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Does catchy pop music really suck?

ThatsWhatHeSaid

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I don't listen to pop music because I'm better than those idiots, but this weekend I was at a wedding and this idiotic song came on:


Right. So it sucks, right? Yeah of course.

But yeah. It's kinda awesome. It's not Led Zeppling or Queen, but it's catchy, amirite? So does it really suck, or can it be appreciated for being catchy? Ice cream isn't caviar, but it's still delicious.
 

Lady_X

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i like some pop music...i mean come on how could you not get up and dance to this?? :laugh:

 

Lady_X

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btw he totally reminds me of the old poster enfp noigm i just decided.
 
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I'm not really a fan of most Top 40 music, but I will never understand how some indie morons have turned "catchy" into a pejorative, like it's some kind of cheap stunt. Isn't catchy the whole point?
 

Metamorphosis

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I think it just comes down to what you're listening to it for. I mean, it is popular for a reason. Some music is popular because of meaningful lyrics. Some music is popular because of the emotional appeal of the music itself. Some music is popular because it's good club music. Etc.
 

Elisius

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Some pop is good, like Gangam Style and Love Today.
Some of it isn't so great. Like 99% of the rest.

There's actually some science behind pop music being popular, your brain has an endorphin release when it successfully predicts a pattern, pop music, in its simplicity, offers plenty of predictable motions for your brain to get high on. More intricate music may give you a better high, but only with greater effort and it'll take some experience with music in general, hence that pop is popular mostly among teens and young adults.
 

violet_crown

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I feel there are definite qualities like a piece of music's complexity or novelty that objectively render it good or bad. Pop generally lacks in these areas, which is why people who have a real understanding of music shit on it. Nonetheless, you can still derive a lot of pleasure from music that's technically fairly mediocre as you can with damn near any other art form.
 

MacGuffin

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I own "Call Me Maybe".

Daughter just loves it too!

The artist I can't understand: Katy Perry. All her stuff sounds so bland to me.
 

UniqueMixture

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Pop music does suck. It is overly repetitive, has zero complexity, and so forth. However, it has a calming effect generally because it is so predictable. It's all about eliciting a certain mood/energy not about the beauty of expression within the medium itself.
 

rav3n

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While I stopped listening to this one for quite a number of months, it's a pop song that has some legs for me. The clip itself is interesting, the blending and unblending of person and artwork/concept of the relationship.
 

ms.behaving

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I like the old one hit wonder pop music like Tiffany.

Remember this one?...

"and then you put your arms around me
and we stumble to the ground
and then you say"

Sing it loud...

"I think we're alone now..."

Ah, good music. :)
 
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FigerPuppet

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Every time I see a 'Call Me Maybe'-imitation video I comfort myself with the knowledge that the creators, participants and supporters will suffer for all eternity in the 2nd circle of Hell, cursed to dance just to avoid the hail-stones being flung at them. Fuckers.

Music that is on the (bi-/quarter-)daily playlist of mainstream radio stations is, by default, shit. Even if it didn't start out shitty, the over-exposure turns it into shit. Gotye especially - what a piece of shit.

EDIT: [MENTION=10808]andante[/MENTION] if your taste in music could be represented by a vector, it would consist of only one component with the associated unit vector ŝ for shitty.
 

Such Irony

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I'm not really a fan of most Top 40 music, but I will never understand how some indie morons have turned "catchy" into a pejorative, like it's some kind of cheap stunt. Isn't catchy the whole point?


Definite yes to the bolded. However, I suppose there's good catchy and bad catchy. The people who say catchy music sucks are probably focusing on songs that are catchy but lack originality or are catchy to being annoying- being constantly played on radio stations. Then there's good catchy- songs that immediately grab your attention because they are unique and emotionally stirring and don't sound like everything else out there.

Then there are songs that aren't catchy upon a first listen or don't get catchy until later on. Some such songs get better after repeated listens. I can think of alot of classical pieces like that. They start out slow until later some sort of climax is reached. Some pieces are rather complex and you could listen to it several times and not quite experience it in the same way.

I think of it as a continuum. At one end you have the catchy top-40 type of pop music. At the other end you have more subtle and complex compositions that may take several listens to fully appreciate it. The first is generally more accessible and thought of as instantly catchy but also quicker to lose interest and get annoyed by it. With the latter, it takes longer to get into it, but less likely to find irritation from overexposure. The former is more overly catchy. The latter more subtly catchy.
 

Such Irony

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Pop music does suck. It is overly repetitive, has zero complexity, and so forth. However, it has a calming effect generally because it is so predictable. It's all about eliciting a certain mood/energy not about the beauty of expression within the medium itself.

Overgeneralize much? There are some pop songs that would fit this description but certainly not all of them. There are popular songs that are deserving of their popular status.
 

1487610420

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There's actually some science behind pop music being popular, your brain has an endorphin release when it successfully predicts a pattern, pop music, in its simplicity, offers plenty of predictable motions for your brain to get high on. More intricate music may give you a better high, but only with greater effort and it'll take some experience with music in general, hence that pop is popular mostly among teens and young adults.

This makes sense to me. I can find some enjoyment in more predictable music, but it gets tiring after a while, even among my favorite genres. I'll usually tend to choose my music by following what suites my mood.
 

rav3n

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andante if your taste in music could be represented by a vector, it would consist of only one component with the associated unit vector ŝ for shitty.
I like some pop/bubblegum and not others. A lot of my taste in music surrounds dark minimal techno, industrial, classical, some baroque (specifically Bach), some rock, some anthem trance and a number of other genres. It's easier for me to state what genres I dislike and that would be primarily country and rap.
 

Magic Poriferan

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Some catchy pop music is great. I mean, how much of The Beatles' output qualified as that?

However, I think my tastes are fairly dependent on when this pop music from as I do think it has gotten worse. See my thread about that.

I think popular music peaked in the 1970s.
 

1487610420

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While I stopped listening to this one for quite a number of months, it's a pop song that has some legs for me. The clip itself is interesting, the blending and unblending of person and artwork/concept of the relationship.
I saw this on the tv couple days ago and @ the bold caught my attention.
Here, I toke pix!

7NZkH.jpg
 
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