Popular music is dumber, duller and more homogenized than ever before. This isn't a matter of taste or subjective opinion, it's an objectively provable fact. A ten year analysis of number one songs on the Billboard charts found that some lyrics are getting measurably less intelligent. So why is popular music becoming dumber, blander and more homogenized? A primary reason is that many of the artists you hear have their records written and produced by the exact same people, so because in many cases the artists themselves have zero originality, input or talent, what you're hearing is the characteristics of the same producer on all these different songs by different artists. In fact, many of the songs that grace the top ten throughout most
On May 5, 2018, Atlanta rapper Childish Gambino released a video for his new song titled “This is America.” The video featured not-so-subtle commentary on the current gun debate in the United States and began trending quickly. Many began to wonder if a song with this much political weight could make it past the viral stage and hold its own on the music charts. One of those inquiring was Chris Molanphy, a journalist for Slate.com who often writes about popular music. He makes the claim that this song is “one of the most lyrically daring [Billboard] Hot 100 No. 1 in history.” In his article, “‘This is America,’ the Video, Is a Smash. Will the Song Have Legs?,” Molanphy uses diction, ethos, and analogy to argue that Gambino’s “This is America”
Rock n - roll In the 1950s rock-n-roll established its own mark in history. It spread throughout the decade in a thrilling, substantial, and even livid manner to those Americans trying to get rid of all sorts of conflicts and challenges that occurred during this time period. As exciting as this music was, the novel “All Shook Up” portrays how rock-n-roll brought many changes to the American culture and later to the sixties. It expresses many concerns such as race relations, moral decay, and communism, but in ways that are partially true.
Music has always had a strong influence on people everywhere in the world and nothing points to this ever changing. There is an enormous amount of genres and sub genres, new hits and old classics, songs and compositions for everyone and this number is forever increasing. It is virtually impossible to listen to all songs ever written and hardly anyone would try to attempt that, yet each band and singer would want to have their music noticed. This is why album art is an essential part of any music CD, an eye catcher that can make a consumer purchase a piece of music that they might not even like.
Major social and economical changes occurred in the United States during the time of 1917-1935. At the beginning of the time period the United States military entered into World War I. Over the next twenty-three years’ important events that took place included the Eighteenth Amendment, starting prohibition, the Nineteenth Amendment, giving women the right to vote, and the United States entering into the Great Depression. In chapter three of American Popular Music the author describes these events in direct correlation to the music history. Major points regarding what influenced the nations culture and identity included the popularization of radio, the Jazz Age, and the successful Paul Whiteman.
Although artists do not create certain music to cure diseases or to make scientific or technological discoveries, music is one thing society can never live without. To both artists and their listeners, music provides an indispensible beauty that helps fulfill lives, and connect to nature. Music expresses the human condition in the purest way and affects everyone at a personal level. Plato, a well-known classical Greek philosopher once said, “If you want to measure the spiritual depth of society, make sure to mark its music.” Generally performer collaborate songs to represent the popular pop culture, and social issues, and wish for their society as well as their current era. For instance, controversial issues such as sex, violence, racism and discrimination has been represented through many musical genres including the blues, R&B, Disco/Funk, and Hip hop. When comparing previous historical periods to our current era, one can see tremendous differences in how they are exemplified in the genres have illustrated their music to address these specific issues. For instance, when talking about historical period they focus more on messages that are important to black communities such as freedom from racism, sexism and discrimination for example R&B conveyed a fight for freedom and stereotypes. On the other hand, recent genres such as Hip Hop do not portray a message, or if they do portray a message, the messages do not represent black culture as a whole.
Music in this century is beginning to have more of an effect to people than ever before. It has evolved into calming and something that anyone can dance to. However, some music genres are becoming too provocative due to the lyrics being hateful to many things. But for some
Popular music places a premium on accessibility, represents various meanings to boost both instant appeal and memorability - distinctive tunes, novel instrumental flourishes, danceable rhythms, repeated riffs - but its signal feature is melodic emphasis and great vocal gatherings.
”(Tyrangiel, n. page.). Even though Auto-Tune is now widely used by many artists, there are still ongoing debates about whether it detracts from or benefits popular music. Many people and artists believe that pop music benefits because it allows music to sound better, while others say that it makes it hard to differentiate between songs because they all sound the same. Personally, I think that over-using Auto-Tune can ruin music because it hides the talent of an artist, makes music sound emotionless, and is overused. Auto-Tune is often so overused that it completely alters the voice of an artist.
Music has been a part of human culture since the beginning of time, and it continues to transcend language barriers, belief systems, and remains completely open to interpretation. Music has changed drastically in the last 20 years. The main barrier breaker is credited to the Internet, which has opened an entire new world for music. Music will continue to evolve over time as the industry finds new ways to use the Internet. Major labels have found that adapting to the new ways of the industry has provided continual change for them. Musicians and labels have to continue to be open to accept the changes as time goes on to benefit the consumers as well as themselves.
ingredient of hip hop music, has brought this genre music to the top; attracting and influencing many
People are surrounded by music every day of their lives. They hear it in their homes, on the radio on their way to work; some people have even caught themselves humming the tune of their favorite song to themselves. But how many people actually listen and not just hear the music they are listening to? Teens in particular don’t realize the message behind the music they are quoting the lyrics to, or the effect it has on them. In today’s culture where rap music has become increasingly popular, many teens aren’t realizing what they are listening to. A lot of teens would argue that the music they listen to has no effect on them, but they are wrong. Rap music, especially, has had a major impact on teenagers in today’s society.
In today’s evolving and changing society, many people do not appreciate how extraordinary music truly is. Since the birth of the vinyl record, there are less people who own and are interested in them. Even though vinyl records have recently been making a comeback, they are still not as popular as they once were. People take for granted how easily accessible music is today though in the past it was not as simple. Even though vinyl records may be costly and may not have a large quantity of songs, as time progresses and technology continues to develop, the way that people listen to music degrades their appreciation for music due to easier accessibility, weaker sound in terms of quality, and decaying genres.
The rap music of today shares many characteristics of the pop/rock industry. They are primarily concerned with money. It is not about the quality of the rhymes being released but about how many they can put out in a year. The result is music that is very monotonous and thin. The albums are released so frequently that people never get a chance to realize how one-dimensional their favorite rapper is, and are buying their next album. The other side of the rap industry is filled with phonies.
It has actually usually been said that one of the most intelligent people like certain sorts of music. I presume if I asked you, and also you were to take an enlightened assumption, you might say that timeless songs such as Mozart, or Beethoven would be with the type of songs appreciated by the top rate of human IQ. Yes, I assume this is the basic perception, and also I believe it to be correct, although I am not particular without a doubt. The concern is why, I expect, why is it that classical music is frequently corresponded to highly intellectual people?
In order for this problem to adjust over time, much work will be necessary. I believe that our country as a whole should focus not so much on the content of the lyrics, but who the musical artists themselves are. Just because lyrics are profound doesn’t mean that the artist believes in them, they could be relating to previous acts that have occurred in their lives, or speaking freely on the problems our society is faced with. It would be beneficial for our country if a sensor council or committee was founded to screen all songs and albums before they’re released, in order to identify them with a warning label or not