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I do instrumental exclusively, unless you count weird vocal synths. Maybe the author of this study shouldn't have constrained it to the top 10... There's a hug

I do instrumental exclusively, unless you count weird vocal synths. Maybe the author of this study shouldn't have constrained it to the top 10... There's a huge world of music out there. The most popular stuff is a tiny little sliver meant to appeal to the greatest number of people. For me, things have only gotten better since discovering a bunch of weird niche stuff in the '00s, especially since Bandcamp and Soundcloud gave indies a place to find an audience without investing in the infrastructure needed for streaming and sales.

noobermin 9y ago
I was going to say something similar but not as harsh. I definitely think that the internet has made finding niche music that less of difficult a thing, but when the set you normalize over is the set of popular music rather than all music, his argument is sound. An interesting question (and more difficult one to answer) would be whether access to niche music has increased and more people pursue niches in general today than before.
- chiefalchemist 9y ago
  I would think you'd have to argue that the answer is more. The crux being that mega companies no longer have absolute control over a limited number of distribution channels (e.g., traditional radio). That has to have led gaps for other genres to edge in. Look at EMD a couple years ago. That, I don't think, was driven by top down marketing dollars. I think you're likely talking about less accessible genres, but I think the EMD example still applies.
  - Roboprog 9y ago
    EDM? (Electronic Dance Music) Or am I missing something and EMD is not a typo (quite possible)?
    - chiefalchemist 9y ago
      Yes. Typo. Sorry. Thx.
  - ibotty 9y ago
    EDM? The resurfacing of 90's Eurodance? Is there anything more commercial? Maybe that's my European viewpoint, so please elaborate if I am wrong.
    - chiefalchemist 9y ago
      Yes. But in the US it was never given much respect, and thus no mainstrean viability. That changed. I'm suggesting it could be because the gatekeepers lost their control.
- boomlinde 9y ago
  There is nothing harsh about it (in its current form; for all I know GP may have edited something out). The author of the study deliberately and explicitly limited it to top-10 singles. I think a much broader study would be less interesting in the sense that the top ten music reflects trends in popular music production. The long tail is probably harder to generalize. This study says something about how many people consume music, or at least how the big peddlers want them to consume it.
  - rainbowmverse 9y ago
    noobermin might have read some anti-pop snobbery into my comment. I actually think pop is highly skilled. You don't just throw down some notes and vocals on Canon in D's chord progression and make a global hit. It takes real, skillful work in composition and sound design to make that happen.
emptyfile 9y ago
Yeah I would definitely say electronic dance music, at least how it exists in Europe, is a definite counter example. A dance track will always have a intro and a outro for mixing purposes and will probably be between 5-7 minutes in length, regardless of weather its uploaded on Soundcloud or a limited press on vinyl. As far as pop music goes, it seems only natural that music which was for decades made for radio will change once the primary medium changes. The main purpose of intros seems to be for the radio DJ to talk over it.
- klez 9y ago
  And that's why the more pop-oriented tunes have a so-called "radio edit" which skips the intro. Take, for example, Tim Deluxe's "It just won't do". This[0] is the dj-friendly club version. This[1] is the radio edit. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Gw78LeYk8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Gw78LeYk8 [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfluyMiVuTs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfluyMiVuTs [EDIT: fixed the first link]

noobermin 9y ago

I was going to say something similar but not as harsh. I definitely think that the internet has made finding niche music that less of difficult a thing, but when the set you normalize over is the set of popular music rather than all music, his argument is sound. An interesting question (and more difficult one to answer) would be whether access to niche music has increased and more people pursue niches in general today than before.

chiefalchemist 9y ago
I would think you'd have to argue that the answer is more. The crux being that mega companies no longer have absolute control over a limited number of distribution channels (e.g., traditional radio). That has to have led gaps for other genres to edge in. Look at EMD a couple years ago. That, I don't think, was driven by top down marketing dollars. I think you're likely talking about less accessible genres, but I think the EMD example still applies.
- Roboprog 9y ago
  EDM? (Electronic Dance Music) Or am I missing something and EMD is not a typo (quite possible)?
  - chiefalchemist 9y ago
    Yes. Typo. Sorry. Thx.
- ibotty 9y ago
  EDM? The resurfacing of 90's Eurodance? Is there anything more commercial? Maybe that's my European viewpoint, so please elaborate if I am wrong.
  - chiefalchemist 9y ago
    Yes. But in the US it was never given much respect, and thus no mainstrean viability. That changed. I'm suggesting it could be because the gatekeepers lost their control.
boomlinde 9y ago
There is nothing harsh about it (in its current form; for all I know GP may have edited something out). The author of the study deliberately and explicitly limited it to top-10 singles. I think a much broader study would be less interesting in the sense that the top ten music reflects trends in popular music production. The long tail is probably harder to generalize. This study says something about how many people consume music, or at least how the big peddlers want them to consume it.
- rainbowmverse 9y ago
  noobermin might have read some anti-pop snobbery into my comment. I actually think pop is highly skilled. You don't just throw down some notes and vocals on Canon in D's chord progression and make a global hit. It takes real, skillful work in composition and sound design to make that happen.

emptyfile 9y ago

Yeah I would definitely say electronic dance music, at least how it exists in Europe, is a definite counter example. A dance track will always have a intro and a outro for mixing purposes and will probably be between 5-7 minutes in length, regardless of weather its uploaded on Soundcloud or a limited press on vinyl. As far as pop music goes, it seems only natural that music which was for decades made for radio will change once the primary medium changes. The main purpose of intros seems to be for the radio DJ to talk over it.

klez 9y ago
And that's why the more pop-oriented tunes have a so-called "radio edit" which skips the intro. Take, for example, Tim Deluxe's "It just won't do". This[0] is the dj-friendly club version. This[1] is the radio edit. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Gw78LeYk8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_Gw78LeYk8 [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfluyMiVuTs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfluyMiVuTs [EDIT: fixed the first link]