, baby

My house is dark and my pots are cold,

You hang around, baby

With Jean and Joan and-a who knows who..."

--Evil Ways. Has anyone else noticed how incredibly sexist this is?

 

Also, something that happened a LOT in the 60's and 70's was repetition. Same lyrics used over and over again because they failed to come up with anything new. Not an uncommon theme in today's music, either--"You Raise Me Up" has only two verses (shoot, that's no longer today's music, is it? I'm old!) and "Cooler than Me" repeats a lot. Although the latter one is quite catchy.

Haha, THANK you. I get very tired of hearing stoners rant about how 70s/80s music is just so much better. While lyrics are not the most important part of a song (well... maybe now, but that's not how it should be), bad rhyming is one of my pet peeves. You do not have to rhyme! If you can't think of a good one, leave it out! P: And heavy guitar doesn't make a lame chord progression any better.

 

Also, pop music has always been "bad." It's a lot about image, and it always will be. Lady Gaga actually has a beautiful voice, but that wasn't enough to make her famous, so she had to create a persona and distort her nice voice with Autotune The most popular songs will usually not be the most musically impressive songs. You really think that Blondie is a musical genius?

 

In today's excessively popular music we may have people like Bruno Mars (catchy but bad), but we also have Adele, whose music is good and who also has a gorgeous voice.

[Vivies]

People have always complained about modern music. People didn't like The Beatles when they first came out. People didn't like The Doors when they first came out. Tupac sold more records after his death than he did alive. There will always be something to love and something to hate about popular culture, so I usually tune these complaints out.

[Lady Lyuba]

And just thing, 20 to 30 years from now, people willbe loving some of todays artists, many of them ones we all hate right now.

 

What I blame is not the stars, but society. Society's messed up way of viewing the world says it's all about image. Because of this, society overproted poor Lady Gaga as something people love to hate, and only judge her by her image. It's sad, she could have been even better if it weren't for society forcing her to mess up her voice and wear almost nothing at all on stage. Society these days want nothing but...a word I cannot say here...all the time. There is more to it than that. It's become near an opposite of the 50s, but in a way, still has similar attitudes. Not only that, but society shoves these images and such down your throat and in your face all the time, and that's why a lot of people are "SHUT UP!!!!" to popular stars because they are overpromoted by those guys in the dark suits and sunglasses who tell you what to do and what to like. If it weren't for these guys, these society pushers shoving these rules down our throats and overpromoting, the world would be a better place. The pop stars could be better, not being overpromoted, and it'd be a relief not to be hearing from those teenyboppers we can't stand nor do we care about. They are what is most commonly overpromoted - those that are too young to be famous.

[Unstream]

tl;dr

 

Have to disagree on the digital computer stuff. I mean, I guess he's right in you can't say there's no talent, but I think there's less talent, because the guy sitting at a computer only has to hit play, whereas real musicians actually have instruments to deal with.

 

And there is still some merit in playing an actual instrument. I mean, a keyboard simply can't do what a piano can do. Not saying a keyboard is bad, simply because you can't carry a piano with you and sometimes it's necessary, but I think most pianists would tell you they'd prefer to work on a piano rather than a keyboard any day.

 

And Lyuba, I don't think it's the people in dark suits who make those pop artists popular. It's us. I mean, if we didn't care about those stars, then the people in dark suits would toss them in the corner because they aren't making any money. They're overpromoting because we want that and it works. Image matters because of us.

 

Point of the matter is, if they're constantly being promoted, it's because that's what makes them money. And we're the ones paying.

 

Personally, I go with what Duke Ellington said: "If it sounds good, it is good."

[April]

I don't hate on modern music. I just wish people with great voices that don't use auto tune got more attention.

 

Then again, the only modern people I listen to are Avril Lavigne (been a fan since her fisrt album) Simple Plan (same thing) Taylor Swift.

 

Of course I always loved Hilary Duff even though she doesn't have anything new.

 

It's not because I hate music but I would personally rather shut of Beyonce and listen to Within Temptation or Nightwish.

 

And shut off Bieber to listen to Led Zepplin , Def Leppard type of deal.

 

Music does change over time, it used to be rock that was big and now it's pop.

 

It's pop I don't really like, except for the exceptions I named. Not modern music.

Of course I also listen to Vitamin C and Mandy Moore. But they're not that well known.

[Emily]

I think a lot of the problem too is people not differentiating between "new" music and "popular" music. Here's an example:

 

Britney Spears' new song (the most recent one I know anyways) "I Wanna Go"

-Off her newest album

-Currently somewhere in the top 20 in American Top 40

this is therefore "new" and "popular" music

 

Otep album "Atavist" single "Fists Fall"

-New (within the last few months)

-Nowhere near any popular music charts and can only be heard on satellite radio and the odd rock/metal station

Therefore, is "new" but not "popular"

 

Pink Floyd "Another Brick in the Wall"

- Over 30 years old

-is regularly on the radio and requested a lot

therefore, is not "new" but it IS "popular"

 

Terms getting mixed up is just a much of the problem as people's stubbornness to accept anything new OR mainstream

[Lady Lyuba]

I think a lot of the problem too is people not differentiating between "new" music and "popular" music. Here's an example:

 

Britney Spears' new song (the most recent one I know anyways) "I Wanna Go"

-Off her newest album

-Currently somewhere in the top 20 in American Top 40

this is therefore "new" and "popular" music

 

Otep album "Atavist" single "Fists Fall"

-New (within the last few months)

-Nowhere near any popular music charts and can only be heard on satellite radio and the odd rock/metal station

Therefore, is "new" but not "popular"

 

Pink Floyd "Another Brick in the Wall"

- Over 30 years old

-is regularly on the radio and requested a lot

therefore, is not "new" but it IS "popular"

 

Terms getting mixed up is just a much of the problem as people's stubbornness to accept anything new OR mainstream

 

 

I agree with you that people reject what is new and what is popular in the mainstream. We often reject the new, popular mainstream songs we see in our faces all the time (such as Bruno Mars), just because it's "modern", "mainstream", and "popular". As opposed to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", just because the song is an iconic legend, famous, but over 30 years old. So people judge something by it's age, most of the time.

 

I know there are tons of modern artists I like, but none of them are really mainstream. Many of them are artists you have never even heard of. And a lot of them have been around for almost 20 years, so they're actually not that new.

[Russ]

I didn't read through all of this because it was tl;dr but I got the gist of what's being discussed so here's my opinions on stuff.

 

- A lot of the music that's popular presently is really generic (kesha, bieber, perry etc), and to say that it'll be recognized as better in later years is silly. It's not that popular music is later recognized as being good; it's that music that's already recognized as good becomes more popular later. There were tons of bad songs that were huge hits way back in the 60's, 70's, whenever. But because they were worse, we don't pay attention to them because they died out. In 20 years, it won't be the case that we see someone like ke$ha as a visionary.. We'll just forget her and she won't be considered the most important music of this generation as much as other, more talented artists who are just being glossed over now. We'll naturally remember the better music from the past because the music that sucked isn't worth remembering.

 

- There is great music being released these days if you know where to look. A lot of my favorite bands/artists are still making music or only stopped very recently. The really popular stuff is pretty bad but it's not as if that's all that exists.

 

- Synthesized music is totally fine and still takes just as much effort as playing an instrument, if there is legitimate talent behind it. The blaring synth that's in the background of music that people listen to while they get wasted at clubs is completely different than something like, say, this dude (whom I adore). Electronic music can be beautiful and pure art if you open your mind to the fact that it can be used to create things besides just loud crap that blasts at clubs. Autotune, however, is a horrible, stupid invention that sounds awful and really doesn't take talent.

 

So basically, not all old music is good and not all new music is bad or vice versa. The stuff that sucks today will be forgotten tomorrow, not recognized as being better than it is. Sometimes music is viewed as bad because it just plain sucks, not always because it's ahead of its time. Synth can be amazing if it's used as an actual instrument and it still takes talent to make music with it.

[Jess Is Somewhere Else]

I don't like most people's taste in modern music, but that's mainly because of the attitude that comes with it. Talking like those in a rap song is just so annoying. And anyway, the bands are just sining, they just use computers to make the background music. And the voices are almost the same as well. And I try and get those songs out of my head after being forced to hear them.

[khaos]

I think new music is better than old music.. :whistle:

[Kaana]

I like music without lyrics. Harder to get stuck in my head and you get a chance to appreciate the music without being distracted by words. Not that I don't think singing is music - I do - it's just that so much attention seems to be on the lyrics of a song instead of the background music, which can kind of suck. I'd take a good beat over good lyrics any day.