vanblah

All popular music "passes off the lowest common denominator of creativity." That's how they sell music to the masses. With popular forms it's about "unique familiarity." The writer and producer (sometimes the performer) put together a song (or songs) that sound like "Band X" but with enough differences that the average buyer will pick it up.

Musical composition? Really? Let's examine MOST pop music and you'll find that the "composition" is simple and repetitive. Rock/Blues/Hip Hop/R&B ... most of it is 4/4--and 4 on the floor at that. You might get a little 3/4 (or 6/8) for ballads if you're lucky. They usally use ABABABB structure ... or ABABCBB structure if they're feeling daring. Lyrical content is laughable and secondary in most cases.

I have a pop band that I've been working with for a while now. None of us in the band have a pop background ... for the most part we don't listen to pop music beyond what we hear on the radio (when it's on). I do appreciate the craft of writing a pop song and making it sound different enough that people will actually buy it. The band has tried to stick with the pop format; but also breaking enough rules that we can stand out.

You say that "anyone who's serious about music can tell you [that] hiphop/rap should easily ... be winning [the title for being the most repetitious]" over your own genre: electronic. But they're both basically the same in my book. Both of these genres (hip-hop and electronic) use, almost exclusively, either found sound or purchased sample libraries of drums, bass-lines, lead-lines, pads and even vocal cues. Does that make it bad? Not in my book. I sometimes like to use sample libraries too ... in my other projects.

With regard to the countless other musicians and bands "not making it" that you mentioned ... I just attended a meeting that talked about hip-hop vs. rock. Hip-hop artists have a very strong community ... they are usually out there selling their asses off. Indie rock musicians usually sit around the bar and whine about why no one is falling down all over themselves trying to buy their CDs. In the end it's about who is a better salesman. It can't be "all about the music" when you are trying to sell yourself. That's why it's called "selling."

With regard to electronic music ... most of what I hear is exactly what you don't like: rap without lyrics. A beat, a bassline, a few synth pads and a maybe, maybe a lead; usually no lyrics. Of course, not all electronic music is like this ... some of it is amazingly good (and even sometimes complex). But there is certainly a glut of people who string together a few loops in a software program and then complain that no one will buy it. Why should someone buy yet another "song" that was put together out of samples with no soul? Complexity does not automatically equal good. The opposite is true in most cases.

Sidenote:

Don't believe anything you see on TV with regard to "bling." Yeah, it may look like they're making millions but for the most part it's all an act. A few ARE making a lot of money, that's true, but the vast majority are just the flavor of the moment and they will retire to relative obscurity and be broke within a few months or years. My favorite story is about a certain Rap/Metal band that had a spot on MTV cribs. On the show you see a mansion, pool, recording studio, nice cars, TVs and just a bunch of nice shit all over the house. In reality, MTV rented the mansion and had all of the amenities flown in. The guys in thiss band are broke as a joke and of course now they're struggling to pay the rent in a crappy little apartment in town. The image of bling is just a marketing ploy to sell more CDs ...