My distaste for popular music...

[AJ_Radio]

Over the past 15 years I have found myself growing ever more distant from mainstream music. Pop, Rock, Rap, Country, Folk, etc etc to me today is all blended into a big mixer, poured into a mold, baked, sprinkled, seasoned, and then sold to the masses at a bakery. This doesn't necessarily apply to the independent artists and bands out there struggling to get a break, but to the established mainstream acts whom I consider the vast majority of them to be talentless.

 

I will never understand why people love Taylor Swift, Justin Beiber, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Justin Timberlake, Tim McGraw, Florida Georgia Line and the long line of talentless musicians that I all consider to be only there to make the money. Mainstream music that was truly great and inspirational ended in my eyes in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The corporate industry in my mind only favors those who hold the right looks, rather than the talent as was more so the case with past generations. All of these modern artists that I've listed should of been one hit wonders, but instead they have continued to rake in millions of dollars. Whereas the independent bands struggle to find a select audience. Literally the only place I can really find these people is on Spotify, without that platform I probably would of never discovered or heard the dozens and dozens of smaller independent artists that I found thanks to Spotify.

 

Even whilst I find a few gems amongst a sea of mediocrity that is the music industry, I find it very difficult to get into the new stuff. I find it very hard to get into anything popular music wise post 2005, when Soulja Boy killed off a lot of my inspiration of finding good music artists who gave a damn about their craft. I often find myself constantly going back to the old guys. The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Metallica, Willie Nelson, Aretha Franklin, Boys 2 Men, and a slew of other talented bands and musicians of several genres. It was through CD Albums in the 1990s that I grew up listening to their songs. While I technically did not hear them when they made their songs, since they were before my time, their music was something I was exposed to and therefore you could say, in a way, I grew up listening to them.

 

Today's mainstream acts, compared to the likes of Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Dolly Parton and Stevie Wonder are a complete disgrace and a shame to what I've longed considered to be an industry that only cares about ratings and money. Who gives a fuck how talentless today's mainstream acts are, if they can generate the money, ratings and merchandise (T-Shirts, Shoes, etc) then that's really all that matters now. There's a good reason why so many people, including myself, have turned to independent artists to find those who hold talent. Mainstream music is dead to me.

 

Just wanted to put this out there because this is how I've been feeling for a long time. If you listen to Spotify feel free to mention some independent artists you listen to.

Edited May 3, 2018 by Spaz

[Bullstomp]

Preach!

 

I find myself listening to music from 90s and earlier. I think the last time I heard a "new" song and said I have to buy that album was "For Whom the Bell Tolls" by Metallica w/the San Francisco Orchestra. Can you imagine Taylor Swift or Justin Beiber performing any song of their catalog with an orchestra behind them??

 

Oh, and somehow when you were naming talentless music acts you forgot to name Katy Perry. Her song "Roar" may be the worst of a generation. You're forgiven?

Edited May 3, 2018 by Bullstomp

[Asvinia]

Mostly because it's the same 4 people that write all todays mainstream pop music. With the help of autotune it's not about having singing talent, it's about having a face you can sell to kids. Notice how a lot of 'new' singers are children that have barely hit puberty, compared to past icons who were all much older.

 

Plus now we have a new generation of kids who don't remember the old bands, which is why One Direction can get away with performing rehashed Backstreet Boys and Westlife songs. Independent bands also aren't pushed into the limelight because they're not controlled. Look at the breakdown the media's having now that Kanye West has 'gone rogue'.

 

We've gone from valuing people that have talent, to valuing people who they can sell and who will fall in line. Not one of the modern mainstream performers could be described as having talent. We're not the only ones with this issue though, S.Korea and Japan have the same problem with generic sounding kids they can sell.

[DrBloodmoney]

Meh, I don’t know.

 

I reckon there is good and bad in every era and genre.

 

Among the last gigs I’ve been to were Arab Strap, The Wu Tang Clan, Rob Zombie/Marilyn Manson, Taylor Swift and The Gaslight Anthem, so as far as recommendations go, TicketMaster’s algorithms don’t have a clue what to do with me

 

I grew up in the 80s & 90s, so, sure, I still listen to a lot of stuff from then (was a big Smashing Pumpkins/ Placebo/ Nirvana/ Hole/ Pear Jam/ Soundgarden/ Butthole Surfers kid,) but the older I get the more I realise that, depending on my mood, I can find something to like in every single genre out there.

 

I spent years thinking I hated all country music, only to then discover Southern Gothic - an entire subgenre that I listen to a lot of now. I used to avoid pop music like the plague - until I gave some a shot. 

 

Sure, there is plenty that’s not to my taste, but that’s true of everyone! What I love might sound like nails on a chalkboard to others, but I try hard to at least give everything new I hear a fair shake.

Edited May 3, 2018 by DrBloodmoney

[Terra]

I grew up in the 00s and that was main era for hearing popular music at the time. I never followed it though. My father always put on music the ranged from the 60s-90s with a wide range of artists from Barbra Streisand to Janet Jackson. I don't think my tastes have changed that much but I listen to very few of any pop music that has come out in the past 10 years or so, only to artists who I still follow that began their career twenty or thirty years ago. I think the most recent pop song I enjoyed was a Miranda Cosgrove oen but even that is nine years old now. 

 

I work in a library so when I see new CD's arrive with artists I've never heard of, they all look the same to me. I'll stick with the music that I grew up with, I think the quality and passion is more there then what I hear on the radio now.

[Elvick_]

Personally I don't really pay attention to what's popular. Usually I find a popular song I like from Spotify recommendations and it's 4+ years old by the time I enjoy it. I only find out it's popular when I look it up on youtube and see view numbers. 

What's popular now is not really something that bothers me, since things like Spotify make it so easy to find stuff you do want to listen to. It's never been easier to find stuff, so I actually love the music industry now. I always hated listening to the radio, it was always the same songs over and over and you'd just get sick of any song you did like on there. So the internet kind of killed that     entirely for me. Apparently people still listen to it though, at least they must since I see people on youtube comment sections saying how they hate the radio and "why isn't this on the radio". And all I can think is... "Why are you even listening to the radio in the first place?" idk, seems weird to me. I guess maybe they don't have an mp3 player to plug in their car?

I personally do like Taylor Swift, and liked Rihanna up to about Loud. Then not so much. But to each their own. I listen to tons of different things. Doris Day, Beatles, Nightwish, Tamia, Monica, Mariah Carey, Heart, Fleetwood Mac, 2 Pac. I could go on, I love music and like to focus on the stuff I do like rather than the stuff I dislike.

[Remilia Scarlet]

Justin Timberlake has legitimate talent. He’s able to reach vocal keys very few can only dream of reaching, in addition to being a talented actor and dancer. There’s a reason he’s one of the best selling musical artists of the modern era.

 

Every other statement I can agree woth, but you cannot look at what JT has achieved and just blatantly make a false claim that he has zero talent. His incredible success in both the music and film industries say otherwise.

 

 

[SavageGarden2015]

2 hours ago, Spaz said:

I will never understand why people love Taylor Swift, Justin Beiber, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Justin Timberlake

 

Because they changed too much. Listed to their old songs:

 

[Tepp-a]

wow, we got a music purist here...

 

Now, before I say anything else, I want to make it clear that I do not listen to mainstream, nor am I particularily fond of Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber & CO (but that has non-music related reasons). However this just sounds like whining á la "everything was better in the old days"

 

Of course music changes, wether you like it or not. In a digital age where it's so easy to find an audience, other things than voice are becoming important, too. originally, Musicians had to be discovered - now they put themselves on a global scale on youtube etc and make themselves discovered. In order not to get swallowed, they need to commercialize their songs to the degree where it reaches the biggest global audience. And they seem to do something right...

 

If you prefer musicians in their core without the flashy stuff around, that's totally fine. But for a lot of people music isn't art anymore, it's entertainment, and it's a lot easier to be entertained if you don't have to use your brain too much. But as already mentioned by others, as long as they're having fun - what's the harm? I mean, no one is forcing you to listen to it, right?

 

On a sidenote, Rihanna had probably more talent than all of us combined. I'm not into her music, but she definitely has talent.

Edited May 3, 2018 by Tepp-a

[DioTheRoadroIler]

1 hour ago, Asvinia said:

Notice how a lot of 'new' singers are children that have barely hit puberty, compared to past icons who were all much older.

 

That depends, I mean, when Metallica started James Hetfield was only 18, and the rest of the band was around the same age. 

 

With that being said, my father listened to rock and metal, like Metallica, Megadeth, Nightwish, Dio and that kind of stuff, so I quickly picked up after him. On topic, i too really can't listen to these new songs that come out, but these new musicians aren't all talent-less. For example, Ariana Grande can hit some pretty high notes, it's actually amazing, but the music that she produces just doesn't do it for me.

[WorldsBestSpy]

Oh god we have a r/lewronggeneration subject here. And I'm going to give my honest opinion.

 

2 hours ago, Spaz said:

Over the past 15 years I have found myself growing ever more distant from mainstream music. Pop, Rock, Rap, Country, Folk, etc etc to me today is all blended into a big mixer, poured into a mold, baked, sprinkled, seasoned, and then sold to the masses at a bakery. This doesn't necessarily apply to the independent artists and bands out there struggling to get a break, but to the established mainstream acts whom I consider the vast majority of them to be talentless.

 

I will never understand why people love Taylor Swift, Justin Beiber, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Justin Timberlake, Tim McGraw, Florida Georgia Line and the long line of talentless musicians that I all consider to be only there to make the money. Mainstream music that was truly great and inspirational ended in my eyes in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The corporate industry in my mind only favors those who hold the right looks, rather than the talent as was more so the case with past generations. All of these modern artists that I've listed should of been one hit wonders, but instead they have continued to rake in millions of dollars. Whereas the independent bands struggle to find a select audience. Literally the only place I can really find these people is on Spotify, without that platform I probably would of never discovered or heard the dozens and dozens of smaller independent artists that I found thanks to Spotify.

 

Even whilst I find a few gems amongst a sea of mediocrity that is the music industry, I find it very difficult to get into the new stuff. I find it very hard to get into anything popular music wise post 2005, when Soulja Boy killed off a lot of my inspiration of finding good music artists who gave a damn about their craft. I often find myself constantly going back to the old guys. The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Metallica, Willie Nelson, Aretha Franklin, Boys 2 Men, and a slew of other talented bands and musicians of several genres. It was through CD Albums in the 1990s that I grew up listening to their songs. While I technically did not hear them when they made their songs, since they were before my time, their music was something I was exposed to and therefore you could say, in a way, I grew up listening to them.

 

Today's mainstream acts, compared to the likes of Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Dolly Parton and Stevie Wonder are a complete disgrace and a shame to what I've longed considered to be an industry that only cares about ratings and money. Who gives a fuck how talentless today's mainstream acts are, if they can generate the money, ratings and merchandise (T-Shirts, Shoes, etc) then that's really all that matters now. There's a good reason why so many people, including myself, have turned to independent artists to find those who hold talent. Mainstream music is dead to me.

 

Just wanted to put this out there because this is how I've been feeling for a long time. If you listen to Spotify feel free to mention some independent artists you listen to.

The fact you are cutting off "good music" at the point of Soulja Boy (2007-2008) is telling me that you 1) really really must not like music if Soulja Boy is the end all of "good music" and 2) you REALLY don't remember how the 90s were. I'm guessing Vanilla Ice and Ice Ice Baby were inspirational? MC Hammer is good right? LOL

 

Taylor Swift fucking sucks. That one is a given.

Justin Bieber - its not 2010 anymore, the guy can make pretty good pop music from time to time now.

Rihanna - Why? Have you actually ever listened to Rihanna? like album to album, instead of the singles. Woman can make some amazing music and really only has like 1 or 2 meh albums.

Nicki Minaj - I can give you the Pink Friday Era went on too long, but.. she's a good rapper. Are you against her use of her sex appeal? Because as far as I know, a lot of female artists use that.

Justin Timberlake - AGAIN HOW!?!?! This man defined 2000s pop, and is a cultural icon. Literally the only bad album he has came out this year, his track record is astounding.

Country fucking sucks. Always has.

 

"talentless" , yeah in your opinion. Its almost as if you have forgotten what an artist needs to make music - money. The fact you bring up that they're selling merchandise and shirts is dumb as hell, because if I remember well - this all happened.

http://www.mariahcarey.com/store - Mariah Carey's online store

 

 

 

Whitney Houston's Coca - Cola commercial. Isn't she selling out for money here???

 

Take off the rose tinted glasses. I am not dissing the 20th Century masters either, but you seriously need to go and look back and remember everything without the nostalgia googles. You just sound mad that you're old and don't understand today's music.

 

Maybe with that Spotify use you could expand your music taste, because TOP 40 IS NOT THE END ALL TO TODAY'S MUSIC. 

 

 

[DaivRules]

I don't hate on music because it doesn't appeal to me, it's just music. I don't hate on people because they like things I don't, they don't affect me. I don't hate on record labels because they're a business (in it to make a profit) and know what makes them the money they were created to make.

 

There's an absurd amount of options (in fact, there has never been more) out there for music today. Celebrate finding music that appeals to you without constantly focusing on what you hate, hate, hate for reasons, reasons, reasons. Constantly focusing on hating causes more focusing on hating into a downward spiral of pointless hate.

 

You don't have to understand why something (anything!) appeals to someone else. If you try and don't get it, accept that you just don't get it and move on to enjoying what you enjoy.

 

My favorite band of all time is Brand New, but they're too mainstream now and they get tons of hate for it. I don't care. I don't need or want to care how others feel about them, so I don't. It's your choice to focus on the hating or celebrating finding what you enjoy. Just know one path only makes your life more miserable.

[NewVegasNick]

If anyone needs a summary of the OP

 

Edited May 3, 2018 by DoucetDudes

[Dreakon13]

@DaivRules  Excellent points.  I can't even picture a world, where people focused on what they liked instead of what they didn't.   I know a lot of people, both online and off, that bond in their dislike of something (or things) moreso than they bond over things they like.  It's more fun to hate these days.  It's bizarre.

Edited May 3, 2018 by Dreakon13

[Caju_94]

@Spaz, I really know your feelings! Someone I can unburden this with!

 

I do not hate popular music... I despise/contempt it! Of course, since I don't even turn on a single radio (only turn on my car's radio to listen to my CDs), sometimes I barely know which musics are trendy/popular or not... First of all, they are not my style, I'm a rock/metal guy. So, whenever I go to a pub or something like that, I have to endure brazilian/african songs and other type of songs that are "junk", in my opinion. Few are the bars with music that I like.

 

When I'm driving, I always put a CD, so I always listen to songs I personally like. Funny when I have passengers, sometimes I end up discussing with them, because they want me to put a random radio with popular songs and sometimes I don't let it. "My car, my rules!" I say sometimes. Sometimes I put on the popular song radio, going through another endurance challenge.

 

"Huh? What the heck is that? Wtf are you listening? How do you even like that?" Are pretty common expressions I hear when I'm putting music on my phone to share with a group. So, to avoid that, I normally avoid putting metal songs and put softer songs or some classic rock. At least nobody says anything when I put AC/DC, Queen, Muse, Guns N' Roses, Fantastic Negrito, which is a good sign in my opinion. Even though I listen mostly to rock & metal, there are of course a few exceptions, but most of them are not that popular.

 

Whenever I talk about local bands in my country or worldwide bands that I like, most of the people I know don't even know them, so everybody thinks that I have weird tastes when it comes to music. Sometimes, they start singing a popular song where I don't even know the chorus!

 

I normally listen the following artists:

Muse (popular but because they are good musicians IMO!), Slash, Alter Bridge, Nightwish, Bring Me The Horizon, More Than A Thousand, Hills Have Eyes, System Of A Down, Scars On Broadway, Rise Against, Tenacious D, AC/DC.

 

 

[Deceptrox]

I'm with you, however it's even worse if you live in a spanish speaking country as many people likes to listen to garbage with obscene lyrics and monotonous sound (althouth it can hardly be considered sound, it's more like annoying noise). 

 

In spite of the fact that I also dislike the music from the individuals you listed, I prefer to unwillingly listen to some of them than to unwillingly listen to the useless garbage that most spanish speaking people listen to. 

 

 

[WorldsBestSpy]

23 minutes ago, Deceptrox said:

I'm with you, however it's even worse if you live in a spanish speaking country as many people likes to listen to garbage with obscene lyrics and monotonous sound (althouth it can hardly be considered sound, it's more like annoying noise). 

 

In spite of the fact that I also dislike the music from the individuals you listed, I prefer to unwillingly listen to some of them than to unwillingly listen to the useless garbage that most spanish speaking people listen to. 

 

 

I guess your taste in music cannot mirror your taste in games.

[DefendTheRAW_NL]

I don't like pop music either. Have always been a non mainstream boy.

 

My main genre's are Hardstyle, RAW Hardstyle, Hardcore, Uptempo, Frenchcore and various kinds of Punk, Rock and Metal.

I have always been someone who likes melodic and aggressive music combined, electronic and instrumental love both.

 

BUT one thing, Justin Timberlake has definitly talent!

[sorhval]

4 hours ago, Spaz said:

I often find myself constantly going back to the old guys. The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Metallica, Willie Nelson, Aretha Franklin, Boys 2 Men, and a slew of other talented bands and musicians of several genres.

 

 "I hate actual popular music but I love old mainstream bands" 

 

#thewronggeneration!!!

[WorldsBestSpy]

[Stardroid]

4 minutes ago, WorldsBestSpy said:

I just want to say that this is a great meme

[daftprophet]

@Spaz

 

There is still a ton of great music that isn't mainstream to check out.  I highly recommend bandcamp as well if you want to find smaller artists with little followings.

 

Currently listening to the artist Roex.  Give it a shot.

[I need more BIOSHOCK]

I like a wide range of different music types, my personal faveourite being metal.

 

If I have my starred playlist on spotify it could be anything from Rammstein, Metallica, System of a down to Britney Spears or The Prodigy.

 

Personally though, anything in the charts today just sounds like absolute wank to me.  All the likes of Justin Bieber and them all just sound like the same generic crap.  These shitty reality shows like X Factor and Pop idol don't help the music industry one bit either.  Same thing year in year out, just another carboard cut out twat with a boring generic recycled crap song that has one hit then is never to be heard of again.

 

Very rare these days you see a decent band/musician that can actually sing on their own, play insytuments or write their own songs.

[WorldsBestSpy]

"the 90s were all not totally souless and totally not as about appearance like today!"

 

(Just saying that I fucking love this song) 

[Mori]

Why are people always getting so serious when it comes to music (taste)? Just listen to what you like, end of the story. Dont get it, why people care that much, that "popular" music is not their taste. So what? That does not make you any special, nor are others "weird" or "stupid" or whatever for liking it and most important, it doesnt harm anyone.

 

"Querbeet" or in english "All over the place" is my taste in music, I dont limit myself by disliking and avoiding different genres. You could miss out your potential most favourite songs/tracks.

Edited May 3, 2018 by Mori