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We probably are going through an electronic music phase though I like Foster The People. They may have longevity. We will see. In addition to newer acts possibly being influenced by Foster The People, I suspect they are also influenced by 80's New Wave. In any even it is not working. Most of this stuff is horrible.
What are your thoughts on singers like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, etc.?
What are your thoughts on rappers like Jay-Z, Kanye West, Drake, etc.?
How about on dubstep, music videos, or anything else?
Most of those pop stars you mentioned lack any real talent IMO.
That's why people found Adele & more recently Lorde exciting. They actually wrote their own stuff and didn't strip down to get attention.
Jay-Z / Kanye aren't really my style but I can see they have talent in what they do.
What are your thoughts on singers like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Miley Cyrus, Rihanna, etc.?
What are your thoughts on rappers like Jay-Z, Kanye West, Drake, etc.?
How about on dubstep, music videos, or anything else?
Lady Gaga - Her appearance on and off the stage is beyond ridiculous, but most of her songs are pretty good.
Katy Perry - She seems to have to have the best image of the people you mentioned and I really like most of her songs. Unfortunately, though, I've heard her perform at awards shows and such and her voice isn't that great outside of the studio, she doesn't look too good with all of the makeup off, either.
Miley Cyrus - I can't take her seriously. She's trying way too hard for attention! She was steadily growing in popularity before her "change". I loved party in the USA. Some of her new songs are pretty good, but her new image makes me not want to like them.
Rihanna - I think she is starting to slowly fade from the spotlight. Her older songs were good.
Jay-Z - His new stuff is meh, but he has his act together, so I'll give him that.
Kanye West - I hate everything about him.
Drake - I don't really know enough about him or his music to comment.
Dubstep - Bleh! Can't stand the stuff. I hope it does not become mainstream.
Music videos - It would be nice if more of them could actually be relevant to the song.
Anything else? - I can't wait for Brian Wilson to release his new album(s) next year! It would also be nice if Coldplay would release an album soon.
Lady Gaga - A talented songwriter and performer who is smarter and savvier than the average pop star but ultimately not enough to transcend the shallowness of her chosen genre. If she put more work into her music and less on her image, she could actually live up to her true potential.
Katy Perry - Like Lady Gaga minus the maturity, talent, and intelligence. All style and no substance. Some of the worst pop lyrics I've ever heard. A terrible performer with a terrible singing voice. The only 2 things Katy Perry has going for her are her good looks and a decent songwriting and production team (namely Dr. Luke and Max Martin)
Miley Cyrus - She doesn't have the talent to back up a long career. When her media buzz is over, she what exactly are we going to remember her for?
Rihanna - A performer who started out with a lot of promise and some good pop songs but who has slowly been declining with a series of uninspired albums and a descent into trashiness. Somebody please let her take a break from music! She looks and sounds tired and unhealthy. If she winds up in drug rehab, I called it first.
Jay-Z - Extremely overrated, but he did have enough classic songs to at least justify some of the hype. At this point in his career, he's coasting on his laurels.
Kanye West - Very talented producer, but should have stuck to production and not rapping. He has one of the most annoying personas of any music celebrity out there.
Drake - As a rapper, he sucks, as a singer he's okay.
It seems like we're in the middle of an EDM fad that's going on right now. Even alternative/indie bands seem to be caught up in this. All of the newer artists coming out now sound a lot like Foster the People (which for me is not a good thing). I think that a lot of this synth-based music is going to sound horribly dated in a few years (some of it already does). I'm eagerly awaiting the return of guitar-oriented music.
Bolded for truth and relevance.
I think Katy Perry is the cliche Pop singer. Will that be enough for her to last generations? We'll have to see. As for Lady Gaga, she will undoubtedly go down as a legend/icon. During this bland time of pop music she's slowly but surely reinventing (or already has) the industry. Her metaphors and analogies she uses are always entertaining and I love when the general public aren't accustomed to that in the genre (and label her pretentious or egotistic). I believe with time her music will only get better and we haven't scratched the surface of her artistry.
Quote:
Originally Posted by artemis agrotera
Most of those pop stars you mentioned lack any real talent IMO.
That's why people found Adele & more recently Lorde exciting. They actually wrote their own stuff and didn't strip down to get attention.
Jay-Z / Kanye aren't really my style but I can see they have talent in what they do.
Gaga is another one that actually writes all of her music (and she produces a lot for herself and recently for others - Britney Spears, Cher, etc). She's also a classically trained pianist. Many people probably disagree with her image but she is definitely an artist in every sense of the word.
Another thing with Gaga is she's not so transparent! Which I think is amazing. She's not a traditional pop star that lacks depth. Her voice is also great. . . I'll share one of my favorite performances (live and playing the piano):
I think the worst trend in music any more is that the single is ruling the business. No longer is an entire record of good songs needed to make it in the music business. I personally don't purchase singles and won't by an album without a good amount of quality songs. Good albums in mainstream music are becoming increasingly hard to come by.
Actually, singles were the norm for most of the history of popular music, going back to the turn of the last century with wax cylinder recordings to 78 rpm shellac records (which nearly always contain only one song per side) and even into the 50s and early 60s, the 7" 45 rpm single was THE industry standard for releasing music. ("Pop"-ular music at any rate.)
In fact, many of the early full-length LPs were often just a bunch of singles by a certain artist collected together and repackaged as a "long player."
My problem with modern pop music isn't the singles format.
It's that so much of it is bland and derivative.
So much of it is over-produced and Autotuned and computer generated, etc.
So many artists have gone back to not writing their own material or playing their own music. They are so often the creation of a producer/manager and a stable of people who can create music electronically or with session musicians.
Then they have a pretty face who can dance a little put it across for an audience. Even vocal skill isn't necessary.
That used to be very common too, but things just seem less human and real nowadays I guess. To me, anyway.
I actually think some of the songs by the people mentioned in the OP are plenty catchy, decent pop songs. Not necessarily deep or indelible, and there's always been room for a fun, throwaway bit of bubblegum pop.
But I think the best, most human music is found underground and not at the top of the charts anymore. The industry has always been about profit, but there used to be room for creativity. Now that there are like three major labels with a bunch of subsidiaries owned by those three major labels, it is pretty much now nothing but pushing generic produkt for mass consumption.
I think Katy Perry is the cliche Pop singer. Will that be enough for her to last generations? We'll have to see. As for Lady Gaga, she will undoubtedly go down as a legend/icon. During this bland time of pop music she's slowly but surely reinventing (or already has) the industry. Her metaphors and analogies she uses are always entertaining and I love when the general public aren't accustomed to that in the genre (and label her pretentious or egotistic). I believe with time her music will only get better and we haven't scratched the surface of her artistry.
Gaga is another one that actually writes all of her music (and she produces a lot for herself and recently for others - Britney Spears, Cher, etc). She's also a classically trained pianist. Many people probably disagree with her image but she is definitely an artist in every sense of the word.
Another thing with Gaga is she's not so transparent! Which I think is amazing. She's not a traditional pop star that lacks depth. Her voice is also great. . . I'll share one of my favorite performances (live and playing the piano):
I agree out of the current pop "divas" (& those listed above) Gaga is streets ahead, in ability and creativity. I saw Britney's latest excuse for a "song". Wow. That's all I can say about that.
I agree out of the current pop "divas" (& those listed above) Gaga is streets ahead, in ability and creativity. I saw Britney's latest excuse for a "song". Wow. That's all I can say about that.
The beat is catchy but her vocals suck on it. Would be much better as an instrumental.
Personally I don't understand the hype concerning the song "What does the fox say?". It is just idiotic in my opinion.
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Can't stand the stuff. I hope it does not become mainstream.
