Is modern music awful?

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craven
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08 Nov 2018

I listen a lot to rather simple, electronic music, mainly as background music when I'm working. So the simple nature it fits very well.

We all know about the loudness war but do you think that most modern mainstream music is just awful and too similar in comparison to former times?

PS: sorry for the video having clickbait title and images... I guess the title made me click.

:ugeek:

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platzangst
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09 Nov 2018

I think it's always a mistake to label today's music as "awful" and earlier music as somehow superior.

First off, there's the obvious dichotomy of what's "good" vs. what's "popular". And that itself plays on the issue of taste - it always seems a bit arrogant, to me, to imply that all the people who buy/enjoy the latest popular music are somehow tasteless morons, by saying that what they like is bad.

Moreover, there's the issue of whose taste determines what is good. If you go back over the Pulitzer prizes through history, say, you may be surprised to see that a great many of the books listed you will have never heard of, especially the further back you go. They may have been good, for their time, but they did not endure. Nobody took Van Gogh's paintings seriously while he lived, they're worth fortunes now. Are we more right in our appraisal than folks back then?

That applies to music. How much music has been produced and distributed since recorded music was viable? How much music do you know of that was pressed into 10-inch 78 rpm records? Was that more or less "good" than the stuff made in the heyday of the 60s, or the 70s? People tend to fixate on the styles of music prevalent when they were teens and young adults. And we also tend to focus on what endures, what makes it to the oldies and nostalgia channels, the "classic" hits. All the vast rest of it, all the junk and poorly-made crap that happened at the same time gets forgotten and chucked into history's black hole. Forget all the junk, only hear the classics, and you could be forgiven for thinking that some past era was amazing while today is nothing but crap.

Every era was crap. 90% of everything is crap, we can just discard what we didn't like in the past...


(Edited to add) This kind of mirrors my attitude...


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BRIGGS
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09 Nov 2018

Either way, it's good.

If modern music is generally good...great, cool stuff to listen to.

And, if modern music is rubbish...It makes good artists stand out.


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splangie
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09 Nov 2018

Most music sucks. Most people are ugly. Most of just about eveything sucks at least a little. But this is nothing new.

Think of the absolute most beautiful lover you have ever had. Nice. But, remember her ginger cousin from Oklahoma? You never got to know her but man you sure wish you would have because she was actually a bit more cute. Gosh. And man you still think about her sometimes don't you? Just don't look her up on facebook because you might will see a recent picture and that won't be good. You remember her in that two piece in your girlfriend's back yard when she was 19. There is always something better, at least for a little while.

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BRIGGS
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09 Nov 2018

splangie wrote:
09 Nov 2018
Most music sucks. Most people are ugly. Most of just about eveything sucks at least a little. But this is nothing new.

Think of the absolute most beautiful lover you have ever had. Nice. But, remember her ginger cousin from Oklahoma? You never got to know her but man you sure wish you would have because she was actually a bit more cute. Gosh. And man you still think about her sometimes don't you? Just don't look her up on facebook because you might will see a recent picture and that won't be good. You remember her in that two piece in your girlfriend's back yard when she was 19. There is always something better, at least for a little while.
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O1B
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09 Nov 2018

Damn Right!
splangie wrote:
09 Nov 2018
Most music sucks. Most people are ugly. Most of just about eveything sucks at least a little. But this is nothing new.

Think of the absolute most beautiful lover you have ever had. Nice. But, remember her ginger cousin from Oklahoma? You never got to know her but man you sure wish you would have because she was actually a bit more cute. Gosh. And man you still think about her sometimes don't you? Just don't look her up on facebook because you might will see a recent picture and that won't be good. You remember her in that two piece in your girlfriend's back yard when she was 19. There is always something better, at least for a little while.

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plaamook
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11 Nov 2018

All true but I was sat in front of some crap pop music yesterday and all I could think was it was exactly what I'd expect from an AI if you told it to make music that would appeal to as many epople as possible. It had no position direction or point. It was a video (can't remember what twats made it) that was basically fantasy lifestyle marketing for a large slice of America. And it really did suck in terms of what it communicated. It was like Rap country tropical holliday with cowboy hats, swimming pigs (!?) sharks bakinis all races represented (naturally) and looked like it was shot in the Keys.
It was creepy
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splangie
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11 Nov 2018

And I will say this. Past Malone is a bloody wanker.

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Noplan
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11 Nov 2018

the music of the beatles was also awful for many people at that time. There is simply no music that can be objectively described as good or bad. neither today nor then.

kitekrazy
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13 Nov 2018

When you are a musician or produce music you listen to it much differently. I've found this can be a curse more than a blessing. If we had it our way the general public who buys the stuff would say music is awful.

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Aosta
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13 Nov 2018

Tend the flame

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FlowerSoldier
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13 Nov 2018

I love the shitty music. The production value is high. There is always something new to learn from new artists.
Thats just, like, my opinion though.
I really like Vince Staples new album. The production is kinda on another level.

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craven
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14 Nov 2018

You bring up interesting points in this thread. Btw, I was not aware we just had this discussion a month ago :)
Always good to reflect on our music taste, art and craft, and where we want our own music to go. I like the notion of trying something new and also the opposite, of really nailing an established genre.
:ugeek:

imjacksmusicalego
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23 Nov 2018

There is a survivor bias when you talk about "older" music

Look at the top charts from the 60s and 70s and you'll realize that the biggest hits of the day were the same crappy, cheesy pop you deride today

Here's a wiki entry for the top Billboard year end singles from 1973:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard ... es_of_1973

How many of these songs do you recognize? How many would you think are actually "good"? Heck, how many of them are even from bands whose names you know?

There is some gold there, of course - Marvin Gaye, McCartney, Stevie Wonder, etc. But so much of it is what you would call "bad pop"

So when you talk about modern music being bad, you're right. But also know that in 20 years, no one will remember "Roar" and "Wrecking Ball". They'll remember the tracks that were actually good

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pushedbutton
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30 Nov 2018

Everything is awful, always has been, always will be.
But sometimes, if you're very lucky, you hear something that makes you feel something and you identify with it. It's still awful, nobody ultimately cares, but sometimes, if you're very lucky, you can switch off from how truly awful everything is and say 'I Like This.'
But the chart's ain't helping much.
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aeox
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30 Nov 2018

FlowerSoldier wrote:
13 Nov 2018
I really like Vince Staples new album. The production is kinda on another level.
Really? I don't see how this production is on "another level"

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FlowerSoldier
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30 Nov 2018

aeox wrote:
30 Nov 2018
FlowerSoldier wrote:
13 Nov 2018
I really like Vince Staples new album. The production is kinda on another level.
Really? I don't see how this production is on "another level"

I dig it cause there is not a lot of harmony. It's mostly textures, with a kick n snare. Kind of a funny way to make a record.
Anyways, I checked out Goo (it's in the signature).
I dug it. Like, really...really, dug it. Strong structure. Strong production. Really dig the textures you got happening.
Good work Broh.
You work alone?

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aeox
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01 Dec 2018

FlowerSoldier wrote:
30 Nov 2018
aeox wrote:
30 Nov 2018


Really? I don't see how this production is on "another level"

I dig it cause there is not a lot of harmony. It's mostly textures, with a kick n snare. Kind of a funny way to make a record.
Anyways, I checked out Goo (it's in the signature).
I dug it. Like, really...really, dug it. Strong structure. Strong production. Really dig the textures you got happening.
Good work Broh.
You work alone?
I'll have to listen to the rest of the album since I only heard the first song.

Oh and thanks! Yes, just me and Reason :D

Thousand Ways
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01 Dec 2018

To answer the original question: if we're talking about mainstraim pop music, then yes, it is worse than it was, and it's increasingly generic. If you look at the UK pop charts from the 1970s or 1980s, you'll find on each a mix of novelty records (it's shocking to see just how massive those records sung by football teams were), straight pop, AOR, MOR, rock, and plenty of "fringe" or independent artists who had hits (eg. The Cure, Depeche Mode, New Order, Propaganda, The Smiths, Siouxsie, many others who frequently appeared on Top of the Pops). Many of the hits from those eras were abysmal. But there was a far wider spread of chart music.

Compare the tracks on these releases …
https://www.discogs.com/Various-Now-Tha ... ster/36191
https://www.discogs.com/Various-Now-Tha ... ter/142858
https://www.discogs.com/Various-Now-Tha ... ster/11596

… with the tracks on this:
https://www.discogs.com/Various-Now-Tha ... e/11743618
and look at how many "feat"s there are on it. Listen to these tracks, to their production, to the endless autotune.

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Creativemind
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01 Dec 2018

I can sum this up quite simply...YES! although I'm not talking about all of it, about 70% of it.

For me being a UK resident I miss things on the tele like CD:UK and Top of the Pops where you could see new artists and see the chart countdown too. Used to always have bands on the tele as well, say on Saturday morning TV. It's all gone, favoured by the same over produced claptrap. OK, you get bands on Sunday Brunch, Graham Norton and the Jonathon Ross show but music and the scene of music has largely died. All this not having a record collection like we used to and it all being on your iPhone and computers being a big issue too. People used to take pride in their record collection and it could define a person when it was shown to other people. Noel Gallagher has said things of this nature:-



The only good artists I hear now are Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Richard Ashcroft, Coldplay (but they haven't done much in a couple of years either), Ed Sheeran (but he's a bit samey, doesn't break his format much) and Liam Gallagher, that's about it. You get the odd one here and there by say Ariana Grande (just a couple I like - One Last Time being one), Adele, Take That, Rita Ora, Jess Glynn, the new Sam Smith one is pretty good but that's 'cause it's a Calvin Harris track but I think music largely seems to be dying.

Sam's new track I will post here. a decent club anthem:-



A lot of bands I see have been making new albums, bands from the 90's s like a revival such as the Manic Street Preachers, Cast and a couple of 80's artists The Proclaimers and Rick Astley if that's your thing but as the full version of the OP video states, the music industry atm is reluctant to sign artists that are a risk and look for good new talent (favouring to stick to a few songwriters and producers that have the same sound) and you see it on the X-Factor as well, 90% of male solo artists who also play guitar (it's what I've noticed in audtions anyway) all try to emulate Ed Sheeran. That's ok, he's a good songwriter but why not Imitate Paul McCartney and Noel Gallagher or just be original.
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fullforce
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01 Dec 2018

It's all bullshit. There's enough good music out there, you just have to look for it. Mainstream shit sucks, like it always has. Formulas are from every era, starting in the 60's.
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kuhliloach
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01 Dec 2018

I agree that "Mainstream" music has never been worse than it is today. It becomes more and more clear that the 50's - 70's were the golden age of music. The quality music I've found lately (stuff like Knower, Vulfpeck, and some electronica) is being released in a more "indie" fashion on Bandcamp and/or Spotify and iTunes distribution. These artists are self-made and also put up cool self-made videos. It seems the further we get from traditional record labels the better the music products are.

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Heigen5
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02 Dec 2018

fullforce wrote:
01 Dec 2018
It's all bullshit. There's enough good music out there, you just have to look for it. Mainstream shit sucks, like it always has. Formulas are from every era, starting in the 60's.
Indeed! How many new releases reach our ears really? Not that many, in most cases.
I would rather ask that "How many of us like the last few "new" genres?" Or how many of us think that: "I want to make trap or dubstep" because they were getting a new trend status, not that long time ago. I think a new track may be in any genre and still sound fresh.

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Creativemind
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02 Dec 2018

Heigen5 wrote:
02 Dec 2018
fullforce wrote:
01 Dec 2018
It's all bullshit. There's enough good music out there, you just have to look for it. Mainstream shit sucks, like it always has. Formulas are from every era, starting in the 60's.
Indeed! How many new releases reach our ears really? Not that many, in most cases.
I would rather ask that "How many of us like the last few "new" genres?" Or how many of us think that: "I want to make trap or dubstep" because they were getting a new trend status, not that long time ago. I think a new track may be in any genre and still sound fresh.
I can't stand dubstep. I think it seems to be a young persons thing. Is there anybody here over the age of 30 that actually genuinely likes it?
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Heigen5
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02 Dec 2018

Creativemind wrote:
02 Dec 2018
Heigen5 wrote:
02 Dec 2018


Indeed! How many new releases reach our ears really? Not that many, in most cases.
I would rather ask that "How many of us like the last few "new" genres?" Or how many of us think that: "I want to make trap or dubstep" because they were getting a new trend status, not that long time ago. I think a new track may be in any genre and still sound fresh.
I can't stand dubstep. I think it seems to be a young persons thing. Is there anybody here over the age of 30 that actually genuinely likes it?
I think that dubstep can also be good, but I don't think it could be my usual genre to create.

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