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In some areas probably you're right. Pictures of men in certain eras all wearing identical hats spring to mind. On the other hand the film industry is a stark e

In some areas probably you're right. Pictures of men in certain eras all wearing identical hats spring to mind. On the other hand the film industry is a stark example where it really did used to be more varied. The article mentions it, before 2000 3 in 4 big films were original. Now it's getting close to zero.

dsign 2y ago
And the music? Film music for everything popular seems to have come from the same music box. But popular music itself is to a high degree very same. That's not to say that there is no original music anymore. There is a big amount. It's just people tastes that decide what becomes popular, and everybody wants to hear the same. And yet, fashion and taste change. It's just a matter of time.
- pbhjpbhj 2y ago
  >It's just people tastes that decide what becomes popular // What becomes popular seems to be whatever we get brainwashed with, ie what we get advertised. It seems to be less driven by social changes than it is driven by profit motive of those able to feed most of us 10-15 minutes of advertising within each of the several hours of media consumption most of us partake of each day.
- rufus_foreman 2y ago
  He covers music in a follow up article, https://www.alexmurrell.co.uk/articles/the-age-of-average-encore https://www.alexmurrell.co.uk/articles/the-age-of-average-en...: "Chart topping tracks are becoming shorter, less melodically diverse and more lyrically repetitive". According to him, it is not just tastes, it is the way musicians get paid: "Streaming platforms pay artists each time a track gets listened to. And a “listen” is classified as 30 seconds or more of playback. To maximise their pay, savvy artists are releasing albums featuring a high number of short tracks."
- ccppurcell 2y ago
  I'm late to reply but for the record I think you're way wrong about music. You (and I) are just old. I'm a musician and I do think there is a sense in which the most popular songs are "worse" - they contain fewer, simpler musical ideas. But there are plenty of good song writers doing interesting stuff. I'm not totally on the ball as I do prefer music from the past. But I would point to Billy Eilish as a particularly young example, there's also Jacob Collier for instance. Both very unusual, very popular.
caseyohara 2y ago
Could this be an effect of the novelty of a new art medium? When films first became a thing, no one knew how to make them. The proven template didn’t exist. There was more variety because there was more experimentation, and eventually what was once pioneering experimentation becomes mainstream commodity and the novelty wears off. The same thing happened with music when the synthesizer was invented; no one knew how to make music with a synthesizer so it was all experimentation. It still happens today in burgeoning subgenres of electronic music. A new sound is invented (or rediscovered, more recently), music producers flock to this exciting new frontier, eventually it reaches mainstream, and by that time it is no longer novel or interesting. Rinse and repeat.

dsign 2y ago

And the music? Film music for everything popular seems to have come from the same music box. But popular music itself is to a high degree very same. That's not to say that there is no original music anymore. There is a big amount. It's just people tastes that decide what becomes popular, and everybody wants to hear the same. And yet, fashion and taste change. It's just a matter of time.

pbhjpbhj 2y ago
>It's just people tastes that decide what becomes popular // What becomes popular seems to be whatever we get brainwashed with, ie what we get advertised. It seems to be less driven by social changes than it is driven by profit motive of those able to feed most of us 10-15 minutes of advertising within each of the several hours of media consumption most of us partake of each day.
rufus_foreman 2y ago
He covers music in a follow up article, https://www.alexmurrell.co.uk/articles/the-age-of-average-encore https://www.alexmurrell.co.uk/articles/the-age-of-average-en...: "Chart topping tracks are becoming shorter, less melodically diverse and more lyrically repetitive". According to him, it is not just tastes, it is the way musicians get paid: "Streaming platforms pay artists each time a track gets listened to. And a “listen” is classified as 30 seconds or more of playback. To maximise their pay, savvy artists are releasing albums featuring a high number of short tracks."
ccppurcell 2y ago
I'm late to reply but for the record I think you're way wrong about music. You (and I) are just old. I'm a musician and I do think there is a sense in which the most popular songs are "worse" - they contain fewer, simpler musical ideas. But there are plenty of good song writers doing interesting stuff. I'm not totally on the ball as I do prefer music from the past. But I would point to Billy Eilish as a particularly young example, there's also Jacob Collier for instance. Both very unusual, very popular.

caseyohara 2y ago

Could this be an effect of the novelty of a new art medium? When films first became a thing, no one knew how to make them. The proven template didn’t exist. There was more variety because there was more experimentation, and eventually what was once pioneering experimentation becomes mainstream commodity and the novelty wears off. The same thing happened with music when the synthesizer was invented; no one knew how to make music with a synthesizer so it was all experimentation. It still happens today in burgeoning subgenres of electronic music. A new sound is invented (or rediscovered, more recently), music producers flock to this exciting new frontier, eventually it reaches mainstream, and by that time it is no longer novel or interesting. Rinse and repeat.