I have spoken to several musicians in my time. Most seem to have a consensus that there is no truly original music left to record. "Everything has already been done" is a mantra I have heard more twice. While this doesn't stop them from recording and playing, it is something I have heard a great deal. However... the majority of musicians I have met are actually quite elitist. I have brought people in for jams and rehearsals while trying to form a band who throw around the words "derivative" and "formulaic" in a manner that suggests both things are negative. I even got told with a completely straight face that a song I wrote was "overrated". I think we both had two very different contexts for when such a word is appropriate. I could only laugh it off at the time. Still, from experience I have found many musicians, when meeting, talking or playing in person, to be stubborn and pompous.
There is a sentiment that the ones holding the instruments are the smart people. The ones who only use their lungs, unless they are on their side, are usually dismissed as unnecessary or talentless. Females bear the brunt of this. The idea of an intelligent and attractive female singer is bewildering. Nevermind that, an intelligent pop/rnb singer full stop is almost unheard of. They're just "bimbos" who sing about sex and parties. I mean if Kesha was intelligent, she'd be playing an instrument! Imagine if you met Kesha in real life, what are the chances you will get an intelligent discussion out of her? ... zero?... right...? Not at all. The type of music one makes does not reflect on ones intelligence. Also, it is quite telling of something when these musicians deride these popular artists as puppets who only push units because of sex appeal but when faced with a female who is playing the correct music, see the intelligent music, a considerable amount of these musicians sexualize and fetishize them to the nth degree!
And what of popular music? These smart musicians are quick to call shows like The X-Factor, American Idol and Britain's Got Talent horrible and full of talentless wannabees. While some of the shows mentioned have taken questionable actions regarding the well being and treatment of their contestants, there are people who go onto them because they are good singers. Because they can play pythagorean scale and what ever else with there eyes closed, these people are somehow more worthy than the contestants who go on these shows. They're to happy to say "Well if I went on the show, they would send me home because they're not looking for real talent". Really? Talent isn't a word I like to dwell on. If you think you are more "talented" than the majority of The X-Factor singers perhaps you should have a go? Have a try. Let's see how you perform in front of a huge crowd before you start bad mouthing the people who just go up there and do it.
What I love about music is the entertainment. To me it is made to inspire. It is the friend. I'm not denying myself something to fit in. If I feel for a piece of music, it is part of me. I have had 'You Get What You Give' by New Radicals on repeat several times now as I write this line. Great song from the 90s isn't it? I love the chorus and the little piano bits. Do you? However you feel, it doesn't matter to anyone but you. No skin from my nose if you despise it. When I put my music to the masses one day, I want to inspire and entertain. I want to go onto stages and have people believe in themselves. People think the way they do. They can do it. It gets better. A growing trend in music, a continuing march in the realms of all which is "indie", is an idea of creating 'Art'...
Art is terrible word. It is horrid. I hate 'Art'. I hate it when people apply it to rock and pop music. Unless the person using it is saying an album or song is Art because everything made is Art, then it is loathsome. It carries things which are not seen or heard It carries an elitist air. It carries a foul stench. While it would seem hypocritical to say it implies some albums are better than others on a website which is all about rating albums over others, it is dispersonal nature which gets me. Every album is ranked better or worse than another based on how they feel to ME. An album rated at 30/100 is inferior to one rated 100/100 to ME. When it comes to others, they are all equal. I am wrong to decide the authenticity of an artist is off. I struggle with that at times. I can stumble. When they completely take the biscuit, I can become very inclined to dismiss the artists and sometimes listeners as hipsters or posuers. However, the truth is a lot more... awful.Oh, it is awful. People listen to artists like Dirty Projectors because... well they enjoy them! They get the same fulfillment I get from my favorite artists from them! What a wonderful world this is! Lovely! When art rears its ugly head in music, it sets albums on pedestals. They are great works of Art. If people don't like the album, it is not the album which is wrong but instead they are wrong. People feel they must listen to it over and over until they "understand it". "Understanding" music? What is there to "understand"!? It's music!
There is an emphasis on recording "Art". Some people don't want to create a unique song structure as a little experiment, they want a unique one because the popular ones are "derivative". Weird sounds are sought, a song can't be truly creative if it sticks to what has been done. Don't make the chorus too catchy either, I have seen a few souls consider such a thing to be bad in a song. They may be a tiny amount now but if they grow along with the many more who find creating "Art" more important than something true to themselves then the whole drums and guitar scene could be a sorry sight come 10-20 years.
I want to hear fun and adventure. I want to hear music with power to move mountains. I want to be reminded of the good and bad times. You might want to hear an album which is a piece of "Art". Something ethereal, boundary pushing and innotive. That is okay, you follow your heart. Do what you want. Personally, I think such pursuits are a waste of time. I have one life and I want to record music which will stay with people long after I am gone. I want to give the friends I had. I want to listen to what I enjoy. Not wasting my time trying to "understand" some profound statement I don't like the sound of.
While I won't bad mouth "Pop", RnB, Hip Hop etc and I respect what they do, my first and foremost love is Rock music. That is where my joys are and I would be lying If I said otherwise. It is my Forte. Currently, I am worrying about the direction it is taking. I don't like the divides(indie, alternative, classic etc etc). I don't like the sly underground is best attitude which is growing. I don't like the little smart kid club it is becoming. The one where people parrot the same things over and over. Where they think they are somehow more intelligent.
What more can I say? I am not confident in my ability to get my words across. Most of this might have made no sense. We will wait and find out.
I come back to the thread title now. There are some certain attitudes amongst certain musicians. Ones which imply a sense of elitism. So in regards to your Rock/Indie/What ever else you want to call it, shall we just give it up? Everything is derivative and borrowed and what have you. No one is going to top the heights of the greats. All the new listeners will be listening to them and parroting how no one has did it better since them. The beginning of the arc can start from the moment 'Rock Around The Clock' hit the top of the US Charts and end... erm... tomorrow. A new style will be stolen from some obscure culture and the whole of the western world can make it the new thing. Everyone will try again and this time we have the internet from the very start. A fresh slate for everyone!
What if we hit this new music thing on the head? Let it go. Do something else instead.
Last edited by Kiki on 04/14/2013 14:38; edited 2 times in total
I apologize for any spelling mistakes, I have looked through it once and it is such a mounmental task I am sure there are bad phases and mistakes in here. If you spot any missing words and mistakes please tell me and I will correct them.
I think to say that "everything that can be done has been done" probably isn't true. I mean, I think that's the beauty of art (and I try to use that term in a non-elitist way); there's always room for innovation. Whether in painting, in architecture, in film, hell even in toothbrush design, there's always new things to be done. And I don't think music is any different. And as far as elitism goes, in any profession there's going to be people who think that what they do is the greatest thing ever and everything else is inferior. Even within professions there's that stigma. Architects and engineers sometimes find each other inferior, artistic photographers occasionally consider journalistic photographers inferior. Sometimes it's hard not to be elitist, especially if you're proud of what you do. I think the best thing to do is just keep an open mind, enjoy what you do, and do what you enjoy (unless what you enjoy is illegal haha).
And regarding what you said about Ke$ha, her music may be stupid, but she's definitely not. If you watch interviews and listen to her talk, she's absolutely hilarious. And funny takes brains.
And regarding what you said about Ke$ha, her music may be stupid, but she's definitely not. If you watch interviews and listen to her talk, she's absolutely hilarious. And funny takes brains.
I know. You misunderstood me. My fault due to writing error Have edited now.
Wow. What an interesting read. The way I tend to look at music is that it try's to recreate a feeling or emotion and create certain 'vibe' for use of a better word. There are god knows how many ways to do this and a lot of different vibes to create but despite that they have pretty much all been done, if you look hard enough you can find a song to match any emotion. So here is my prediction for the future of music. From here on out it will all sound pretty much the same other than a few outliers. That doesn't mean of course it will be impossible to make good music , it just means that musicians will have to go deeper into their respective genres. It might not sound fresh but it can still be good, while at the same time being strictly restricted to a single genre as musicians fully explore them.
Also this has probably been posted on these forums before but if you have seen it before here's a video sort of on the topic about if we will ever run out of music
I know. You misunderstood me. My fault due to writing error Have edited now.
Oh no biggie, I understood you (although I did think it was kind of ambiguous), I was actually agreeing with you. I used to think Ke$ha might be stupid, but when she teamed up with The Flaming Lips I knew that she had to be cool. I think one of the funniest things she ever said was (sarcastically) that she's actually a good influence, because kids have to learn about the health affects of brushing teeth with Jack at some point in their lives. Also she yodels in pop songs. Can't deny that that's pretty hilarious.
One thing which I look at to judge an artist's intelligence (though I probably shouldn't be judging their intelligence in the first place anyway...) is whether they write or produce their own music. I think it takes a lot of talent to be able to write. I think the music means more when it comes from the lips/hands of the same person whose mind/heart it came from. That being said, I also enjoy listening to classical music, and obviously the people who are playing aren't the ones who wrote the music.
Anyway, the point is that I don't think music will ever stop changing.
Also this has probably been posted on these forums before but if you have seen it before here's a video sort of on the topic about if we will ever run out of music
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... zero?... right...? Not at all. The type of music one makes does not reflect on ones intelligence. Also, it is quite telling of something when these 
When art rears its ugly head in music, it sets albums on pedestals. They are great works of Art. If people don't like the album, it is not the album which is wrong but instead they are wrong. People feel they must listen to it over and over until they "understand it". "Understanding" music? What is there to "understand"!? It's music!
