The State of Music in the Mainstream!

nigeldaniel

OK OK so I can be accused of liking old school music but I will say Taylor Swift is OK [she puts a lot into her concerts] can't really name any modern bands I'm afraid. Arctic monkeys is about as modern as I go.

Montage of Feck

Really need to get back to buying albums on CD. Streaming has turned music into throwaway background noise.

Brussels Sprout

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058352948/the-state-of-music-in-the-mainstream

I thought something similar in the past. I found that I was stuck listening to music from the late '90s and early parts of this century. I didn't tend to like what I was hearing on the radio or in clubs from.

There's plenty of great new music coming out all of the time. It might not necessarily be on the radio. You'll just need to go off the beaten track to find it Check out the Nialler 9 podcast or the All Songs Considered podcast. Both of those are likely to feature a lot of genres that you may not like but I'll bet they feature ones that you do as well. I find John Kelly's Mystery Train is a great place to pick up a wide array of music as well.

I do believe as well though that it's a lot harder to have the same emotional enjoyment of music when you are older than when you were, say a teenager. That's why most generations, coincidentally, think that music peaked right around the time they were 16 years old.

eightieschewbaccy

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122190030#Comment_122190030

I think I've actually had a revitalized engagement in music since I started collecting vinyl. I have all the old stuff that I loved but also engaging with newer stuff that is a bit distant to what was used to.

PP Lee

8radio is another good online station for decent alternative and indie music. It’s run by Simon Maher, formerly of Phantom and TXFM.

Will Graham

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058352948/the-state-of-music-in-the-mainstream

How come Dark Tropics aren't in the mainstream? I like their songs 'Moroccan Sun' and 'Roses in the Nile'.

By the way, "alot" is not one word ,but two.

thereiver

Mtv gets better ratings showing reality shows they play maybe an hour of music videos before 11pm theres vh1 and mtv 2 .

I think gen z watchs videos on youtube or tiktok .if a singer has talent they put videos up on tiktok ,most record companys prefer to give contracts to a single person it takes longer to support a group with 4 or 5 people

i think in the 70,s and 80s, there was a whole system to support rock and pop groups like they would start off in small venues and then get a video on bbc top of the pops or mtv .

we have more radio stations avaidable but alot of them play songs from the 90,s ,2000,s era .

i think theres a study that says pop music now has much simpler melodys than the 80,s or the 90s most modern music is made using various computer programs so theres more production effects but less melody.

i can,t think of any modern band since 2015 that i would listen to

CalamariFritti

@thereiver

i can,t think of any modern band since 2015 that i would listen to

For instance The Mysterines are very good in places and She Drew The Gun is excellent. Plenty of others.

I know it's hardly underground but I can recommend BBC6 Music wholeheartedly. I'm an old fella (50s) myself but turns out I do find good newish bands through them. And if nothing else they have excellent DJs and great shows and they play good music for all tastes all the time and no ads and they have guys like Cillian Murphy and Iggy Pop doing regular slots for them. Its an excellent radio station which can be streamed easily through BBC Sounds app.

On a sidetone BBC6 late morning slot regular Mary Anne Hobbs is 60 now but her taste and knowledge would betray that and her voice… she just sounds lovely.

thereiver

My experience of BBC 6 music is they mostly play obscure music from hipster type bands I read sterogum and av club I have no interest in listening to BBC 6 i.d prefer BBC radio 2 .99 per cent of bands on BBC 6 never get on the charts at least on the top 40

Badly Drunk Boy

On a sidetone BBC6 late morning slot regular Mary Anne Hobbs is 60 now but her taste and knowledge would betray that and her voice… she just sounds lovely.

Mary Anne Hobbs is married to Miles Hunt from The Wonderstuff, who I just realised are still on the go, and touring.

CalamariFritti

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122864171#Comment_122864171

I suppose tastes are all different. To me the lack of top 40 would actually be a plus. Charts music has been terrible for some time now IMO. All through my life the music I listened to hardly ever made it into the top something anyway. I was always more a punk rock indy alternative bit of r&b guy.

conorhal

Rick Beto did a pretty good video on the strange death of the band, there are some pretty startling stats about it.
In the first half of the 1980's for example, there were 146 weeks where bands were no.1 in the charts (UK). In the first half if the 90's there were 141 weeks where bands were no.1 in the charts.
In the first 5 years of the 2010's that number was 3 weeks…. one of which was the Beatles… the other two were Pop Idol manufactured pop band Little Mix and some compilation album.
Those are some stunning numbers that really lay bare the steep decline of bands in the past couple of decades.
Here’s a mad one though, Beto’s casual experiment, looking at the top 400 artists on Spotify’s monthly rankings and found that only 3 bands on the list were founded in the last 10yrs.
To what does he contribute this decline? Well, the usual suspects, technology (you can be your own band these days), streaming and cultural: changing tastes, economics and the fact that being in a band can be fractious.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_DjmtR0Xls

Now is that a bad thing for music though or just a move towards solo artists?
Well ‘studies show’ that perhaps music itself is devolving. Since the 1950’s, pop music has become melodically less complex, using fewer chord changes, and pop recordings are mastered to sound consistently louder (and therefore less dynamic) at a rate of around one decibel every eight years. They have, especially since the 2010’s become lyrically less complex.
A researcher put 15,000 Billboard Hot 100 song lyrics through the well-known Lev-Zimpel-Vogt (LZV1) data compression algorithm, which is good at finding repetitions in data. He found that songs have steadily become more repetitive over the years, and that song lyrics from today compress 22% better on average than less repetitive song lyrics from the 1960s. The most repetitive year in song lyrics was 2014 in this study.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/fb84bf19-29c9-4ed3-b6b6-953e8a083334

“Stop complaining you old fart!”
No, new music is sh1te, and the young folk agree with me!
42% of people polled on which decade has produced the worst pop music since the 1970s voted for the 2010s. These people were not from a particular aging demographic at all -- all age groups polled, including 18-29 year olds, appear to feel unanimously that the 2010s are when pop music became worst. This may explain a rising trend of young millennials, for example, digging around for now 15-30 year-old music on YouTube frequently. It's not just the older people who listen to the 1980s and 1990s on YouTube and other streaming services it seems -- much younger people do it too.

The uncanny valley of the bland.
Even live acts use auto tune these days, the constant pitch correction just strips voices of any unique inflection, the talent doesn’t really need to be all that talented any more to deliver a flawless performance and everybody sounds the same. I think this really impacts the ‘human connection’ and creates a musical ‘uncanny valley’ that can hurt the emotional impact of music. You can sort of see the same when it comes to films these days which are CGI’d and colour graded within an inch of their lives and to the point that everything feels artificial. Everything these days feels not only as if it was created for ‘the algorithm’, it feels created ‘by the algorithm’.

CalamariFritti

Couldnt agree more. Movies are the same. Mainstream movies that were actually good over the last 10 or 15 years can be counted on one or two hands. And half the good ones are sequels or remakes. I'm sure there is good indy and arthouse stuff but I'm not that much of a movie buff to know.

Of course things have also seen a shift towards TV series of which there have been good ones with good writing and everything. But in a way thats part of the same thing. TV series are more easily consumable as in stay home vs go to a theatre. Also ad revenue is probably much better. As with music it's all about easily consumable and ad revenue.

Also what struck me we havent really seen a next big thing since what? Techno, Brit Pop? Before that we had a succession of youth trends some of them quite political and protesting: RocknRoll, Beat, Hippie, Rock, Punk, New Wave, Indy, Alternative, Grunge, Techno, House, Brit Pop etc. Since the 2000s its kinda dead. Ok we had Gaga pop and 'Aaaahhh' rap and Ed fkn Sheeran plus whatever came out of the voice shows, but I mean seriously?

However I can say for sure in music there are still good artists out there. Even when I was 25 I wasnt looking for them on the weekly charts so in that sense not much has changed for me. And I'm sure when things go tooo much in one direction people will get fed up and next thing a new trend starts. We could be seeing a rebirth of bands and maybe we get to witness a new big thing yet.

The Golden Miller

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122866080#Comment_122866080

I agree there still is good musicians out there, but the reality is you shouldn't have to go looking for them. People will say there was always rubbish in the charts, and that's true, but half the charts used to be filled with real bands. Thats dead now.

And it is important for the growth of music, having real original songwriters and bands in the charts and mainstream. For them to get exposure and new ideas to the masses, so music can be pushed and evolved by others who hear it. That's simply dead now.

Basically music stopped evolving circa the end of the 00's, it was the last hurrah of real bands and solo artists getting into the mainstream, writing original material. Due to the afformentioned downloading. Again, this isnt a case of someone complaining that "music was better in my day". For that to hold true, you would need original music in both eras to compare. There is nothing now, original, to compare to former eras.

Even in the 00's youd have classics that will be remembered in decades to come. America by Razoright, Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol, Mr Brightside by the Killers, When the Sun Goes Down by Arctic Monkeys, Use Somebody by Kings of Leon, Fire by Kasabian etc etc etc. I couldn't name you one original song since after 2010, by an original act, that will be remembered. That's the state of "music" now. It's dead for all intents and purposes, just old riffs covered and regurgitated by commercial acts, with nothing new being offered.

Its a bad state of affairs tbh

Sgt Hartman

Autotune and fake accents are something I hear a lot of these days, and it’s a huge turn off. A good example of the latter is the song used in the An Post Tin Man ad being shown at the moment. The singer sounds like she’s singing through her nose.

thereiver

Look at rick beato his video how computers killed rock music on YouTube

He says 3 company's own most USA radio stations and they all use the same limited playlists they prefer not to play local regional music

Most pop music sounds similar as it processed and recorded on computers

I don't know why. All pop singers now sing with neutral accents or sound american

Uk pop singers don't sing in a British accent anymore

I don't think music is dead I think it's more bland and generic and lacking in original melody

Where.s the need oasis Blur or Fleetwood Mac ?

Ubbquittious

I have heard the "new music is sh1t" tripe many times so a few weeks ago I decided to torrent all the new releases for that week (about 600 or so songs) and started listening to them in the car. Surprisingly there are several good songs in there. I haven't found any real banger of a song in there but there's definitely a few that I'm looking forward to listening to again.

Most of them are perfectly listenable-to and only a small number so terrible that I've had to skip them.

If you listen to Classic Sh1ts/2FM and the likes or whatever Youtub/Spotify are pushing on you then most likely you will end up with shite music because it's who ever has the deepest pockets gets to decide what you hear.

thereiver

I think dua lipa future nostalgia was good as a pop disco album

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122865620#Comment_122865620

You went straight down the listening to Dave Fanning / John Peel route?

I started off with chart music, like most people. Watching Top Of The Pops every week, buying Smash Hits. As I got into secondary school, my tastes widened and I started buying indie records & the NME but still kept an eye on the top 40 & still picked up Smash Hits from my local newsagent.

I bought Sonic Youth’s EVOL and Now That's What I Call Music 7 at the same time in the summer of 1986 and will never forget the record shop guy’s look of approval followed by disgust and contempt. The older I get, the less tolerance I have for music snobbery.  

CalamariFritti

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122873499#Comment_122873499

Not quite. I think I got an ABBA album when I was 11 or 12 or so, I think I had a pre-teen crush on Agneta I think her name is. At that time I was recording tapes off the radio chart shows like everyone else and got records from the library. I remember liking Alan Parsons Project, Joe Jackson, Jean Michel Jarre. 😀

But when I hit puberty I fell in with the 'wrong crowd' you might say. First real album I got was The Clash, Give 'em Enough Rope. First concert I went to no kidding was Peter & the Test Tube Babies next one was GBH. I must have been 15 or 16 around 1983, 1984. Then my mates and I we turned into music snobs. Wouldnt listen to charts as a matter of principle, quite childish, today you would call it hipster attitude :) And the bands… well, the more obscure the better. Stuff like The Cult and New Order would have been almost mainstream to me. I grew up in Berlin too and we had quite a good underground scene like that and we got a lot of small and obscure English and US bands into small venues. Remember seeing the Three Johns and there may have been 20 or 30 people and the pub was half full.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122873807#Comment_122873807

Give 'Em Enough Rope is my favourite Clash LP, one of the best records of the 70s. I remember buying Rotting In The Fart Sack by Peter & The Test Tube Babies purely because of the name of the song.

I saw The Three Johns with Frank Sidebottom at Leicester University. My cousin was studying there so I went over during mid-term when I was in sixth year. Death Of The European is savage. Have been to Berlin a couple of times, great scene - would have been good to live there for a while.

thereiver

If an indie group Is great they ,ll. get at least one song into the top 40 does anyone remember 98 per cent of the pop groups who were played on John peel now

.the cure had at least one hit Love cats

John peel also appeared on top of the pops .he was not a snob he just loved a wide range of music .biilie eilish had a great song out years ago ocean eyes

thereiver

Greatest hits radio is very good it plays old hits from the 70s. 80s 90,s

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122874194#Comment_122874194

The Cure had 23 Top 40 hits.

I used to tape John Peel shows regularly, got a lot of pointers. A lot of memorable tracks (to me). The Fall are my favourite band and did 24 sessions for him.

He was a snob though. I know he presented Top Of The Pops - but he'd frequently be sarcastic and make unnecessarily cutting remarks about acts. If you want an example of somebody with a wide range of tastes that isn't a snob, then look at Saint Etienne's Bob Stanley. His book on modern pop is fantastic, covers so many genres. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yeah-Story-Modern-Pop/dp/0571322409

CalamariFritti

The Cure were/are unbelievable. Often overlooked as a mega band und underestimated in their commercial success for me they're up there with the big ones like Beatles, Stones etc. Song quality, success, longevity everything. They're Rock'n'Roll Hall of Famers too. Saw them again in Malahide couple years ago and they've still got it. New album out too.

John Peel was legendary. His son was on BBC6 some while ago and it sounded like his vocation is minding his dad's record collection. Which is nearly something with historical record status. Thats before the Peel sessions.

thereiver

I think John peel had a great since of humour he had great influence in the 80s as to promoting new music every band would send in tapes to the peel sessions there was no once else like him on UK radio

the Beatles had hits all around the world I think the cure are more of a cult rock band with a limited appeal they have a new album out now

Rothko

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122875681#Comment_122875681

Totally disagree about The Cure

The Golden Miller

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122874287#Comment_122874287

One of Damon Albarns most poignant moments was playing piano on John Peele for some occasion!

The "pop" landscape has changed. The charts isn't a thing. There are still traditional style singers, like Swift, Sheeran, Lipa, Roan, Styles, but because of X Factor type shows and the internet, influencers etc, there's an awful lot of stuff that's more a marketing, image kinda thing. Any auld generic pop concoction with the auto-tune and that awful industry-wide accent is what much is comprised of. It's simply incomparable to the pop of the late '70s, '80s, and to a lesser extent the '90s/'00s. And the '60s was another level all together.

As said though, there's still loads of brilliant new music - but it's not on daytime radio.

Hyperbollix

Just another example of late capitalism, where the snake has nothing left to devour so it starts eating it's own tail.

It's happened in every walk of life. Film, music, sport etc. The thing which was once an art or a sport has now solely become a commodified "good" which has been perfected in a lab like environment to appeal to the largest demographic and to extract as much value as possible for shareholders. Mainstream music is working exactly as intended by those who make it.