Have you grown out of really listening to music?

[Arizonan God]

I actually find myself listening to a lot more pop music lately - I’m not sure if that’s my tastes changing as I get older, or pop music is just in a good state right now.

Acts like The Weeknd and Dua Lipa have dominated the charts in 2020 with really solid, fun pop music, without overbearing auto tune.

But I would agree with many others in this thread regarding discovering new music; it’s daunting and I often find myself sticking to my old favourites rather than putting the effort in to find something new that I enjoy. Could be another reason I gravitate more towards pop, it’s just...easier

 

[ItsFineImFine]

The pop I listen to more now is closer to pop rock stuff from the 90s and 00s, stuff like Curve or The Blue Nile. Absolutely cannot stand the overproduction and big beats on newer pop tracks.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

I'm a little weary and skeptical of the whole "knowledgeable musicians have superior opinions that make them more of an authority" assumption, personally. Wouldn't a musician with different goals and pre-occupations than a listener just introduce a whole slew of other biases that skew their perception (for example, how technically impressive it is that someone is able to do something that they can or can't suddenly becomes so much more of the focus than it probably should)? It often seems like artists are rarely the best judges of other artists.

Could be wrong, though, and it is a fascinating perspective regardless, I guess. But for example, I would probably value and think more highly of someone like Kihei's opinion on movies over some actual brilliant film-maker's opinions on movies, personally.

Meh. Everyone has their biases (conscious and unconscious), including the non-artist recipient. I just think it's something to keep in mind when exchanging and not all biases are equal but I don't think an artist's concern (technical or otherwise) demean his satisfaction of a work of art or is worth less than that of the non-artist. As an easy example, you can take Nabokov, who was a stylist to the bone (or to be more precise, the only substance which seemed to genuinely matter to him was style) and who was an unrepentant critic of any book who dared to have political/societal connotations. I don't think either the critic or the book suffer from that opinion. Just a perspective to take into consideration. Nor do I think the practioner as a critic absolutely has to be influenced by his work as an artist to any sort of considerable degree.

 

[Shareefruck]

Meh. Everyone has their biases (conscious and unconscious), including the non-artist recipient. I just think it's something to keep in mind when exchanging and not all biases are equal but I don't think an artist's concern (technical or otherwise) demean his satisfaction of a work of art or is worth less than that of the non-artist. As an easy example, you can take Nabokov, who was a stylist to the bone (or to be more precise, the only substance which seemed to genuinely matter to him was style) and who was an unrepentant critic of any book who dared to have political/societal connotations. I don't think either the critic or the book suffer from that opinion. Just a perspective to take into consideration. Nor do I think the practioner as a critic absolutely has to be influenced by his work as an artist to any sort of considerable degree.

Oh, I'm definitely not implying that the artist's opinion is worth less than the non-artist, just that it isn't worth more or be considered an authority over them (although maybe that Kihei comment is misleading-- that's more of a counter-example rather than any pattern/rule I'm suggesting).

 

[SirClintonPortis]

In a way music is a lot like painting. You start with an empty canvas and slowly fill it in. Silence (space) in music is like black in painting; without it, there is no light.

There is a quote spread around the internet and attributed to numerous musicians including Mozart.
“The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between.”

What my piano teacher said regarding Mozart talking about silence was that "rests are golden".

Regardless, the times a note is not played absolutely matters in establishing the feel of a work.

 

[hoglund]

Yes, I only listen to music from the 70's and 80's anything after the late 90's I don't really listen to.

 

[x Tame Impala]

Unless you are a musician, there is always going to be a technical aspect of music that you will be unable to appreciate.

And that's fine, it applies to virtually any field of endeavour. Visual arts, architecture, medicine, sports, you name it.

But it does explain how some bands end up popular among musicians and yet don't have traction among non-musicians.

While it's certainly beating a dead horse, a lot of the support for Rush comes from the musician community. There's a lot about Rush that is easy to dislike, often Geddy's voice, some of the cheesier lyrics, but in terms of technical proficiency, there's a lot to appreciate and learn from.

As someone who has been much more actively playing music in a collaborative fashion over the last 5 years or so, and getting into steady gigging and performances with fellow musicians, how I listen to music has changed fundamentally from pure sonic appreciation into the mechanics of how I would perform the song with my band, what parts of the song would be more complex to interpret, how I would chart it for different instruments and voices.

There are songs that I thought were easy to pull off that were actually deceptively difficult and vice versa. After trying to write lyrics for some original material, I have a new appreciation for how difficult it can be to turn a phrase in a song, and I spend a lot more time listening to the words than before.

It's not better or more important IMO, it just adds another layer in terms of interacting with the artform. I can't turn it off, so it's just part of my filter at this stage.

Would it be fair to say this is the major appeal to Metal music too? That there's a technical appeal to the music structure itself? Because I can't for the life of me understand how someone can get into it vocally.

 

[Shareefruck]

Would it be fair to say this is the major appeal to Metal music too? That there's a technical appeal to the music structure itself? Because I can't for the life of me understand how someone can get into it vocally.

Can't speak for Metal because I'm not a fan of it, but there's plenty of music out there where you would initially think "I can't for the life of me understand how someone can get into it vocally" but that does eventually grow on you in that way, purely on an aesthetic level.

 

[Pranzo Oltranzista]

Vocally? As appreciating the vocals/voice? I mustn't understand what's meant here, there's so many types of vocals in metal...

 

[67 others]

When I was young I seemed to care a whole lot more about listening to music. Now it seems I can't relate to most of it. I still hear lots of interesting stuff but can't find myself really adding anything new my library, or at least throwing it on once and a while.

It might have to do with Albums not being pushed as heavily as songs are.

"Kids don't buy albums anymore they rent songs" - Me

MP3's killed record industries. Being able to skip to any song you want and easy accessibility to any music kind of ruins the vibe of listening to a record through and through. back in the day you bought a record and listened to it for weeks.


Mind you I still do, but most people don't.

The best modern Music is coming from Europe anyways. The metal scene in North America is a joke. In Germany and a lot of surrounding countries, metal is more popular than Pop or rock.

 

[Stylizer1]

MP3's killed record industries. Being able to skip to any song you want and easy accessibility to any music kind of ruins the vibe of listening to a record through and through. back in the day you bought a record and listened to it for weeks.


Mind you I still do, but most people don't.

The best modern Music is coming from Europe anyways. The metal scene in North America is a joke. In Germany and a lot of surrounding countries, metal is more popular than Pop or rock.

I used to listen to cassettes while falling asleep and got to the point where I could isolate every instrument/sound in a song. As a kid I found that so fun.