Joe > Average

As well, i heard that Ke$ha song "Love drug something or other", i don't even know what it's called. And i know your up on "current" music so to say Joe, thoughts? And also on that Akon guy. Personally the little bit of w/e genre he is that my buds make me listen too, i can't stand him more then almost anyone (other then Ke$ha, Hedley and a few others )

I guess I'm neutral with Akon. He's definitely no special talent, but at a party I'll dance to his stuff admittedly . Its also ironic that you're asking me what I think about Kesha when I have that very song listed as the worst song ever on my profile page . To me any valley girl or perky cheerleader on earth could sing her songs, but that's just a side note she just sings in a way that annoys me . She's like a random valley girl who just says any random thing, puts played out psuedo hip hop and techno beats on her songs and people love it .

She looks like the bad side of Taylor Swift to be honest

Kinda signs like it too :yuckky: But that said, i still majorly dislike both

And iunno, everytime i hear akon he's just singing about some part of a woman and how she shakes it or something

we have ONE new follower ...which brings us to a stunning 4 in total

She looks like the bad side of Taylor Swift to be honest

Kinda signs like it too :yuckky: But that said, i still majorly dislike both

And iunno, everytime i hear akon he's just singing about some part of a woman and how she shakes it or something

Yeah, I definitely don't listen to him in my own time . I must admit though Taylor does have a couple of songs I kinda like . Even though her voice is actually pretty average she writes from her heart and seems nice .

we have ONE new follower ...which brings us to a stunning 4 in total

I thought we had 5 , but maybe this will get us the 5th one, a look into the future *crowd aaaahhhhhs*

Jay Z in 5 years old .

Yeah, I definitely don't listen to him in my own time . I must admit though Taylor does have a couple of songs I kinda like . Even though her voice is actually pretty average she writes from her heart and seems nice .

I thought we had 5 , but maybe this will get us the 5th one, a look into the future *crowd aaaahhhhhs*

Jay Z in 5 years old .

That's the other thing that annoys me about today's music, so many people all sound the same. When my friends put on the "hit" music radio station i often find that 4 songs have gone by and i think it's either 1 male artist and 1 female or just 1 artist. I can't tell the difference anymore, that and the fact there's so many "hit bands" Out there now adays. I've lost what I can tell is the difference. Mind you, they play Lady Gaga and Akon every 7 bloody songs :shock:

That's what's nice about taylor's writing, if it is really her, it seems like it's real. Too many people just write for the $$$. Speaking of Which.. Rush put out 2 new singles... I wish I could tell you they're mind blowingly good. But no.. Every other rush fan i know likes them but just a meh for me.

@ Jay-Z pic.

I hate to sound like a generation traitor, but the truth is music is becoming more and more of a product than an art overall. Rihanna (you all know I lover her, but also love to be real) wouldn't have got a job as a backup singer prior to the 80s (when the magic of the studio came in full power) most likely, definitely not the 60s or before. Without technology Taylor, Kesha and Katie Perry are even worse. Kesha and Katie Perry wouldn't make it out of the American Idol Auditions . And unfortunately on the flip side, someone like Aretha Franklin or Ella Fitzgerald probably wouldn't be able to get a record deal today and a lot of the hot singers that weren't taken seriously back then because of their looks would probably dominated today. Just look at the terminology used for music now: "the look" "the image" "commercial sound" all business/product oriented terminology with no regard for the quality of music.

yooo joooe where's your mooojooo <_<

how's the petition for the "thank-you" button going?

What's a mojo ? And not well since I haven't seen an administrator in weeks .

I hate to sound like a generation traitor, but the truth is music is becoming more and more of a product than an art overall. Rihanna (you all know I lover her, but also love to be real) wouldn't have got a job as a backup singer prior to the 80s (when the magic of the studio came in full power) most likely, definitely not the 60s or before. Without technology Taylor, Kesha and Katie Perry are even worse. Kesha and Katie Perry wouldn't make it out of the American Idol Auditions . And unfortunately on the flip side, someone like Aretha Franklin or Ella Fitzgerald probably wouldn't be able to get a record deal today and a lot of the hot singers that weren't taken seriously back then because of their looks would probably dominated today. Just look at the terminology used for music now: "the look" "the image" "commercial sound" all business/product oriented terminology with no regard for the quality of music.

Spot on Joe. I got nothing to add. That was perfect. It's so totally true. And so very sad

Other then, I love listening to Aretha and Ella. Glad you picked those 2 female vocalists. They honestly have some of the most amazing voices ever. Male or female, they were amazing singers. Now true, the earlier days had stars like that like "Frank Sinatra" but back then it was much more based on just the music and not on how you looked though Frank had that look to him. Look at some of those old rockstars how bad they looked/ now look (Mick Jagger)

Btw nice Candice siggy. And lil blurb about why Joe is above average

And since i feel Obligated to put more into then words, Stevie Wonder (Musical Prodigy) at 13 years old:

Justin Bieber (Modern "Hit Maker") at 8/10/12. Or however old this lil pre-teen is he looks about 8 to me. :

Hmm... I wonder who's more creative musically and really means it?

I hate to sound like a generation traitor, but the truth is music is becoming more and more of a product than an art overall

...

You know, substitute the word 'music' for 'pop music industry' and I totally agree with everything you said.

But man, there's so much amazing music being made today. Nevermind the Lady Gagas and the countless others I don't care to know about.. I mean actual talented artists and musicians, making real shit for the love of the music, not the love of the fame. Music is more diverse and accessible than it's ever been, which is a really exciting thing

The point about all those is that the average standard of talent to get a record deal and even become an international sensation is getting lower because of commercial politics. With the right song the girl in your avatar could be a hit artist. That's not to say there aren't talented artists, there will always be. But the fact that the more talented artists of today have 2nd or 3rd tier success is only another part of the plight. Its gone from talented at the top and 3rd tier just as talented with a cult following. Now the 3rd tier are the most talented and to break through to the top they almost have to compromise their art. I agree about accessible because of technology only not "more diverse than ever". It seems to me there used to be more subgeneres of rock represented just in the 90s alone. R&B now is basically just singing over rap beats mostly whereas it used to have much versatility and depth and many different styles. Rap has taken its place mostly and is losing its relevance more and more every year and rock is becoming more like pop every year ...That's not to mention there was a time we had the same generes with more subjenres and jazz and blues added to that. And mind you 99% of the music I actually own is current artists, I just started listening to and learning about older artists in the past couple years so even though I feel this way that's not to say I've boycotted the radio I still do enjoy it very much .

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=mojo

Oh, . What makes you think mine is gone :dance: ?

@ Limer, glad you like the set . I'm hoping to once again climb the BZ charts :morning: .

Also, the standard of looks for men to be "commercial" is much lower. You can take an average or below average looking guy and if women buy into his songs, they'll love him and learn to appreciate his looks, whereas it doesn't seem to work for women the same . For example (not that they're ugly) if Mary J. Blige and Amy Winehous were men, they'd have huge female followings that appreciated their looks too, but as women they are only liked for their work .

Hmm. It's kind of interesting that with time comes an inherent dichotomy between diversity and a lack of originality. On the one hand you have people running out of ideas and following what the masses are into, and on the other you have an ever-expanding range of music that people are making - because of a) artists having a larger pool of influences to draw from, b) retroactive cycles and fusions of styles, and c) technology opening new avenues. Certainly in mainstream music today though, it does all sound much the same. The people at my work listen to commercial radio, and it's just the same shit over and over, all day long. I don't know how people stand it

I do agree about the lowering of standards in that mainstream circle. No doubt reality TV is the biggest culprit for that :yuckky:

Joe, you wrote about Amy Winehouse in your example, and somehow the only thing I could think was that she inspired (her style, that is) a few fashion shows and editorials haha I hope her new album would come out soon... I love her songs.

And yeah, I'd say you can't say music these days is awful. There is still the same amount of good music as there used to be, it's just that bad one gets way too much attention so you may get an impression that nothing is good

In reference to the discussion - don't you kinda wish something like this would happen? God knows there's enough of these sort of bands about... (Stick with it, gets odd pretty quickly!):

and somehow the only thing I could think was that she inspired (her style, that is) a few fashion shows and editorials haha I hope her new album would come out soon... I love her songs.

And yeah, I'd say you can't say music these days is awful. There is still the same amount of good music as there used to be, it's just that bad one gets way too much attention so you may get an impression that nothing is good

I hope she comes back soon too .

If by good you mean "respectable" yeah I agree with that. Though to me the number of truly great artists varies in different decades (irrespective of who it is being compared) thought that's a different subject from this though.

But either way, I'm not sure I'm being understood though. I know the natural thing to do is assume its just a grumpy old man's "music is dead" speech. But that's not the message at all. What I was saying is the reduced standard of talent necessary to get a record deal and be a star combined with the raised standard of commercial oriented qualities has reduced the standard of average considerably. That's not a denial of the best artists.

Really steming from two primary sources that root before these artists were even born...

1. Technology - The 80s was the first decade of highly processed vocals. Since then, the technology has been available to mostly correct the pitch of even the most average voice. The total shift towards the mostly commercialistic approach hadn't fully evolved yet, but this was a huge step towards it. Also, as a side note the emphasis on instrumentation in music in general took a hit eventually as a result of these technological advances and become more obsolete in the process too in comparsisson to the past. Instruments were still a big part of some generes for awhile, but as they became more obsolete due to technology that has become another element of music that started to disapate over time allowing producers to take the place of instrumental music writers more and more. Now the instrument play in most rockbands is even interchangable.

2. Music Videos - The popularity of Michael Jackson in the 80s took music videos to the next level and eventually made music videos all but manditory for

successful artists. On top of that, the popularity of Madonna picked up where Elvis' pelvis left off in the sexual revolution of musical imagery. As a result,

the increased emphasis on images eventually led to an increased emphasis on qualities of commercial appeal independent of musical talent. Executives and producers realized they could sign someone with a certain look, appeal or image and they sell just the same with catchy songs and it worked. Not only did it work, but in some cases better.

All of this helped to reduced the standard of average, but stating this isn't a denial of the good at all .

And now, looking at what Disney has done they've taken it even further for the next generation and done basically the same thing, but crossed it over into music, television and film both in ways that have arguably nevery been achieved before. So yes, Duffy, Jill Scott and Adelle are good, but to the record company's eyes who needs the if you can make 10x as much with Miley Cyrus? Whereas in the past it would be the opposite, Duffy would be recognized and Miley wouldn't even sing backup. That's the plight, not whether there are good artists or not and there are .

Harvard, Yale and Princeton could lower their GPA requirements but that wouldn't mean that there weren't still very smart people there in other words. Its like Reality TV has brought the standard of average down for the level of talent needed to get on TV, but that's not to say there aren't many talented actors and writers on television .

I honestly didn't intend to write that much .

In reference to the discussion - don't you kinda wish something like this would happen? God knows there's enough of these sort of bands about... (Stick with it, gets odd pretty quickly!):

:evil:

In short Joe after the last 2 musical thought messages you've had so true All i gotta say.

What i like about your voice in this is thought you admit your musical collection is more "modern day" you have very well thought out points as opposed to someone like me who is very "old school" in my music.

Anyways. Is it bad if i want to do bad stuff to candice in your sig?

In reference to the discussion - don't you kinda wish something like this would happen? God knows there's enough of these sort of bands about... (Stick with it, gets odd pretty quickly!):

Great video

But either way, I'm not sure I'm being understood though. I know the natural thing to do is assume its just a grumpy old man's "music is dead" speech. But that's not the message at all. What I was saying is

...

Yeah, I gotcha. Personally though, I don't much care about the state of that scene.

The less marketable/commercially viable artists are still out there, and if they have the talent, the passion and the drive; maybe they won't get the notoriety they once would have (or perhaps deserve), but they'll find their audience. And it will be one less fickle, more appreciative and more respectful.

Yeah, that's true . And to be honest, the way I see it, there's always been and will always be good underrated artists (Tim and his son Jeff Buckley in two different generations for example). All eras have them. Elvis idolized Roy Hamilton and Clyde McPhatter and most people don't know who they are today. And in the present, Duffy may never be as popular as Katy Perry and Jill Scott will never be as popular as Rihanna, James Morisson will never be as popular as Robin Thicke or Justin Timberlake, but like you said they'll always find their audience and I just show my support by buying their work and spreading the word .

And Limer, you're already doing something bad to Candice, thinking like a horny Canadian rather than concentrating on her voice :persuazn: ! .