[Music] Why Do {People THink Bands With Mainstream Success Are Bad?

[serenka]

people love to hate popular things.

[Deleted]

Well when I think mainstream I think of the crap pop/hip hop stuff like Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, and Nicki Minaj and all those other pop stars. That stuff I hate because it's just utter crap and the media crams it down your throat forcing you to recognize these people and their "music" and it's just everywhere anymore. I hate it when I'm watching a show with somebody and then all of a sudden "...and our special guest performance by Justin Bieber!!" or "...Nicki Minaj!!" that's when I just get up look for something to do or eat until it's over. Ugh, I'm just sick of the "music" that's being pumped out these days, it's disgusting, for me it is at least.

I miss the days where music had class and they used actual instruments instead of computer noises and auto tune all the time. Where are all the damn rock bands!? Every new artist that comes into the spotlight are either hip-hop/R&B or pop. Metal bands, forget it, there will never again be another mainstream metal band at least not in the US or even hard rock for that matter. A lot of times I feel like I was born in the wrong time.

No offense but this argument is also quite... wrong.

I hate shitty mainstream club music with a burning passion (however I still like many of it a lot more than that abomination from the 80s that is called "glam metal" which is frankly the same, just pertaining to a different era) however if you check out the works of the likes of Burial, Distance, Aphex Twin, Venetian Snares, The Algorithm, Black Sun Empire or Noisia, for example, you can find many great electronic music that totally has artistic integrity.

[leafs43]

I am of the belief anything that only a 14 year old would find good is terrible music.


However if a 14 year old and a 30 year old can find common ground, that music is popular for a reason.

[Radio]

No offense but this argument is also quite... wrong.

I hate shitty mainstream club music with a burning passion (however I still like many of it a lot more than that abomination from the 80s that is called "glam metal" which is frankly the same, just pertaining to a different era) however if you check out the works of the likes of Burial, Distance, Aphex Twin, Venetian Snares, The Algorithm, Black Sun Empire or Noisia, for example, you can find many great electronic music that totally has artistic integrity.

Agreed, it isn't the choice of instrument that is the problem, it is the approach to writing music that characterises stereotypical mainstream music.

Hell, it's very possible to even make a wonderful song using nothing but the human voice.

[Immitis]

its called hipsterism, it is a disease spreading through some of our youth like wild fire, the symptoms include skinny jeans, wearing glasses when they are not required, and wearing scarfs in the summer time.

hipsters seldom travel alone, usually forming packs for survival but in certain environments hipsters are forced to brave the wilds alone, these hipsters have acquired a new trait they put their head to the side and spout out a noise that sounds somewhat like "pfft whatever" and while their predator is distracted run off to the nearest free wifi hotspot to attempt to write a novel.

[couchboi]

Hating the entire band just 'cause they are now mainstream is dumb. I love it when a band actually evolves and can change their sound, but there are some times when that change is complete crap. Owl City (not really a "band", but whatevs) is a great example of this. His Midsummer Station album is complete garbage compared to his older albums when he was less mainstream. Do I hate him all of sudden? No, that's stupid. I hate that album, but his other albums are great.

[Badpaladin]

When music ceases to be about an artistic expression and is instead crafted to become popular and catchy it loses something in the process.

[Deleted]

When music ceases to be about an artistic expression and is instead crafted to become popular and catchy it loses something in the process.

I have always wondered how can you say stuff I write a text bomb about in a sentence and essentially not lose anything... :P

[Skippy88]

I personally think it's a few factors. Bands face that delicate balance of giving their customers "The Same" but "Different" with each new album. Too much in either direction they start to lose fans. Plus people forget the bands and even fans themselves are getting older and what songs they like. Justin Timberlake and his fans are a great example of that. Lastly, the music itself isn't the only thing bands worry about. Do you sell 500000 copies of a Heavy Metal album or 1000000 of a rock/pop album now that you have a wife and baby on the way? People get into music for different reasons.

[Sal the Shieldhog]

Thanks for all the replies guys!

I understand it could be because a band tries to evolve and change their sound a little bit. I don't understand why people want to hear the same thing from a band over and over again on every album, though. Wouldn't that get extremely boring?

To continue from my OP, I'll use the same band, Blessthefall. In their first album, they had a completely different lead singer and guitarist. It was a good one, all around I think. I guess it could be described as very generic, compared to most of that genre these days though. For their second album, their guitarist left to go to college and was replaced (for the better I think, they have slightly differing styles but the newer sound is better because it's more inventive), and their vocalist left to spend time with his family and was replaced by the current vocalist. Over the next 3 albums, their style has changed and matured and the band overall has from the group of high school garage band they were 8 or so years ago - and I think it's been for the better. Their latest album has some of their best works, and it's changed so much, but they somehow still have that "them" feel from so long ago under the surface. They've added in more instrumentals, brought in some friends from differing bands for guest appearances, and they even had a song with one of their wives (their vocalist is married to Lights; I love her, she has an awesome voice).

I'm sort of ranting, but my point is this: WHat's the point of the band releasing new music if it's going to be the same-old same-old? Shouldn't we want our favorite bands to strive to become better and mature with their lives and their sound?

[Deleted]

I'm sort of ranting, but my point is this: WHat's the point of the band releasing new music if it's going to be the same-old same-old? Shouldn't we want our favorite bands to strive to become better and mature with their lives and their sound?

This problem will always exist in some ways. If a band does the same shit over and over, they become stale and generic. If they experiment, then there will always be someone who will not like their new direction.

But this is a different issue.

Bands that get the "sellout" label, generally they change their sound to be more accessible. Detractors then assume it is for monetary reasons, and thus compromising their artistic integrity, regardless whether that is the case or not.

Using my Underoath example, as I said, prior fans WERE bitching about the direction they took with Define The Great Line, but it is so because they wanted poppy poppidy pop songs like Reinventing Your Exit or A Boy Brushed Red... and they got Casting Such A Thin Shadow-s and Everyone Looks So Good From Here-s. But nobody ever accused them of selling out with DTGL, because in that case they got more inaccessible instead of appealing to the mainstream.

[Deleted]

Probably because people tend to shift toward the mainstream, when the mainstream has pretty poor variety. So they resent that the mainstream takes the artists they used to love and changes them.

[Kraenen]

Usually it's because to be mainstream and popular you need to adhere to the lowest common denominator, streamline your "product", and put as little thought into it as possible while staying completely "hip" and "trendy".

[Blur4stuff]

music is like porn. the more people who see/hear it the less special it is.

[pateuvasiliu]

music is like porn. the more people who see/hear it the less special it is.

Porn is ALWAYS special, though.

And Queen. Queen, too.

[Kraenen]

its called hipsterism, it is a disease spreading through some of our youth like wild fire, the symptoms include skinny jeans, wearing glasses when they are not required, and wearing scarfs in the summer time.

hipsters seldom travel alone, usually forming packs for survival but in certain environments hipsters are forced to brave the wilds alone, these hipsters have acquired a new trait they put their head to the side and spout out a noise that sounds somewhat like "pfft whatever" and while their predator is distracted run off to the nearest free wifi hotspot to attempt to write a novel.

what happens when you're a hipster for hating hipsters?

[vep]

First of all: your brother is an idiot, sorry to say it.
Second: the bands you listed are not exactly "mainstream"
Third: people, including myself, dislike mainstream bands because they're sell outs who are in it for the money. Have you tried listening any of the pop music today? It's all bullshit.

[Thes]

There are a lot of catchy, mainstream songs but they mostly come from artists that haven't had years of high popularity behind them. I find it more rare to find many good songs from already popular, "mainstream" bands.

[Deleted]

First of all: your brother is an idiot, sorry to say it.
Second: the bands you listed are not exactly "mainstream"
Third: people, including myself, dislike mainstream bands because they're sell outs who are in it for the money. Have you tried listening any of the pop music today? It's all bullshit.

Depends on who you ask lol.

Ask some stereotypical metalhead with massive -core hatred and he will tell you how those two bands are the worst mainstream pop crap ever, but I guarantee that someone who exclusively listens to Nicki Minaj and David Guetta and the likes, will never be able to sit through a Blessthefall song .

Which further complicates this issue because the concept of the "mainstream" is also very fluid. Bands like Blessthefall are absolutely not part of the mainstream music, but there is quite many people who consider them to be too poppy/accessible too.

[Chaosturn]

Fox Stevenson (formerly Stan SB), constantly original while sticking with his thing (EDM with his own vocals through it), but I sure as hell never heard him getting played...

This, so much this. I really wish he got more exposure, would be awesome if he went on a tour and came to Sweden so I could see him live
His track Lightspeed is too good! His collab with candyland is really cool as well