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Is the quality of music determined by the skill of the performer? Or how much it pleases the listener? Also: > But what you're missing is that 2020 pop music

Is the quality of music determined by the skill of the performer? Or how much it pleases the listener? Also: > But what you're missing is that 2020 pop music doesn't require any skill, at all. I think it's much harder to write a hit pop song than you are making it sound. I don't think that I could do it. Do you think that you could?

jariel 6y ago
"I don't think that I could do it. Do you think that you could?" This is a misunderstanding. 'Hit songs' are like 'viral videos'. Could you create a video, that by accident, went viral? Possibly. If you set your mind to it, there would be a better chance, but still no guaranteed. Nobody writes what they think will be guaranteed to be a hit song except for Max Martin. People 'make songs' and then hustle and market - some go viral, some require more support. The 'barrier to making a song' is considerably lower than it was 20 years ago, and much lower than 40 years ago. Making an album in 1985: - Spend years learning to play an instrument - Learn to write music, lyrics that are least on some level passable. - Find other musicians - Practice for a while - Rent a major studio, producers, engineers - Master - Market etc.. The barrier to entry was high, the people pulling the strings generally wanted to see 'talent' in some form: entertainment, musicianship, popularity. Many acts were manufactured, but that process still had to be followed: Making music in 2020: - Some music (Ariana Grande) is made roughly the same way (though with more people, different release cycles, margins etc) but it's comparable. - A lot of music is made in tiny little studios. Mac Miller was always a tiny production, he made and produced stuff often in his basement, due to the power of tech and simplicity ultimately of what he was making. Mac, and many other small artists are talented, so in some ways the 'low barrier' is good - but - for every Mac Miller there are 1000x fools. >>>> It is as easy to make a song as it is to make a little video animation. Some of those video animations will go viral and get big. - This 'basic approach' can be made by people with big creative talent, I guess Drake would be an example. Drake doesn't make his music or write his lyrics. Think of Drake as the 'head of a fashion label' but this label is not clothes, it's music. What Drake obviously has is 'really good taste'. Drake, is the 'art Director' of Drake Inc.. What is required to make a Drake track is very minimal, but there's creative talent ... much like making a marketing video. - In the middle, and even with some of the more 'respectable pop artist names' like Ariana Grande, Dua Lipo ... you still have quite a lot of production and commodification, which turns out really generic, boring, derivative, music. 'Jazz', however popular, nor not, or controversial it was - is going to be around for hundreds of years, because there's an intense amount of creative legitimacy in it. Jazz musicians love Jazz for the sake of Jazz, they are amazing. It's very pure in that sense. The origins of Hip Hop are really authentic, which helped it rise to the fore. Some aspects of HipHop are going to be around for a while. The flavour of 2020 will not be around in 2 years.
- freetime2 6y ago
  I think that music production and composition is more important when it comes to making a hit song than musical talent (singing, playing an instrument) - and it's been that way for decades. And I think that production is absolutely a craft that some people have a talent for and hone over time, and it's something that I have a lot of respect for. Some other people might get lucky and manage to write a song that millions of people listen to without really knowing what they are doing. I think this is actually relatively rare, and even if it does happen I certainly don't begrudge their success. They still set out with the intention to write a song and by luck or intuition or whatever other means managed to produce something that millions of people enjoyed. > 'Jazz', however popular, nor not, or controversial it was - is going to be around for hundreds of years, because there's an intense amount of creative legitimacy in it. Jazz musicians love Jazz for the sake of Jazz, they are amazing. It's very pure in that sense. > The flavour of 2020 will not be around in 2 years. I think it's unfair to compare the entire genre of "jazz" which has spanned more than 100 years now to a particular flavor of hip hop in 2020. Jazz has changed a lot over the years - just as much if not more than "pop" music has. There are jazz musicians who were commercially successful in decades past who I am sure nobody listens to any more. And not all jazz musicians are amazing... jazz musicians are just as capable of being derivative and uninspiring as any other type of music. And it's hard to predict what musical trends will endure. A lot of people had written off 80s music as being fake and cheesy. But recently there has been a resurgence of classic synth sounds in popular music, and songs like Toto's "Africa" have found widespread appeal with new audiences.

jariel 6y ago

"I don't think that I could do it. Do you think that you could?" This is a misunderstanding. 'Hit songs' are like 'viral videos'. Could you create a video, that by accident, went viral? Possibly. If you set your mind to it, there would be a better chance, but still no guaranteed. Nobody writes what they think will be guaranteed to be a hit song except for Max Martin. People 'make songs' and then hustle and market - some go viral, some require more support. The 'barrier to making a song' is considerably lower than it was 20 years ago, and much lower than 40 years ago. Making an album in 1985: - Spend years learning to play an instrument - Learn to write music, lyrics that are least on some level passable. - Find other musicians - Practice for a while - Rent a major studio, producers, engineers - Master - Market etc.. The barrier to entry was high, the people pulling the strings generally wanted to see 'talent' in some form: entertainment, musicianship, popularity. Many acts were manufactured, but that process still had to be followed: Making music in 2020: - Some music (Ariana Grande) is made roughly the same way (though with more people, different release cycles, margins etc) but it's comparable. - A lot of music is made in tiny little studios. Mac Miller was always a tiny production, he made and produced stuff often in his basement, due to the power of tech and simplicity ultimately of what he was making. Mac, and many other small artists are talented, so in some ways the 'low barrier' is good - but - for every Mac Miller there are 1000x fools. >>>> It is as easy to make a song as it is to make a little video animation. Some of those video animations will go viral and get big. - This 'basic approach' can be made by people with big creative talent, I guess Drake would be an example. Drake doesn't make his music or write his lyrics. Think of Drake as the 'head of a fashion label' but this label is not clothes, it's music. What Drake obviously has is 'really good taste'. Drake, is the 'art Director' of Drake Inc.. What is required to make a Drake track is very minimal, but there's creative talent ... much like making a marketing video. - In the middle, and even with some of the more 'respectable pop artist names' like Ariana Grande, Dua Lipo ... you still have quite a lot of production and commodification, which turns out really generic, boring, derivative, music. 'Jazz', however popular, nor not, or controversial it was - is going to be around for hundreds of years, because there's an intense amount of creative legitimacy in it. Jazz musicians love Jazz for the sake of Jazz, they are amazing. It's very pure in that sense. The origins of Hip Hop are really authentic, which helped it rise to the fore. Some aspects of HipHop are going to be around for a while. The flavour of 2020 will not be around in 2 years.

freetime2 6y ago
I think that music production and composition is more important when it comes to making a hit song than musical talent (singing, playing an instrument) - and it's been that way for decades. And I think that production is absolutely a craft that some people have a talent for and hone over time, and it's something that I have a lot of respect for. Some other people might get lucky and manage to write a song that millions of people listen to without really knowing what they are doing. I think this is actually relatively rare, and even if it does happen I certainly don't begrudge their success. They still set out with the intention to write a song and by luck or intuition or whatever other means managed to produce something that millions of people enjoyed. > 'Jazz', however popular, nor not, or controversial it was - is going to be around for hundreds of years, because there's an intense amount of creative legitimacy in it. Jazz musicians love Jazz for the sake of Jazz, they are amazing. It's very pure in that sense. > The flavour of 2020 will not be around in 2 years. I think it's unfair to compare the entire genre of "jazz" which has spanned more than 100 years now to a particular flavor of hip hop in 2020. Jazz has changed a lot over the years - just as much if not more than "pop" music has. There are jazz musicians who were commercially successful in decades past who I am sure nobody listens to any more. And not all jazz musicians are amazing... jazz musicians are just as capable of being derivative and uninspiring as any other type of music. And it's hard to predict what musical trends will endure. A lot of people had written off 80s music as being fake and cheesy. But recently there has been a resurgence of classic synth sounds in popular music, and songs like Toto's "Africa" have found widespread appeal with new audiences.