#music industry rant

[otlwoozi]

MAMA 2024 ALBUM DAESANG - FML

[starrysharks]

i want to delete my twitter account so fucking bad

[reco-obsessed]

we know that Reko's father forced her into the industry at an early age, but it's not entirely clear what genre. The idea of it being an 'industry' definitely implies she was more of a pop idol since there isn't really a 'classical' industry in the same vein, though there is still definitely heavy competition and a lot of notoriety to be gained through being very skilled at classical music, especially at an early age, so I wouldn't be so quick to write that off, either. Even so, the plot line of her being 'forced to make music she didn't want to make' and her father being blinded by money definitely feels like it makes more sense in the context of a popstar. In my personal opinion, I like the pop idol route because it really emphasizes the distinction between her current views and aesthetic and the one her father would've been trying to get her to be. A sudden stark rebellion by going super edgy and emo in middleschool contrasts with her needing to be seen as nice, innocent, happy all the time (and probably a fair bit more feminine than she actually felt, too, since alt styles are heavily associated with androgyny). Its also worth noting that she mentioned crushing multiple huge industry offers throughout her later years, which further implies she had a strong reputation already. However logic is pulling on my sleeve and it's telling me that it honestly feels weirder for a 10-13 (this age range being chosen with the logic that it would've had to been *before* or she entered middle school, as per her personal account) year old kid to be a super successful pop idol than a highly successful classical music prodigy. Though, I guess there's the possibility her father actively lied about her age to get her in the idol industry.

[vengefulvermin]

Can i get more passage of time/music development yapping ☹️☹️☹️??? I give you official permission to yap the most you can im so interested

YES YES YES YES YES I LOVE THIS ASK

warning beneath the cut SCARY WALL OF TEXT WARNING 😱

decided to divide it into colored parts if you dont gaf about certain elements 😭

second warning all of this is unedited rambling so some points might contradict each other or just plain not make sense.

okay so for CONTEXTTTTT

i have diagnosed OCD, and like, roughly since the end of last year and the beginning of this one, the 'obsession' part of OCD that was negatively affecting me, was the concept of time. how fleeting it was. how it's basically unescapable ALL THINGS MUST PASS (get out of my head george harrison) that shit proper cold dead SCARED ME MAN. sleepless & haunting me in my dreams type shi. sometimes it still does. i try not to think about it too much

to cope, i found great comfort in the 70s-80s since at the time i was and still am hyperfixated on david bowie and that was sort of his prime (love his 90s-00s work tho.) i was also starting to think of how much parallels and similar experiences i have to previous generations and how it's not ALL that bad after all so far. i can still walk to a record store and roller skate if i really wanted to, or go to a diner.

okey here's where the life changing stuff happens. i decided i'd listen to pink floyd's the dark side of the moon. then TIME CAME ON. ohhhh god oh gosh golly god i was bawling and everything the whole song spoke to me on a molecular level. then i found out about DB's song also called time, and i ALSO crode to that. i was like. wow. i'm not alone on this feeling of utter desperation and helplessness as eventually all things Must Pass. (GEORGE HARRSION GTFO)

i used to be bitchy on how i whined i was part of the 'wrong generation.' i thought i was alone, but virtually everyone of almost every era has thought this. somebody who lived my dream life wished they had what i have now.

that's when i started to lowkey realize the parallels and oneness of human experience. i could go to a club in the 70s, and (granted the infrastructure and music remains similar) i could today. nothing would change on how i perceive events. there is no color filter on the past. unless you got huge TVs and stuff all over your house, you could walk around, and think it's the 80s. AND IT'S BASICALLY THE 80s. the way your parents or any other gen Xer saw the world with their *eyes* (not counting the changes in buildings and stuff) is the same as you today pretty much.

i already really enjoy subcultures, and particularly how they evolve and adapt. the indomitable human spirit prevails no matter how gentrified or 'banned' things become. nowadays i feel like there is No Youth Subcultures. at least, none that will pass the test of time and be memorable enough to be remembered in the books. nobody's gonna go to their child and proudly say: "when i was your age, i was a chav" or something. and i credit this to the lack of creativity allowed in the wider music industry.

HEAR ME OUT this is because 90% of youth subcultures had everything to do with music. and now, everything must be palatable. to be clear there's nothing inherently wrong with that type of music, but to me it speaks no soul. it has no risks. contemporary pop music is very much formulaic and this is because now more than ever entertainment (this also applies to movies btw) is more of an investment than passion. I WILL SPECIFY.

music production is so vastly different genre to genre, and we're not letting it flourish because of how much short form content is valued nowadays. LET ME COOK.

tiktoks are formulaic. algorithms are formulaic. WE'RE GETTING SOMEWHERE. there must be an instant hook or rift in music if you want to 'go viral' as a musician. digitized fame doesn't mean SHIT (to me), since clearly monthly listeners don't equate real world fans. album sales are being replaced with streams, and because of how ASS spotify treats its artists, newer, less established acts need to GET ON THE GRIND INSTANTLY to earn Coin. that means that to be smart and work with the exploitative system they're given, they have to make albums filled with 1 minute 30 second songs. so you can technically give them the most amount of streams possible. i feel with this formulaic approach, you can't get 6 minute long gutwrenching guitar pieces. no more 4 minute drum solos, hell avant garde experimental works were 2 people shout their names out at each other for 20 minutes. THERE ARE NO MORE FRANK ZAPPAS.

i'm not going to be one of those sad assholes who claim there's 'no more good rock music' and how it'll never be the same. as corny as this is, the next beatles or nirvana could be right under our noses and we'll NEVER know because of how fame is distributed. it sucks to see a small band beg on tiktok for streams to kickstart their career. but this is what we gotta work with. if we want subcultures to be created and thrive, we gotta go looking underground again, except unlike in the past it's a kajillion times easier now AND everything gets gentrified in 2 tiktok weeks. but this is evolution. MUSIC EVOLUTION

the end honk shoo honk shoo (it's midnight)

[musigenic]

taylor swift’s fame feels like the zeitgeist chewed on the concept of girlboss and spat it out wrapped in sequins. okay, she’s a talented lyricist. okay, she’s got the whole “small-town girl makes it big” narrative people eat up like it’s their emotional comfort meal. but where do we draw the line between genuine admiration and turning her into this untouchable deity of pop? it’s not even her. it’s the pedestal she’s been shoved onto.

the tortured poets department. girl, you’re not sylvia plath at the typewriter. i’m not saying pop can’t be poetic, but there’s a difference between depth and slapping a title that feels like it’s been through an insta-poetry generator. there’s this constant cycle where every move she makes is dissected, hailed as revolutionary. her eras tour... i mean, it’s like the hunger games of tickets. people selling organs for nosebleeds. why? why does it have to be this obsessive consumerism spectacle where she’s not even just an artist anymore, but a cult leader for people to worship at the altar of vinyl variants and limited-edition merch?

and don’t even get me started on the chart fixation. like, did anyone even enjoy music this year, or did everyone’s brains collectively rot into a dopamine chase of streaming numbers and records broken? congrats, she’s the first human to sell out mars. can we breathe now? people act like if her single doesn’t debut at number one, the entire industry will collapse. and the stans… you say anything less than “taylor cured my depression and reinvented the wheel” and suddenly you’re enemy number one. like, chill, she’s good, but she’s not a god.

still, i get it. she’s calculated in the best way. she knows how to pivot, how to keep things fresh, how to sell relatability while staying untouchable. it’s a formula, and she’s mastered it. she’s the girl who gets dumped and turns it into poetry. she’s the boss reclaiming her masters. she’s the girl next door who somehow owns the block. there’s something magnetic about that. but can we talk about how shallow the pop landscape is if this level of obsession feels normal? like, shouldn’t there be room for more than one messiah?

maybe the issue isn’t even taylor. maybe it’s us. this endless need to crown someone, anyone, to obsess over. the numbers game, the constant need to validate our tastes through stats. music is supposed to be felt, not quantified. but here we are, measuring streams like it’s a pissing contest. maybe we’re the problem. or maybe i just miss when listening to music didn’t feel like being a cog in someone’s marketing scheme.

[jess-frances-b]

I've been wondering about why I'm so bothered about the music industry being so male-dominated even today and I realised: It's because it makes it look like women are less musically talented than men are. I mean, the majority of female pop groups and solo artists have their music written for them by men, they're just the ones performing it. A lot of bands with female singers have no other female members, and the singers don't usually play their own instruments. That's not to say that women who only sing or perform songs written for them should be looked down on, I just wish there was more representation for all kinds of skills in music and performance.

[a-walking-fandom-reference]

im literally so pissed at carrie underwood like can non conservative country fans have ANYTHING like you arent helping “unify” the country by continuing to preserve the conservative country music industry and, no matter actual ideals, are supporting tr*mp… and continuing the narrative that country music and people are conservative, bigoted, and hateful

[mysticmoonlite]

SexyRedd Makes Black Women Look Bad? RANT. Double Standards at it's finest!

So all of the sudden SexyRedd is responsible for the whole black community in specifically black women for "looking bad" and "justifying" stereotypes? Because she rap about sex and is ratchet? They have been pinning those stereotypes on us WAY before SexyyRed came out. They said they same thing about Trina, Megan, Nicki, and Kim for the longest time.

Saying she is responsible for making our community look bad is beyond extreme. Because if we REALLY WANT TO GO THERE let's talk about rappers in the industry who make music talking about sexualising women, abusing drugs, crime, premeditated murder and even rap about preying on young women. Yet no one bats an eye in the entertainment industry towards them. This has been consistent in decades.

Yall didn't have a problem blasting the Ying Yang Twins, TIP, Nelly, Sir Mix Alot, Lil Kim, Public Enemy, 50 cent, Boosie, LudaChris, & Bubba Sparx?

Double Standards

Men can rap about the most outrageous explicit sexual interactions they've had and want to do with women. But let a black woman rap about her sex life and drugs, now black women are the source of the issue.

"She makes us black women look bad"

Who you trying to look good for sis?

Do you not have your own identity?

Do you not realize that it is COMMON SENSE to not take one person from each race and blame them for the behavior of an entire community? So why fight to appease the people whole lack it? I didn't grow up from the same lifestyle as SexyRedd but i stil appreciate and love how RAW and carefree she is. What you see is what you get. She is ratchet as fuck and unapologetic in regards to who she is. Her music is an escape for me when i want to feel sexy nasty and carefree.

It's fine is her music style is not your preference. However advocating for separating black women in different groups is coon classist pick me behavior. Black women have consistently been given the shortest end of the stick. No based on our accomplishments but because of our skin. We are referring to the same society that will degrade yet cosplay us in the same breathe .

I'm not going to stop listening to SexyRedd, Cupcakke, CardiB, Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj, Trina, Flo Milli, Latto, or Glorilla because of how they "represent me". I'm listening to that shit to shake my BLACK ass and feel turnt.

So if that makes me a Hoodrat then long live the Hood Rats. We each have our own individuality therefore SexyRedd and other artists do not make me feel "embarrassed" to be a black woman & never will.

I LOVE BEING FUCKING BLACK

[xx-obliviousfantasy-xx]

Listen to me, okay?

You cannot keep calling music by black people, by black WOMEN, Rhythm & Blues. That song isn't R&B. That artist isn't even necessarily a Rhythm & Blues artist!!!!

Do you know what R&B is? I don't think you do. I think you hear a black person on the track and go "Mmm yes, yes. R&B"

I'm fuckin sick of this shit.

[firjii]

I just saw the Spotify might change their royalties model and that it would hit indie artists hardest. Are you posting your music elsewhere? I follow you on Spotify but now I'm looking into other places for music and want to continue supporting your awesome music!!

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

I love you and thanks for asking.

Except for a few covers that are limited by licensing restrictions, my stuff is on all major and some minor platforms (I do sometimes lag in putting things on Bandcamp because lazy). I'm not monetized on Soundcloud because that system is somewhat different and IIRC not as welcoming of truly small artists, so any of my tracks that you find there are either on my "just for fun" accounts or are someone's illegal reupload.

Reminder to the new folks: I'm Firjii everywhere but also started another artist pseudonym as Kathy Warnecke (which should also be on all the same platforms by now).

Tidal and Apple usually have the best royalty payout rates and Spotify is among the worst (but no platform has a guaranteed fixed rate). Youtube is all over the place but usually on the low end. Downloads always pay better than streams, but I know some people can't do this or prefer to continually support with streams over time instead of paying once.

I'm also gonna take a minute to FUCKING RANT explain things to the uninitiated since virtually all my listeners on tungles are freemium Spotify users. From what I understand, this change has been finalized and it's not speculation at this point.

The deal is they'll withhold royalties from a song in a given calendar year unless it's streamed at least 1,000 times ANNUALLY (not lifetime).

Although the change will only consider per-track stats (not social media-like numbers such as followers/listeners or a measurement of how established the artist's presence is), in practice, this will specifically demonetize small/niche artists and have little or no impact on medium and big names. It will also affect the payouts small artists get from distributors because many of those have their own minimum payout thresholds.

I need people to understand just how shitty this is.

Say you're a prolific creator or recorded some live shows from a tour and you released 150 tracks in a year. If each track only got streamed on Spotify 999 times that year, they're pretty much saying you'd get paid for.......yup, exactly zero Spotify streams, not the 149,850 you're otherwise owed. I have no idea if this will impact PRO (performance rights organization) payouts, but I refuse to believe it would be legal to also withhold that share of royalties.

In the Spotify world, 1k streams is a tiny achievement (and still translates to a very small payout, so the concern is: what's to stop them from raising that minimum even more in the future?). But especially when the hurdle is per song per year, this can be a tough goal for indie or specialty genre artists to reach or maintain, including me.

I have a long history of disliking Spotify in particular for many reasons, but I upload there because it's the only way some people will listen. I strongly encourage anyone who is able to use other platforms to explore their options.

I know a lot of folks are too broke to pay for music and Spotify is a notable example of a freemium option, but this change is so, so, SO bad for SO many artists.

[alter-bridge-fanatic]

I honestly don't understand how people cannot like Myles Kennedy. He is honestly one of the hardest working, most talented and humble people in the industry. Most mainstream artists cannot even come close to personifying what Myles is as a musician. It baffles me how he is still so underrated (especially in the US) and underappreciated by the music industry as a whole.

[onlineufo]

people grilling idols for their performances is so silly to me. go ahead practice singing and dancing for 14+ hours a day, get little to no sleep, have a concerningly strict diet, constantly be surrounded by people, constantly be on camera, and have no freedom. get up on stage and sing live while doing intense choreo in front of a crowd of people and cameras. make sure you dont make a mistake though! or else thousands of people could discredit your hard work and call you untalented! i get that it's their job but people have likely already criticized them for the same exact things you're trying to point out. why not just refrain from posting about it and focus on yourself! <3

[bonivers]

the importance industry people place on social media limits the potential of so many artists and creative people

[a-very-bored-blogger]

I believe the reason why pop music today is often compared to pop music back then (think 60s-90s) are often due to the change in lyrical composition over time.

We often see a recurring pattern in lyrics in most songs nowadays being more simplistic, often lacking depth and having a very surface level meaning to reach a 'sense of relatability' towards modern audiences. Due to that, people often perceive modern songs to be more repetitive - at least lyrically. I'm not saying this applies to most artists, just moreover towards pop artists like Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo.

Compare these to pop artists back in the day. More complex story telling that happens, music about telling the stories of others rather than themselves, making it less relatable. Think Billie Jean or Roxxane.

Overall, I don't know where I'm going with this byt but I think that I speak for a lot of people that a lot of popular songs today sounds more repetitive and lack depth, especially instrumentally and lyrically.

(this is why I like the Arctic Monkeys)

[musicrunsthroughmysoul]

I don't know that I've ever mentioned this before, but finding that quote by Ruth Pointer about the Pointer Sisters' Break Out album reminded me that I have also never really liked its title (even though it's one of my all-time favorite albums). I get that whoever suggested that title (why do I assume it's their producer? Richard Perry, to be specific?) thought it was going to be like their 'break out' album and apparently confidently named it accordingly, but I also think it did a disservice to the Pointer Sisters, suggesting that their material for the past ten years was never good enough to warrant "true" hits of a 'break out' status. I feel that kind of title, for that album at that time, greatly discredited the work they'd done thus far and the effort they'd put into getting to where they were; PLUS, seemingly based on the concept of being a self-fulfilling prophecy, it also seemed to suggest (by popularity, and by quality) that they'd peaked, as none of their albums following Break Out were able to surpass, much less match, the success (chart-wise) of Break Out. I just think it was a shitty move, naming the album that, and the Pointer Sisters deserved better.

[keyki421]

The main reason why I love kpop, is because I missed when idols were actually trained in dancing and performing. I can admit that not all kpop idols have great voices, but they will put on an amazing show, to make you forget about their singing abilities.

This is slowly dying and it pisses me off. Even though I'm not a fan of Beyonce, I will say that she is definitely the only singer out here that is up to par with Michael Jackson. Cause when he stepped on stage, he didn't come to play. He was gonna give you a show.

Now these new artists are giving living room performances on stages and it's embarrassing. If you are gonna stand in place, or sway back and forth, then I would expect your voice to be amazing. Yet, for many of these artists, their voices are cracking and they are standing in one place. Like what the absolute fuck. Where is the artist development at?

This is why I love Doja Cat, cause she decided she ain't gonna be like these other rappers, that just stand in one place. She's gonna put on a fucking show, with dances in tow. If I pay money to see you and you give me a boiler room performance, I'm gonna be pissed. I'm gonna want my money back. Boiler room performances better be free admission.

Some artists will have a live band behind them and will still be lackluster.