The Real Reason Pop Music 'sucks' today which no one tells you

Utkarsh Mohan on Music #41: The New York Times recently compared the Beatles and Taylor Swift, looking at number of Billboard hits, impact etc. But I think they missed the key difference. And that has something to do with a little movie called Moneyball. And it may just explain why modern popular music sucks as Rick Beato keeps lamenting

Utkarsh Mohan is a Singapore based writer, musician and artist of Indian origin. Formerly in corporate senior management, he now pursues his passions and is also the owner of the Ministry of Guitar collection

You can also follow him on Instagram @ministryofguitar

[unjay]

This is an important point. The shift away from human judgement and towards analysis and data. Modern spiritual sickness.

[matthewcoombs]

The same issue has drifen out creativity in American cinema. Frank Zappa said the record industry was better when it was run by old guys who didn't understand the music, and took a chance on an artist if they thought the kids might dig it. A&R departments trying to second guess audience taste ruied the industry in his opinion.

[matthewdennis]

I have been saying this to anyone will listen. It's the McDonalds-ization of music. Cutting costs, cookie cutter, assembly line, and understanding the lowest common denominator ways they can poke pleasure centers in people 's brains.

This is why mainstream music today (mostly) sucks, but there is a wealth of great artists in alternative/indie/underground circles. The artists who care about their art, who want to maintain their creative control aren't signing with mainstream labels.

[TabithaElkins]

As a musician, it's frustrating knowing that there is a professional team collaborating on every 3-minute pop song, with up to 5 producers and 5 songwriters, even using AI, while I can't seem to find anyone to listen to my homemade music which I create and perform as a human being.

[Kwolfx]

One big event that helped destroy both competition and quality of popular music was the Communication Act of 1996. It allowed a few corporation to buy up multiple radio stations in muiltiple markets across the U.S. Before this law was enacted a DJ might promote an artist or multiple artists from their home town or local area. Each radio station would create its own play lists. This allowed local flavor of different areas to flourish. An artist might become big in their state or geographic area long before gaining national success.

Today a handful of people; maybe less than a dozen, decide the playlists for virtually every commercial radio station in the U.S., because just a few companies own almost every commercial radio station in America. And it can even get worse as A.I. may soon replace those few people who make these decisions today.

[hansvos]

The word "PRODUCT" says all.... If you don't give a fuck about making money or becoming famous the problem does not exist. The pure joy and depth of creativity is in essence a playing child that's discovering and renewing all the time. Creativity isn't a formula. .. ...

[RoninCotter-fpnu]

As an independent musician, singer, songwriter, guitar player, I can tell you unequivocally, that these streaming services do only one thing. They get you heard but nothing more. You can have 250, 000 plays and only make $25.00 bucks getting paid less than a cent per stream. You can have 250, 000, 000 streams and only make $250.00 bucks! It's effing maddening. And venturing into touring when you've already made so little ti finance it is a non- starter. The music industry today is as much of a ripoff as it was 40 years ago. Everyone makes money but the artists.

[alienteknology]

This guy is spot on. It's all about market analysis & number crunching now instead of judgement. MP3 Science instead of trying to come up with new ideas. People are so worried about AI but what AI does is not much different from what record company execs have been doing for decades. Scraping from the existing catalogue for maximum efficiency & predictable content.

[churchjackz]

Pop music & Nashville, too; designed by marketing departments based on consumer habits rather than artists' ideas. I love the moneyball analogy!

[rickaccordion]

Today, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. If that formula had been enforced with the Beatles, Yesterday, Michelle, Eleanor Rigby, etc, would not have been released. Pet Sounds by the Beach Boys would not exist, no Stairway to Heaven, no Bohemian Rhapsody

[thesongwritersdropin]

When great art is subsituted for product that is geared solely for financial gains is becoming the norm, then we are sadly on a slippery slope. Dont be a part of it and make want you want to make because it moves you and leave that world behind. Thanks for the video . you make a very strong point here. Thank you

[FranklinOPT]

Thank you for your clear and concise analysis. Rick Beato has reacted to the same article.

[getkraken]

The Beatles appeared as kings of The Golden Age of Rock. Taylor Swift appears as the queen of The Golden Age of Mediocrity. Kali Yuga, man.

[heatherharrison]

This situation exists throughout the entertainment industry. Large, risk averse corporations control much of the market for movies, music, literature, and video games. The result is a lot of dumbed down, safe, lowest common denominator stuff that has nothing new to say, and specifically in video games, there are gambling mechanics and microtransactions to rip people off. These companies pursue whatever is likely to generate a short term profit for the least amount of effort and risk. Artistic quality doesn't enter into the equation. It seems like most consumers have been conditioned to desire whatever is safe and familiar. I think this is natural on some level - if you like something, you will want more of it - but a lot of people have lost the ability to get out of their comfort zone and explore new things.

Decades ago, there were a lot of small operators in music. There were tiny local record labels, independently owned radio stations, and record stores. A record that somebody made in a nasty old garage could potentially be picked up by the local radio station, get noticed by a wider audience, get noticed by other radio stations, and eventually blow up into a big regional, national, or international hit. Today, this mode of discovery and distribution is gone. It seems like the only way something like this can happen now is for somebody to post their music on the internet, and maybe it will go viral if they are massively lucky. There are still a lot of musicians floating around, and recordings that don't fit within the bland, corporate space are out there, but it takes some digging to find them. Similarly, there are independent artists in movies, literature, and video games who are taking risks and going for an artistic statement rather than a corporate money machine, but it is hard for them to get noticed. Those of us who don't like the current state of pop music need to put in some effort. Search around, find the higher quality music that is sitting out there in the underground, and support the artists by buying their music.

[hisham_hm]

Moneyballing in music has been around for a long time: Tin Pan Alley, teen idols in the 50s with professional songwriters... I'm not disagreeing with your point, I'm just saying it has been like this for a long time for mostly "disposable" music (decades later we only remember the classics, but in the time of the Beatles the charts were full of throwaway pop too). The change is that is has become a lot more dominant and calculated.

[wallac]

This was a spot on analysis related to the financialization of the music industry. During the late 60's and early 70's, bands were given much more artistic freedom. Starting with the release of Frampton Comes Alive, big business were impressed with the profits that album made. Big business became much more involved since then and it has been downhill ever since. There was a blip of hope with Nirvana but that was soon brought back under control by big business. You are right about the dehumanization of music today and you are correct that it is only going to get worse.

[zemlidrakona]

When comparing music, I sometimes look at it this way. There are roughly two kinds of hit songs. First there are those that are hits for their time, but gradually fade away and are mostly forgotten. Then there are songs that enter the public consciousness and retain a lot of popularity for decades or longer. The Beatles had a lot of songs in the later category. Michael Jackson had a fair number too. On the other hand, I have to confess that I don't know a single Taylor Swift song. I listened to a few but I wasn't particularly impressed and I quickly forgot them. I just remember them sounding very stock to my ears. But that's just me, and I'm squarely in the boomer category. The point is, if people are still listening to Taylor Swift songs as they do Beatles songs, 30+ years from now, I would call those great songs, regardless of if I like them or not. However the jury is still out on that.

[pamelawertz]

Every kind of music grew after The Beatles opened up the gates to what could be. They brought us the 70's. Why do you think the music of the 70's was so diverse & well produced?

[johnviera]

People used to buy music. That’s the big difference. You put your money where your mouth is. Now people are just clicking for a monthly fee. There’s no way you can compare these 2 formats.

[johnpacino]

I've been around for a while, going back as far as when Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Sly Stone, David Bowie, Bob Marley, and Queen were in their prime. What's changed is that the record companies trusted these pioneering artists to create "musical art" and still sell great numbers for their record labels. Record companies have always been about the money ultimately. It is, after all, a music business.

Today, talented artists are shut out for the manufactured, easily controllable, corporate pop star "industry plant, " who will follow the corporate musical and visual script given to them. The labels don't want the difficult artist who wants to innovate and go on a magical mystery tour of music ideas that may not sell very well.

The industry really needs an Elvis Presley, Beatles, James Brown, Hendrix, Sex Pistols, Nirvana, or NWA—someone who will bust the door down again on a seismic scale, from the street level all the way up to the corporate doors.