Science confirms what you've always suspected: music these days is worse than it used to be.
If there’s one thing everyone can agree on, it’s that everyone else’s music is bad. And if there’s something everyone but teenagers can agree on, it’s that today’s pop music is terrible. But what if the issue isn’t inherent bias and nostalgia? What if today’s music really is that bad? To find out, we’ll need some science.
Scientific American reports on a study that tried to track changes in pop music over the last half-century.
Joan Serrà, a postdoctoral scholar at the Artificial Intelligence Research Institute of the Spanish National Research Council in Barcelona, and his colleagues examined three aspects of those songs: timbre (which “accounts for the sound color, texture, or tone quality,” according to Serrà and his colleagues); pitch (which “roughly corresponds to the harmonic content of the piece, including its chords, melody, and tonal arrangements”); and loudness (more on that below).
So, what happened since 1955? Well, timbral variety went down. That means that songs are becoming more and more homogeneous. In other words, all pop music sounds the same now. Take this fake pop song for example.
The study also found that pitch content has decreased – which means that the number of chords and different melodies has gone down. “Musicians today seem to be less adventurous in moving from one chord or note to another, instead following the paths well-trod by their predecessors and contemporaries,” Scientific American explains.
And the next time an old person complains that your music is too loud, well, it probably is. Music has gotten a lot louder in the past half-century. This is a problem, Scientific American says, because:
Loudness comes at the expense of dynamic range—in very broad terms, when the whole song is loud, nothing within it stands out as being exclamatory or punchy. (This two-minute YouTube video does a great job of demonstrating how excessive loudness saps richness and depth from a recording.) Indeed, Serrà and his colleagues found that the loudness of recorded music is increasing by about one decibel every eight years.
So what this study is saying is that your parents are right, music just isn’t what it used to be.
I've said this for years. Most pop stars now a days are pop stars because they can dance and look good in certain clothing, and get lauded for their outrageous antics. Songs are written by people other than the pop stars, and those songwriters follow a formula of past success.
I miss seeing musicians perform. The musicians are now behind the dancers, and usually dressed in black so you don't see them. There is very little that is unique in music anymore.
Here's a short list of some of my favorite musicians/bands in the past, that I found interesting and unique Zappa, Yes, Timbuk3, Jason and the Scorchers, HuskerDu, The Police (at first), Talking Heads (at first), the B52s, Rush, Jethro Tull, Dinosaur Jr., Joe Walsh, Queen, and many others. All are fairly unique and had their own schtick, and there was so much more too it than 'thumpa thumpa dance'.
Wow I am surprised I think they are one of the best American rock bands. That guy has a friggin voice. Listen to fortunate son again maybe you will change your mind
I'm surprised at how many people who have real talent put out real crappy music because some music corporation signed them to a contract.
There's a ton of real good music that is continually coming out, but you sorta have to find it. The thing is once you find something good it will often lead to other stuff. I've watched this a bunch! gimme chocolate
Lot's of great pop music out there. I love listening to new music and the old classics alike. Although I know its hard to beat the likes of Pink Floyd, Zepplin, and many other rock bands I loved when I was growing up, pop music today to my ear just keeps getting better and better all the time.
Yeah, there is going to be some bad pop groups with songs with little variety and substance. But they won't stand the test of time like U2, Sting, JT and other great pop artists that constantly produce top sales.
Now if these same scientists proved humans cause global warming, many wouldn't care or beleive them.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson.
While I agree that there are still some talented artists out there, overall there is much less "music and melody" in todays music than of generations past.
People can say what they may, but IMO, a song that exists with no melody, isn't even really a song at all.
While it may be labeled an art form, music contains notes and melodies. Without those ingredients, there is no construction blocks of a song at all. The more variety of chord combinations, range of melody and complexity of the song structure, the more talent will be needed to construct it and perform it.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Quote: Wow I am surprised I think they are one of the best American rock bands. That guy has a friggin voice. Listen to fortunate son again maybe you will change your mind
I've heard it. I've heard it for the past 40 years. I even saw Fogarty perform it at one of clinton's inaugurations. The guy can scream. The music is still formulaic and boring.
dumb article. music is relative. just because some old guys on viagra doesn't like the new music coming out doesn't mean the guy next to agrees.
hell, i'm 26, and i love listening to justin beiber. say what you want about the kid, his music is entertaining.
music evolves and so does the people listening to it.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Most popular music from recent history built itself off of a chord progression made famous by Johann Pachelbel with "Canon in D". This is why lots of music sounds the same. Here's a fantastic example of this.
Can we even define "Pop Music"? There is a massive amount of great music being produced every year that doesn't sacrifice in any of these three categories. Thing is, you won't find this music on the radio or on top 40 charts. So, I draw the conclusion that the people who produced this study, and just about everyone who has posted on this thread so far, have very limited experience with the sheer variety of quality music that is being produced all the time. You're all just a bunch of radio jockeys.
Quote: hell, i'm 26, and i love listening to justin beiber. say what you want about the kid, his music is entertaining.
I just knew that there was something really wrong about you.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Quote: Can we even define "Pop Music"? There is a massive amount of great music being produced every year that doesn't sacrifice in any of these three categories. Thing is, you won't find this music on the radio or on top 40 charts. So, I draw the conclusion that the people who produced this study, and just about everyone who has posted on this thread so far, have very limited experience with the sheer variety of quality music that is being produced all the time. You're all just a bunch of radio jockeys.
In some ways, things haven't changed since the early 70's. Finding good music requires effort. There has always been a LOT of crap out there, and sifting through it to find the truly exceptional requires a certain amount of dedication.
For me, one of the very coolest things about the internet is that it has become not only a repository for the best music of the past, it has also become this new launching pad for current artists who are bringing new stuff to us every day. Many of them have eschewed the established 'major studio route,' and have decided to self-produce... and market their product through "electronic word-of-mouth."
I'm all for it, because I'm a music geek. I live this stuff, so I'm always asking, hunting,listening... with an exceptionally critical ear (because Music School training absolutely ruined me as a 'casual listener'...)
Mainstream Pop Music HAS become louder. It HAS become more basic in construction. It HAS become more bland, predictable, unimaginative and uniform.
There's a reason it's called the music industry. What you are hearing on PopRadio.FM today is the sonic equivalent of Lay's Classic or Ruffles potato chips. Pick your poison- it's all the same. It's been the trend since the early 80's. I've tracked it myself.
There is still good stuff to find, but you won't find it on Commercial Radio- because they are part of The Industry that pumps out "music" like Frito-Lay pumps out Doritos.
If the findings featured in this article are limited in scope to include only commercial Pop, the results are dead on-point, from my own (unscientific) observations.
If folks with Pop sensitivities want to find their muses, I suggest that they start combing the net for their 'niche-fix.' THAT is the direction everything is going. Good stuff is coming out every day, but you'll only hear it if some guy wearing a $3,000 suit with a marketing degree from the Wharton School of Bidniss OK's it for American Mass Consumption. Do you really want to entrust the precious few "music-listening moments of your life" to a group of strangers who are motivated by bottom-line monetary profit? Your Music should be more important to you than that.
If the consumer wants something better that what the Mass Market offers, he must find it himself. Just as it's always been. That's the 'bad news.'
The 'good news': finding Your Own Personal Muse has never been more convenient. The Entire World is available to you, 24/7. All you have to do is demand more... from the artists... and yourself.
I don't really agree that "it's always been that way". In Dayton we had a station in the 70's out of the University of Dayton. WVUD. They played a lot of what was called at the time "progressive rock" that didn't get a lot of national air time. Far more diverse and complex music which I found refreshing.
It was in stiff competition against the local top 40 rock station in Dayton WTUE to the point that WTUE changed its format to an extent to take on WVUD. It was great for everybody!
But now we have I-Heat Radio and the major corporations are so strong, it's almost a lost art, the independent and diverse radio stations.
There's no doubt you are correct. If you want the good stuff, you have to search for it. But as long as there's music, people will make the good stuff.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
dumb article. music is relative. just because some old guys on viagra doesn't like the new music coming out doesn't mean the guy next to agrees.
hell, i'm 26, and i love listening to justin beiber. say what you want about the kid, his music is entertaining.
music evolves and so does the people listening to it.
beiber? Your street cred has just been revoked by a 46 year old white guy!
lol whatever bro.
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
Quote: hell, i'm 26, and i love listening to justin beiber. say what you want about the kid, his music is entertaining.
I just knew that there was something really wrong about you.
haha, haters gonna hate. i like all types of music!
“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
I always thought it was just about anything not Classical (and to an extent, Jazz) that was produced for mass consumption. I think taste in pop music is largely dictated by the age of the listener - I grew up listening to Beatles, Stones, Tull, Genesis, Allman Bros, Clapton, Steely Dan - the so-called classic rock era, and its hard to get excited about newer acts that (IMO) don't have a fraction of the musicality and expertise at playing their instruments. But I also realize that I'm getting older, and more set in my ways ... less willing to give new stuff an honest listen. The last CD I bought a few years ago was Matchbox 20 "Yourself Or Someone Like You", and I thought I was quite the hipster until I realized it was 10 years old when I bought it. I think taste in pop music is a function of the era you grew up in, and you get "imprinted", like baby ducks to their mother. So, in a way, its kind of useless to have cross-generational conversations about it.
While it may not be up everyone's alley, I think this is the kind of video that shows a sharp contrast you may be describing.
It combines strings, lots of harmonies and the ingredients to some extent that make great music.
I'm very diverse in many genres of music that I listen to, but this is the kind of thing you could have heard on the radio so many years ago that I would find it very hard to believe would get any air play today on similar stations.
Intoducing for The Cleveland Browns, Quarterback Deshawn "The Predator" Watson. He will also be the one to choose your next head coach.
Not all pop music reeks of awfulness. Lots of stuff from the 80s turned into solid music. Although, I wasn't alive for this decade. I have an 80s station on my Pandora that gets tons of use.
Quote: I played all of your videos at the same time. That was some seriously complicated music.
Take hungry Africa. Don't everybody on like you wants, Me the forget to, aha, wolf about Toto. Me rule Duran, simple tears for world fears.
I'd do more, but I don't have a medical marijuana prescription.
Micah 6:8; He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
John 14:19 Jesus said: Because I live, you also will live.
Quote: We didn't really need science to prove that music has gotten worse.
Even though I am not a fan of "pop music" (still don't really know what that means), I don't confuse personal taste with scientifically verified fact. It's David Hume's classic fact-value distinction. We cannot derive an "ought" from an "is." What can science prove? It can prove that music has gotten louder. What can't science prove? It can't prove that it is bad that music has gotten louder.
80's and 90's was such a great era for music... I think no decade can boast as many good-bad one hit wonder type songs as the 80's can...
The 90's era means a ton to me because that was my teenage years... I think music branched out a TON during the 90's. Electronic stuff really took off, rap music blew up. Genres really mixed and blended in that decade.
You want to hear Pop Music, just tune into any new Country Music station.
The Constitution shall never be construe to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms. – Samuel Adams
Not all pop music reeks of awfulness. Lots of stuff from the 80s turned into solid music. Although, I wasn't alive for this decade...
Because you weren't alive through the 80's I'll cut you some slack. I on the other hand lived through it...it musically sucked. It was either hair metal, void of any soul, or synth pop garbage that sounded thin and hollow. Yuck. Thank God for the 90's saving my college years. Thank God for my dad's record collection for getting me through high school.
Was never a huge Prince or MJ fan but will admit they at least rose above most other pop music of their time. Bands such as Pink Floyd put out albums too, but as a whole I stand by my statement that the 80's blew from a musical standpoint.
Let's not forget The Police, too. They were (imho) the single most inventive, chameleonic band of that decade. From 'Walking On The Moon' to 'Synchonicity II' every album was distinctive and different from their previous efforts.
While I'm admittedly not a huge Police fan they stand above other prog rock of the era. Though realistically they released their last album in '83. So it's not like they were truely an 80's band. Pink Flyod released albums from the 60's through the 90's. I'd argue everything they cut in the 70's, and The Division Bell, released in '94, are better than anything they produced in the 80's. Cocaine and payola musically killed the 80's. Program directors high on coke would play to the highest bidder. Hence hair metal's rise and acts such as that awful band the Cars. God they sucked. Yes I did just say that. The Cars suck.
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