ilikemusic
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Post by ilikemusic on Aug 30, 2016 6:29:01 GMT -5
I know I probably sound like a nostalgic old timer with this comment, but I keep wondering when this decade will produce a major new pop star that takes the pop culture world by storm? I mean we got Gaga, Katy, Rihanna, Bieber, and Taylor debuting within a few years of each other last decade. Seems like we've yet to have a true major pop star emerge ever since. Again, Bruno is the closest. Adele is massive obviously, but cut from a totally different cloth. I've had the same thoughts. I may make a thread on this in a different forum (feel free to beat me to it), but my hypothesis is this: In the Internet/social media age, it's easier than ever before for music creators to get their work out there. This has its pros and cons. While many artists now have a platform for exposure they never would've had in previous decades, a lot of mediocrity is oversaturating the system. No talent is really able to stand out anymore; when it does, it's quickly lost to the vacuum of Spotify, YouTube, etc. to make way for the next one. And with such a heavy emphasis on appearance, visuals, and social media engagement, actual musical talent has become sort of secondary. Of course, this is completely subjective based on my own experience and listening habits. But I am concerned we now live in an age where we will no longer be able to produce the likes of Madonna, Prince, or Stevie Wonder. The superstar is effectively dead. I've made threads about this topic on other forums before. I 100% completely agree with everything the both of you just stated. I think what it comes down to, is the current music industry's over-emphasis on targeting the tween and teenage demographic. Most of the newer acts that have emerged from this decade have had ok-sized success, but nothing to brag about compared to the popstars that were even debuting in the late 2000's. I think it's because most of them don't appeal to anyone over the age of 25, and that's being generous. Not to mention, adults are the people that actually go out and purchase music, yet, there are far less artists in the mainstream that actually appeal to them. Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, and Adele are really the only new universally appealing acts to have risen to superstardom this decade, but even this was in 2010-2011, before the domination of social media really came into play. Labels no longer develop artists. I know for a fact that they have close to a 0% in the budget for actually taking time to craft someone into a long lasting artist (and product). They're all about quick money, nowadays. If an act is trendy, they'll milk them for all they've got but will have no hesitation to throw them into the garbage bin once the trend is over. People don't buy music, so 95% of what you hear on Top 40 radio is all made by a computer. It's cheaper, more cost-effective, and quicker than hiring session musicians to actually play instruments. I love Adele, don't get me wrong, but she really isn't all that innovative. She just appears this way because she's one of the only mainstream artists to incorporate live instrumentation into the production of her songs, which in turn, appeals to more people. Everything you hear on the radio nowadays is electronic, and it's gotten monotonous. Speaking of monotony, the same two/three groups of songwriters/producers are responsible for almost every Top 10 hit this decade. Because of this, most pop artists' pretty much have the exact same sound. There are far less artists actually responsible for creating their own craft, and are simply just the voice and face of a product that has little to no distinction from the next one. There is such a lack of diversity in not only pop music, but urban music as well. Almost every Hip-hop/R&B song is marked by auto-tuned half-rapping/half-singing and extremely banal lyrics. Gone are the days where you had to actually be somewhat of a clever lyricist (vulgar or not), which brings me to my next point..... This goes back to the point that "having actual musical talent" is secondary. It's not only secondary, it's no longer even necessary. We have people like Jacob Sartorius charting on the Hot 100 because he acquired a following by LIP SYNCING on some app that's all the rage with today's teenagers. He can't actually sing, which is evident in how processed/robotic his voice sounds on his songs. Although the harsh robotic autotune sound is no longer trendy, pitch correction is mandatory in today's recordings. You will not find one record that comes out today that does not have some sort of pitch alteration on it, even ones with the best of singers. Recently, as in the past three years, pitch correction is applied to live vocals on most of the award show performances, although it wasn't on any in this current VMA's and it's banned for the Grammy's. Certain artists (Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, and Taylor Swift are the worst offenders) have their vocals edited on almost every major performance they've given in the past 2-3 years. It's obvious to me because I produce/mix vocals myself and my ears can detect any slight use of pitch correction, although their use of it is not very slight. But the average kid, teen, even adult doesn't notice it. Some people actually believe Selena Gomez improved her vocals....... LOL It's unfortunate to what that present-day music industry has resorted to. It's almost entirely style over substance, and even the "styles" are lame. Sorry for such a long post, I'm just very opinionated lol.
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Ling-Ling
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Kill Kill Kill Kill! Die Die Die!
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Post by Ling-Ling on Aug 30, 2016 6:44:44 GMT -5
MTV missed the 8 year old memo that the top of the charts aren't 90% Hip-Hop anymore. What show were you watching? Because I saw performances from Beyonce, Nick Jonas, Chainsmokers, Ariana Grande, Britney Spears and Rihanna. The only artist up there that can even be considered Urban is Future. Rihanna and Beyonce did perform some Urban numbers in their medleys. Because there were actual black people at the event, GASP, it was "hip-hop?"
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felipe
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Post by felipe on Aug 30, 2016 7:10:37 GMT -5
Most talked about on Twitter:
1. BeyoncΓ© 2. Rihanna 3. Kanye West 4. Drake 5. Fifth Harmony
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Bigfatliar 3
Platinum Member
cool people call songs "joint" which is little inappropriate to me cuz i think of an elbow or someth
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Post by Bigfatliar 3 on Aug 30, 2016 7:23:03 GMT -5
Most talked about on Twitter: 1. BeyoncΓ© 2. Rihanna 3. Kanye West 4. Drake 5. Fifth Harmony do ppl really forget Adele? VMA is based on voting but yeah Adele won 0. And ppl seem to see it as a normal thing or they didnt notice it?!
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Enigma.
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Post by Enigma. on Aug 30, 2016 11:03:47 GMT -5
theringer.com/britney-spears-glory-album-vmas-42701dddac4c#.5nywscpheThis article is mostly about Britney but says a lot about VMAs too "I had a lot of mixed emotions, seeing her back among the MTV A-listers on Sunday night. One of them was relief: The other performers on the bill were in so many ways more varied and diverse in their imaginings of female beauty than the ones I grew up with."
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14887fan
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Post by 14887fan on Aug 30, 2016 13:49:31 GMT -5
BLANK STARE! Whyyyyyy are you still here? Yeah, I'm incredibly confused. How is it that someone who makes such a blatantly racist comment, as the one they made, is still allowed to be here?
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Caviar
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Queen X
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My Charts
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Post by Caviar on Aug 30, 2016 16:59:05 GMT -5
Maybe staff is still voting?
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dkampy
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Post by dkampy on Aug 30, 2016 23:07:46 GMT -5
Perhaps this post is going to date myself...But I can see why the decline in viewership. I am one of those 1 less viewers. This is the first time in the last 30 plus years I have failed to watch. I took a look at the list of performers and thought boring...there did not look to be any variety in the acts performing. The show did appear to be very urban leaning...I did not watch...so perhaps I am uninformed.
Maybe People here are much younger than me...I remember a time when you would have Paula Abdul, Nirvana, Bobby Brown, Guns and Roses, Madonna, Hammer, Red Hot Chilli Peppers etc...in the same show. Most of the acts seemed to be from the same urban leaning styles. I don't think that represents the year in music like the show use to aspire to do. I do think Rihanna and BeyoncΓ© should have been there...both had epic years...But they use to be able to leave room for more variety. I did think the addition of Halsy and Chainsmokers was fine as both broke out this year, have pretty huge followings, and are featured on a current smash...But when I think of the past year I also think of Adele, Twenty One pilots, Charlie Puth, M-Train, Justin Bieber, Dnce...and I am just keeping it more mainstream...Just brain storming what I would of done to keep the variety...Perhaps Disturb could have performed Sound of Silence, Dnce could have joined his brother Nick...I think DNCE was more relevant this year...CBTO was one of the songs of the year. The band was even there. Of course they went with the more urban leaning Jonas. Perhaps Major Lazer could have joined Justin Bieber for cold Water after The Biebs performs Love yourself...then MO comes out and does Lean on...then she premieres her new song which came out a couple days later. Perhaps Lady Gaga Could of Pushed her new release to the end of August and premiered it on the VMA's. Perhaps you get together Wiz, Lil Wayne, Imagine Dragons, and X Ambassadors for Sucker for Pain. MTV also use to have a grip on new acts that were creating a lot of buzz and help push them to another stratosphere via the VMA's.
As a music fan of all genres... it appears to be very boring. The Grammys have upped their game the last few years while the VMA's have lost it.
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Post by Devil Marlena Nylund on Aug 31, 2016 6:18:15 GMT -5
I didn't watch the show because I don't have cable but it just feels so stale to me. They gave extra time to Rihanna, Kanye and BeyoncΓ©, and those three are among the biggest names in pop right now but it feels like the third or fourth year in a row of the same thing. Not that it's the fault of the VMAs but it kind of goes hand in hand with the superstars thread. There hasn't been an interesting superstar in years and events like the VMAs are evidence of that. If Ariana Grande, Fifth Harmony, Shawn Mendes and Demi Lovato were the biggest names there, what a dull show. The VMAs are in theory a reflection of what's hot right now, probably more than any other award show, and it flopped. It says something about pop music now. That's not necessarily a bad thing - maybe award shows like that are becoming obsolete?
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Enigma.
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Post by Enigma. on Aug 31, 2016 7:51:25 GMT -5
^^ Twenty One Pilots and Justin Bieber performed last year. The only act that has done two years in a row now is Nicki Minaj and this year she was just a guest of Ariana Grande.
VMAs have always worked with same acts, in the 90s they had Pearl Jam in 1992 and 1993, Aerosmith in 1993 and 1994... Britney performed in 1999, 2000 AND 2001
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AP
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Post by AP on Aug 31, 2016 10:07:54 GMT -5
Was super curious about these stars and how many times they've graced the VMA stage, performance or otherwise. I included pre-show performances for Nicki and Rihanna and Destiny's Child appearances for Beyonce.
Kanye - Appeared at the VMAs 11 times in the past 13 years, performing 7 times. *Even though he didn't perform in 2009, 2015 and 2016 - these appearances are notable as he interrupted Swift in 09, was awarded the Vanguard award and gave a lengthy speech in '15 and was given amble time to "do whatever he wanted" in '16 and premiered a video.
Nicki - Appeared at at the VMAs 6 times in the past 7 years, performing 5 times.
Britney - Appeared at the VMAs 10 times in the past 18 years, performing 6 times.
Beyonce - Appeared at the VMAs 9 times in the past 17 years, performing 6 times.
Rihanna - Appeared at the VMAs 7 times in the past 12 years, performing 6 times.
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Enigma.
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Post by Enigma. on Aug 31, 2016 13:58:20 GMT -5
Kanye in 2009 doesn't count, MTV had nothing to do with the incident except he was invited to the show but of course he was because he was nominated for several awards
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ampersand
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Post by ampersand on Aug 31, 2016 14:30:36 GMT -5
Most talked about on Twitter: 1. BeyoncΓ© 2. Rihanna 3. Kanye West 4. Drake 5. Fifth Harmony do ppl really forget Adele? VMA is based on voting but yeah Adele won 0. And ppl seem to see it as a normal thing or they didnt notice it?! She's never really been big on social media and she didn't even attend, so I don't see why she would be among the most talked about on Twitter. But it did strike me as a bit odd that she didn't win anything (not even in the technical categories); I guess MTV wanted it to be BeyoncΓ©'s night.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2016 4:32:09 GMT -5
^^ Twenty One Pilots and Justin Bieber performed last year. The only act that has done two years in a row now is Nicki Minaj and this year she was just a guest of Ariana Grande. VMAs have always worked with same acts, in the 90s they had Pearl Jam in 1992 and 1993, Aerosmith in 1993 and 1994... Britney performed in 1999, 2000 AND 2001 I don't think the issue is certain stars showing up consecutive years; if you're hot, you're hot. It's that if you look at the '90s and early '00s shows, there were SO many big names to invite, both old/veteran acts and newer ones, all of whom really wanted to be there. Now it feels like there are a limited number of people we really anticipate, none of the newer acts are really bringing it in the performance dept so they do nothing to wow us and make us anticipate them showing up at a future show, and the familiar faces may or may not truly want to be there. It kind of jumps out to me that neither Katy nor Gaga saw fit to time their latest releases so that they could perform at the VMAs this year, when they easily would have been standouts just by virtue of their name and presence. The show isn't totally irrelevant yet but it's also not entirely relevant, either, if that makes any sense.
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Enigma.
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Post by Enigma. on Sept 1, 2016 5:32:12 GMT -5
I agree that it'd be possible to get some more interesting acts to perform BUT we must remember that comes down to MTV and record companies collaborating together. Record companies want to get the most marketable acts on stage, it's not always up to just the artist or MTV.
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felipe
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Post by felipe on Sept 1, 2016 18:03:58 GMT -5
When I think of all the names that could have performed this year instead of Nick Jonas, Future or 4 Rihanna medleys, I think of Sia who's hot on the heels of her first #1 and could've created a watercooler moment, I think of Major Lazer who could've performed with Bieber, Meghan Trainor might have promoted her new single, 21 Pilots who are having a great year... Fifth Harmony is definitely a fan favorite and have won 3 VMAs already but never performed on the main show. Heck, they had Troye Sivan and Alessia Cara, so why not give them a slot on the main show?
So I wonder, how many of those people were actually invited? How many of them turned MTV down? Are the VMAs having a hard time getting A-lists anymore - unless they're promised 15 minutes of airtime? We know basically for sure that Adele, Kanye and Drake didn't want to perform, there's just no way they were not asked to.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Sept 1, 2016 20:36:17 GMT -5
Apparently there was a Pre-VMA concert There is some parts for vids of Tove Lo performing not on MTV though
Though this was posted today 5 hours ago, maybe they'll put up more soon.
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dkampy
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Post by dkampy on Sept 1, 2016 23:27:07 GMT -5
I am beginning to think if it's the VMAs themselves that are not relevant...The Awards are timed perfectly for the Fall season...Normally the biggest season for new music...None of them saw fit to promote themselves. Plus it's not like this year was completely devoid new music...I agree Sia, Twenty One Pilots, Fifth Harmony, Major Lazer with Bieber, Adele, and lady Gaga Promoting her new single should have been no brainers. Not to mention Dnce was there...why wouldn't they have been asked to perform instead of Nick.
Everyone performing seemed to appeal to the same type of person...that is not the way to improve your ratings...But then again MTV does not seem to be relevant anymore...when was the last MTV show that made a dent in pop culture...perhaps it's time to stick a fork in the VMAS.
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Enigma.
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Post by Enigma. on Sept 2, 2016 2:06:04 GMT -5
This thread has 31 pages so there's a fork for you
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