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So this is why us old people hate your music
- Thread starter RoboFu
- Start date
Hrk69
Gold Member
And I thought
Men_in_Boxes
had bad takes
Men_in_Boxes
had bad takes
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Grildon Tundy
Member
The best era for any media is whenever you were ~12 though 20 years old.
Music has definitely changed. The lyrical content is much more about mental health and less about having fun. Singers are way less melodic and harmonies are almost all gone. I think the dominance of rap and pop to the exclusion of almost everything else outside of Country land is because Clear Channel/iheart owns everything and can dictate all the awards.
Just go back and listen to 80's pop. It's like a blast of joy and sparkles in your face compared to the drab dull shit we have now.
Just go back and listen to 80's pop. It's like a blast of joy and sparkles in your face compared to the drab dull shit we have now.
yet_another_alt
Member
Gaming peaked in late 90's to early 00's though.
Hrk69
Gold Member
Today’s music is actually more vibrant and varied than ever, it just requires a bit of curiosity from the listener
There’s more music available now than ever before, and if someone can’t find anything they like, maybe they’re not looking or just stuck in the past.
The idea that “melodies and harmonies are gone,” they’re not. They’re just expressed differently or are thriving in genres outside of pop.Check out modern indie, neo-soul, or the ongoing rock and jazz fusion movements, and you’ll hear some breathtaking harmonies and complex melodic arrangements
If you think modern music is “dull,” that’s on you for sticking to the surface and not digging deeper. The sparkles, the joy, the complexity, and the depth are all out there for anyone who actually wants to find them. But hey, if listening to the same 80s songs on repeat keeps you happy, maybe leave the discussion on today’s music to those who are still tuned in
dsp
Member
I don't understand generational fighting. It seems like some sort of strange mind virus generated on the internet through memetic warfare. Imagine telling someone from just 100 years ago that their grandchildren would be able to access nearly all of the world's art and music right from their pocket. Historically, most of this stuff was only available to the wealthiest people in their respective societies... yet at this very moment I can, in less than a minute, listen to some of the world's greatest musicians play Chopin, I can listen to anything from Aphex Twin to John Cage, Simple Minds to Indian folk music, I can hear the chants of the worlds religions, Guns 'n' Roses to Wager, and everything in-between. Good music is timeless.
That's only if you're someone who doesn't really love music and prefers to treat music as a nostalgic backdrop to memories you believe to be better than the reality you're living in. The idea of what a good song is is whatever tune was playing when you first got laid or whatever the hell, your phsyical youth. It was never a real love for music. I've heard more great music from 20+ than I ever did when I was growing up, thanks to being able to listen to so much music through the internet.
But none of that is true if you simply stop following what is trending. Tens of thousands of records from that decade are available to you right now, at this very second, more than you could listen to in your lifetime, but you're more concerned about what is trending and being promoted by psychopathic money exchangers in suits. Smoke a joint and go listen to a new (to you) album from the 80s and enjoy yourself, man. Shit, you can even make your own music, RIGHT NOW, for free, using software that is a thousand times more complex than anything those boys had in the 80s, or just free emulations of the devices they used that were only reserved for a few people. Have some fun and play.
That's only if you're someone who doesn't really love music and prefers to treat music as a nostalgic backdrop to memories you believe to be better than the reality you're living in. The idea of what a good song is is whatever tune was playing when you first got laid or whatever the hell, your phsyical youth. It was never a real love for music. I've heard more great music from 20+ than I ever did when I was growing up, thanks to being able to listen to so much music through the internet.
But none of that is true if you simply stop following what is trending. Tens of thousands of records from that decade are available to you right now, at this very second, more than you could listen to in your lifetime, but you're more concerned about what is trending and being promoted by psychopathic money exchangers in suits. Smoke a joint and go listen to a new (to you) album from the 80s and enjoy yourself, man. Shit, you can even make your own music, RIGHT NOW, for free, using software that is a thousand times more complex than anything those boys had in the 80s, or just free emulations of the devices they used that were only reserved for a few people. Have some fun and play.
just before internet took over.
diffusionx
Gold Member
there has actually been extensive analysis done on modern pop music and it is literally less complex, more hook filled, lyrics are simpler, etc., it's basically junk food for music these days. There are books written about the evolution of this music towards simpler, more repetitive elements because that gets more play. Herei s one link but the work is out there if you care:
Yea, it's easier to find music these days, and thats a good thing, but the trend cannot be denied.
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Hrk69
Gold Member
Have you read it? Because the "extensive analysis" only covers top 40 songs while I'm talking about music as a whole:
Thank you for proving my previous points.
Stop sticking to the surface and explore a little.
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yet_another_alt
Member
Early 00's was peak internet too.
it was definitely more fun.
dsp
Member
"it's basically junk food for music these days." well how many artists would say that about music in the 80s? What would one of those serious composers from the early 20th century say about pop music of the 80s? It's actually a genuine question that I'm now pondering myself. What did Stravinsky think of the 60s, for example? Did he ever listen to Hendrix? I personally hope he did and was absolutely floored (in a good way) by that electric wall of sound.
There are basically two schools of thought. The ones who say that art is a reflection of the times and others who said that art isn't a mirror but a hammer from which it is shaped. It's clear that curation to the masses has completely ended or that the curators simply want to see the world burn, I leave that up to you decide. My issue with the top trending music on Youtube isn't that it isn't melodically interest enough, it's that it genuinely promotes the worst ideas I've ever come across, the fact that it isn't intricate is the least of its problems. Repetitive music is hypnotically great and taps into some very raw in our nature, I think you're criticizing modern music for the wrong reasons. Go after the fact that it's all money and violence and we'll have some agreement. Youtube's top trending is basically a musical back drop to do drive by shootings to.
jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
I'm almost 50, and spent most of my late 20s to early 40s being one of those "all new music sucks" kind of guys. If you had asked me before 2019, I would have told you that music peaked in 1982 when the Violent Femmes released their self-titled album.
But, a couple of years ago something happened that I didn't expect. I decided to buckle down and start seriously studying Japanese, and part of my immersion was listening to their county's top 50 hits list on Spotify. Turns out, a lot of their stuff (even popular stuff) has extremely complex melodies, great harmonies (check out "The First Take" channel on Youtube for some great examples). I thought "damn, why don't songs sung in English sound this good?" - and there are a few reasons why Japanese lends itself particularly well to complex lyrics - but I started looking around for similar sounds from artists in my native language. Turns out, there are TONS of amazingly talented indie artists and people with <1000 followers on Youtube I found that are making some amazing music. For my money, even some street buskers are turning out better jams than Taylor Swift is.
When you have access to literally the world's archive of music and make it a point to seek out music you enjoy, you're likely to find it. Turns out, record companies and radio conglomerates have just been doing us dirty for decades. Who knew that distilling subjective things like taste in music down to the lowest common denominator would make thing so shitty.
Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
Temple of the Dog was a 1991 album. Damn you!
Mossybrew
Gold Member
You have to get away from the mainstream shit and there is still a lot of great music out there, same as it ever was.
bender
What time is it?
diffusionx
Gold Member
I am saying that my criticism is based on a mathematical analysis of the music itself. All the other stuff you mention is true, but the fact that this pop music is simpler, more repetitive, less melodic, etc., is just an objective fact and I think we are at the point where fart sniffers get some intellectual high by trying to deny something that is obviously true.
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diffusionx
Gold Member
there are like 100 million songs on spotify. Obviously some of them are good. This is a general overall trend in the music that is coming out. Refuting it with "durr the 83 millionth most popular song is great that 4 people listened to the past year including me of course" is stupidity. Everyone knows that somebody somewhere is making something good. This is the trend of what is out there. Nobody has time to listen to everything.
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kevboard
Member
indeed. while it is true that the most popular music out there has become dumbed down to an extreme degree, it is also true that due to the ease of publishing and producing music, there's more good music now than ever before as well.
and while the actually good music isn't nearly as popular as the most played songs, due to Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube etc. the more "niche" music that is complex, varied and innovative still gets more listeners than ever before.
GOAT by Polyphia, an entirely instrumental avant-garde progressive rock song has more views/listens on Youtube alone than most number 1 albums sold in the 80s
Hrk69
Gold Member
Wow, nice job missing the point entirely.
The truth is, if you're listening to whatever corporate radio feeds you and then blaming the entire industry for sounding the same, that’s like judging all food based on what fast food chains serve. Mainstream hits represent only a small fraction of what’s out there, and claiming “there’s a trend” based on that tiny sample is just lazy..
If you’re truly interested in music, you’d know that innovation is alive and well
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diffusionx
Gold Member
350,000 tracks is hardly a "tiny" sample, nobody listens to "corporate radio" anymore, this is the stuff that people are listening to. The stuff that we are talking about, the popular music, is located on the same services that all the other tracks are on.
The point is that both things can be true, the music that the vast majority of people are listening to is this way, and good music also exists even if 4 people are playing it. One does not refute the other no matter what the annoying fart sniffers like to claim otherwise.
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Hrk69
Gold Member
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Laptop1991
Member
I was a young teen in 1981, so i disagree, my era was better, i've a good idea everyone is gonna say this, depending when they were a teen lol.
Beat poetry read to a slide whistle ain't what I'm talking about
What i really miss are the indie college stations for all the cool stuff and then Casey Casum doing the top 40 to unite us all every Sunday
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