Quite honestly, as a designer my self, I don't buy the whole "everything is art its ok!" argument at all. Just like shitty design, there is shitty music. It may not be the worst thing in the world, but its shallow.
Take Coldplay's new album. No matter how you feel about coldplay, some of their older albums are fantastic and deep, moving, they server a purpose. They provoke thought.
Their new album "every tear drop is a water fall" is, like gaga music, shallow, sugar coated, and piss poor music.
An example, this song was excluded off the new album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-KsutWy3UU It is beautiful
To contrast, the less than awesome song on their album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbOkjctth7s
This song is awful, taking taste out of it, its forced, its shallow
Now I'm sure some of you think I just don't like the style the album took, not true at all, the song "Paradise" I think manages to be pretty good
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G4isv_Fylg&ob=av2e
We have bad movies
We have bad design
We have bad video games
We have bad art, this, to me, again to ME is a truth.
Music is no exception, its not about what time period its from for me, but if you are making the music because someone else told you to pluck the strings, it ain't music, or at least its not good music.
I make the same argument with abstract art, yes it is art, but if its just splattering paint onto a board in 10 min than sorry, it blows.
Can you imagine the shit I get having these thoughts and being an art student myself?
Also guys, if you don't agree with me, that's cool, but these are just my thoughts and opinions on the issue.
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I think the auto tune bothers me a too. If you use it as an artistic tool that's fine, but if you use it to trick the people listening to it that you actually sound that good fuck off.