Music: Did the best popular music come out before the 90s?

[b1e9a8r5s]

The only difference between then and now in determining popular music is that downloads are now included. Popular music used to be rated based on record and single sales and airplay (of course, payola influenced this, but not for every song since it would have been fiscally unfeasible to promote all music that way). You could also look at who was selling tickets to concerts and determine there were some bands people flocked to in concert but didn't necessarily buy their albums (Grateful Dead and Phish for instance).

Since radio and recorded music still exist, you can continue to use those definitions for "popular" even though there are now more ways to distribute music. Not every band is niche - even before the internet there were bands that were highly talented and even critically acclaimed that were completely unsuccessful commercially (there's a couple off the top of my head that were some of my favorite bands). Trying to demagogue to blur the definition and take the thread off course just because you don't like the popular music it's discussing but think there such other great music that's not popular but you wish it was is just hijacking the thread.

Yes, downloads can be tracked or youtube videos counted. However, there isn't the sense that everyone is being exposed to the same things anymore. When everyone got their music from radio/mtv you felt like everyone was more or less hearing the same thing? I can remember the day after Ice Ice Baby came out and literally everyone in the 4th grade was singing it the next day. There isn't that level of shared experience anymore. That said, I still think you can find artists that are clearly "pop music" today. I just think the penetration level (if that's even a term) isn't what it used to me. It's kind of like TV. When there were only a few networks showing shows, everyone watched the same thing. Now the super popular shows have nowhere near the number of viewers as the used to.

I have no idea why you are saying I'm derailing a thread as I was responding directly to another posters question.

By the way, you may be too young to know this, but there was a time before programmed network radio where local DJs had a lot of choice in what they played, so when you went from city to city you ended up hearing what was popular in the region.

That's true. There was a time when the DJ's had more freedom and had a say in what was played.

 

[Xelebes]

You know what might be a fun experiment? To have everyone go back and just rate all the tunes.

To give an example, my opinion of the Canadian Hot 100 (from what they actually post on their website, which is only 50 tunes.)

Chart Date | Love | Like | Tolerable | Dislike | Intolerable
October 15, 2016|0|5|23|18|3

Billboard Hot 100: (Some of the tunes I may have not even heard before doing this.)

Chart Date | Love | Like | Tolerable | Dislike | Intolerable
October 15, 2016|0|4|34|58|4

 

[Osprey]

A few people seem to be using "popular music" and "pop music" interchangeably, but they're regarded as two distinct things. Popular music is music that has wide appeal, stylistically, and can be from many different genres. Pop music is a specific genre (exemplified by Michael Jackson, Britney Spears and such). Pop music is nearly always popular, but lots of popular music isn't pop music (ex. AC/DC is rock, not pop, but undoubtedly "popular music"). I'm sure that we all understand that, but shortening "popular music" to "pop music" doesn't work and is confusing, since "pop music" has its own accepted definition.