Rick Beato on why music is getting worse

[Al M.]

Here's another perspective on Rick Beatos' rants - it's coming from a fan:

Around 11 min the video author mentions Polyphia, and at 11:30 their song G.O.A.T. I was looking it up on YouTube, it has 45 million views:

The song playing after (if you click at the end of the video), "Playing God", has 41 million views:

This is part of a whole world out there that I didn't know, and I suspect, most don't know.

I found the music interesting to excellent (that drummer kicks ass!). Two of their CDs are now in my Amazon shopping basket, waiting to be bought once I complete my next order.

 

[PYP]

Around 11 min the video author mentions Polyphia, and at 11:30 their song G.O.A.T. I was looking it up on YouTube, it has 45 million views:

The song playing after (if you click at the end of the video), "Playing God", has 41 million views:

This is part of a whole world out there that I didn't know, and I suspect, most don't know.

I found the music interesting to excellent (that drummer kicks ass!). Two of their CDs are now in my Amazon shopping basket, waiting to be bought once I complete my next order.

CD? What is that? just kidding. Old farts unite!

I liked the second song and will check them out. Qobuz has a live 48/24 resolution album that looks like a good place to start.

Rick Beato has a point, but he needs to go beyond Google stats and talk with some young folks (before they join Elon on Mars). An open mind is the only way to face the future.

 

[DetroitVinylRob]

CD? What is that? just kidding. Old farts unite!

I liked the second song and will check them out. Qobuz has a live 48/24 resolution album that looks like a good place to start.

Rick Beato has a point, but he needs to go beyond Google stats and talk with some young folks (before they join Elon on Mars). An open mind is the only way to face the future.

Being open minded is both a helpful approach for young and old alike, not just old guys. And we could dilute “what makes this (or that) song great” until no subjective values apply and it is merely well, “I like this” or “I don’t like that”. I once had an art teacher that warned us upon entering a gallery for review that if we had no better than the previous argument of personal taste in reviewing what we found quality in, it was an instant F. You fail my class. Guess she wasn’t too open minded… I found great strength and value in her relentless way of teaching and looking at art and the artist. I went on to a very successful 45 year career in industrial design that might not be finished yet. But that’s a story I couldn’t tell when I was a young man.

 

[Rt66indierock]

Being open minded is both a helpful approach for young and old alike, not just old guys. And we could dilute “what makes this (or that) song great” until no subjective values apply and it is merely well, “I like this” or “I don’t like that”. I once had an art teacher that warned us upon entering a gallery for review that if we had no better than the previous argument of personal taste in reviewing what we found quality in, it was an instant F. You fail my class. Guess she wasn’t too open minded… I found great strength and value in her relentless way of teaching and looking at art and the artist. I went on to a very successful 45 year career in industrial design that might not be finished yet. But that’s a story I couldn’t tell when I was a young man.

I’m old too and I bet I’ve heard what he has to say since the seventies without needing to listen. However, I heard it firsthand in most cases.

The kids today are more engaged in music than we are. Even in professional settings, who you have seen recently in concert is normal conversation starter.

 

[hopkins]

Here's another interesting interview of producer/engineer Bill Schnee:

From the middle to the end he talks about changes in music recording and production and "music today".

There are chapters in the video's description, but I encourage you to watch the whole interview.

 

[PYP]

Here's another interesting interview of producer/engineer Bill Schnee:

From the middle to the end he talks about changes in music recording and production and "music today".

There are chapters in the video's description, but I encourage you to watch the whole interview.

his autobiography is also very interesting!

 

[SeagoatLeo]

Mike, I don’t know that Beato advocates that access is being watered down as the rise in streaming would suggest just the opposite. Rather, he seems to feel the creative aspect has taken a short-cut that he admonishes (which is not surprising since he is a superb multi-instrument musician).

It also seems that processed musical construction as you call it (a good term) may be more prevalent in your daily musical consumption than you have realized previously, especially for pop music. But as you said, if you enjoy it, does it really matter anyway?

It is alarming at what AI can do in so many fields, musical composition included. My nephew is musician in LA and uses an alias to write AI music for Spotify and other platforms. He let my brother try his AI program to create a classical piece and he was stunned at the result. He thought he was freakin’ Beethoven reincarnated!

One of the things this development might do unintentionally is renew the joy and pleasure one can only get by hearing live music across so many musical genres. I think it’s why there has been a clear sky-rocketing trend in seeing so many legacy bands even at what was once considered outrageous prices. Thank goodness there is still nothing like the real thing when it comes to the performance arts.

Inon Zur composes music for video games and animation. The LA Jewish Symphony had a concert in honor of his compositions with maybe 60 piece orchestra, many woodwinds present in Soraya Hall, CSUN. The experience of hearing human composed music for alternative uses than traditional film or theater production was phenomenal. Despite all the acoustic music I listen to, I enjoy Yello's electronic pop as well. RIck Beato is indicating that MOST of the new music from about 1995 is crap, lacking the human element of creativity through A.I. and technology derived performance(s). There is a limit to what non human musical performance can translate into a human emotional connection, vocal or instrumental. Sound is not music. Rhythm is the most essential element to music and as Rick states quite strongly in this video, technology is being used to create "perfect" timing which is generally bereft of humanity and emotion.

Feel free to disagree. All of my friends use streaming for sampling music to purchase, not for serious listening enjoyment. 85% of the streamed music is of inferior quality to some form of the original physical product. In the pop and rock world, there are few great new recorded performances (studio or live).

 

[SeagoatLeo]

Around 11 min the video author mentions Polyphia, and at 11:30 their song G.O.A.T. I was looking it up on YouTube, it has 45 million views:

The song playing after (if you click at the end of the video), "Playing God", has 41 million views:

This is part of a whole world out there that I didn't know, and I suspect, most don't know.

I found the music interesting to excellent (that drummer kicks ass!). Two of their CDs are now in my Amazon shopping basket, waiting to be bought once I complete my next order.

I also prefer listening to the second track. I bet most of WBF listeners don't even know about this top rated band for decades Takeshi Terauchi and the Bunnys

Notice that it has a defined melody line. Something to think about (entire album presented on Youtube).

 

[Tiltedfault]

I’m mostly a classical music listener, but I do dip my foot into the popular music world and I don’t think it’s particularly worse than it was in the past. I mostly see an explosion of different genres and sub-genres of popular music that barely existed decades ago, somewhat paralleling the explosion of various food cuisines and their innumerable fusions.

I think the spigot (as Beato refers to it) has simply gotten bigger and the flow has greatly increased, so there’s bound to be an impression of good music having been diluted, when in reality it’s probably close to the same small percentage it’s always been.

There’s also the issue of gatekeepers and critics who were fewer and more influential in the past, but now it is much more democratized (for better and worse) and thus, I think, more challenging in some ways to separate the wheat from the chaff.

I much prefer the nearly free access to hordes of music I can sample and listen to, though I too am nostalgic about the times when I saved up money to buy an album and all the joys that entailed.

 

[SeagoatLeo]

As an archivist of two classical music/ethnic music composers and part time recording engineer of orchestral, chamber and choral music, I get to hear some exceptionally excellent new compositions. One symphony composed and performed just pre-Covid in 2019 was Lucas Richman's This Will Be Our Reply (my sister and I sang the West Coast premiere 5 years ago in August at Disney Hall). The third movement was composed first (one can skip the first 2 movements).

@21:50 premiere performance.

Here only 4 weeks ago

@24.48 in superior sound and ensemble

So many are hidden great compositions, I have 100s of them in my own recordings and performances. Often not publicly published due to copywrite/musician's union restrictions (often members of LA Phil & studio musicians).

 

[hopkins]

The Olympics closing ceremony gave us some good musical moments, with "contemporary" artists:

May as well add to this DJ Barbara Butch's opening ceremony party playlist with some fun old and new French songs:

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