How did the current trend of mainstream pop start?

[Nightpolymath]

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.

I am OK with any music that makes girls scream and twist their asses.

[Nightpolymath]

dp

[DSmolken]

I would say the current trend is turning away from house music influence. Slower tempos, lighter kick drums, and a more retro sound with guitars rather than saw leads. Inna, Pitbull, Wisin, Bruno Mars, Jason DeRulo, Rihanna and Flo Rida have all put out slower singles this year, and the only 128 bpm pop hits from this year which I regularly play when I DJ are "Adios" by Ricky Martin and "Shut Up And Dance" by Walk The Moon, which both have a retro sound that's not too heavy on synths. Typical example, but one that people on this forum might not be too tired of yet since I don't think it's as popular in English-speaking countries.



Definitely slower, gentler, sweeter and more retro than last year's pop. Whether that's good or bad, depends.

And a couple more.





Having said that, I'm finishing up a track at 128 bpm with detuned saw leads, a dozen effects on the vocal, and everything layered to death. I'm just not mellow enough to really buy into current trends.

[scintillator]

Trend?
Mainstream pop?

You mean something like this?:


Keyword: NASTY.

[Aloysius]

I believe that the United Nations are on a mission to pervert art, music and literature. To make everything beautiful, ugly. The ugliest people are being promoted as beautiful. I've already forgotten the name of that female pop star with the gigantic arse. Ugly and fugly. And that thing with the beard that won the Eurovision. I've read that the sound of the music these days makes people feel agressive. I can well believe it. I literally get a pain in my head when I attempt to listen to anything current, even at low volume. It's the UN I tell you. They are E.V.I.L.

[herodotus]

Yes, OP, you are your parents.

It gets really tiring hearing people attribute EVERY SINGLE example of "________ isn't as good as it used to be" to the speaker's age.

The fact is that cultural decline is a real thing.

Roads in the middle ages (for example) were much worse than they were under the Romans. This wasn't just grumpy old men compaining about change. It was an objective degradation of quality due to neglect arising from administrative collapse.

This kind of thing happens all the time, in arts and sciences and every other area of human endeavor. The op may or may not be right in this case, but his age relative to the subject matter isn't evidence one way or the other.

[Gamma-UT]

Yes, OP, you are your parents.

It gets really tiring hearing people attribute EVERY SINGLE example of "________ isn't as good as it used to be" to the speaker's age.

I didn't mention age. It was a remark about attitudes to cultural change. A road you can look at and say "well that's not a very good road". A song? It's a product of enculturation. We don't have the perspective to say an entire subculture is worse than its predecessor particularly when using the benchmark of 'mainstream pop', which is almost by definition lowest common denominator. And, because of enculturation, its enjoyment is a matter of getting used to the form. I joke whenever I hear auto-tuned-to-the-max vocal "I am now my parents", because it's not something I want to get used to.

If you rewind 10, 20, 30, 40 years and go through old TV Top of the Pops type shows, they are pretty much 80 per cent cr*p that your parents didn't like (usually quite vocally) because of some gimmick that had taken hold at the time. Some of those gimmicks held up (distorted guitars) some didn't (gated snares, tambourines on snare drums etc). I didn't much like a lot of it either even at the time. But it was worth hanging on for the bits that were good (or seemed good), because being embedded in the subcultures of the time, you knew the mainstream was not where things are happening.

So, when I see someone banging on about how cr*p mainstream pop is, all I see is someone who really isn't bothered about finding the good stuff. Like my parents. Like most parents.

Even then, looking at the mainstream, I really think the last Sia album, which is surely mainstream enough, was a winner. And Dr Dre's Compton was a lot better than I expected - I've only played it once but liked it despite the treble-heavy mix.

[do_androids_dream]

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?

I don't think you're curious. I think you're just gettin' old and grumpy and you want to get it off your chest. No shame in that really. Sonic trends come and go in mainstream pop - some you might like and some you may not. That's the way it goes. You just have to try not to be the grumpy old git that complains about the gool ol' days and how things are 'taking a huge step backwards' because it never wins you any friends. That just means you don't like it - which is your taste - nothing to do with forwards or backwards movement (whatever that is). Best to concentrate on the things you do like rather than focus on the things you don't. I actually think pop is in a much healthier state these days than it was in the 90's with boy bands like Westlife ruling the roost - but that's just my taste.

[Hank the Knife]

I blame it on the lack of good acid!

[thecontrolcentre]

I blame it on the lack of good acid!

... and the rise of ketamine.

[Karma_tba]

There was an episode on "The Boondocks" animated series where Huey's grandfather was upset because a rapper was moving in next door. The hipsters basically told him "he was just mad 'cause he was old" ! I'm 63 and things today piss me off all the time, I have to keep it in perspective and remind myself why I'm mad...." 'cause I'm old". I had my time, my music (Pop or not)...music is a young man's game. This is this generation's time and music, let them enjoy while they can. Life goes by quickly and you either get old or get dead.

[Aryaroman]

I might be beating a dead horse, but someone here mentioned Nicki Minaj. Now, there have always been more or less untalented people being signed to a label because of their looks or other factors (Johnny Crawford and Britney Spears spring to mind) their music has gained success because of that or factors like these days the music videos. But they have had a well oiled machine of producers and writers. Could the problem be that many of these new artists come from a upper-class backround and/or they have an auteur problem. I think Ms. Minaj is a beautiful woman, regardless of her behaviour and chosen style. But it's not very far from here, if it isn't already, that her music is a simple excuse for the music videos to the point where it no longer has anything musically to backup it's reason to exist on it's own. Because I find it hard to imagine that it could be taken anymore simpler from here if you don't have clear chords, just a detuned synth. If you don't have vocals, but autotuned talking.

Oh I am getting old. I just find it hard to cope with at my age, which is twenty by the way.

The fact is that cultural decline is a real thing.

I am at this age and I do EDM. Still I find it fearsome to imagine what kind of music will be 50 years from now on. Are we really still progressing towards less musical context and more noise, more loudness?

[do_androids_dream]

Could the problem be...

There is no 'problem'. It's simply that it's not your taste. Many folks happen to like very minimal pop music - it's in fact very hard to do it well (and to mix it effectively).

Still I find it fearsome to imagine what kind of music will be 50 years from now on.

What exactly do you fear?

Are we really still progressing towards less musical context and more noise, more loudness?

'Progress' is a completely false concept with regard to music. Music simply changes.

[KingClarkie]

nm

[Karma_tba]

I might be beating a dead horse, but someone here mentioned Nicki Minaj. Now, there have always been more or less untalented people being signed to a label because of their looks or other factors (Johnny Crawford and Britney Spears spring to mind) their music has gained success because of that or factors like these days the music videos. But they have had a well oiled machine of producers and writers. Could the problem be that many of these new artists come from a upper-class backround and/or they have an auteur problem. I think Ms. Minaj is a beautiful woman, regardless of her behaviour and chosen style. But it's not very far from here, if it isn't already, that her music is a simple excuse for the music videos to the point where it no longer has anything musically to backup it's reason to exist on it's own. Because I find it hard to imagine that it could be taken anymore simpler from here if you don't have clear chords, just a detuned synth. If you don't have vocals, but autotuned talking.

Oh I am getting old. I just find it hard to cope with at my age, which is twenty by the way.

The fact is that cultural decline is a real thing.

I am at this age and I do EDM. Still I find it fearsome to imagine what kind of music will be 50 years from now on. Are we really still progressing towards less musical context and more noise, more loudness?

TWENTY!!!! 20??? TWEN....TY!!??!! Dude you are WAY too young to be thinking the way you are. JEEZ! I actively skateboarded (pools and skateparks) until 3 years ago(60 years old) and only stopped because I was diagnosed with Cancer. I know that is off topic but to be twenty again.......Oh Man! Dude be young embrace the noise. I use to listen to certain songs just because they irked the older folks...rub your youth in the faces of old bastards like me. F*ck up, F*ck down, and side ways ...you'll never get another chance.