Everytime I
hear someone talk about why pop music is good or bad I get internally angry, even
when they have the same opinion as me. I think it’s because I just can’t talk
about it. And I get especially angry when explaining to someone who likes pop
music that pop music is bad, because most of time they think I am wrong (and I
don’t like being called wrong when I’m right). They think their music is the
best because the most people like it but in fact that is just the sign that
they are being controlled by larger entities.
As told in the video, during the past decennia music has become more of a
product then an art form. Big companies are trying everything they can to get a
big audience even when it means fucking up the music. They use methods that I completely
disagree with like the loudness war, repetition, musical techniques, … The
people don’t get to think for themselves anymore. By taking the dynamics and character
out of a song and making it louder it will be perceived as better by the
majority. By repeating the same songs over and over again in our daily lives
they try (and succeed on most people) to make us like certain songs. It feels
like we are being controlled by them.
Of course,
there are still artists that don’t produce product and still produce musical art.
Those are the ones keeping me on track and doing what I love, getting the good
music to the people. And there are the Max Martin’s and Lukasz Gottwald’s who
are the cancer of music, they are the factory that dumps tons of shit on the
art of music. I must admit in every aspect I’ve talked about there are nuances.
Compression can still be used as an effect or in a good way (by not overdoing
it). In fact, let me tell you about what a good friend and Funk/Disco DJ once
told me. He compresses his files of funk songs when he plays them as a DJ,
because they have to pump for the dancefloor.
Conclusion:
I get angry when talking about these things because we are not slaves
controlled by big companies. We are the people with our own identity which we
choose ourselves!
The Amen break, a drum loop of only 6-7 seconds that became world famous.
The drum loop appears in loads of songs we all know. That is because of the art of sampling, which I really like. Artists can get really creative while sampling. They can use vocals, drum loops, melodic parts, ... Basicly anything from other songs to use as building bricks for their own creation. They can process them, throw audio effects at them, time stretch them, manipulate them in every way possible and get really creative to make something new.
But it's not all that easy, when you sample you 'steal' others peoples creative work, and these creative works are protected by copyright law. But how come, people can sample? Well that's because they pay a certain amount of money to the owner of the original song and make up contracts which indicate that they are permitted to use the sample.
There are loads of artists that sample in very creative ways. For example: Kanye West, Daft Punk, DJ Shadow made an ENTIRE ALBUM consisting only of samples, and the list goes on and on. I think sampling is also an artform within the art music. It takes a special amount of skill to do it right. We recycle older songs into new ones, and it's not like it's a copy. Mostly when samples are used in a song the context of the sample changes. Kanye uses vocal samples and transforms them into melodies, Daft Punk takes a 1 second drum fill and loops it on and on to create a whole different effect to it. That's why I think sampling is not just 'stealing' from the ones before you, it is creating something new and original. (Ofcourse there are expetions where sampling has gone too far)
On the other had sampling should not be rule-free. You are using someone else's creation and that creation is protected under law. So without doubt you will have to deal with these law's and try to clear the sample. You wil have to ask the copyright owner if you are permitted to use the sample and pay them.
It's good the art of sampling exists, because it creates a whole new creative output for artists. But there have to be rules, because you're using someone else's property.
If you haven't already heard of the beat scene and decide to use google for information, be sure to dig a little deeper than the first few links.
The beat scene is located in Los Angeles and began forming around 2006 when Daddy Kev established Low End Theory (no not the A Tribe Called Quest album). Low End Theory was the public showroom for his label Alpha Pup Records which was home to a lot of the beat artists back then. By 2008 the scene had developed a following and Flying Lotus, one of the pioneers in the beat scene, released his first album which got heard across the world. And so a new scene had exploded from withing Los Angles.
Meanwhile the beat scene has made an impact on popular music. Some artists have become famous like Flying Lotus, Kaytranada, Thundercat, Shlohmo... Thundercat was featured in 2015 on Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp A Butterfly. Flying Lotus has also collaborated with Kendrick lamar and Kaytranada produced his own album 99,9% which has gotten a lot of attention.
When listening to beat music you can immediately notice the presence of hip hop, 'wonky' beats and synths. Another good way to look at beat music is that it's a take on IDM (intelegent dance music) using hip-hop, R&B and jazz as a base rather than techno, acid house and/or ambient.
