# Pop music too loud and all sounds the same: official



## Ralfy (Jul 19, 2010)

"Comforting news for anyone over the age of 35, scientists have worked out that modern pop music really is louder and does all sound the same."

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/07/26/us-science-music-idUKBRE86P0R820120726


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I don't need a scientific study to convince me most current pop music is devoid of melody, interesting harmonic content, imaginative arrangements, good singing, interesting rhythms, intelligent lyrics, etc.

If people need artificial intelligence to tell them this stuff, they should go read a comic book or join a softball league.

There are great musicians today writing excellent pop material, but they're being ignored by the music biz. Adrian Belew, Mike Keneally, Kimara Sajn, come to mind immediately.

This is from the brand new pop album Wing Beat Fantastic, featuring songs by Mike Keneally and Andy Partridge.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

"We found evidence of a progressive homogenization of the musical discourse,"

That what you're trying to say, _@starthrower_? Five multi-syllabic words in the sentence is much more authoritative. Nobody in the industry is going to accept concrete examples.


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## Ramako (Apr 28, 2012)

Ralfy said:


> Pop music too loud and all sounds the same: official


Amen to that.

I may read that article to amuse myself at some stage, but I really don't need scientists to tell me this one.


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## Metalkitsune (Jul 11, 2011)

Exactly what i've been saying. It seems the music of the 60's,70's,80's and early 90's was good.

Much modern music of 2011-2012 gives me a headache.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

It's simple, really. First, consider that Lady Gaga and her ilk are principally derived from disco. Now consider that disco was a phenomenon that originated in the 70s. Consider that, after the 70s, the music changed its window dressing, but the function remained the same - essentially to meet people and possibly have sex with them. Consider that modern society and the technology that enables it is all about doing things quickly, efficiently, or at least giving that illusion, so much so that we have largely skipped social interaction to the point where it is possible to be friends with 1000+ people on an international statistics database dressed up to look like a "social networking" website, 95% of whom you know literally nothing about. What better soundtrack for your light speed pseudo-socialite lifestyle than a no frills sex beat?


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

^^Devastating rant there, Crudblud, but pretty true.

I don't like pop and I agree re the homgeneity. Go to a bar or club in Sydney, or L.A., or Shanghai and you're likely to hear the same type of music or 'muzak.' Diversity is important in music I think, I'm also worried about the sameness and blandness aspect.

But I agree with starthrower, there is good stuff out there, esp. I think in rock and other genres. But of course for a more limited audience. 

But its similar to times past in some ways too. There were many 'one hit wonders' back in the days, no shortage of them since pop, rock, etc. started way back.


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## BurningDesire (Jul 15, 2012)

Crudblud said:


> It's simple, really. First, consider that Lady Gaga and her ilk are principally derived from disco. Now consider that disco was a phenomenon that originated in the 70s. Consider that, after the 70s, the music changed its window dressing, but the function remained the same - essentially to meet people and possibly have sex with them. Consider that modern society and the technology that enables it is all about doing things quickly, efficiently, or at least giving that illusion, so much so that we have largely skipped social interaction to the point where it is possible to be friends with 1000+ people on an international statistics database dressed up to look like a "social networking" website, 95% of whom you know literally nothing about. What better soundtrack for your light speed pseudo-socialite lifestyle than a no frills sex beat?


XD goddammit you talk just like Frank. Anywho, I don't think its very fair to lump Lady Gaga in with that insipid pop music. She's not a bad singer and she has a pretty good sense of harmony, interesting harmonies. I really gave her music a chance after hearing arrangements of it performed by a bassoon quartet, and her harmonies at times sound like medieval music. Its pretty cool :3


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## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

I know some people who are critical of this study, accusing "baby-boomers" of refusing to accept anything other than old rock n' roll or some kneejerk nonsense like that.

This new generation is a yuppie resurgence, if you look past the fauxhemian posturing. Culturally we really are devolving back into obsession of surface values more than ever. Wake me up when generation Y is over.


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## Guest (Aug 1, 2012)

Ralfy said:


> "Comforting news for anyone over the age of 35"


Why comforting, and why 35?

As usual, a "news" outlet gives you a silly headline, but limited explanation and no analysis. For example, the reduction in timbre palette presumably has something to do with the increase in synthesised instrumentation, but my guess might be completely wrong. Which music did they run through their complex algorithms? (Dare I ask explicitly, what was their definition of pop?)

As for the over 35s, not all of them would dismiss the pop output reaching back over the past 10 or 20 years, would they? (aside from those who have no interest in pop music in the first place.) Having been over 35 myself for 18 years now, I can think of much that I've enjoyed since 1994 that might belong to the genre.

And lastly, are we surprised? As crudblud says, 'pop' (narrowly defined at least) serves a narrow purpose and is hardly going to be sonically diverse.


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## Crudblud (Dec 29, 2011)

BurningDesire said:


> XD goddammit you talk just like Frank. Anywho, I don't think its very fair to lump Lady Gaga in with that insipid pop music. She's not a bad singer and she has a pretty good sense of harmony, interesting harmonies. I really gave her music a chance after hearing arrangements of it performed by a bassoon quartet, and her harmonies at times sound like medieval music. Its pretty cool :3


Unfortunately, Lady Gaga's talent is not the issue here. We're talking about the music industry, so the issue is the market, and in that context she occupies the exact same space as the insipid stuff you mentioned.


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## Ralfy (Jul 19, 2010)

FWIW, here's an article about the same topic from another source:

"Is Pop Music Evolving, or Is It Just Getting Louder?"

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com...-music-evolving-or-is-it-just-getting-louder/

with links to the study and the data set (280 GB).


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## Delicious Manager (Jul 16, 2008)

Ahh, how lovely to see yet another ill-informed gross generalisation in these pages!


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## Guest (Aug 1, 2012)

> "Comforting news for anyone over the age of 35, scientists have worked out that modern pop music really is louder and does all sound the same."
> 
> http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/0...86P0R820120726


BTW - thanks for the post!


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## Petwhac (Jun 9, 2010)

Pop music is louder because record labels insist that mastering engineers maximise the loudness. It isn't really even strictly to do with volume which you can turn down if you want but more to do with compression and over-compression. This is something that reduces the dynamics of the music so the quiet bits of a record actually sound as loud as the loud bits.

Anyone who's driven on the motorway while trying to listen to a classical CD will know that if you set that delicate pianissimo adagio section for the right volume, when the brass and timpani fortissimo it will blow your eardrums out.

Pop music, is mastered so that you never have to reach for that dial, whether listening in the car, on the radio or ipod. This lack of dynamics is Ok for some music, club and hip hop and other dance genres are produced and mixed to be 'in your face'.
What I find intolerable is when so-called classical stations like Classic FM here in the UK, compress their output so heavily that it makes listening in the car easier but completely ruins the subtlety of the dynamics of the music.
BBC Radio 3 are much less heavy handed and sounds more realistic but then you have to keep turning it up and down yourself if you're driving or have background noise around.

As for the music itself all sounding the same? That's just what pop loving teenagers say about classical music.

Actually, some of the skilful and imaginative manipulation of sounds and rhythms in the best of dance music is as interesting to me as any Xenakis or Partch and no more tedious.


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## mensch (Mar 5, 2012)

The extreme loudness of pop music is something that has cropped up regularly from the 1980s and onwards. It's why a lot of mainstream pop music is incredibly boring and the excessive usage of Auto-Tune, of course.

This video on the "Loudness Wars" is quite insightful:


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## mtmailey (Oct 21, 2011)

Ralfy said:


> "Comforting news for anyone over the age of 35, scientists have worked out that modern pop music really is louder and does all sound the same."
> 
> http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/07/26/us-science-music-idUKBRE86P0R820120726


This is somewhat true because pop,rap,rock,heavy metal music is mostly recylced music-it may sound somewhat different but the songs are mostly about the same things but they sound different


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## regressivetransphobe (May 16, 2011)

mtmailey said:


> This is somewhat true because pop,rap,rock,heavy metal music is mostly recylced music-it may sound somewhat different but the songs are mostly about the same things but they sound different


*pounds head against brick wall*


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

regressivetransphobe said:


> *pounds head against brick wall*


I thought Pink Floyd smashed that 'wall' ages ago. The Berlin wall?

Anyway if its made of brick its construction is so shoddy that with one pounding of your head, the wall will fall down, and your head will remain totally intact and uninjured.

Thats the quality of construction today, its cheap junk. Not built to last.*

*This is a metaphor for...something profound...and Germanic.


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## mtmailey (Oct 21, 2011)

That is true some martial artist can break a brick with their hands.


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