The Problem with Popular Music

Son_of_Iroquois

Fapstronaut
Alright. This is a rant, so be warned.

Does anyone else hate popular music? By "popular music", I mean the songs that are played ad nauseum (that means until it makes you want to vomit) over and over and over and over and over. And over and over and over and over. And over. And over. Again and again. For literally years without stopping. Everytime you come into work or are out running errands you hear it somewhere.

Let's name some names. I'm talking about songs like "Despacito" (which I really hate), "Perfect" and "Shape of You" by Ed Sheeran. "Hello" by Adele. "Let Her Go" by Passenger. And many others.

The thing is, these songs would be tolerable in moderation. They're not terrible songs, just mediocre. Sure, play them once or twice, no problem. Then let's hear something else. There's a million other choices out there. So many genres to choose from, so many interesting bands and artists. So much interesting variety out there. But no. Fuck 99.9% of all other types of music. Instead, let's play the same emotional, vacuous drivel 24/7 until it numbs the listener's brain into a comatose state. Really can't stand it.

I think it's mainly because most people don't like new music. New music challenges the intellect. Instead, most people want to feel that same warm, fuzzy emotion that popular songs make them feel.

I think I will buy some Bose Quiet Comfort Headphones for the office.

Alright, rant over.
 
Its about supply and demand. Most of consumers of this "class" of music are young westerners. Young people are by default more susceptible to cheap thrills, and recent social changes which are first adopted by younger generation are especially... supportive, lets say, of this trend. Modern culture is geared to support this vacuous superficial consumerism. It starts to define whats popular so it spreads to non western countries too. Demand is high, supply is high. Stupid is high...
 
hating on pop music is picking low hanging fruit. its mass produced to appeal to a wide audience, not a stupid audience, so the genre would be shorting its own demographic by engaging in more refined musical tastes. it's been this way for decades

I've noticed that people really into pop music tend not to be huge listeners of music in general. they're just not looking to be moved emotionally by that form of art, so it makes sense that they fall back on familiar grounds. just like a head chef probably doesn't eat too much mcdonald's, a true music fan needs more than pop to meet their expectations of creativity. this doesn't mean mcdonald's tastes bad - the chef merely holds food to an artistic standard that can't be met by mass consumption.
 
hating on pop music is picking low hanging fruit. its mass produced to appeal to a wide audience, not a stupid audience, so the genre would be shorting its own demographic by engaging in more refined musical tastes. it's been this way for decades

I've noticed that people really into pop music tend not to be huge listeners of music in general. they're just not looking to be moved emotionally by that form of art, so it makes sense that they fall back on familiar grounds. just like a head chef probably doesn't eat too much mcdonald's, a true music fan needs more than pop to meet their expectations of creativity. this doesn't mean mcdonald's tastes bad - the chef merely holds food to an artistic standard that can't be met by mass consumption.

Its a good analogy. My gripe is with the over saturation of it. I guess the public does eat a lot of big macs.
 
Well, i come from a musician family. I play the drums and im very conservative with the music. I mean, to me theres just a few good music bands and musicians.

But that dont means that i have to hate all the rest of the music, i really enjoy listening to rap/trap music.

Everyone can be a monster in his own genere, the only important thing is have talent in what you do.
 
Well, i come from a musician family. I play the drums and im very conservative with the music. I mean, to me theres just a few good music bands and musicians.

But that dont means that i have to hate all the rest of the music, i really enjoy listening to rap/trap music.

Everyone can be a monster in his own genere, the only important thing is have talent in what you do.

Yeah man, absolutely. Personally I like all genres of music. Like you say, where there's talent, there's talent. But it seems a few select songs get all the airtime, and then get played into the ground year after year after year. Radio stations should change it up. My only point.
 
There’s definitely a difference between casual listeners and music fanatics. To be honest, I don’t know how anyone still listens to the radio to listen to music. When people say a song is overplayed I wonder why aren’t they choosing what they’re listening to.
 
Whenever possible that's my solution. However, sometimes its unavoidable. For example, at my office in the reception area I have heard the same half a dozen songs being played repeatedly for over a year. This isn't for the customers either, the people behind the desk are choosing this stuff. Not exactly a complaint I can make to the CEO though.
 
The classic rock station is the worst! They've played the same two "Queen" songs everyday for years. There's so many good classic rock songs that they never play. You would think that they would change up the playlist from time to time.
 
Older music is better.:cool:
That's subjective though and really depends what you're into. I thought a lot of the older music was just as bad as the new stuff, but that doesn't mean it's all bad on both sides.

That's why I use Spotify to find new songs everyday, there's a bloody huge amount of songs in different genres today that are all varied and not the typical shite you hear on the radio. I've got a playlist of over 1.2k songs searching that way, barely hear the same song when listening to it because there's so many. lol
 
I’ve listened to everything from the 60’s to now and I’d have to say there isn’t anything that sounds unique since the early 2000’s.
 
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