# What is your opinion on modern popular music having no melody?



## PresenTense (May 7, 2016)

Personally, I'm not that against that change in popular music because I like a lot of Rap Music which focuses in rhymes and the structure of the beat. I think there are very interesting acts today that focus on rhythm and other aspects of music.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

The title of this thread and the title of the video are inaccurate, and over dramatizing this issue in my view. 

All of the examples of music in that video have melody to some degree. Melodies becoming shorter, more fragmented and less at the forefront of a piece of music is not the same thing as music having no melody, or melody "dying" and needing to be "saved". 

The only way for music to stay fresh and vital is for aspects of it to change periodically to avoid cliché and over predictability. Melody has been more at the forefront for a long time. In order to keep things interesting different aspects of music will be emphasized when another aspect has been played out within a given context. Melody is still important, but its role has changed. This will continue until people become bored with the status quo and eventually it will come back around in a new context. As the narrator in the video said himself there are still plenty of composers around capable of writing melodies, the art of melody hasn't died, nor will it ever.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I have no interest in tuneless pop music. Am I supposed to be intoxicated with the simplistic rhythmic qualities and techno beats? I like music made by musicians who can play instruments and create melodies.

The producer of that video ought to look a little farther than Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, and Rap, because there are hundreds of artists creating melodic music. I listen to Michael Franti, Hiatus Kyote, and Thundercat, just for a few examples.


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## david johnson (Jun 25, 2007)

Most pop music bores me, but some is great  Let them experiment.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

I recently saw that video and contemplated posting it myself in regards to how Beethoven's 5th could be seen as one of the earliest models for this.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Eva Yojimbo said:


> I recently saw that video and contemplated posting it myself in regards to how Beethoven's 5th could be seen as one of the earliest models for this.


Interesting musical development or ingenious variations common in classical music never happens in these boring pop pieces. I hesitate to refer to them as tunes or songs because there is no tune.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

PresenTense said:


> Personally, I'm not that against that change in popular music because I like a lot of Rap Music which focuses in rhymes and the structure of the beat. I think there are very interesting acts today that focus on rhythm and other aspects of music.


I think it's true that limited melodies make them easier for average people to sing along. But I've wondered, is pop music closer to chanting rather than actualy singing? Or more directly, closer to the blues, where the words/story are more important and more of the focus than the melody? Of course, as a sax player, it gets frustrating when you try to play a pop tune when there isn't much of a recognizable melody.


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## Merl (Jul 28, 2016)

The biggest issue I have with modern pop music is the dearth of ideas and variety. Most now relies on shoddy Latin rhythms or tuneless, meandering ramblings. At least the pop music of the 70s and 80s was more diverse. What Arianna Grande or James Arthur pump out now is stereotypical plop with little variation. Others like the awful Sam Smith are almost unlistenable and incomprehensible.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Manxfeeder said:


> I think it's true that limited melodies make them easier for average people to sing along. But I've wondered, is pop music closer to chanting rather than actualy singing? Or more directly, closer to the blues, where the words/story are more important and more of the focus than the melody? Of course, as a sax player, it gets frustrating when you try to play a pop tune when there isn't much of a recognizable melody.


I know know about closer to the blues? I have lots of blues records and the vocal melodies are mostly pretty tuneful and expressive. Maybe current pop is closer to field hollers without the hollering?


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

starthrower said:


> . Maybe current pop is closer to field hollers without the hollering?


Maybe so. Although pop music does have a lot of hollering.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Some of these pop stars have good voices but the material doesn't showcase their talent. Instead they employ a talking style with a undeveloped melody of a few notes.


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

I hear plenty of melodie in modern pop, they are just simplistic, banal and annoying (to me).

Compare any of the new pop or hip hop melodies to almost anything by: Simon and Garfunkel, The Beatles, The Eagles, Tears for Fears, Simple Minds, INXS, (none of whom I a real fan of, but I can still detect a good melody when I hear it) and to me, the difference in quality is obvious.

And the science bears this out.

https://www.mic.com/articles/107896/scientists-finally-prove-why-pop-music-all-sounds-the-same

"A new study [2015], surveying more than 500,000 albums, shows simplicity sells best across all music genres. As something becomes popular, it necessarily dumbs down and becomes more formulaic".

" In a recent study, researchers from the Medical University of Vienna in Austria studied 15 genres and 374 subgenres. They rated the genre's complexity over time - measured by researchers in purely quantitative aspects, such as timbre and acoustical variations - and compared that to the genre's sales. They found that in nearly every case, as genres increase in popularity, they also become more generic.

"This can be interpreted," the researchers write, "as music becoming increasingly formulaic in terms of instrumentation under increasing sales numbers due to a tendency to popularize music styles with low variety and musicians with similar skills."

I am actually somewhat surprised that classical music fans would find repetitiveness and simplicity to be something appealing in music.

I just can't do it. All forms of pop, hip hop, mainstream rock, country, etc, just bore the hell out of me.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

starthrower said:


> Interesting musical development or ingenious variations common in classical music never happens in these boring pop pieces. I hesitate to refer to them as tunes or songs because there is no tune.


I was not thinking that the entire piece was a model, just the opening 4-note motif, which is arguably the most well-known piece of classical music ever. People who wouldn't know a single piece of classical music would still recognize it instantly. There's a reason those 4 notes resonate, and I suspect it has something to do with how it almost boils down music to a binary code-like language.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Maybe Deep Purple's riff to Smoke On The Water is the rock equivalent to Beethoven's 5th?


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

Simon Moon said:


> And the science bears this out.
> 
> https://www.mic.com/articles/107896/scientists-finally-prove-why-pop-music-all-sounds-the-same
> 
> ...


Let's be cautious about what's science and what's opinion here. That article mostly an opinion piece about the study it's discussing. The study, eg, says nothing about "dumbing down" and the "formulaic" aspect is mostly related to instrumentation; which is actually a problem for analyzing pop music, which has no formula for instrumentation but varies (sometimes drastically) with the times. Also, if you take something like metal, the difference between popular metal and unpopular metal has nothing to do with the variety of instrumentation (nor timbre and acoustical variations), but the actual musical content. Further, the article claiming that those two Taylor Swift songs "sound exactly the same" makes me question if they have ears. One is scored for a marching band-like drums beat and horn, the latter for electronic drums and synths. The hooks, vocal styles, and tone are also completely different. I can understand what they mean about the Meghan Trainer songs, though; they are extremely similar.



Simon Moon said:


> I am actually somewhat surprised that classical music fans would find repetitiveness and simplicity to be something appealing in music.
> 
> I just can't do it. All forms of pop, hip hop, mainstream rock, country, etc, just bore the hell out of me.


Why would you be surprised? You do realize that much great classical music is quite simple on many levels, and repetition, to some degree, is something all listeners like. In fact, there have actually been studies done that show one reason most audiences don't like atonal music is the lack of discernible repetition. For me, "simple" and "complex" are more quantitative rather than qualitative. There's plenty of good and bad on both sides of that spectrum. I might say that, all other things being equal, complex is better if only because there's more to like and appreciate; but how often can we say everything is actually equal?


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

starthrower said:


> Maybe Deep Purple's riff to Smoke On The Water is the rock equivalent to Beethoven's 5th?


Nope, too many notes/chords (all 4 of them!), and it actually uses quarter, eighth, and half notes in its riff.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Eva Yojimbo said:


> Nope, too many notes/chords (all 4 of them!), and it actually uses quarter, eighth, and half notes in its riff.


I didn't mean the equivalent in notes. Like B's 5th it's household famous.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

starthrower said:


> I didn't mean the equivalent in notes. Like B's 5th it's household famous.


I know, I was mostly just kidding. But, yes, in regards to the combination of simplicity and worldwide renown, it's probably as good an analog as any.


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## Open Book (Aug 14, 2018)

The video shows how melody has been minimalized in popular music. Literally. The songs it cites contain melodies of three notes or less, even one note in the case of the Lady Gaga song.

Funny how that alone doesn't matter, at least not to me. The One Direction song gets played as department store background music but I've always found it kind of compelling. For all its three notes, there's a real hook. On the other hand I have never found any Taylor Swift song to be even remotely compelling musically. Her melodies are banal.

I don't think it's just the way the One Direction song is presented using harmony, tone color, and rhythm, the other characteristics that are mentioned, that makes it better, I think it does have a better melody. Short melodies can make the best earworms when they're good. 

Billie Eilish (mentioned in the video) performed on the last Saturday Night Live and I was puzzled at how little there was to her music, almost nothing, yet her fans were screaming at the end. I hear most new music on that show and I usually end up fast-forwarding through it. The best that can be said about contemporary pop music is that it gives cellists a lot of work. Have you noticed how often strings are used nowadays?


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

Open Book said:


> Funny how that alone doesn't matter, at least not to me. The One Direction song gets played as department store background music but I've always found it kind of compelling. For all its three notes, there's a real hook. On the other hand I have never found any Taylor Swift song to be even remotely compelling musically. Her melodies are banal.


So strange how differently people hear things. I too have heard that One Direction song quite a lot but have never found it compelling, perhaps because it just reminds me of the poppiest pop-punk ca. 2000, and if I was going to listen to that I'd just rather put on Jimmy Eat World's The Middle. Alternatively, I'm a big Taylor Swift fan and her melodic/hook sensibility is a big reason why. I honestly can't think of much anything that sounded like Love Story, or You Belong With Me when they came out.... perhaps a bit of Faith Hill and Shania Twain, but even then not really. Even Look What You Made Me Do (the song mentioned in that video) was pretty sonically original, the way its electroclash music leads to that build-up pre-chorus before dropping the Right Said Fred chorus is like a really well-constructed joke (the set-up/punch-line).



Open Book said:


> Billie Eilish (mentioned in the video) performed on the last Saturday Night Live and I was puzzled at how little there was to her music, almost nothing, yet her fans were screaming at the end. I hear most new music on that show and I usually end up fast-forwarding through it. The best that can be said about contemporary pop music is that it gives cellists a lot of work. Have you noticed how often strings are used nowadays?


Billie Eilish is this generation's angst idol, similar to what Nirvana was in the 90s. It's actually been a while since we've had such a "dark" mainstream artist. For that alone I find her a breath of fresh air even when I don't like her stuff. EG, Bad Guy just annoys me (I don't understand why/how it became such a hit); I think stuff like Bury a Friend is much more interesting. She also has some surprisingly beautiful songs like Ocean Eyes (though I think she was like 14 when she wrote/recorded that) and I Love You.


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## david johnson (Jun 25, 2007)

Alexander - (I have never found any Taylor Swift song to be even remotely compelling musically. Her melodies are banal.) Just watch her legs, they are nice


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## Guest (Oct 1, 2019)

No-one is going to vote for "tuneless" or "boring" pop, so I'm not sure that such statements tell us anything about either pop music generally or the value of the opinions of those who make such assertions.

Assuming the OP means popular music in its widest sense, taking in most genres such as rock, rap, electro, alt etc (so excluding folk, jazz, classical etc) I'm very happy with the state of pop music. There is a great variety and whilst some may seem derivative of past acts, it's perhaps worth letting the younger generation - with whom the responsibility for "pop" tends to fall - make music in their way, not ours, even if it sounds like what older generations listened to (and were writing) when they were 16. I buy less than I used to, I listen to less than I used to, but most years, I check out the Metacritic charts to find out what's been around and what might be worth exploring. For example:

https://www.metacritic.com/feature/best-albums-released-in-2018

If the OP is only considering a narrow field of pop - the most successful acts selling the maximum tracks to a narrow demographic - then consider whether it is necessary for us to even have an opinion. For example, I doubt that Ariana Grande is producing music for this 60 yr old consumer of "art music" (classical and rock) so why would I need to have an opinion on what she is selling?

The critics of "pop" on this forum should offer some evidence to support their claims of banality and decline that goes beyond a handful of easy targets (Swift, Gaga, Bieber and often, the entirety of rap)

[add]Re the OP video. "Dying" and "going out of fashion" are not the same, and pointing to Hans Zimmer scores for Dunkirk and Inception as evidence of a decline is a nonsense. I'm sure we could equally point to other film composers - say Alexandre Desplat - who compose scores for directors who ask for something more melodic. But we don't need to go that far - Zimmer, in collaboration with others, produced a "melodic" score for _Blue Planet II._


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

MacLeod said:


> The critics of "pop" on this forum should offer some evidence to support their claims of banality and decline that goes beyond a handful of easy targets (Swift, Gaga, Bieber and often, the entirety of rap)


I don't even think those in parentheses are easy targets; or, rather, I think anything can be an easy target if you decide to arbitrarily apply standards that the targets weren't even aiming for. It helps to actually like pop, to understand its standards, aesthetics, and goals (which aren't monolithic, mind you) before attacking anyone or anything. As someone who genuinely likes the genre, I find much good and bad (and banal) in the mainstream, much good and bad (and banal) outside it. I'm intrigued by trends and following its evolutions--the way, eg, Swift went from a pop-country star to a synth/electronic-pop star is interesting and has had an impact on her songwriting; or how Gaga was responsible for bringing back four-on-the-floor disco, but changed completely for her recent album in which she "dropped" her Gaga persona (which had an impact on her songwriting); or how rock and metal have almost all but disappeared from the mainstream; how rapping has almost replaced the role of guitar solos in bridges; how the 80s have made a comeback among many pop artists; or how underground genres, like trap and trip-hop, have found their way, even if obliquely, into pop music... the list goes on.

Part of my interest is just in how one is able to watch how creative trends emerge and die away, how cross-genre fertilization happens. When we look at history we're applying a lot of hindsight bias; we know the evolution from Haydn to Mozart to Beethoven to Wagner to Stravinsky, but there's a lot of nuance that's missed in between all that, and we're better able to understand (and sympathize with) the different standards that each composer was going for through that evolution. Pop music is one of the few ways in which we can watch that change take place in real time, and people are more inclined to just react rather than seeking to understand.


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## Guest (Oct 1, 2019)

Eva Yojimbo said:


> I don't even think those in parentheses are easy targets;


I only meant "easy" in the sense that they are among the most prominent of celebrity pop performers - easy to spot, pick out and attack, without having to delve into the vast number of lesser known pop performers across the pop genres (such as feature in the list I linked to). This you would need to do if you really want to survey the state of "melody" in popular music.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

MacLeod said:


> I only meant "easy" in the sense that they are among the most prominent of celebrity pop performers - easy to spot, pick out and attack, without having to delve into the vast number of lesser known pop performers across the pop genres (such as feature in the list I linked to). This you would need to do if you really want to survey the state of "melody" in popular music.


Fair point there.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Great melodists are hard to come by - at any time. The US was lucky to have a number of them in the early 20th century - Porter, Rodgers, Gershwin etc. You could add the Brill Building from the 1950-60s, although their melodies - Bacharach excepted -are simpler.

I can think of very few musicians since then who match that quality on a regular basis. McCartney, Elton John (for a while), arguably Billy Joel produced a decent number of memorable tunes. Many other songwriters would nail it from time to time or in one inspired burst. And of course today's pop tunes are credit as many as 20 songwriters. How do you expect a melody to come from that. I do like the fact that Ariana Grandes "7 Rings" has about 20 songwriters, but Rodgers and Hammerstein get 90% of the royalties. (If you want to know why, you can listen to the song.






Yeah, I know it's country, but I like it anyway.

On Saturday night I was at an event where several members of The National, one of the most popular current groups on the station, discussed their newest project - a musical adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac. We heard a few excerpts, and the songs sounded lovely. Although maybe not as good as "Porgy and Bess."


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

jegreenwood said:


> I listen to WFUV, which offers a mix of indy rock/pop and classic rock (where they often play "deeper cuts"). Several of NYC's original FM DJs moved over to WFUV, when their stations changed format. I find much to listen to. A recent addition was this song, which has a decent melody supporting great lyrics.


Thanks for the link! We used to have an indie station in Nashville that played incredible songs which were intelligently written and even had melodies. They ended up going away, sadly. Nowadays I get my nonclassical/nonjazz discoveries through YouTube. There are a lot of independent artists out there who will never get recognized by the mainstream, and they depend on their fans. I'm still amazed that when I put a comment on the videos/Facebook posts of the ones I'm following (Sara Niemetz, Aubrey Logan, Lake Street Dive), they usually give a personal response (at least I think it's them; it might be a secretary amaneusus). They seem to be the ones most in touch with their fan base.


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## jegreenwood (Dec 25, 2015)

Manxfeeder said:


> Thanks for the link! We used to have an indie station in Nashville that played incredible songs which were intelligently written and even had melodies. They ended up going away, sadly. Nowadays I get my nonclassical/nonjazz discoveries through YouTube. There are a lot of independent artists out there who will never get recognized by the mainstream, and they depend on their fans. I'm still amazed that when I put a comment on the videos/Facebook posts of the ones I'm following (Sara Niemetz, Aubrey Logan, Lake Street Dive), they usually give a personal response (at least I think it's them; it might be a secretary amaneusus). They seem to be the ones most in touch with their fan base.


Big fan of Lake Street Dive. Have to check out the other two.


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## Open Book (Aug 14, 2018)

"I do like the fact that Ariana Grandes "7 Rings" has about 20 songwriters, but Rodgers and Hammerstein get 90% of the royalties. (If you want to know why, you can listen to the song."

Anyone know how long composers get royalties for their music? So dead composers can support their descendants every time their music is played until the royalty period expires? Their aren't many professions where that is possible.


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

Open Book said:


> Anyone know how long composers get royalties for their music? So dead composers can support their descendants every time their music is played until the royalty period expires? Their aren't many professions where that is possible.


As long as they have the copyright. Here's a good site that explains how long it takes before art enters the public domain: https://copyright.cornell.edu/publicdomain


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## norman bates (Aug 18, 2010)

jegreenwood said:


> And of course today's pop tunes are credit as many as 20 songwriters. How do you expect a melody to come from that. I do like the fact that Ariana Grandes "7 Rings" has about 20 songwriters, but Rodgers and Hammerstein get 90% of the royalties. (If you want to know why, you can listen to the song.


the idea that with two writers you had a good song and adding eighteen more you had the crap that Ariana Grande is singing is quite hilarious


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## Eva Yojimbo (Jan 30, 2016)

Though I don't like that song myself (the bland production and lack of any memorable vocal hook/melody kills it), I do think there's something rather creative about how they took My Favorite Things and turned it into a cynical ode to gross consumerism:

"Whoever said money can't solve your problems
Must not have had enough money to solve 'em"

Is actually a pretty damn funny lyric.


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## Room2201974 (Jan 23, 2018)

No melody is not my complaint about modern pop. I watch a certain late night tv show where new groups are featured all the time and thing I've noticed is almost a total lack of middle eights and the bridges that go with them. All we get are verse and chorus, repeat that three or four times and your done. It's like a world too busy for a songwriter to write a complete song, and listeners who don't have time to hear one either. My comp prof used to say that a good song should be like a composition without the development of material, but you should still endeavor as a songwriter to "go someplace and then come back."

As others have pointed out, good melody still exists outside the parameters of the article. Pasek and Paul are just warming up in my opinion. And my old standby, Neil Finn, although not "modern" is still, unlike Billy Joel, cranking out good melodies and good middle eights.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

Personally I still hear good melody in pop music, even taking the very narrowest definition of it. Take Sia's "Chandelier". Of course the verses are very monotone, the melody in the chorus actually has, imo, a really fantastic arch to it that builds and carries through a climax quite effectively:






As for an artist like Arianna Grande, I mean ya 7 rings is just a My Favorite Things ripoff, but I think songs like this actually have a melody that's pretty well constructed, and also has a nice buildup






Daniel Ceaser is another pop musician that has a really great vocal range and I think his melodies are quite soaring and..well..melodic. Not at all the generic monotone that you would expect from the stereotype of pop music.






Besides, this is nothing new really. I mean, are the melodies like I posted above any simpler than old folk songs like Mary Had a Little Lamb? People have always listened to simple melodies that aren't as "profound" as something from the Saint Mathew Passion...


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I've been enjoying podcasts from Hooked on Pop . One of the hosts is a musicologist, and he analyzes what these songs are doing (maybe at times reading too much into them), but it's helped me see a little under the surface of what's out there.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

Oops. I mean Switched on Pop.


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## Red Terror (Dec 10, 2018)

starthrower said:


> I have no interest in tuneless pop music. Am I supposed to be intoxicated with the simplistic rhythmic qualities and techno beats? I like music made by musicians who can play instruments and create melodies.
> 
> The producer of that video ought to look a little farther than Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift, and Rap, because there are hundreds of artists creating melodic music. I listen to Michael Franti, Hiatus Kyote, and Thundercat, just for a few examples.


Quite impressed with *Hiatus Kyote*. Nice pick, Star!


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## Dorsetmike (Sep 26, 2018)

Can any modern pop be classed as music?????????


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

Red Terror said:


> Quite impressed with *Hiatus Kyote*. Nice pick, Star!


Their second CD, Choose Your Weapon is superb! Unfortunately their vocalist developed some serious health problems which put them on a literal hiatus for an indefinite period.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

I have to agree with the OP, because there is music I listen to which is not melodic, and there is plenty of substance to it besides melody. Melody is only one aspect of music. The others are rhythm, timbre, dynamics, pitch, as well as a myriad of associations we make as listeners.

I think the OP is flawed, though, in that it tries to milk meaning out of the old cliché that "rap has no melody, that's not music, it's just a beat with talking over it, etc." which was used (in modified form) as a criticism of "modern" music in general.


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## Guest (Jan 13, 2020)

Dorsetmike said:


> Can any modern pop be classed as music?????????


Does this question really deserve an answer??????????


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## TMHeimer (Dec 19, 2019)

I had little interest in pop music 'til the good old '80s. Being a classical musician, it wasn't my thing. But, with the onset of some really catchy pop musicians and songs at that time, I began to listen a lot. Melodies that you could REMEMBER caught my ear. Stuff like Madonna, Boy George, Michael Jackson. I also really liked...wait for it... DISCO! The same "Latin" beat as described in today's music but WITH really upbeat melodies (plus it was the only thing I could really dance to).
So, my favourite time for Pop was about 1975-85. Then something happened. Not just the zero melody Rap, but the melodies just seemed to get boring, repetitive, one or 2 chord changes only, etc. It went nowhere. Hip Hop.....NO!!!
My wife likes SOME of the stuff the last 30+ years. Some of it seems to play at the '80s--just a little melody to make you think it's gunna be really good, but no. Young people have told me it catches on because it's easy to dance to--no argument there, but I need someting more. Something I can listen to in the car on a long trip.
We've watched shows such as The Voice, when at times a modern tune is sung that does have a lot of chordal variation and showcases the contestant's ability with range and dynamics. But, try to sing back the melody you just heard--can't. TOO much wandering around.


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

Pop music is, and never was, primarily concerned with the purely musical device known as 'melody.' Pop music is about 'gesture' and timbre, color, and texture; with setting a mood.

Billie Elish's vocals are barely audible; without a microphone they would be. Her 'noises' are more gestural, conveying vulnerability. Her music seems not to convey 'musical' ideas, but moods, stances, gestures, in the service of lifestyle and her age group.

The 'song' is a disappearing form, because it exists in the abstract as a written form, in lead sheets. In many pop items, this "form" is barely there, if at all. The scaffolding is now rhythm.

Much pop and experimental music is composed by sound, not written. This opens the door to "collage" and juxtapositions of pure sound. Computers have enabled this.

Now, compositions are not based on "musical" elements, but are pastiches and combinations of sounds, pure sounds.


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## Guillaume80 (Jan 19, 2020)

There can be some good pieces even in modern music but I always like when more classical musicians are making covers out of these...example the Brooklyn Duo (Cello/piano) which for me is really making the link between classical music and modern music


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## TMHeimer (Dec 19, 2019)

Today's music (or in general since the end of the 80s)--
-- No real melody that you can remember after the song plays.
-- Not much at all regarding chordal structure. Often long periods on the same chord or two chords total in the song.
Very boring.
-- One #1 hit in around 2000 contained one chord only.
-- Yes, you can dance to today's music.
-- Disco: Today's Hip Hop but with nice melodies that you can also dance to.
-- We all make fun of Disco anyway......!!!?


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## millionrainbows (Jun 23, 2012)

tdc said:


> All of the examples of music in that video have melody to some degree. Melodies becoming shorter, more fragmented and less at the forefront of a piece of music is not the same thing as music having no melody, or melody "dying" and needing to be "saved".


As I said in post #43, 
Much pop and experimental music is composed by sound, not written. This opens the door to "collage" and juxtapositions of pure sound. Computers have enabled this.

Now, compositions are not based on "musical" elements, but are pastiches and combinations of sounds, pure sounds.

Now, to play devil's advocate:

Some of us old-timers prefer songs that _somebody actually sat down and wrote,_ as a musical idea, like The Beatles did.

Much of the newer pop music 'with short melodies and fragments' is because it was assembled and put together using *computers* and *Pro Tools, *just like a Ford.


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## mikeh375 (Sep 7, 2017)

millionrainbows said:


> As I said in post #43,
> Much pop and experimental music is composed by sound, not written. This opens the door to "collage" and juxtapositions of pure sound. Computers have enabled this.
> 
> Now, compositions are not based on "musical" elements, but are pastiches and combinations of sounds, pure sounds.
> ...


Yep...…………………………..4 bars ……..4 bars...………...4 bars...………..


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## SONNET CLV (May 31, 2014)

*What is your opinion on modern popular music having no melody? *

Well … I suppose I can finally hum or whistle the music better. Those danged melodies really screw me up!


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