Numerous articles discuss how to create a good song from a technical standpoint, examining lyric writing, catchy melodies, chord structure, and arrangement. However, this article takes a step back to ask, “who am I creating this music for?”
Our musical perspectives are often influenced by others’ opinions, be it our peers or society/culture as a whole, while our personal tastes guide us.
After determining whether a song’s musical formula resonates with us, the next level of judgment typically comes from how the music is made. This includes both the technical complexity of the creation process and the story or experience behind the song.
In an era of AI music and machines stripping away these latter two considerations, it’s a fitting time to delve into the discussion around the value of music and what constitutes a “good” song.
Who’s right about the quality and value of music: the mass market or the niche, elitist music fan?
As music industry professionals, our understanding of “good quality music” varies depending on the music genre we work with. A pop music professional may define a good song as one that is highly relatable, catchy, and commercially successful with a broad audience. In contrast, a jazz fan may dismiss such music and judge the quality based on the complexity and technicality of the musicianship.
In the industry, these perspectives shape our musical and business decisions. While this is crucial for maintaining a functioning system, it can also create a barrier that prioritises business and subjective opinions over creativity.
Going hipster: why “real” music fans hate Pop
Pop tends to get a bad rep in niche music circles. Its formulaic nature, open-ended, transferable and generic lyrics, associated sexualised or candy-coated imagery and simplistic musicality make it sickly and untalented for some music fans.
However, there are so many examples of this type of music generating millions in revenue despite not being particularly good from a technical, complexity, talent or skilful perspective. In fact, plenty of music charts that is borderline even musical. Often, Pop music is simplistic, easy to produce, and not particularly musical. So why does this music continue to chart and find widespread success despite its lack of quality?
How nursery rhymes help you make good songs
Many skilled musicians tend to overlook music they perceive as similar to nursery rhymes. Often, they consider simple music as having lesser value, believing that listeners should enhance their skills to appreciate the potential intricacies of music. Pop music notably follows a formula akin to nursery rhymes, leading elitist musicians and listeners to critique it.
However, music isn’t solely about complexity and deep listening. A catchy tune or rhythm that induces movement, encourages humming, or remains memorable throughout the day can offer a refreshing change from life’s monotony and provide subconscious escape. Nursery rhymes have been soothing us and aiding our understanding of daily occurrences since childhood. It’s no surprise that pop music adopts a similar formula. Perhaps this formula carries a sense of nostalgia and comfort, and as social beings, we might need it more than we acknowledge.
Technical factors altering music quality
A primary factor in the debate about declining music quality is the belief that music is adapting to a younger audience raised with technology that dramatically alters their musical experience. For instance, Spotify’s rule mandates that at least 30 seconds of a stream must be played to count towards revenue. This leads many artists to create immediate impacts in their songs to capture interest, significantly altering the structure of mainstream songs. Lengthy, atmospheric introductions are typically avoided in favor of delivering the hook or catchiest part of a song immediately.
TikTok has transformed many into hyperactive skippers with short attention spans who crave only the hooks.
These consumer technology requirements have influenced the overall length and structure of music.
These discussions often result in the perception that music quality is declining, and people lack the patience for longer and more complex music. However, apart from these points, other aspects of “modern music” are frequently criticised as being less skilful or musical than past music.
The value of sampling and remixing
On the other side of the argument, some people blame not only technology used to listen to music for the ongoing degradation of music, but also the technology used to create music. They claim that it has become too easy to create a “tune” and that there is an abundance of “theft” in that creation. Specifically, these attacks are on sampling and remixing.
Meanwhile, music is often defended for the use of sampling and remixing as legitimate art forms and something that should be liberally accepted at the creative stages. Remixing and sampling can be as complicated as writing music from scratch using an instrument.
There is a particular problem with the clearance process that exacerbates the negative perception of sampling and remixing. Record labels, publishers, and managers often judge commercial potential instead of artistic value. This means that most remixes and samples we hear in the mainstream do not necessarily reflect how sampling is improving art, but rather hindering it. Samples in popular music are often used in a cheap and gimmicky way. Meanwhile, there is an entire generation of sonic collage artists who are tarnished with the same brush.
Culture and “low-level” art
The ongoing debate questions why popular music is perceived as degrading in quality and why so many individuals support music considered to be of lesser quality when there is an abundance of good music.
As music professionals, our roles involve:
- Creating or supporting music that genuinely expresses our authentic experiences and understandings of the world.
- Finding the appropriate audience for this music.
The issue becomes complicated when we compare our music to top-selling music, which targets the broadest audience. Enter jealousy…
Consider this: music that appeals to the broadest audience needs to be as generic and widely appealing as possible.
Some individuals insist that the issue lies with the audience and the culture. They argue that current listeners lack the intelligence to comprehend and appreciate complex music, unlike the curious and well-read audiences of the ’60s and ’70s. They condemn the ’80s for commercialising and popularising various music genres once considered non-mainstream. The ’90s are also criticised for producing and marketing music like boy bands as if they were Barbie dolls, refining the art of pop music.
However, let’s revisit our two primary roles as music professionals. Neither task necessitates understanding cultural evolution or considering culture as a whole.
Culture is predominantly beyond our control, and blaming “culture” for not appreciating good art or not reaching its potential is precarious. As music enthusiasts, we often believe that lower-quality music can degrade society. However, art, whether complex or simple, symphonic or punk, nursery rhymes or folk, will always be an ever-evolving entity.
Change yourself, not the problem
The problem we face is beyond our control and far bigger than us. Moreover, it’s not even our problem. Our problem lies in creating or supporting music and finding an audience that resonates and appreciates it.
So, the next time you catch yourself complaining about the deteriorating quality of music or society, remind yourself of what you should be doing:
- Make or support music that honestly expresses your existence and experience.
- Find an audience that loves that music.
By focusing on these two missions, we can avoid distractions that could sabotage our success with music. There will always be an audience for more complex music. You’re just wasting your time complaining about less complex music instead of spending that time finding that audience.
There is no point in complaining about changes that consumers enjoy. Instead, you can either create versions of your music to suit the platform and audience, or find other places where consumers who enjoy your music gather and focus on those.
The future of music
The future of music technology is exciting as AI music enters the fray. Algorithms are breaking through the limitations of mathematical combinations of music theory, potentially rendering good, uncopyrighted melodies obsolete. However, we should not be afraid of this evolution.
When music copyright was introduced, it was never expected that we would have the technological ability to access them at a computational level that exceeds human creation. Computers now cycle through combinations like chess moves and print them, allowing the first person to copyright them to win.
It is clear that this will disrupt the entire music industry and force it to change in ways it never has before. I anticipate that this will lead to a stem-based system where melodies are no longer copyrighted, but instead variations of those melodies in different contexts are.
In the meantime, we need more systems like Instapaper, Readwise, and Roam Research, but for music experiences, to evolve the way we consume and create music. This will be particularly useful for resurfacing melodies that may not have worked in one context but could in another.
Yes, music quality is subjective…
The debate surrounding whether or not low-value popular music constitutes “good art” is complex. As music industry professionals, we should avoid the snobbish notion that everyone should share our taste in music, and instead embrace experimentation and integration in music.
Pop music has its place, and if you are able to create (or be part of a team that creates) pop music that appeals to a mass audience, you are likely to catch a wave before you even have a chance to get off it.
Personally, I love pop music that can emotionally move me, and I believe that the ability of pop music to do so is nearly unparalleled.
Do the professionals who work with pop music at the highest level in major record labels care about the quality of the music? No, they are thinking about how much the audience loves it. The takeaway from this is not to stop caring about the music, but rather to care about what the audience you care about, cares about.
If you are among those who can’t catch that wave, don’t complain. Realise that the world doesn’t revolve around you, but rather it moves in a way that allows you to thrive if you find your niche.
Technology will evolve, music will change, becoming less sophisticated, then more sophisticated, and then less again.
In the end, though, music transcends human existence. It exists in nature without human involvement, and it exists without our perception of it. If a tree falls and no one hears it, the beat goes on.