Pop music should take some notes
It goes without saying that music has taken many turns throughout the years, but lately the industry seems more and more corrupt.
My biggest problem with today’s music is that popular artists are not making music to spread their talent, but instead to find ways to make the quickest buck possible. Music used to be about sharing new ideas and thoughts, and expressing oneself and now it all seems to be centered on awards and who makes the most money. Let me be the first to tell you that no one becomes a musician solely because they want to be rich.
Taylor Swift is a prime example of how corrupt the industry is, as she has taken her music off Spotify, so she makes as much money as possible from people purchasing her music.
She has also recently trademarked lines to her songs, just incase she goes broke from music she can still fall back on personalized school supplies. Taylor Swift is a businesswoman, a great one at that, but she is not what music is about. End rant.
When it comes to making music, different genres have different forms. The newest “hits” all seem to sound the same anymore with the tired chord progressions, singers belting out their highest notes with the help of auto-tune, and the most basic four-on-the-floor drum and bass beat.
Most pop songs follow some variation of a I-V-IV chord progression, and country follows a I-IV-V progression. What this means is in the key of the song, they use those chords and build from there. For the most part, pop and country music are all pretty standard and passé.
This formula has worked for hits in the past, so it only makes sense to continue to color inside the lines, right? Funk, soul and jazz progressions are slightly more complex, and that gives the musicians room to play with.
What makes these genres interesting is that the music is about style and how you express yourself while playing the music. Plus, noteworthy improvisation adds to the self-expression and takes a level of skill, which will bring out true musicianship and creativity in the soloist. The sax lick in “Talk Dirty” is neither creative, nor noteworthy.
While we’re on the topic of instrumentals, the use of jazz instruments, such as sax and trumpet in modern songs, has become increasingly popular, and I can’t say I’m too terribly upset about it.
I would very much like to see this idea progress and bring more knowledge of the American music roots to the listeners, that is, as long as they continue with real instruments instead of the electronic choice. Nothing sounds worse than that piercing electronic shrill producers like to call a trumpet.
The world is not completely hopeless when it comes to music, so long as people pull their head out of the radio cave they’ve been hiding in for years.