Haha yeah we're just disagreeing on taste now. I cringe when people talk about "real artists" as if making chart pop isnt real music or something. I pretty much disagree with this whole quote but it's all subjective and I doubt I would be able to change your mind anyways. You like what you like.

I love when people that didn't grow up during a specific generation latches onto the generation like it is their own. They don't get to see every nook and granny of it.

There were most certainly pop stars that weren't artists and pretty much just props and had songs written for them in every single fucking decade.

Did they top every flippin' chart?

yes of course they did.

You do know that one hit wonders existed in every decade right?

Edit: added a link of some one hit wonders in the 60s.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._United_States

Why do people actively worry about this?

Like I said most of my favorite singers are POP stars and some of the greatest music that has been made has been made by pop stars in my opinion. So I dont have anything against popular music (generally speaking) I love ALL kinds of music and genres.

My whole post was about TODAYS mainstream music...NOT mainstream in general and looking at the so called pop stars of TODAY, I wouldnt exactly call them "real artists" because they are technically not. They dont write, produce, or contribute to their music. They lack creativity. There just brands or puppets. Thats what I was referring too.

I am not latching on to a generation that isnt my own or claiming to know everything from that particular generation. Regardless of how much old school music I listen to, I am still apart of this generation but alot of my musical taste comes from the music my parents exposed me to growing up which was predominately 60s, 70s and some 80s music.

In saying that, doesnt mean I am trying to claim I know everything from those eras but yes I do feel connected to them because it was a big portion of my childhood and I still admire and listen to those artists today. There is nothing wrong with liking something from a previous generation or era. People have their own taste in what they like to listen too.


I have never implied that past eras were "error free" eras of music. Of course there is low creative music from every era.

But THIS era of music is obviously alot different from past eras. This era of music has alot more of generic music more than the past.

Yes i know. I tend to use "chart pop" to mean stuff like Lady Gaga, Bieber, Rihanna, etc.

As to them not contributing into their own music, I think that's overexaggerated. In fact I dont think there is one artist that had no input into any of their albums. (Then again I dont really care. If I have to think of Rihanna as an entity of more than one person writing it that's fine with me. I like hearing the music and thats all I care about)

Marvin Gaye didn't write a lot of his music for awhile. The whole Motown setup was like an assembly line: Someone wrote lyrics, they got the band together, bring in a singer, if they don't work, get another. So even in the awe-inspiring 60s, a lot of mainstream artists were a part of the same kind of systems as today.

You are right... but Motown was writing good songs and making good records. I considered Marvin a genius. He eventually developed into his own artist.

Ninetales made a good point too.

I personally would rather hear good music regardless if it was written by the artist or not. (I was just pointing out the drastic shift in how now you dont have to have any talent whatever to be a superstar-- whether its writing, singing, dancing etc) An an artist doesnt necessarily have to write all their music or be involved in everything but it just seems like there is no "sincerity" behind the music anymore now.

this boils down to your prejudice against the new material being produced and is subjective and similar to a taste issue.

I don't agree with your sentiment at all.

Eh, you mean after listening to these bands for 10 years, the audience will grow into metal, no way, they will probably get into this new futuristic musical instruments, wearing cybernetic everywhere and looking futuristic, I have been to Cyberdog in camden, is this the future of music?, also, in the future we will have a new version of the electric harpsichord, one that plays like an electric guitar, then anyone can be a metal guitarist!!!

You literally just explained my entire life, except my sentiments toward my decade(s) of choice often leave me feeling empty, disappointed, and downright sad about my own existence. I'm far too disconnected from the time period I actually live in because I've spent most of my life attempting to live in another.

Anyway, for the topic at hand, I just think that a lot of people tend to gravitate toward mainstream music because it's accessible, it's everywhere, it's unavoidable if you don't have the desire to hunt for anything else in this world. It's music without responsibility. It's also a learned habit. I don't really care for it myself, not because it's new, but because it's bland. There's bland crap from every decade but I honestly couldn't tell you the difference between any of this teenypop garbage on the radio.

I just know that some of it plays at every job I've ever had, and it all sounds the same. There'd be days when I'd be listening to Genesis or some other proggy goodness (I went through a Pink Floyd phase not long ago) on my way to work, then I'd walk in and instantly feel the wrath of homogenized, uninteresting, tasteless pop music. It's just a huge bummer. But to some people that's not the case, because they're used to the same formula, over and over again.

There always was mainstream music, the things most people call old school now was mainstream in their Era, everything that got major exposure was once mainstream.. So it's normal for mainstream music to appeal, it's what is trendy during that Era and everything has it's own goods and bads.. Time just changed, and we reached a time where producers and computers do a lot more (which is still some pretty hard work that requires patience) and we lost the "artists" that actually did alot themselves. Ofcourse, money is also to blame for this and the business. But who knows, maybe in 20 years time we'll be listening to a new trend that we do like. But to argue about this is stupid, cause every generation will call the new one mainstream and think that their generation is "underground" all of a sudden.. When the truth is, 20 years ago they were being called mainstream by those that were young 50 years ago, and that's when they still liked their mainstream music.

So the point is, unless you only like a band from your hometown that no one knows about. You still like mainstream music. All of you, all of us. Correct me if i'm wrong though..

No doubt he was a truly great musician, I'm just pointing out that the manufacturing nature of music in pop didn't just spring up. And though Motown did produce some really great material, they did eventually fall off, and I'm sure everything wasn't a homerun.

Also, to use the Marvin analogy one more time (I'm really wanting to get it in while I can), he even said he really didn't dig a lot of his earlier stuff; he even said "Heard It Through the Grape Vine" was pushed through when he didn't want to do it. I suppose it produced a classic, but the artist didn't have any genuine interest in the song when it was made.

Because of Payola and big music companies shoving money down the throats of radio stations to ensure that they get played.

Great deal
 

Mantra gone mad

If you're arguing that music taste is subjective, (which I agree), why are you saying my opinion is prejudice?

I listen to chart music....(so I dont have a prejudice attitude about it) but I be damn if I sit here and say that ALL of it is creative lol

Very well said.

I just miss the 70s and 80's ya know? All the MAINSTREAM 80's music was funky, fresh, eclectic, creative, artistic and guess what? You could still shake your ass on the dance floor to it. I just miss that type of music.

Good post.

You're right Marvin didnt like his early Motown records because he felt they were to "pop" although objectively they are great pop classics. Marvin had to fight Motown creatively because he wanted to be his "own" artist.

And you're right popular music has pretty music always had the same formula. It has always been meant to be easily accessible and catchy but in the past the popular songs were of better "quality" than what it is today.

I think "Heard It Through the Grapevine" is one of the best songs ever. I rather listen to that song 500 times than listen to the mess we have out now.


Are you a huge Marvin Gaye fan? I notice you have him as your avatar as well lol. He is in my top 3 for sure for favorites.

Mainstream music happens to be everywhere you go or when you watch tv so people just get used to hearing it and then it starts to get stuck in peoples heads and bam it starts to appeal to you

Sorry for bumping, Kesha actually isn't that bad.

I agree 100%. Many years ago when the Proclaimers Sunshine On Leith came out and the current hit was I'm On My Way. I listened to the whole album and thought Then I Met You and I'm gonna Be (500 Miles) would be potential hits and I played both songs to a few people. There was no interest. Months later both songs became hits and all the people in that room were raving about how good the songs are. Many people have to wait for over-exposure from the radio to like a song.

1: It's already popular so it's easy to find. Casuals will listen to this without really having an interest in listening to more, they're fine with what they have. The reason the artists are popular is because of good marketing.

2: It's made to appeal to as much people as possible, instead of fullfilling it's niche. It's accessible to the max. Because of this you tend to get mediocre songs.
But enjoyment does not always equal quality. That and if you don't listen to much music a lot more music will seem great. You don't have much to compare to.

3:Some people just really like them. Opinions differ.

90% of everything is **** but most people are too lazy to dig through the **** to find the gold.

This doesn't just apply to music though. Mainstream popularity is like this with a lot of things.
Look at Anime. Naruto, Bleach and One Piece are the three biggest, even though they're average battle shonen.

Not everything that's popular is **** ofcourse.

If you just take it for what it is, mainstream music is fun and catchy music that's usually of poor quality, but things of poor quality can still be enjoyable.

All posts about that stupid quiz have been deleted.
Try to remember this isn't The Lounge next time