The cheer up thread.

[Psychosplodge]

I have no plans to reproduce, mainly so as not to have to listen to ****ty pop music

[Mr Mystery]

I just don't like that part of the industry. It's a meatgrinder.

Take someone of little talent, and just promote, promote, promote. Sell, sell, sell. Squeeze it for every penny you can, then drop them like a hot potato, making off with as much cash as you possibly can.

Meanwhile, bands and groups who have slogged it out on the local circuit trying to build up a following are ignored. Net result? Music stagnates, as nothing new or original gets much of a look-in, because it's not as imminently marketable as five pop puppets can be.

It's not the genre. Pop music is fine. But this band in particular released really really bad pop music. Lyrics about nothing in particular. Autotuned to high heaven.

[Aegwymourn]

Not all music is art, sometimes it is entertainment, or performance, or for fun. And with the analogy of paint by numbers art - you know who likes simpler art? Children and teens. And who likes boy bands...? Just because you're not the target audience doesn't automatically make them bad. In fact I believe there have been similar arguments put forth that Age of Sigmar is terribad because it is so simple and designed for children yet others say that viewpoint is foolish.
To paraphrase one commenter "Want someone to try a [band] you enjoy? Enthuse about that [band]. Having repeated pops at a different [genre] just makes me think you're a bit of a phallus, and maybe have too much time on your hands. ... Seriously. What's the point? If you're that ****ing full of [music industry] wisdom, go use your clearly genius level intellect with your prophetic blessings, play the stock exchange, make a stack of cash and buy the ****ing [music label] out. ... But whining anonymously online? The hell does that achieve? Write to the company. Get constructive."

I just hope if either of you ever have children who like pop music you don't act like this.

+1

[Psychosplodge]

I think its worse than that. The lyrics of the one the spam on the radio are really negative in they only apply worth to someones physical appearence or something. Just what you want you body conscious impressionable teenager listening to.

[CoffeeGrunt]

[URL="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4s6b1XNAaE"]"You don't know you're beautiful...but in this society if a girl like you openly says you are, people will call you vain. You need a boy like me to tell you that you're beautiful."[/URL]

But questionable lyrics aside, this isn't about taste, it's about marketing. It's the Simon Cowell era of pop, people are trimmed and groomed for this, made malleable to fit the niche then discarded. It's cruel to the band members, it's cruel to the aspiring artists out there whose face doesn't fit. The only people who ultimately benefit are the folks like Cowell, going through these people like the Guard goes through conscripts, only looking for financial gain, that next boyish-face-with-slight-soft-feminine-features that will be discarded the moment adulthood properly sets in. The media that sets them up and drags them down to create constant comeback narratives to promote albums, only to then drag them into obscurity again, possibly for the final time.

The fact is that music is entirely about image, and that's not what it should be about. Note this applies as much to female singers as much as it does male.

- - - Updated - - -

Also the fact that they get played relentlessly to drum up short-term sales before moving on to the next song. Words cannot describe the sheer magnitude of irritation Happy by Pharell Williams causes me to feel after hearing it everywhere, constantly, for about three months. Music like that is devoid of any thought or meaning, it's just poking a positive emotion with a catchy tune to get a quick sale. It's a musical Pringle, an insubstantial piece of nutrition that has just enough flavour to prompt another.

Seriously, am I the only one who dislikes the occasional time a decent song comes out, only to get run into the ground by endless repetition?

[Psychosplodge]

Cloud nine, and baby when you're gone by Brian adams will always make me want to leave the room because they hammered them on radio for a summer when I was doing 40+ hour weeks in retail when i was younger and hearing both once an hour 8 hours a day soon grates.

No. I'm trying think of the last song I kinda liked that they did that to. I know there is one.

[eldargal]

There is a lot of internalized misogyny in how people view musicians who are women or target women as their demographic.

[Psychosplodge]

*snort*

[Kirsten]

red rocket...

[CoffeeGrunt]

Inb4 Fisto returns as a companion... :P