...a response to:
http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/content/why-records-do-all-sound-same
Its kind of funny that all this trouble goes into making mainstream music sound as "appealing" as possible when so many of the record sales i witness are that of underground or local bands who spent a few hundred dollars max on their record. I cant remember the last time i heard of anyone actually purchasing a lil' wayne record in cd format. Either way, im sure record sales dont move very much revenue anymore especially in comparison to advertising which would be a good reason for music to sound good on the radio for 7 seconds as opposed to vinly/cd/etc. for 45 minutes.
But in the end i think we can all just let go of this idea that quality music will ever really need to be put on billboards or mainstream radio stations again. The majority of actual music lovers are now finding music on their own and thru a great variety of mediums, no longer inclusive to mainstream radio. So lets forget about this music that gets polished too much. Because all of that is not really even music. Its machine made - made for a machine. Besides im sure the polishing couldnt have done THAT much damage, seeing as Maroon 5 is already shitty in human form (the article was about maroon 5).
There's still an abundant source of musicians and artists that make music on a much smaller level, and because of which, are willing to take chances with their music and release it in a raw and less processed form. And since the once elite powers of recording, mastering, and publishing of music have all become so easily attainable and put into the hands of the amatuer, we all have the chance now to put ourselves out there in a way that was once thought of as an unlikely event for any independant artist. Yes this leaves the field to become extremely cluttered with players, talented or not, scrambling for less and less compensation as the resource of music buyers drains out. And soon were all just fighting to get our music heard for free (look up Attention economics). But doesnt this also make many of us try harder, that we might stand out from the rest? Putting forth our best effort? Consider all the educated contestants on Jeopardy duking it out for a few thousand dollars vs. the typical contestant for Who Wants To Be A Millionare? using "ask the audience" on a 50,000 dollar question regarding a recent episode of "Lost". All you gotta do to get people to try harder is place an opponent next to them. After that, both contestants are willing to compete harder for less.
Maroon 5 along with many others dont need to try because their engineers and producers will do the work for them. Because of that, the quality of the music - unpolished - sucks. No wonder they have to produce it so much. All the people riding on the success of that "music" would never let anyone or anything get in the way of the next single becoming a hit - be it the band, themselves. So the end product comes out as homogenized as the 2% in your fridgerator.
The irrefutable diminishing quality of mainstream music - transparent, regardless of any big budget attempts to conceal it- and our noticing of this and taking action, is a good thing. Its a sign that the machine is about to break. Soon well be playing on a much more even ground. This is what we wanted. This is what weve been fighting for.
http://www.wordmagazine.co
Its kind of funny that all this trouble goes into making mainstream music sound as "appealing" as possible when so many of the record sales i witness are that of underground or local bands who spent a few hundred dollars max on their record. I cant remember the last time i heard of anyone actually purchasing a lil' wayne record in cd format. Either way, im sure record sales dont move very much revenue anymore especially in comparison to advertising which would be a good reason for music to sound good on the radio for 7 seconds as opposed to vinly/cd/etc. for 45 minutes.
But in the end i think we can all just let go of this idea that quality music will ever really need to be put on billboards or mainstream radio stations again. The majority of actual music lovers are now finding music on their own and thru a great variety of mediums, no longer inclusive to mainstream radio. So lets forget about this music that gets polished too much. Because all of that is not really even music. Its machine made - made for a machine. Besides im sure the polishing couldnt have done THAT much damage, seeing as Maroon 5 is already shitty in human form (the article was about maroon 5).
There's still an abundant source of musicians and artists that make music on a much smaller level, and because of which, are willing to take chances with their music and release it in a raw and less processed form. And since the once elite powers of recording, mastering, and publishing of music have all become so easily attainable and put into the hands of the amatuer, we all have the chance now to put ourselves out there in a way that was once thought of as an unlikely event for any independant artist. Yes this leaves the field to become extremely cluttered with players, talented or not, scrambling for less and less compensation as the resource of music buyers drains out. And soon were all just fighting to get our music heard for free (look up Attention economics). But doesnt this also make many of us try harder, that we might stand out from the rest? Putting forth our best effort? Consider all the educated contestants on Jeopardy duking it out for a few thousand dollars vs. the typical contestant for Who Wants To Be A Millionare? using "ask the audience" on a 50,000 dollar question regarding a recent episode of "Lost". All you gotta do to get people to try harder is place an opponent next to them. After that, both contestants are willing to compete harder for less.
Maroon 5 along with many others dont need to try because their engineers and producers will do the work for them. Because of that, the quality of the music - unpolished - sucks. No wonder they have to produce it so much. All the people riding on the success of that "music" would never let anyone or anything get in the way of the next single becoming a hit - be it the band, themselves. So the end product comes out as homogenized as the 2% in your fridgerator.
The irrefutable diminishing quality of mainstream music - transparent, regardless of any big budget attempts to conceal it- and our noticing of this and taking action, is a good thing. Its a sign that the machine is about to break. Soon well be playing on a much more even ground. This is what we wanted. This is what weve been fighting for.
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