"stars" succeed with weak songs - WHY?

3 doors down....perfect example...

3 doors down, suckie musicians....have the ability to write extremely catchy songs. I talked to a guy that was friends with them and he said that they purposly wrote "radio-quality songs" which to me is OK. Look where it got them and whats most important is that they are having a great time! Thats what its all about. I think that if you are able to get something emotional out of your radio quality songs go for it!
......As for Brittney Spears, and N'sync......its all about marketing.
3 doors down are ugly! I think that they are going to set a trend. It's not all about looks anymore!
Haha! that probably made no sense but oh well!
 
Sorry, but 3 Doors Down, the Verve Pipe, Matchbox 20, Tonic, Sponge, 3rd eye blind, and BUSH for god's sake?
Marketers heaven. Catchy (like the flu), nice guys SUCKY musicians. Being good really doesn't mean chops- it means not sounding conventional, writing songs with lyrics with a little bit of smarts, and very little bullshit leftover to admire. Alt-rock is dead- I think the only MAJOR band from america thats still credible from the era of "modern rock" is the Foo Fighters, at least it's like "rock and roll man" (although they sell beer now) not, "hey we can write stupid, sucky mediocre crap like I wrote in highschool."
They're ugly-so what? Alanis Morrisette is pretty nasty looking- she sold a butt load of records, she sucked! I don't respect uninspired ,boring music. Go listen to Pavement, Nirvana, the Beatles, the Clash, they all rocked back in their respective eras. And theres plenty of new, good music that you won't hear on the radio, untill the stations change formats again. Modest Mouse, they ROCK. forget what the radio tells you to like, thats all they want to do is control your listening and buying habits --mo money for them, little quality for you. Having an opinion about music can help prevent mediocrity.
 
What seems to be at the heart of this issue is that the art (music) has gotten too close to the business (money). The idea of getting paid to play is not new by any stretch of the imagination. But I think it used to be that the artist would continue to do whatever he was doing regardless of pay, promotion, or position.

Sure, it's great to get paid to do what you love, but I think Robert Johnson would have played ...

(train of thought jumps track)

It's philisophical isn't it? What is music? What is an artist? What is a "star"? What is good? If a drummer is falling down drunk and no one hears him does he still make a sound?

Music is made by the musician for the musician. Whether the idea is political, religious, academic, or other wise it is the musician who looks to benefit from it. The benefit may be an emotional outlet, an idealogical statement of belief, or even FINANCIAL ENHANCEMENT. I just saw an interview with Paul McCartney who admitted that he and Lennon would occasionally sit down and say, "Well, Paul, let's write ourselves a new swimming pool today."

But why do the teeny-bopper groups become commerically successful? They're selling what people are buying. Look at my earlier post on this subject and re-consider the food analogy again. If you're concerned with selling a lot of units, sell "Happy Meals". If you're concerned with the nutritional or culinary value, sell "duck a'lorange". Why doesn't McD's sell duck? It's hard for their target market to digest. Don't be upset that B. Spears, N'Synch, or Artist of the Moment is popular now. In ten years nobody will be able to hum 3 bars of "Oops, I Did It Again". However, 33+ years later most people still know the opening lines to "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with little to no prompting.

Which leads me to the following idea. Time is the only test of material. It will either be polished to a brilliant luster or worn away by the elements.
 
Well put! - I totally agree with you!

- Wil

"Music is made by the musician for the musician" - great quote! I'd never thought of it in that way! Mind if I use it?
 
jacob, ugly crows, and sweet babies..

New wallflowers dosnt suck. Those songs are worth wayyy more than the time to steal from napster. I woulda paid 15.99$

I always thought since ACHEY BRAKEY was gimmickey, and whats is name sings bad live (yea, i saw that stint on home shopping network selling videos), AND garth brooks sings very bad live (Yea I saw 25 different live performances over the years and they all SUCKED vocal wise,...that many of these artists do suck and get by on any songs for OTHER reasons (marketing, etc)..
Well, my favorite mistake was hearing Sheryl Crow on the radio live in the booth... Magnificent (as she can be).
Lindsey Buckingham played, live on Mark and Brian, a guitar part that I was SURE was overdubbed at least 2 maybe 3 parts. (1 guy, 1 take, lotsa thumbs and 3 brains)
Clint black sings his country ass off live.
So there IS plenty of REAL magic in the music business. My favorite example is James Taylor.
Take his name and credits away, strip him down, and drop him anywhere! Tons of hits, guaranteed! In no time! Cant be denied.
goodnight ya moonlight ladies
rj
 
memphissound:

and may I use your other quote: "time is the only test of material"? :-)

and concerning Britney Spears & Co: I doubt that people will still be interested in 30year old girls&boys trying to
entertain teenagers, so in a ten years, we won't have todays girlies&boygroups but loads of clones...
so in cycles of 5-10 years, they'll always dump new crap on
our heads. bright future...

smirky
 
People will give a "popular" band's song 10 times the chance a "nothing" band's would get. Take "Numb" by U2. This song jumped up the charts when it came out a few years back. Imagine if some new band wrote that song! I don't even think they'd get signed with material like that, let alone climb the charts. There are quite a few songs out there that are simply filling the time between good tunes. Unless a band can pump a good tune or two itself, they will never get their crappy stuff played.
 
Better yet, check out that new tune "Beautiful Day". That song is awful, and with every radio play, all I can hear is record company desperation.
Jeff
 
that's right, "Beautiful Day" isn't really a good song.
the newer Clapton-songs are another example for the power of names like "U2" or "Clapton" that make people like songs they wouldn't "normally" like. And Sting has also seen better days regarding his songwriting ability...
 
A lot of bands can get by on image alone, but most stuff on the radio (especially country) is pretty well written. If anything, I think it's the production that sucks.

dave @ kathode ray
www.indiebiz.com

Click here for a free, 10-day music promotion course.
 
I like 'beautiful day', miles above all the other shit out there. This is not a weak song. Easy to think of many weak songs, I know the style's but can't name names. Music is subjective, these 'stars' who succeed did so because you were not 'their' target market. Or maybe... they were just good songs. It's easy to get pissed off at some of the 'stars' on the radio, even easier when your a musician. If something is selling there is a reason, whether it's a good song to you or not, doesn't matter. If we limit it to let's say the composers from the last 40 years. How many of those musicians are still active and popular? How many have changed with the times to suit the marketing machine? How many are still succesfull and didn't need to change... the drivers, the passengers. Supply and demand.
 
I thought "Beautiful Day" was great also.

An example of a new song that I don't think is very well written is the new Britney. I think it's called "Stronger."

dave @ kathode ray
www.indiebiz.com

Click here for a free, 10-day music promotion course.
 
some just dont belong there!!

My 2 ¢
I for one will never give into all the bull sh*t thats on the radio and or tv, as said in a soulfly CD
"F*ck stations radio wave is just radiation"
(By the way i hate that song)
I had to decide a long time ago ,that im not going to become commercial trash (for lack of a better word) and that no amount of money in this crapy world would be worth my soul, Yes i will keep buying gear with my blood if a have to, And yes i will keep making music,CALL IT GREEDY,BUT
FOR ME ,MY SELF, AND I...!!!
I dont need a million $$ to make me a happy. I need to creat and feel! The only thing wrong with the whole MTV AND RADIO,BET,ext.. is $$ thats it !! Man it all makes me want to move out to the woods sh*t in bushes and catch my food everyday but how would i power all my gear? And thats my 2¢ And now for a song

The Process

Lyrics:

alternative - mass control diversification and guilt jealousy prejudice the courage to be themselves... often hated aims to make individual freedom spiritual bounds mental shackles to heal the wound of separation to question the unquestioning of the mind offers an alternative to mass control the center of the information war progressed we have progressed physically as far as we can go... next stage mental the process is you justification decentralized by conditioned guilt fear responses realize for individuals who wish to acquire sigil to the will give the mind before which is a function of the self to react and this focusing releases a tremendous energy as the concourse lowers positive flow of energy so be it the process so be it body like mindedness ageless souls striving for individual matters toward collective goals a guiltless state of self awareness the process is you the process is yours
(SKINNYPUPPY)
 
people as a majority are getting stupider by the day
commercial radio/tv is mainly crap
not art
crap
 
I wonder what it would be like to do both Aunt Jemima and Mrs. Butterworth at the same time.....? They are sooo hot.
 
It's all about SEX. If you dont look or or be it then you aint gettin anywhere. You gotta target those screaming and crying 16 year old girls..NSYNC, BBOYS! and have any of you guys ever noticed HOW SO GODDAMN similar the drum patterns for their songs are? And form wise, its allthe same form, for every single pop song tune out there. And most HOOKS (if the songs even have them) strike similar resemblences to alot of the other current top 30 SHIT.
 
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