Pop Music has gotten really bad recently...

[Breakdown 444]

8 minutes ago, Mirrion Rizzons said:

pop music started to go bad after 2014 with a few exceptions. 

 

This. And it was slowly getting worse with years. This year, the lack of catchy and exciting pop songs is really noticeable. There will always be people criticizing what's mainstream, but I can't recall an era where pop music was this bland, but also, I'm pretty young so what do I know. 

I read somewhere that we are going through a phase of "minimalism". The instrumentals are pretty simple/basic and not many pop songs nowadays have big hooks or choruses and also, trap/hip hop is what's cool now but I'm pretty sure (or at least I hope that ) we'll be heading to an era of "maximalism" again (a la 2008-2009 with the arrival of Gaga in the music scene) and singers will focus on great melodies and catchy songs when the GP gets tired of these sounds and the simplicity of them.

[rumours 45,521]

Eh.... for me, pop music from 2008-2016 was mostly garbage. 99.9% of pop music released today is not good as well. 

Just because Gaga came on the scene in 2008 doesn’t mean pop music improved at that time. TF is pretty generic, run-of-the-mill pop at best that hasn’t aged well. 

 

[xoxo Craig 55,649]

1 minute ago, Phaye Monster said:

I used to watch music channels for fun. Now it's just painful

where did all the good music go?

This! I remember getting my haircut in 2014 and they had Gaga, Katy, Rihanna ect. on and it was amazing...  now it's full of Drake and Ed Sheeran and I just want out of there as quickly as I arrived

[xoxo Craig 55,649]

1 minute ago, Rumours1977 said:

Eh.... for me, pop music from 2008-2016 was mostly garbage. 99.9% of pop music released today is not good as well. 

Just because Gaga came on the scene in 2008 doesn’t mean pop music improved at that time. TF is pretty generic, run-of-the-mill pop at best that hasn’t aged well. 

 

The Fame was not generic at all. If it was, another artist except from Gaga would have done the exact same album... which is clearly not the case. To say that it's run-of-the-mill is delusional because it's still the number 4 best selling dance record of 2018

And it did improve. Gaga set the bar very high with The Fame and the only way to match that was to make pop music that's great that has a message or great lyrics. 

[OBEY 57,107]

[xoxo Craig 55,649]

Just now, OBEY said:

Actual footage of me listening to the current radio, or new artists, or Drake,  or Ed, or Dua, or music from 2018 

[OBEY 57,107]

Now, from 2017-present, there has been a drought of pop music. With the exception of a few tracks (The Cure being one), pop music has been lacking severely. 

stopped reading there

[OBEY 57,107]

Just now, Craig Barnes said:

Actual footage of me listening to the current radio, or new artists, or Drake,  or Ed, or Dua, or music from 2018 

then don't listen to them and explore music outside the music charts/what's trending/what's on the radio.

[rumours 45,521]

4 minutes ago, Craig Barnes said:

To say that it's run-of-the-mill is delusional because it's still the number 4 best selling dance record of 2018

That’s like saying “of the dead bodies left over, this one has the least amount of visible decay”.

5 minutes ago, Craig Barnes said:

The Fame was not generic at all. If it was, another artist except from Gaga would have done the exact same album... which is clearly not the case.

We can agree to disagree on this one. 

6 minutes ago, Craig Barnes said:

And it did improve. Gaga set the bar very high with The Fame and the only way to match that was to make pop music that's great that has a message or great lyrics. 

If that were true, then why was the same time period full of vacuous pop music that oftentimes charted far better than Gaga’s music? 

[xoxo Craig 55,649]

4 minutes ago, OBEY said:

Now, from 2017-present, there has been a drought of pop music. With the exception of a few tracks (The Cure being one), pop music has been lacking severely. 

stopped reading there

Well then you read most of it The Cure is a decent pop song and a bop, y'all don't appreciate it enough 

[OBEY 57,107]

1 minute ago, Craig Barnes said:

Well then you read most of it The Cure is a decent pop song and a bop, y'all don't appreciate it enough 

I love The Cure, but it's basic and it doesn't stand out in Gaga's discography. It could be a Chainsmokers song.

[xoxo Craig 55,649]

2 minutes ago, Rumours1977 said:

That’s like saying “of the dead bodies left over, this one has the least amount of visible decay”.

We can agree to disagree on this one. 

If that were true, then why was the same time period full of vacuous pop music that oftentimes charted far better than Gaga’s music? 

Just Dance was number 1

Poker Face was number one

Bad Romance was number 2 (Kesha blocked it)

... I don't think you can get better than that, especially from a debut album.

By 2010 when Katy released Teenage Dream, it was evident that The Fame has impacted on the music scene in a way that was causing most artists to be using catchy melodies with great lyrics and made great pop songs that could chart well and stay there for and while. Most artists used the 4/4 beat while having a heavy chorus and great instrumentals.  The bar had been raised in 2008 and by 2010/11 the other artists caught up and also released great music

[FfFfFfFF 54,014]

23 minutes ago, Craig Barnes said:

Well if one gets bored with the current music, they would listen to past music, yes? 

And music has only really been hollow in the past 2 years

Mainstream hits (part of them) have always been this way. I don't see any quality difference between Teenage Dream and Havana or between Pound The Alarm and Wolves for instance.

[xoxo Craig 55,649]

4 minutes ago, OBEY said:

I love The Cure, but it's basic and it doesn't stand out in Gaga's discography. It could be a Chainsmokers song.

I don't disagree but it was still a good pop song and a highlight for me in 2017

[xoxo Craig 55,649]

2 minutes ago, FfFfFfFF said:

Mainstream hits (part of them) have always been this way. I don't see any quality difference between Teenage Dream and Havana or between Pound The Alarm and Wolves for instance.

Teenage Dream has a heavy instrumental, Havana is just a piano and drums. Teenage Dream also has better lyrics than Havana... Havana doesn't really set any scene but Teenage Dream does.