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An explosion of work created doesn’t mean popularity. You can go to YouTube and find endless user generated good work. Popular (and hence valuable) music is the

An explosion of work created doesn’t mean popularity. You can go to YouTube and find endless user generated good work. Popular (and hence valuable) music is the one that they system curates and puts in front of you (radio, shows etc.). In fact most people don’t even take a deep liking to a song in their first listen. But the system ensures repeatability which is a key factor in success. Then there is the social aspect of everyone liking it together.

echelon 6y ago
> An explosion of work created doesn’t mean popularity. 100% agree. I like the indie genre better than pop, though even that's somewhat manufactured by labels as you say. I recently found some incredibly underrated Zelda remixes that are jaw dropping and have barely been heard at all: https://youtu.be/4r9S2yEiuME https://youtu.be/4r9S2yEiuME So I agree with your argument. A new factor in the equation, however, is how much cheaper and less labor intensive it becomes to create new music. If you make it so that anybody can produce vocals, that changes the game for a lot of genres (eg. EDM). But these techniques won't just be viable on vocals. Everything is going to be easier to create. Melodies, instrumentals, the full stack. That's going to have a profound effect and definitely rock the boat the incumbents are riding.
- mynameishere 6y ago
  have barely been heard at all 1,601,808 views. That's about 1.6 million more views than I would expect from "Zelda remixes". So we both see artistic injustice in the world, just from a different angle. I will grant you it is better than 1982's "Pac Man Fever" though I suspect that made more money.
  - coldtea 6y ago
    But it's not as good as "Power Pill Pacman" which has 1/10 the views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnURWFxwmk0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnURWFxwmk0
- coldtea 6y ago
  >A new factor in the equation, however, is how much cheaper and less labor intensive it becomes to create new music. If you make it so that anybody can produce vocals, that changes the game for a lot of genres (eg. EDM). With DAWs, home studios, VSTs, 24/96 interfaces, and so on, and most hits being electronic anyway, plus widespread mastering and mixing knowledge and services, the margins to create new music are already as low as it gets. Cost is not the problem, we have the exact opposite issue: overproduction without corresponding demand, and with difficult to get listener attention. The ones making it wont be the ones producing more music cheaper, but the ones promoting their music best.
- coldtea 6y ago
  >I recently found some incredibly underrated Zelda remixes that are jaw dropping and have barely been heard at all: https://youtu.be/4r9S2yEiuME* https://youtu.be/4r9S2yEiuME* Those are 1.6 million views. For mere Zelda remives. Hugely influential albums in the past and hugely important works in all genres have gotten less than 100K buyers. The Velvet Underground first album is said to have initially sold 30,000 units in its first years. And let's not go into bands like The Residents, The Meat Puppets, The Long Ryders, and so on. 1.6M for some ...Zelda remixes (of the 1000s that have been made) are hardly "barely heard at all".
elwell 6y ago
> most people don’t even take a deep liking to a song in their first listen It's very rare for me to really like a song the first time I hear it. Once my brain has become accustomed to where the song goes (even for a jazz song), then I tend to like it a lot more. Another layer to this is the connection that a song can have to a certain period in your life, bringing back the emotions of that time with it.
- nordsieck 6y ago
  > It's very rare for me to really like a song the first time I hear it. Once my brain has become accustomed to where the song goes (even for a jazz song), then I tend to like it a lot more. I think there is probably a wide range of human experience in this regard, since I have the complete opposite experience: I know with extremely good certainty (~95%) how much I like a song the first time I hear it.

echelon 6y ago

> An explosion of work created doesn’t mean popularity. 100% agree. I like the indie genre better than pop, though even that's somewhat manufactured by labels as you say. I recently found some incredibly underrated Zelda remixes that are jaw dropping and have barely been heard at all: https://youtu.be/4r9S2yEiuME https://youtu.be/4r9S2yEiuME So I agree with your argument. A new factor in the equation, however, is how much cheaper and less labor intensive it becomes to create new music. If you make it so that anybody can produce vocals, that changes the game for a lot of genres (eg. EDM). But these techniques won't just be viable on vocals. Everything is going to be easier to create. Melodies, instrumentals, the full stack. That's going to have a profound effect and definitely rock the boat the incumbents are riding.

mynameishere 6y ago
have barely been heard at all 1,601,808 views. That's about 1.6 million more views than I would expect from "Zelda remixes". So we both see artistic injustice in the world, just from a different angle. I will grant you it is better than 1982's "Pac Man Fever" though I suspect that made more money.
- coldtea 6y ago
  But it's not as good as "Power Pill Pacman" which has 1/10 the views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnURWFxwmk0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnURWFxwmk0
coldtea 6y ago
>A new factor in the equation, however, is how much cheaper and less labor intensive it becomes to create new music. If you make it so that anybody can produce vocals, that changes the game for a lot of genres (eg. EDM). With DAWs, home studios, VSTs, 24/96 interfaces, and so on, and most hits being electronic anyway, plus widespread mastering and mixing knowledge and services, the margins to create new music are already as low as it gets. Cost is not the problem, we have the exact opposite issue: overproduction without corresponding demand, and with difficult to get listener attention. The ones making it wont be the ones producing more music cheaper, but the ones promoting their music best.
coldtea 6y ago
>I recently found some incredibly underrated Zelda remixes that are jaw dropping and have barely been heard at all: https://youtu.be/4r9S2yEiuME* https://youtu.be/4r9S2yEiuME* Those are 1.6 million views. For mere Zelda remives. Hugely influential albums in the past and hugely important works in all genres have gotten less than 100K buyers. The Velvet Underground first album is said to have initially sold 30,000 units in its first years. And let's not go into bands like The Residents, The Meat Puppets, The Long Ryders, and so on. 1.6M for some ...Zelda remixes (of the 1000s that have been made) are hardly "barely heard at all".

elwell 6y ago

> most people don’t even take a deep liking to a song in their first listen It's very rare for me to really like a song the first time I hear it. Once my brain has become accustomed to where the song goes (even for a jazz song), then I tend to like it a lot more. Another layer to this is the connection that a song can have to a certain period in your life, bringing back the emotions of that time with it.

nordsieck 6y ago
> It's very rare for me to really like a song the first time I hear it. Once my brain has become accustomed to where the song goes (even for a jazz song), then I tend to like it a lot more. I think there is probably a wide range of human experience in this regard, since I have the complete opposite experience: I know with extremely good certainty (~95%) how much I like a song the first time I hear it.