Things You Love / Hate About the Current Music Industry and Landscape

[Blackout2006]

14 hours ago, iAlwaysSingLive said:

I don't think rap music is bad in general, but I agree that a lot of it has become unbearably bad these days. Like, the topics a lot of them rap about are so toxic and dull. 

Yeah, but I am not talking about overall rap. I am talking about the commercial “rap” music that is being streamed back and fourth by brainless hip-hop sheep 🐏

[Blackout2006]

K

[Blackout2006]

14 hours ago, Towelney said:

Actually, the first album I bought was “Future Nostalgia.” 

Taste 

Spoiler

The first CD I brought was in 2019 with the Rihanna GGGB cd. Now I have 9 CDs in my collection. I got future nostalgia on vinyl for my 14th birthday and it is now my 5th vinyl 

 

[Blackout2006]

10 hours ago, Spicechinodiva said:

Two things.

 

I see CD's joining vinyl and cassette tapes as just collector's items.

 

Eventually the target exclusive will stop, like nobody is even bothering to buy the lady gaga exclusive to get the bonus tracks. It will stop, cos the money isn't there anymore.

 

I do see spotify eventually becoming paid only. 

 

Literally everything they said they were against Streaming exclusives, Unlimited library,  Podcasts and such. They all turned around and embraced them.

 

They will embrace a paid only version to. 

 

I see Albums that we grew up with getting remastered and expanded.

 

I also see artists who are blueprints like Madonna, Janet, etc. When they die, I doubt people will embrace. It's already evident that the current generation don't care for the artists before their time. 

Vinyl is not a “collectors item”  10 million albums were brought last year on the vinyl format 

[vzlafan]

The Good 

- Streaming Platforms like Spotify , Youtube wherever whenever y however you want. Without scratching your phone, pc or CD.

The Bad

- Now more than ever the market is controlled, i see a lot of underrated songs instead of others. In the Past Music Channels like MTV Show us new music, and then their having their own music hits top.

 - The music legends are NOT RESPECTED by the media or tops, i mean LEGENDS (Britney, xtina, Shakira and many more) even launch a crap or great material their deserve their own top, not competing with  newest GREAT artist like billie ellish, rosalia, charlie puth, selena, camila , KPOP that are clearly inspired by the one who opened the doors for them .

- In the past A lot of concerts where aired, and the artist make it different kind of shows, and different type of performances RIGHT NOW, there's a LOT Of FORGETTED MATERIAL Like britney POM, Circus Tour, Lady Gaga Joanne, Enigma , Like RIhanna Anti Tour, Diamonds Tour, Beyonces latest 3 tours, and a lot of many tours. 

- The Music TV can show a lot of content like Creating New Music Awards, this friday i just saw VMA'S 99 & 2000, and all the content about 20 years ago is WAY BETTER than right now, the stage design everything is better than just a LED SCREEN and empty stage, in the past use platforms, more creative. 

- The experience of buying new music , see a interactive CD, its anything like the past, in the tv they create it the experience with tv shows like first listen, great TRL programs and many Programs.

[babyimmafreak90]

I hate the “album of short songs to get more streams” trend. Statistically, a 2:30-3 min song performs better on the radio due to this time frame being optimal for casual listeners. But I get bored of short songs so quickly and dgaf about radio  also, songs tailoring to this seem to follow the same structure and they get lost in a sea of similar tracks. 

I like the theory behind streaming creating more competition, but it hasn’t translated into better music imo. Artists are taking longer than ever between album cycles at a time when the songs try to hit hard and fast. It makes eras feel as if they go as quickly as they came and then there is an eternity before another one. 

I am still a believer in a physical copy of albums you like, but I do love how accessible streaming makes things. I listen to music I otherwise wouldn’t have, and it makes legacy artists discoverable to a whole new market. 

[KillersWhoArePartying]

Something I've noticed is that since around 2016 I would say critics are a lot nicer in their reviews of pop music. Maybe it's because less critics are straight white men or that it's just considered a more respectable genre viewed from the lense of a critic, but critics definitely don't hate on pop like they used to.

This is good, but at the same time makes for some pretty ridiculous comparisons between albums.

Looking at metacritic: for example Ariana Grande's new albums are very critically acclaimed, yet Mariah Carey's albums from the 90s and 2000s all recieve average reviews.

So an Ariana fan could be like "Ariana's music is so much more critically acclaimed, look Sweetener has a way higher metacritic score than the Emancipation of Mimi". But in reality it's just that critics are a lot nicer to female pop stars nowadays when it comes to critics. If TEOM was released today it would certainly rate a lot higher. Additionally, Caution is currently Mariah's most critically acclaimed album. I would argue that it's because it's her most recent, not her best. Critics don't hate on Mariah anymore. I doubt you'd find many lambs who think Caution is genuinely her best album.

It's just kind of annoying how albums like Blackout by Britney were amazing yet reviewed so poorly and now these mediocre albums by Charli XCX and Carly Rae Jepsen are getting rave reviews.

but I guess it's good that critics have finally stopped hating on female pop stars

 

[princessmimi]

For me personally I would say is:

the oversxuality in music. I mean literally EVERY HIT SONG is about sx! 
I mean dont get me wrong, I like it but NOT every song needs to be about it!

And also just the laziness of rappers and singers when it comes to the way they record their song.

Like for example:

Ariana Grande, she didnt used to do it in her early days but now she barely enunciates and mumbles in her songs.

[NormaJeanSpears]

like:

streaming is a god send

it's very easy to find expansive communities built around niches now. look at subreddits like popheads or indieheads. 

pop music is increasingly dissected and respected and i love that. it has far more depth than people give it credit for.

i love that artists can go independent now, it's just better for them as artists if they can pull it off. more freedom and less burn out and we get to see more things how they want it, even if it means a little less budget.

popular music feels decently diverse right now. not amazingly so, i think it was much more diverse in parts of the 90s and the turn of the millenia, but it's a lot more diverse than it was in say, 1985 or 2010. i think it's going to continue to expand and become more diverse before contracting again into more similar sounds like it has before

women in music feel like much more respected figures now. still a long way to go, but female albums can now be the highest selling of the year fairly often which is amazing to me

dislike:

i am not a fan of most trap/soundcloud rap, mostly because the artists often feel like they're very stunted and following tropes down to a formula, and it gets a bit dreary after a while just like the excess of bland dance music got grating in the years prior to the rise of trap

things feel half baked a lot more. singles don't work the same way anymore and album eras feel more sparse. 

VISUALS ARE NEGLECTED like i don't need choreography on the regular from every artist by any means but i need some stylishness and cool visuals and EFFORT put into it! dua lipa has completely flipped in my opinion by upping her game and being super duper committed to the style and visuals of her (fantastic) album, unlike her first record that was stale af. this applies to album covers and artwork too...give us cool art or photoshoots y'all

sometimes music has become excessively nostalgic and referential to the point that it's just...not fun to listen to, especially because it rarely ever actually reminds me of the music it is trying to emulate

i hate the tactics used to get songs to number one, AND i really don't like how songs can get to number one and just sit there for a dozen weeks at a time with far more ease than ever before

"pop is dead" <-- that phrase makes no sense, is objectively incorrect, and just stinks of "born in the wrong generation" "hate all this trashy rap music garbage" blah blah type garbage, and i'm hearing it uttered regularly online nowadays

[Hooked-On-Knee]

On 6/28/2020 at 8:25 AM, Blackout2006 said:

Vinyl is not a “collectors item”  10 million albums were brought last year on the vinyl format 

Vinyls aren't exactly needed in this day and age, they are considered "collector items" which is why many people who buy vinyls don't take them out.

[Blackout2006]

On 6/30/2020 at 10:17 AM, NormaJeanSpears said:

"pop is dead" <-- that phrase makes no sense, is objectively incorrect, and just stinks of "born in the wrong generation" "hate all this trashy rap music garbage" blah blah type garbage, and i'm hearing it uttered regularly online nowadays

This.

[Adriannn]

THE GOOD

- Disco-tinged tunes

- Streaming services providing what we need at the moment we need it

THE BAD

- Forced remixes

- Droplet singles, or even worse, not knowing if a song is a single or not 

- KPop obsession 

- Music videos lack quality (I understand the pandemic is playing a role here, but this is not only a 2020 thing) 

- Hip hop is so basic nowadays 

[Stefani]

 

• Lyrical content of too many songs these days are highly sexualized and immoral and it's honestly just gross. I can't count how many songs are about ***, ***** or are simply degrading towards women.
• Collabing for a quick hit needs to stop. It's desperate when artists cling to other artists just to score a hit that they wouldn't manage to do on their own. BB needs to change the rules regarding collabs.

[Godney'sSweetCheeks]

I love being able to use Youtube to search for millions of songs from every artist ever. Very cool. I literally watched the entire videography of Kate Bush a few years back and I still love many of her songs. 

 

I hate how many songs feature other artists especially rappers who give a short verse then yelp over the rest of the song. 

I hate depressing songs - Sam Smith, Adele and Ed Sheeran are guilty of this. 

[DarkOut]

On 6/27/2020 at 5:09 PM, Jordan Miller said:

Agree! I'm a huge fan of typography so #JusticeForFonts 

Wouldn't that make someone disagree?

Anyway, some LPs have been super long recently, because they might have about 24 songs on them. That's too much.

This question is too big for me to digest right now, maybe ever. 

[Fabricio Alex]

Hate that they songs are shorter... fram an "artistic" point of view this is AWFUL... is limiting. You have to get to the chorus ASAP and things like that... as I said before... I'm a guns n roses fan, they have those 9minutes songs that are trully a piece of art.

I think wonder (show mendes) could have been worked better in that way... longer... so the song could really grow and be as dramatis as he wanted to be (i guess).

[Brat]

On 6/27/2020 at 11:46 AM, iAlwaysSingLive said:

User @iAlwaysSingLive coming through with the threads today. 

 

The good:

• Textless album covers (since you can see the artist and title digitally anyway) - idk, I just like it better that way. 
• Shorter songs and albums (to maximize streams) - there's a lot of albums and songs that I don't listen to as much as I'd want to because they're on the longer side. I prefer albums to be under 45 minutes and songs to be under 4 minutes and 30 seconds long. Also, a lot of artists used to have those super annoyingly long outros and interludes that were part of the songs (for example, Justin Timberlake's discography), bleh.
• Anyone can make it / the rise of indie artists - the power of social media let's up-and-coming artists self-promote and hit it big without the push of a major record label.
• Music is cheaper and much more accessible (due to streaming services) - having the ability to create a 10 000 song library in like an hour and listen to new releases as soon as they come out is a blessing. 

 

The bad:

• Unnecessary and inauthentic remixes (to game the charts) - I just think it's really pathetic, and the remixes usually do nothing for songs in terms of making them any better. The fact that you can record your part at home, send it over e-mail, slap it on to a song and call it a day is ridiculous to me. It makes for really inauthentic and soulless collaborations.
• Annoying bonus tracks (because no one buys CDs, and they have to get the revenue back somehow) - this has always been a thing, but it's annoying AF.
• Droplet singles - I'm an album person.

 

Close thread (jk 😛),  remixes give songs a different character and can rebrand the song.  There will be some that aren’t as good as others but some “inauthentic” remixes are fan made.  These fans don’t benefit or make any money off the track,  they just feel heavily inspired by the artist.

I miss going to Virgin and buying the album.  The anticipation is gone because you can stream a song within minutes of its release date. 

[DearBritney00]

I hate texless covers they look so boring. I hate that songs are getting shorter and I hate that the CD is dying and streaming is everything. I'm used to buy CDs and I want to have something in my hands because Spotify and co always have so errors and albums aren't available for a period of time and I hate that. I also hate that eras are very short. I also hate that you have to have a lot of followers to be successful.

You can't discover a new artists without listen to the whole album. Back in the day you had 3 or 4 singles during an era and if one single stucks with you, you payed attention to the artist and checked the other singles out and later the album and became a fan (at least how I did it. I watched MTV and VIVA and heared almost every new single and the singles I liked I searched in the internet and listened to the albums and maybe I liked them) but now you have the lead and if it's not good you will never check out the album. Imagine you find a good single and realize they have 4 albums before that single and you're like "where was I?". A lot of people nowadays know one song and when you tell them that they have 6 or more albums they are shocked.

[Prince Ali]

I hate the trend that more and more songs now last ~2:30 to get more repeated streams (3:30+ is a perfect time)

And that for a song to get popular you need to get a tik tok challenge and do those stupid dance moves to get your song promoted  

pros - definitely streaming! with just few $$ I have legal and quick access to all the songs I want! 

[Alexanda]

Everything:

It's boring, the same *** song over and over, no brand new artists, no diversity, where is pop? Where is rock?