Way back when, movements of music listenership has evolved through the eras: 1940s Jazz headlined by acts such as Frank Sinatra, 'Beatlemania' influencing the boom of rock in the 60s, while pop was brought to the fore by The King and Queen of Pop in the 1980s. Nowadays in 2023, you can't walk into a shopping centre or cafe without hearing the biggest and highest charting rap and pop hits of the year. Is that a good or bad thing?
In my humble opinion the rap and pop-centric way that the world works right now is detrimental to the music industry. So often does it seem that people would rather listen to the new Drake song, the new Travis Scott album or the new Weeknd single, while completely disregarding other genres. Spotify monthly listeners will show you in a pretty obvious way that this is the case- with some people like the Weeknd even exceeding 100 million monthly listeners. But the reality is there is so much more 'better' music out there that does not receive the recognition it deserves. Let's talk about what makes a song 'better' than another.
The issue is currently that rap and pop music is so accessible. You can't turn on the radio or walk into a store without hearing a rap or pop song. It has been driven into the mainstream by radio stations because it is so accessible, because both genres are so up tempo and leads to higher listeners on the radio and within the industry itself, greater album sales. The sad reality is that no one in the radio scene cares about the new Big Thief album, new MGMT single, or Radiohead classic. They would rather stream rap songs from August to keep listeners entertained, or pop songs from back in 2010.
It's so easy for artists to trick their listeners these days. Just whack on a nice beat that gets people excited and people will still listen. People don't listen to the lyrics anymore, and that's the sad thing. The lyrics could be a bunch of gibberish, but because the beat has 20 different variations of a high hat and 3 beat drops, no one cares. One prominent example this year is from Travis Scott's album, 'Utopia.' Yeah the beats are cool, but Travis Scott is speaking gibberish on most of the songs. Also, he says 'Hunnid thousand fans pack the stands / Got 'em jumpin without hands. Not very sensitive on Travis' behalf, but it's fine because the song has a nice beat!
In the end, the way the radio works is hurting those in other genres who are trying to make a name for themselves. Their exposure to the radio is so low in comparison to the forementioned genres. It's time for that to change.
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