Question: Do you foresee a time when saxophone becomes common again in popular music?

Bon Iver travels with a horn section and has used Colin Stetson on sax (who has also recorded for Arcade Fire and other like bands).


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Mark Wein said:
Not in popular music unless there is some nostalgia-rock thing that happens. For the most part it is as dead in popular music as the trombone. And the guitar.
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rickenvox said:
Grammy award winner, plays arena sized venues.

22, A Million peaked at #1 on 10/21/2016 on the Billboard charts
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These are not really indicative of pop music. Especially for older artists which he is now.

Metallica also had a number one album (a real one), played big arenas, and got a grammy nomination in 2016. Bon Jovi outsold Bon Iver, too.

Problem is when you compare his album (or other oldsters) with actual pop music it's a pretty big spread. Like he didn't even go platinum (neither did Bon Jovi or Metallica despite their chart position), as it sold a fraction of his previous releases from like 10 years ago, but Adele, Beyonce, Kanye, Frank Ocean, etc. are going like 2-10x platinum.

Beyond that, pop music is not just sales, but generally the conventions used at a particular time in music production and composition. Right now Bon Iver seems more into experimentation than trying to make pop songs. Voice effects, weird song titles, etc. So I don't even think he has that intent. He is more like someone blowing through his cash. Though, he kind of harkens back at times to schlock-y adult contemporary from the eighties and early nineties. Including getting Bruce Hornsby.
 
Bones McHorror said:
Metallica also had a number one album (a real one), played big arenas, and got a grammy nomination in 2016. Bon Jovi outsold Bon Iver, too.

Problem is when you compare his album (or other oldsters) with actual pop music it's a pretty big spread. Like he didn't even go platinum (neither did Bon Jovi or Metallica despite their chart position), as it sold a fraction of his previous releases from like 10 years ago, but Adele, Beyonce, Kanye, Frank Ocean, etc. are going like 2-10x platinum.

Beyond that, pop music is not just sales, but generally the conventions used at a particular time in music production and composition. Right now Bon Iver seems more into experimentation than trying to make pop songs. Voice effects, weird song titles, etc. So I don't even think he has that intent. He is more like someone blowing through his cash. Though, he kind of harkens back at times to schlock-y adult contemporary from the eighties and early nineties. Including getting Bruce Hornsby.
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Album sales are no doubt a poor metric these days. The only ones who sell really well are the ones who sell millions of singles too.

Anyway, I’m pretty binary in terms of how I define pop/popular music. In Flamencology World, Jbird listens to pop music exclusively. So I can’t imagine describing Bon Iver any other way.
 
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Bones McHorror said:
These are not really indicative of pop music. Especially for older artists which he is now.

Metallica also had a number one album (a real one), played big arenas, and got a grammy nomination in 2016. Bon Jovi outsold Bon Iver, too.

Problem is when you compare his album (or other oldsters) with actual pop music it's a pretty big spread. Like he didn't even go platinum (neither did Bon Jovi or Metallica despite their chart position), as it sold a fraction of his previous releases from like 10 years ago, but Adele, Beyonce, Kanye, Frank Ocean, etc. are going like 2-10x platinum.

Beyond that, pop music is not just sales, but generally the conventions used at a particular time in music production and composition. Right now Bon Iver seems more into experimentation than trying to make pop songs. Voice effects, weird song titles, etc. So I don't even think he has that intent. He is more like someone blowing through his cash. Though, he kind of harkens back at times to schlock-y adult contemporary from the eighties and early nineties. Including getting Bruce Hornsby.
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?? I listed a band that uses saxophone and indicators of their relative popularity. Then Andrew made a funny joke and you’re off fighting windmills. Justin Vernon has enjoyed some great success while still operating like an artist.


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rickenvox said:
?? I listed a band that uses saxophone and indicators of their relative popularity. Then Andrew made a funny joke and you’re off fighting windmills. Justin Vernon has enjoyed some great success while still operating like an artist.


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The thread is about if saxophone will return to pop music.

And Bon Iver isn't really out there making pop music with saxophones. He is fucking around with experimental music that doesn't sell very well. He was mostly a non-entity in the pop world to begin. But even more so in 2020 where he is almost 10 years past his prime.
 
Bones McHorror said:
The thread is about if saxophone will return to pop music.

And Bon Iver isn't really out there making pop music with saxophones. He is fucking around with experimental music that doesn't sell very well. He was mostly a non-entity in the pop world to begin. But even more so in 2020 where he is almost 10 years past his prime.
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You’re like Rainman talking about Judge Wapner

Bon Iver is pop music by any definition of the term


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Flamencology said:
Album sales are no doubt a poor metric these days. The only ones who sell really well are the ones who sell millions of singles too.

Anyway, I’m pretty binary in terms of how I define pop/popular music. In Flamencology World, Jbird listens to pop music exclusively. So I can’t imagine describing Bon Iver any other way.
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I think pop can be a boring meta-genre encompassing nearly everything recorded. But then when someone asks if there are guitar solos in pop music today you have people saying well Steve Vai plays them every single song. Or some comparable younger guy. And I think that is not a very good conversation. Nor in my opinion useful information.

I think pop should be it's own genre and if it is a meta-genre it contains multiple subgenres like alt pop, electro-pop, dream pop, indie pop and so forth that contain the same intent and/or hold the attention of pop fans. In the same way you'd talk about a lot of other genres like jazz or blues in terms of playing styles and fan's changing tastes. I don't like saying well there is pop then under that rock then under that blues rock then blues metal then blue metal prog and so on. That muddies the waters too much. It's technically correct to some academics, but it is boring as an every day music listener.
 
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