How did the current trend of mainstream pop start?

[Aryaroman]

RnB and Hip-Hop seem to have fallen out of fashion in only few years. Now it seems even artists and producers who used to produce relatively good, alltough light pop-tunes, even old Hip-Hop and RnB artists, have gone this new route. I see even people who listen to heavy metal, call it noisy and LOUD.

I'm not going that old, I have mostly no problem with good pop music. I think there are many good artist/producer-duos. I have no problem with listening to mainstream pop music of the last decade and even few recent years. But recently it seems it's all gotten to the point of being just untolerable.
Vocals are all Autotuned, check
Untolerable, portamented and detuned saw-synthesizer line, check
Looped random high-pitched sounds someone forgot to turn off during recording and never fixed with Pro Tools, check...
Loud, check

The problem is, you can't go very much musically simpler before the music is completely hollow and empty. Pop is simple, but it has had soul and/or attitude. Usually the vocalist is the driving force, but when the vocals are all filtered, bounced and autotuned, what's left? Well, a saw-line can have attitude, it can have character. But the current trendy saw-line sounds sound like a digitalized rusty saw that isn't trying to be even musical, or ear-friendly. How much more simple, repetitive and hollow can it go?
The other problem is, software has improved a lot. The quality of sounds, loops and synths and workflow have improved a lot. Yet, it seems as if these million dollar labels and producers and artists were having huge technical, creative and workflow problems in their studios, when this is all they can get out? Or have they gone deaf to the degrading quality and innovation, because of listening all that monotonic loud noise and looking at MIDI for hours?

[whyterabbyt]

Do you have a lawn we should be getting off?

[Aryaroman]

Do you have a lawn we should be getting off?

I don't.

I'm curious as to where this trend is coming from. There's been a huge step backwards in terms of quality and musicality. Have they given up because they think they can't produce anything memorable anymore?

[koalaboy]

You *are* getting old, because you only see the problems instead of just enjoying what's there.

The things you dislike are 'popular' now. Things have changed.

[BertKoor]

When I was young, my dad told me he didn't understand why I was watching TopPop. I enjoyed the music (and still do enjoy music of tha era) whereas he only saw screaming girls twisting their asses.

Now when I turn on MTV (just saying, any contemporary music channel will do) I only see screaming girls twisting their asses.

Point proven: we are getting old

[Aryaroman]

When I was young, my dad told me he didn't understand why I was watching TopPop. I enjoyed the music (and still do enjoy music of tha era) whereas he only saw screaming girls twisting their asses.

Now when I turn on MTV (just saying, any contemporary music channel will do) I only see screaming girls twisting their asses.

Point proven: we are getting old

So when you strip something to it's bare bones and twist the bones out of their place, is it time that fills in the missing meat?

[chk071]

Opinions shmopinions. I think there's quite good pop music too these days. I agree though that the videos are embarrassing, anti-women, and mediocre. Hip Hop had a bad influence IMO.

E.g. there's some female singers with really amazing voices and skills in pop music. It's just that it kinda perishes because either the music isn't anything special, or the whole style, or music videos are just lame.

[Karma_tba]

Either listen to what you like and ignore the rest .....or make the music you want to hear.

[Aryaroman]

This is about quality. There's a huge difference here.



The start is promising. It's being brought down to earth. But then it collapses when they start doing in too many ideas at the same time. Good ideas, but nothing fits together and it's devoid of direction.

Thing is, I realize this is part of the trend, even without the check list. I realize I am getting somewhat old. But who started or how did the current trend start?

[IncarnateX]

What I like about pop music, and why I'm still attracted to it, is that in the end it becomes our folk music

God save us all.

[Aryaroman]

What I like about pop music, and why I'm still attracted to it, is that in the end it becomes our folk music

God save us all.

Can the current trend music become folk music?

Vocals all Autotuned, check
Untolerable, portamented and detuned saw-synthesizer line, check
Looped random high-pitched sounds someone forgot to turn off during recording and never fixed with Pro Tools, check...
Loud, check

[IncarnateX]

Pop music thrives on repetition. You know a song's a hit when you've heard it so often that you'll be happy never to hear it again.

Spot on!

[Gamma-UT]

Yes, OP, you are your parents.

[Aryaroman]

Pop music thrives on repetition. You know a song's a hit when you've heard it so often that you'll be happy never to hear it again.

Spot on!

Indeed. That's how a poptune works. But one curious aspect of the new trend seems to defy the safe structure, which was almost too safe infact, for a long time. Currently however, they're putting in things, sometimes unmusical elements that damage the song and it's structure, or distract from the repetitive or memorable elements. No, I don't have to listen to it, but when more than one of my favorite pop artists is getting on the same wagon and their music is becoming simpler and more homogenous and the quality degrading, it raises questions. Who is influencing them or their producers? This sort of thing usually doesn't happen in indie-music, at the same time for a large margin. Was it the hipsters who influenced the popsters to suddenly to try to steer their safe boat adrift from it's course?

[deastman]

If you don't like contemporary pop music, find some other music that you like better and listen to that instead.