A project called the Million Song Datasetinitially launched in 2011 by Columbia University set out to aggregate metadata for a million contemporary popular music tracks and use it to discover trends and other useful information. The thumbnail reads, “Your tastes are stuck at age 14.” Well, I can’t say that’s entirely wrong. This wording in particular reveals some clear ignorance on the matter: “Besides the decline of music literacy and participation, there has also been a decline in the quality of music which has been proven scientifically by Joan Serra, a postdoctoral scholar at the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute of the Spanish National Research Council in Barcelona.”. Spend an hour listening to Funkadelic and Stevie Wonder, then spend an hour listening to Migos and 6ix9ine. However, the internalized male gaze is a reality, which is present to most people who identify as women. For instance, indie’ bands such as Fleet Foxes and London Grammar have earned my support and money by creating what my ears hear as high quality, original sounding content. My public-school child is state-ranked in piano and flute. I oftentimes struggle with this myself. 25-year-old YouTuber Thoughty explains the nuts and bolts of why today’s pop music has become a pathetic symptom of our clickbaity, dopamine-driven, digital culture. The “loudness war” is practically over, with the new LUFS-standard. I find it difficult to believe, just on the grounds of numbers, that there is less diversity in music being produced nowadays than there was in the 60s. Studies show fans of Radiohead and Phish have higher SAT scores than fans of Nickelback and Dashboard Confessional. As a rule of thumb, music which is written in a major key tends to sound happier, and minor key songs sound sad. Objection to the idea that music cannot be empirically quantified using science is anti-science. The biggest thing I'm trying to work on is giving myself grace. DANGER. No wonder the folks at Guantanamo Bay use today’s music to torture detainees. KEEP OUT. Music once had only notes, so they had to be in a damned fine order-- introduce lyrics and a marketable image and power chords will do just fine. Today’s pop music is designed to sell, not inspire. The results of the study revealed that timbral variety went down over time, meaning songs are becoming more homogeneous. What's so horrible about it that there are so many people who bash today's music and treat older music like it's a saint? Yet we still label radio music as ‘pop’ music and vice versa. Whether it's in regards to politics, religion, everyday life, or rarities in life, it is crucial to be open-minded. Originally Answered: Why is music so bad now? Secondly, you seem to be unaware of the history of popular music. Simple scientific facts point to why this is the case -- the human brain responds well to patterns, so the more repetitive a song is, the "catchier" it is, the easier it is to learn, and the more you "like" it. Anyone with their ear to the ground knows there’s just as much exciting music being produced nowadays, if not more, than there was in the 60s. Tonal and harmonic structures can be quantified, as can time signatures. He responded his ability to read and compose music made him unique in the music industry, which as he explained, was troubling for the industry when being musically literate makes you stand out. With everything now loud, it gives music a muddled sound, as everything has less punch and vibrancy due to compression. The pop music we have today is what happens when art is gamed-out by a very small group businessmen using Behaviorist marketing techniques. The worst part is knowing that cancellation is almost always based on two deliberate falsehoods peddled by school administrators: 1) Cancellation is a funding issue (the big lie); 2) music and the arts are too expensive (the little lie). Exposing Kids To Nature Is The Best Way To Get Their Creative Juices Flowing, 5 Simple Ways To Give Yourself Grace, Especially When Life Gets Hard, Breaking Down The Beginning, Middle, And End of Netflix's Newest 'To All The Boys' Movie, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 4 Ways To Own Your Story, Because Every Bit Of It Is Worth Celebrating, How Young Feminists Can Understand And Subvert The Internalized Male Gaze, It's Important To Remind Yourself To Be Open-Minded And Embrace All Life Has To Offer, 14 Last Minute Valentine's Day Gifts Your S.O. If you aren’t finding exciting jazz to listen to, or crunchy, novel electronic music, or heartwrenching singer-songwriter fare, or rebellious punk, or what have you, it’s because you just haven’t learned where to look. The music was a collection of electronic sounds that to me seemed anti-human. I'm easily my own worst critic in almost everything that I do. Let’s first examine the music itself, it’s lyrics, melodies and rhythms, and how those are produced. Self-government is not a computer game. You would need to sight read, meaning you are given a difficult composition to play cold, without any prior practice. Because we … There’s no reason to tune in otherwise. This pattern repeats itself. Grace begins with a simple awareness of who we are and who we're becoming. I kept wondering what a steady diet of that all day long does to the mind and the human soul. It is literally a derivative of time. ... (Which is why Jones’ camp has so strenuously reminded the public that she wrote or co-wrote six of the 13 of songs on her new record. So, I contacted Mike Batt, the conductor, record producer, singer and songwriter who has penned many hits including Art Garfunkel’s Bright Eyes and Katie Melua’s Closest Thing to Crazy. In 1909, piano sales were at their peak when more than 364,500 were sold, but sales have plunged to between 30,000 and 40,000 annually in the US. Today's pop radio music is clearly lacking in well-composed melodies, vocal talent, lyrical substance, etc. … (P.S. I personally find no issue with people having personal biases: I am of course biased towards plenty of things. When you compare today's radio music to the radio music of the past, it is rather obvious that something went terribly wrong. Great piece, Mr. Henschen. Hip hop transitioned from Wu Tang to Puffy Combs overnight and has devolved to dirty south then to crunk to trap (whatever the hell that is) to mumble rap. When you make a steady habit out of listening to different jazz artists your ears will gradually open up, and you will be able to listen to improvised lines on albums and hear the chord changes. A single boring beat, and the same 5 same computerized notes played over and over. You cannot ‘prove’ that the quality of music has declined. Not only that, it has negative effects on your brain, too — if you're chiefly a pop music fan, you're likely to be less creative than any other kind of music lover. According to the musician, pop music is inherently popular because it creates a sense of familiarity for listeners. Moreover, being also a professional sound engineer, I find the author’s comments on audio limiting, usually added in the mastering process, to be rather outdated. His abysmal 80’s work contrasts to a period of (relatively speaking) high quality pop. Pop music has become slower -- in tempo -- in recent years and also "sadder" and less "fun" to listen to. Besides, when jazz was introduced, the well-educated generations saw it as anti-music, mere noise lacking any sophistication. Many of today’s pop musicians and rappers could not survive without autotune, which has become a sort of musical training wheels. Prior to the 1980’s, it was common for homes to have a piano with children taking piano lessons. The early 90’s alternative breakthrough begat bland self-serious crossover pop (Matchbox 20) and aggressive nu-metal. Seek what the untapped musical world has to offer. So why and how has modern pop music, those songs and artists that dominate global charts, let us down? I'm a raging perfectionist, and I have unrealistic expectations for myself at times. The Uses of the Capitol Hill Riot. When JB decided to urinate in a mop bucket? In the past, pop music was more diverse because the radio was a source for music listeners of ALL genres. I agree with everything apart from slating the Edge. Will you help us remain a refreshing oasis in the increasingly contentious arena of modern discourse? He is the problem. Pitch has also decreased, with the number of chords and different melodies declining. With few exceptions such as Wes Montgomery or Chet Baker, if you couldn’t read music, you couldn’t play jazz. Scientifically? Write them down. You know. What you said is very true! The fact is that outside the mainstream arena there’s a lot of really good stuff. Yes, music has taken a beating in the last thirty years; and it’s only getting worse. Why should you be open-minded when it is so easy to be close-minded? Nope? Music is nothing but a harnessing of the complex mathematics of harnessed vibration. When artists like Taylor Swift claim they write their own music, it is partially true, insofar as she writes her own lyrics about her latest boyfriend breakup, but she cannot read music and lacks the ability to compose what she plays. It’s MUCH easier to just open spotify or soundcloud, or hell, even youtube, and go straight to the source. There is no originality or talent in the musicians. There was just much less music in the past, and fewer people making music. It’s not a well known fact, but most of today’s top hit songs are at least partially written by the same four people. In addition, parents should encourage their children to play an instrument because it has been proven to help in brain synapse connections, learning discipline, work ethic, and working within a team. The Piano Man era coincided with the best music of Pink Floyd, David Bowie , The Who and Stevie Wonder, not to mention supremely talented (though not “pop”, by any means) acts like King Crimson or Frank Zappa. You're signed out. It’s disingenuous to say that science has proven a decline in music quality. So, here are 10 helpful tips for any student who is planning on taking online courses this semester! But we’re also not saying that music that demands a little more from its listeners doesn’t deserve a little more airtime or that Max Martin and friends haven’t made enough money writing the same songs over and over again. I’m a musician myself. But being aware of my biases for what they are, I find no need to go out and denigrate the personal biases of others to justify my own proclivities…, In particular, this article takes a poorly aimed potshot at modern pop music. It’s hard to take the music these people put out seriously when they don’t seem to take themselves too seriously. Get The Thoughty2 Book: http://bit.ly/thoughtybookJOIN The PRIVATE Thoughty2 Club & Get Exclusive Perks! Were all teenagers and twenty-somethings bingeing the latest "To All The Boys: Always and Forever" last night with all of their friends on their basement TV? (Gifts may be made online or by check mailed to the Institute at 9600 Long Point Rd., Suite 300, Houston, TX, 77055. The worst part is that now, pop stars are also after the money. Pitch has also decreased, with the number of chords and different melodies declining. This depresses me to no end. I've realized that when I don't give myself grace, I miss out on being human. Today’s artist is often more concerned with producing something familiar to mass audience, increasing the likelihood of commercial success (this is encouraged by music industry execs, who are notoriously risk-averse). Anytime something legitimately creative and intelligent is dropped on the world, it is met with a massive, anti-intellectual response. Clare Regelbrugge, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Sign in to comment to your favorite stories, participate in your community and interact with your friends. Also, comments containing web links or block quotations are unlikely to be approved. If you want to hear something else, you just go elsewhere. D.A. Timbral quality peaked in the 60’s and has since dropped steadily with less diversity of instruments and recording techniques. Over the last 20 years, musical foundations like reading and composing music are disappearing with the percentage of people that can read music notation proficiently down to 11 percent, according to some surveys. Pop is supposed to be universal, a gateway to so much more for kids. It supposedly copies American music, heavily relies on … Notably absent is any comment on what music is actually being analyzed, how much music has been analyzed, etcetera. Most pop music is so boring. I am not a musician and I am one baby boomer that didn’t like rock and doesn’t have much of an ear for jazz. Republished with gracious permission from Intellectual Takeout (August 2018). Like any other industry, demand drives the supply put out to the masses. The mid 70’s saw a sharp rebellion against this, intelligence re-branded as “excess” and stigmatized as a relic of an older generation. Grace begins with a simple awareness of who we are and who we are becoming. Comments that are critical of an essay may be approved, but comments containing ad hominem criticism of the author will not be published. It is something we all need a reminder of some days. Open-mindedness. If people who don’t care for pop music stop listening, the music industry will scramble to create something better. If they love you, they're not going to care if you didn't get them some expensive diamond necklace or Rolex watch; they just want you. From 2005 to 2015, song lyrics (this study included pop, rock, R&B and country music) have gone down to below third grade level — so easy a 7-year-old can comprehend. The truth: Elective class periods have been usurped by standardized test prep. With spring semester starting, many college students are looking to take courses for the semester. but take just a few examples of excellent current pop, e.G. Will Love, 10 Helpful Tips For College Students Taking Online Courses This Semester. Administrators focus primarily on protecting their positions and the school’s status by concentrating curricula on passing the tests, rather than by helping teachers be freed up from micromanaging mandates so those same teachers can teach again in their classrooms, making test prep classes unnecessary. Because of this, I imagine radio has withered to what is truly most accessible to the majority. Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Rhianna and other mega-famous pop stars repeatedly get called out for their inappropriate behavior and blatant disrespect for fans, yet they maintain a cult-like following. Pitch- harmonic content of the piece, including its chords, melody, and tonal arrangements, 3. I don't say that to be cliché. That’s an easy thing to agree with. Timbre- sound color, texture and tone quality, 2. Proven? I've decided to change that in my own life, and I hope you'll consider doing that, too. Ear training IS the most important piece to mastering jazz. Not only does nature exert a bountiful force on adults, but it also serves as a therapeutic antidote to children, especially during their developmental years. Besides the decline of music literacy and participation, there has also been a decline in the quality of music which has been proven scientifically by Joan Serra, a postdoctoral scholar at the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute of the Spanish National Research Council in Barcelona. In 2020 a new, broader phenomenon has emerged, in which rock is dismissed as being a relic of “white, male, boomer” society, and that an advanced people will gravitate to new music on grounds that it is more inclusive. Russell wrote in the Huffington Post in an article titled, “Cancelling High School Elective, Arts and Music—So Many Reasons—So Many Lies” that music, arts and electives teachers have to face the constant threat of eliminating their courses entirely. I'm a sucker for any movie or TV show that takes place in the Big Apple. Demand for youth sports competes with music studies, but also, fewer parents are requiring youngsters to take lessons as part of their upbringing. I agree wholeheartedly. The culture surrounding pop music itself is to blame as well. Brittany Morgan, National Writer's Society2. What you might instead say is “this *particular* study has demonstrated a temporal correlation between properties x, y, and z of music. (Don’t attack me Tay-Tay Fans!). Being a classically educated composer, pianist and musicologist with a sincere interest also in contemporary pop music, I find this type of article a bit narrow-minded. Online courses can be very different from taking an on-campus course. There's one love song in America's Top 40 right now—and the rest of the pop charts are full of rage, disgust, or obsession. Ban the f-bomb: is there too much bad language in pop music? In the mid-1970’s, most American high schools had a choir, orchestra, symphonic band, jazz band, and music appreciation classes. Taking us further away from our human souls rather than toward them. Yes, the West (perhaps the whole world) is definitely culturally declining, but it is neither a simple nor linear process. Throughout grade school and high school, I was fortunate to participate in quality music programs. People in the store kept time robotically in my opinion. It’s a one note Charlie. That’s an absurd thing to claim. The featured image, uploaded by MasterMind5991, is of the band Maroon 5 performing in Sydney, Australia in February 2019, and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Here are several ways to easily pass an online course. But unlike a five-year-old riding a bike, they never take the training wheels off to mature into a better musician. Mainstream pop has surely been over-limited many times during the last decade, but still the human ear/brain is not a level meter. The student can not learn to play jazz if their ears cannot translate what they are listening to, into improvised lines on the instrument. Kendrick Lamar has a quantifiably larger and more varied vocabulary than Flo Rida. Pop music really came from America, especially rooted in blues and Jazz. Loudness- volume variance adding richness and depth. Videos you watch may be added to the TV's watch history and influence TV recommendations. There are more people making music now than anytime previous in history. He is one of the most original musicians of his generation and a proven songwriter for 40 years. Grab the money, t&a and despicable consumption. Speculation ahead: It seems to me that what this study has probably revealed, more than anything else, is that there has been a narrowing of the definition of popular music. This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator. Loudness was found to have increased by about one decibel every eight years. Today it is all about profit/marketing and not about quality. But I can’t help but disagree with the, to my mind, misguided and malformed preceding paragraphs lamenting the state of modern ‘pop music’. That’s why, although it CAN be mathematical, it’s certainly NOT math. Mika, Scissor Sisters, The Hoosiers First of all, when you complain about the growing influence of African-American forms like hip-hop on the pop mainstream as if it's an intrinsically bad thing, it sounds super racist. Should Afrobeat and Music Popular Brazil be dismissed for its rock influence while we simultaneously embrace reggaeton and K-pop? With less timbral variety, and the same combination of keyboard, drum machine, and computer software, and with only two songwriters writing much of what we hear, is it any wonder that most pop music sounds the same? There is a Spanish study that explains the technical reasons for why the music is so bad but I think it is the fact there is more pressure to make money and these techniques like auto tune are what helps to do the selling. Pop music critics have also been instrumental in this shift. Compression boosts the volume of the quietest parts of the song so they match the loudest parts, reducing dynamic range. I think you hit the nail on the head. That being said, I recently stopped into a T-Mobile store and was appalled at what I heard. Thankfully, it’s relatively easy to put some space between you as a music consumer and these morons. I personally value that properties x, y, and z would follow the opposite correlation, and so I conclude that *in my opinion* this study furnishes evidence that music has declined in quality.” And then you can have a good faith argument with those who disagree. Both jazz and classical art forms require not only music literacy, but for the musician to be at the top of their game in technical proficiency, tonal quality and creativity in the case of the jazz idiom. Here we see expansions of melody and harmony, inclusion of non-traditional instrumentation, more varied time signatures, increased usage of the studio as instrument, lyrics that are more poetic or socially conscious, and increased complexity of compositions. Strange that we’re citing Billy Joel as an example of compositional literacy. If there's one thing I'm absolutely terrible at, it's giving myself grace. It’s unbelievable that the public has a taste for it. The findings from five different studies are quoted; the findings from the fourth study is especially striking: 1. Modern music all sounds the same. His early 90’s River of Nightmares work shares a time period with the peaks of grunge and gangsta rap (which were derivative in and of themselves, but at least they were derivative of quality genres – circa-1970 hard rock and mid 70’s funk). As you read through these five affirmations and ways to give yourself grace, I hope you'll take them in. Kristen Haddox, Penn State University4. But hey, if you dig pop music, that’s cool too. Artists that write the entirety of their own songs are very rare today. Radhi, SUNY Stony Brook3. There is just right and dangerous in every type of tune and not everybody likes the same thing (although tons of children like particularly dangerous pop!) I take some serious issues with this argument. Just me? Joan and his colleagues looked at 500,000 pieces of music between 1955-2010, running songs through a complex set of algorithms examining three aspects of those songs: 1. Lyric Intelligence was also studied by Joan Serra over the last 10 years using several metrics such as “Flesch Kincaid Readability Index,” which reflects how difficult a piece of text is to understand and the quality of the writing. Not to bring politics into a discussion about music, but this points toward a several bad tendencies of liberally minded youth and self-identified liberal elites – attributing bias to personal preference, dismissing the desire for intellectually stimulating art as a “white value”, as if other cultures are incapable of such sophistication. Back to the story about YouTube, so I was suggested this video called “Why pop music sounds bad.” Being a music blogger and fan, I had to watch this and give my reaction. Sight reading would quickly reveal how fine-tuned playing “chops” really were. Now, we’re not saying that listening to pop music makes you an idiot or even that all pop is bad. justice for Megan Fox). As they say, “listening to Pop Smoke is always an ill-advised decision.” All right, maybe it’s just me (I say it at least once each week), but it’s true — the Brooklyn driller has the ability (read: gift) to pull listeners into his world and never let go. All comments are moderated and must be civil, concise, and constructive to the conversation. Beyond Spoiled: Introducing the ‘Squishy Generation’. A public school is a PUBLIC school, and it will offer a good music program if the PUBLIC expect it of the trustees they elect. Don’t let the top charts stifle your musical experiences. What can be done? It doesn't take much talent to write or perform it with the technology we have today, but why does that make it generally accepted as "bad" music? Also, all kpop music is produced by professional song producers. Take this fake pop song for example. Results showed lyric intelligence has dropped by a full grade with lyrics getting shorter, tending to repeat the same words more often. Well … I guess it all depends on the definition of “pop music”. #1 Threshold of Originality Probably the most frequently used reasoning is that K-pop is unoriginal. Most of all, I hope you'll use them to encourage yourself and realize that you are never alone and you always have the power to change your story. Admittedly, some European nations produce some awful music, but I guess the answer to your question is history and language. I don't say that to give you a false sense of encouragement. Today’s pop artist is often more concerned with producing something familiar to mass audience, increasing the likelihood of commercial success. With the pandemic still ongoing, many students are likely looking for the option to take online courses. Women's self-commodification, applied through oppression and permission, is an elusive yet sexist characteristic of a laissez-faire society, where women solely exist to be consumed. Jazz is no different. Once in a while there are good songs but its mostly prepackaged crap with a popstars image slapped on it level 2 Even home architecture incorporated what was referred to as a “piano window” in the living room which was positioned above an upright piano to help illuminate the music. Songs About Being 17Grey's Anatomy QuotesVine Quotes4 Leaf CloverSelf Respect, 1. Musical quality is humanly subjective. Public school music programs have been in decline since the 1980’s, often with school administrations blaming budget cuts or needing to spend money on competing extracurricular programs. King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard creates qualtifiably more complex work than Greta Von Fleet. The classic rock era was characterized by a move to elevate the genre to an art form. First, musical literacy should be taught in our nation’s school systems. After Trump’s Trial, What Next for Due Process Under the Democrats? No, I don’t practice as much as Coltrane, but I do practice enough to get the job done. Even the indie rock period of the mid 2000’s has given way to bland, safe dance-oriented pop. Two primary sources for learning to read music are school programs and at home piano lessons. When Did Pop Music Get So Weird and Mean? So often, we let perfection dominate our lives without even realizing it. Seek and you shall find. The “lifestyle.” It’s hard to watch. The study also found that pitch content has decreased – which means that the number of chords and different melodies has gone down. Let me preface this by saying I am not a bad girlfriend. Translation: most pop music now sounds the same. Jennifer Kustanovich, SUNY Stony Brook5. Music for the sake of music isn't a thing anymore, and the thirst for profit is number one on their list. I want to encourage everyone to look at something with an unbiased and unfazed point of view. An astonishing amount of today’s popular music is written by two people: Lukasz Gottwald of the United States and Max Martin from Sweden, who are both responsible for dozens of songs in the top 100 charts. Subjecting the music to an intense algorithm, researchers found that “pop songs have become intrinsically louder and [blander] in terms of the chords, melodies and types of sound used.” Put simply, the "musical pool" of sounds and rhythms used by pop artists is shrinking for no apparent reason. This mindset devalues the contributions of all kinds of culturally significant works of music. He has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry. The only area the industry has seemed to miss, however, is music — arguably it’s most vital component. Unfortunately, especially varied or creative instrumentals in music doesn't really sell to the lowest common denominator, resulting in the constant generic spiel emanating from your typical Top 40 radio station. That’s why, from time to time, we hear music projects that aren’t that good, but somehow … As consumers of entertainment, we’ve really come a long way. Our other forms of entertainment are shifting towards vast diversity and intelligence, why, then, does the music industry deliver us the exact opposite? The eventual goal is a Technical Paper, Thesis, and eventual Dissertation. Sharing the President’s (Nuclear) War Powers? Music streaming services like Spotify are perfect places to scout out new and original sounds that suit your tastes, you just have to go looking for it. Today’s pop music is largely the same with a combination of keyboard, drum machine and computer software greatly diminishing the creativity and originality. Remember the donut incident? In an interview, Billy Joel was asked what has made him a standout. From a “square” white guy like me learning the basics of Renaissance and classical choir music in the Episcopal choir to Aretha Franklin getting her start in the gospel tradition, places of worship were an invaluable resource not only spiritually but musically. Autotune artificially stretches or slurs sounds in order to get it closer to center pitch. The experience gave me the ability to visualize music (If you play by ear only, you will never have that same depth of understanding music construct.). Our movies, television shows and even Broadway musicals are becoming ever more diverse, nuanced and intellectually rewarding.

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