Music is "scientifically" proven to sound the same in recent years

[TheHuckster]

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/0...86P0R820120726

I hate to sound like an crotchety old man, but I agree with this study and have been very disappointed in today's pop music. Keep in mind, that doesn't mean all of today's music is bad, but the vast majority of pop music by Katy Perry, Pink, and anything else you'd hear on a Top-40 station just annoys the hell out of me.

Gone are the days of powerful guitar solos, amazing instrumental bridges, and lyrics more thoughtful than "I get off on you getting off on me" or "I'm talking about pedicure on my toes, toes".

It's not just the sound that irks me, although there have been many times I'd be hearing a song and say, "Ugh, another [Katy Perry|Pink|Taylor Swift] song" only to be corrected that it's, in fact, some other artist who sounds exactly like Katy Perry, but the content of the music is So. Fucking. Shallow. Most songs on top-40 are either about sex, drinking, or partying. That's it!

Music about those subjects is fine, don't get me wrong, but is that really all there is to sing about nowadays? There's the occasional song that, love it or hate it, at least tries to be different in sound and subject but that seems to becoming the exception to the rule more and more.

I just feel like, overall, pop music is declining in substance rapidly. Where one used to win a Grammy for singing about God, one fears even mentioning God for fear of screaming from the "OMG RELIGIONS ARE BAD" crowd. Songs about African hunger and simply being generally happy have been replaced with refusing rehab and getting drunk in Vegas.

I understand there's obviously songs today, many of which never make the airwaves and are more "Alternative Rock" than pop, which are thought provoking, artistic, and original, but the labels always promote the most shallow songs, both lyrically and instrumentally.

Pop music has always sort of been overhyped, and there's no doubt every decade has had its share of banal songs, but it just seems to me that it's getting even more and more homogeneous and unoriginal than ever before, as this study concludes.

[AdminAssistant]

While I don't disagree that modern Top 40 music is bland and uninspiring, that doesn't mean that good music can't be found. It's become easier than ever for people to find whatever niche music they like via ITunes, Zune, Soundcloud, whatever. You like indie rock? It's out there by the boat load. A couple of years ago, The Arcade Fire won several Grammy's and received a good amount of national attention. You like electronica? Both Armin Van Burren and Gareth Emery have podcasts that are good ways to discover new artists. BT puts almost all of his stuff on Soundcloud for free. Skrillex won, what, four Grammy's the past year? Deadmau5 is hugely popular, when he's not sticking his foot in his mau5hole.

The stuff played on your typical Top 40 station is designed to be shallow, meaningless, and as unoffensive as possible, so that the studios can achieve maximum benefits. It is also geared toward the most profitable demographic - 13 to 25 year olds. Top 40 'Pop' music is designed to make money, and if anyone believes otherwise then they're kidding themselves.

But, seriously, WHY would you compare one of the stupidest and most nonsensical songs in existence ("Don't Worry, Be Happy") as better than Winehouse's "Rehab"? I'm not the biggest Winehouse fan, but I can recognize the raw talent and pain that goes into a single like that. "We are the World" is exactly the kind of money grab (none of those profits actually made it to Africa) that you're complaining about in your post.

ETA: Sorry, I just went back and realized that you are also complaining about the content. There...I can't help you. I would suggest Contemporary Christian music, but it is categorically AWFUL.

[TheHuckster]

ETA: Sorry, I just went back and realized that you are also complaining about the content. There...I can't help you. I would suggest Contemporary Christian music, but it is categorically AWFUL.

Totally agreed. I mention From a Distance as an example of music that simply dares to mention God as a direct subject of the song, and manages to make top charts.

I don't want to come off as a zealot who thinks God has to be in the song in order for it to have substance. Consider No Bravery by James Blunt, who is singing about his experience in war-torn Serbia. Or many of the anti-war songs throughout the 60s and 70s. There's also Won't get Fooled Again by The Who which is really about how simply blindly adopting anything socially revolutionary is good just because it's different could have unintended consequences. Same subject is used in Cygnet Committee by David Bowie.

To me, as long as a song really has a message other than "I got molested by an alien", I consider the quality of the song to be enhanced, even if I don't agree with that message.

[Andara Bledin]

It's pop.

It's the musical equivalent of a soda; you've got some fizz, a bit of sparkle, it'll help you keep moving, but it's nothing but empty calories.

And among all that, you've got others singing songs about self-improvement.

There's good stuff out there, in the same ratio as their always has been - we just see more of the 95% than we used to.

^-.-^

[Greenday]

So, what older music do you actually like? Because I'm trying to think of bands that didn't sing about either sex, drinking, or partying and it's coming up dry. Sex, drinking, partying, drugs, and love probably sum up the EXTREME majority of all music, recent or old.

[TheHuckster]

So, what older music do you actually like? Because I'm trying to think of bands that didn't sing about either sex, drinking, or partying and it's coming up dry. Sex, drinking, partying, drugs, and love probably sum up the EXTREME majority of all music, recent or old.

I listed a few already. In fact, you're missing a huge subject that is present in a good chunk of songs, new and old: political/cultural. I know this might sound shocking, but while I can't stand the sound, I at least appreciate the thought that goes into Lady Gaga's Born This Way. The same goes for American Idiot by your namesake.

Also, while love songs can be shallow and lacking, there are plenty of love songs that do try to evoke a certain emotion deeper than just the physical.

You can argue that I might be too critical of today's music content. After all, one could consider a song like California Gurls by Katy Perry to be as inane as California Girls by the Beach Boys. Regardless of that, I'm still a bit miffed about how it seems a lot of artists tend to sound a lot more like eachother than in prior years, as the OP article indicates.

[Greenday]

I'm still a bit miffed about how it seems a lot of artists tend to sound a lot more like eachother than in prior years, as the OP article indicates.

I can agree with this. I'm having a lot more trouble listening to a song and know who it is whereas just 15 years ago when I was a kid, it was a lot easier to pick out distinct sounds of the bands.

[Nekojin]

So, what older music do you actually like? Because I'm trying to think of bands that didn't sing about either sex, drinking, or partying and it's coming up dry. Sex, drinking, partying, drugs, and love probably sum up the EXTREME majority of all music, recent or old.

You're missing social issues and politics, also common themes among music. Things like Land of Confusion by Genesis, We Work the Black Seam and Synchronicity by The Police, Inside Job by Don Henley, and Heavy Water by Styx.

[BlaqueKatt]

You're missing social issues and politics, also common themes among music. Things like Land of Confusion by Genesis, We Work the Black Seam and Synchronicity by The Police, Inside Job by Don Henley, and Heavy Water by Styx.

for that, try Disturbed*, for decent christian music, Skillet, Bobaflex has some good songs(just saw them a bit ago), nonpoint, wayland, nightwish, volbeat, smile empty soul, three days grace nice anti-bullying song by shinedown....there is good music out there that isn't pop and doesn't sound like anything else out there. I prefer "hard rock" or "metal" YMMV-most of the above listed bands are on 94.1 WJJO, which does offer streaming via web and smartphone apps for streaming.

*suicide, pollution, our previous president.....

[Jaden]

Friend, have you tried Bob Dylan? As far as lyrical content is concerned, he touches on all sorts of philosophy and religion, and from the late 70's onwards, after his conversion and to this day, he even talks about Christian subjects in intelligent ways, albeit loosely. If it's good lyrics with good messages you want, I can't recommend him enough.

EDIT: And Jaden fails to notice that this topic is about modern music and its lack of lyrical depth. I'll leave my original post here as evidence of my utter failure.

In that case, try Fleet Foxes. "Helplessness Blues" is a great anthem about personal and societal troubles, and their other lyrics don't disappoint either. If you want something more religiously based, then I highly recommend Sufjan Stevens. He does lovely folk music and also really bombastic electro-pop - all of it really well written and filtered through the lens of a Christian

[TheHuckster]

Friend, have you tried Bob Dylan? As far as lyrical content is concerned, he touches on all sorts of philosophy and religion, and from the late 70's onwards, after his conversion and to this day, he even talks about Christian subjects in intelligent ways, albeit loosely. If it's good lyrics with good messages you want, I can't recommend him enough.

Bob Dylan, to me, encompasses a lot of what good pop music used to be... and while his music was controversial and even offensive at times, it was still considered pop for its time. I haven't heard his more recent stuff, but from what I heard it wasn't all that bad.

[mikoyan29]

I bet if you looked at the music that didn't survive from a particular era, you'd find pretty much the same thing you do now. I'm sure the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's had their share of vacuous music.

[Nekojin]

I bet if you looked at the music that didn't survive from a particular era, you'd find pretty much the same thing you do now. I'm sure the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's had their share of vacuous music.

You would be correct.

[Racket_Man]

I bet if you looked at the music that didn't survive from a particular era, you'd find pretty much the same thing you do now. I'm sure the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's had their share of vacuous music.

as I have said before, every era has had its "manufactured" music or the "ME too" stuff that after a year or two all sounds the same even between different artist, songwriters, composers, etc.

What I used to call "Bubblegum poptop hit-factoryt top 40" back in the 1960's is not really any different than the manufactured stuff of later eras.

[MrsEclipse]

So pop music has been scientifically proven to be more bland. To me that sounds like they've scientifically proven that store-brand white rice has less taste than it did in the 1960s. It was hardly a feast of flavor to begin with.

Or worse, that people are remembering the Asian chicken stir-fry their mom used to make and comparing it to the blander white rice on today's shelves. Actually, I worry that most people will take this to mean "they've scientifically proven that music today is worse than the music of my day," to which I say read the #1 entry on this Cracked article because they say what I've been thinking for years, only more clear.


The questions I have are this:
1) What is their classification of "pop music," and what does it encompass?
2) What percent of music today does it make up? Not just songs on the radio, but the many (relatively mainstream) available channels we have today for distributing and sharing our music.