The truth about modern country music. . .

wagdog said:
I play in a modern country band, I dig it. It's today's pop music. Some of it's easy, some isn't. Having played blues and rock for so many years, it's fun to branch out and try something new. I dig jazz too, even work away at Jazz on my own, but that's just for my satisfaction. I play in a blues band that ventures into funk as well.

It's fun to play... pretty much anything. It's even more fun when you have an audience that digs it.

Anyway, it's easy to dump on something. Why not just let it be? Did modern country hurt you in the feels or something?
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I can only speak for myself. What bothers me about modern country, as well as Top 40 type stuff, is that those folks are getting very wealthy primarily for having the right look. The songs are not creative and just follow a formula. Most pop "artists" don't write their music and instead have their songs provided a team of hired guns. Many can't sing without auto-tune, but all of them look good on TV and sell a crapload of merchandise because they're heavily backed by a promotions machine. In the meantime, folks with real talent and creativity are barely getting by.

I'm sure covering that stuff in a band is fun, especially because the crowd gets into it. I get that. But it also underscores how ignorant the masses are when it comes to music. They just accept what is spoon fed to them by the promoters.
 
Danhedonia said:
I really dislike modern country's production values; . . .
I don't single it out, though. R&B and Taylor Swiftian pop are equally as horrendous.

Specifically, it's the lack of any sense of organic performance that I find off putting; it has the effect on me of seeming obvious, unintelligent, imitative, and unemotional. When music lacks emotional depth, I think it's 'bad.'
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This too.
 
Danhedonia said:
I really dislike modern country's production values
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Agreed. The faked vocal harmonies in the chorus of every modern country song drive me nuts. I could let it go on as background music if it wasn't for that. A friend of mine is a fantastic drummer and he is in 3 bands now. I went and saw his band that plays modern country a few months ago and it was pretty good. They didn't have the shitty production, the artificial harmonies or the over the top southern drawl on the vocals.
 
shoeless said:
I can only speak for myself. What bothers me about modern country, as well as Top 40 type stuff, is that those folks are getting very wealthy primarily for having the right look. The songs are not creative and just follow a formula. Most pop "artists" don't write their music and instead have their songs provided a team of hired guns. Many can't sing without auto-tune, but all of them look good on TV and sell a crapload of merchandise because they're heavily backed by a promotions machine. In the meantime, folks with real talent and creativity are barely getting by.

I'm sure covering that stuff in a band is fun, especially because the crowd gets into it. I get that. But it also underscores how ignorant the masses are when it comes to music. They just accept what is spoon fed to them by the promoters.
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It's the same as it ever was, and will always be.
 
shoeless said:
I can only speak for myself. What bothers me about modern country, as well as Top 40 type stuff, is that those folks are getting very wealthy primarily for having the right look. The songs are not creative and just follow a formula. Most pop "artists" don't write their music and instead have their songs provided a team of hired guns. Many can't sing without auto-tune, but all of them look good on TV and sell a crapload of merchandise because they're heavily backed by a promotions machine. In the meantime, folks with real talent and creativity are barely getting by.

I'm sure covering that stuff in a band is fun, especially because the crowd gets into it. I get that. But it also underscores how ignorant the masses are when it comes to music. They just accept what is spoon fed to them by the promoters.
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Absolutely man...couldn't agree more.
 
Chad said:
Agreed. The faked vocal harmonies in the chorus of every modern country song drive me nuts. I could let it go on as background music if it wasn't for that. A friend of mine is a fantastic drummer and he is in 3 bands now. I went and saw his band that plays modern country a few months ago and it was pretty good. They didn't have the shitty production, the artificial harmonies or the over the top southern drawl on the vocals.
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I'd rather hear imperfect harmonies than what they are doing now. It seems to take the human element out of it.
It's like the Beatles and Zep (etc) albums. They weren't perfect, but that's where the magic is.
 
The point about ultra processed modern country/ pop production is a very good one. I would find a lot of it much , much more listenable if it were produced better.

They spend a ton of money to produce those songs that way, & they sound TERRIBLE. It's a huge waste of money. I'd be willing to bet money that some folks here on this forum have recorded songs & albums w/a microfraction ( is that a word? It should be )
of the budget they waste , & it probable sounds a zillion times better. I've heard some of peoples work around here, & it sounds very good.

And the funny thing is that some of the song "formulas" can make for good songs, if produced w/the right intentions from the start. It sounds almost like their terribly afraid to deviate form the formula because they just don't have the creativity or soul or imagination or whatever to traverse it & create great pop music. It comes from this awkward, at times stupid stance of circular thinking.

& yet there are a ton of smaller songwriters all over the place that can write truly great, beautiful music, with hardly any budget at all, & it never gets heard by the vast majority of people.

I feel like the reins of the industry are in the wrong hands- To me, it has created entire generations of people that wouldn't know beauty when they heard it. They make people accept mediocrity through sheer force of marketing repetition onto the public.
 
That Cordovas tune has some musical fealty to the FBB, but utterly lacks any sense of thoughtfulness that informed Gram's wonderful music.

"I feel like the reins of the industry are in the wrong hands- To me, it has created entire generations of people that wouldn't know beauty when they heard it. They make people accept mediocrity through sheer force of marketing repetition onto the public."

I think that's been going on since Pat Boone, hasn't it?

Point being that IMO, these days 'alternative' artists (genre of your choice) have a much better range of opportunities to find an audience than they once did.

Modern country music is no different from every other successful genre or stylistic wave: doo wop; surf rock; the British Invasion; 'psychedelia;' Motown; prog rock; punk; 'new wave;' synth pop; 'grunge;' ..... it's the music business, and folks are trying to make a buck, nothing fancy there.
 
wagdog said:
It's the same as it ever was, and will always be.
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Danhedonia said:
"I feel like the reins of the industry are in the wrong hands- To me, it has created entire generations of people that wouldn't know beauty when they heard it. They make people accept mediocrity through sheer force of marketing repetition onto the public."

I think that's been going on since Pat Boone, hasn't it?

Point being that IMO, these days 'alternative' artists (genre of your choice) have a much better range of opportunities to find an audience than they once did.

Modern country music is no different from every other successful genre or stylistic wave: doo wop; surf rock; the British Invasion; 'psychedelia;' Motown; prog rock; punk; 'new wave;' synth pop; 'grunge;' ..... it's the music business, and folks are trying to make a buck, nothing fancy there.
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Both are very true, and @Gary Blanchard always points this out whenever we get into the "music was better back in my day" type discussions. Crappy pop music has always been around, and always will be. I think the major difference between then and now is how "in bed" commercial radio is with crappy pop music nowadays. In the days before Clear Channel took over, local radio stations were free to play alternative choices, B-sides, local artists, etc., and most of them did. Outside of weak-signaled college radio stations, that doesn't happen too much anymore. Instead, they all play the same 20 songs over and over...all day long. That is the Clear Channel model.

It is true that the internet has opened up all kinds of options for publishing and discovering music. There is a ton of good music out there still being made. It just never makes it to the radio, which is where you need to be to reach superstar status. That is something that is also the same as it ever was.
 
Danhedonia said:
That Cordovas tune has some musical fealty to the FBB, but utterly lacks any sense of thoughtfulness that informed Gram's wonderful music.

"I feel like the reins of the industry are in the wrong hands- To me, it has created entire generations of people that wouldn't know beauty when they heard it. They make people accept mediocrity through sheer force of marketing repetition onto the public."

I think that's been going on since Pat Boone, hasn't it?

Point being that IMO, these days 'alternative' artists (genre of your choice) have a much better range of opportunities to find an audience than they once did.

Modern country music is no different from every other successful genre or stylistic wave: doo wop; surf rock; the British Invasion; 'psychedelia;' Motown; prog rock; punk; 'new wave;' synth pop; 'grunge;' ..... it's the music business, and folks are trying to make a buck, nothing fancy there.
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Right, but (and I think you know this better than I), it seems that in the past the money that was made from those big pop stars got funneled down into discovering and developing new talent, and that money was in the hands of execs and A&R guys who were true music fans. Now, it seems that those purse strings are held by the accountants and only used for proven, profitable ventures.

So, you've got one half of the business doing that - churning out the Max Martin hit of the day, or yet another formulaic, bro-country tune. Then the other half, indie music if you will, seems more like a trade now. You basically have to run a small business, become your own marketing department, write, record, publish yourself, and tour your ass off in hopes of making a living from it.
 
speakerjones said:
So, you've got one half of the business doing that - churning out the Max Martin hit of the day, or yet another formulaic, bro-country tune. Then the other half, indie music if you will, seems more like a trade now. You basically have to run a small business, become your own marketing department, write, record, publish yourself, and tour your ass off in hopes of making a living from it.
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Modern minstrels. And often, the best ones are also story tellers of some kind, literally, or by reflecting the times we live in with their performances and art. I am more interested in that. Wish it was easier for them to make a living though. I wish art was more valued across the board.
 
I was an A&R guy who was a true music fan. I honestly don't think that the decisions have been transferred to accountants, as much as the entire business model has changed completely. Pre-recorded music used to be profitable; now, not really. There really isn't the same depth of catalog development at larger labels, or even bigger indies. Now, if you have a 'hit,' you make your money via other avenues than selling recordings.

I've had quite an on/off career in the whys and wherefores of how that happened, but the long and short of it is that I am fairly sure (and I'm guessing, cuz I sure as hell don't work in The Biz any more) that Sony no longer hopes to sign a band and sell 30-50k of an initial release. That world is gone.

Production values have always been a matter of style; that has not changed, at least not since the since the 50's.
 
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