“What kind of music do you listen to?”.
A basic question that could start even the greatest of relationships. As music is recognized by most as a universal language, an easy yet effective way to connect with others, and certainly a great mean to bring people together, musical taste can be a crucial part of social integration and is completely up to oneself to listen to the music one likes, and to like the music one listens to.
But is it, really?
It has always been the case, and this millenium has been no exception: the music most people listen to is the one that’s played on the radio. One can easily compare Billboard’s 200, Hot 100 and Radio Songs charts and notice that most of the high-ranked tracks on a certain chart can be found at -roughly- the same spot on another. And this may seem totally normal, right? Popular songs are popular to any type of listener, wether she or he is part of a radio audience, is a disc buyer or digital downloader, the song is still going to sound good. Well, musical taste is a two-way street. Sure, most radio stations are going to play popular artists to attract listeners and improve their ratings. But they also have a major role in making an artist popular.
Take, for instance, Katy Perry and Taylor Swift. Their popularity didn’t come from touring and a growing audience which led them to the absolute top of modern fame. It was rather through airplay, and stations having “I Kissed A Girl” and “Love Story” on repeat that they got where they are today, and there’s nothing wrong with that! However, there is no underground scene for Sugar-Pop -or Candy-Pop- and its branches. Fame is a coin toss away when it comes to this genre: it’s a sort of pass or fail situation. Don’t be fooled though, it can as much be an advantage as it could be a handicap: why is it that “One Hit Wonders” are mostly from this particular musical universe?
What is even more dangerous, though, is the fact that radio stations, having found the recipe for success, won’t necessarily suggest anything groundbreaking to its audience. The variety of tracks played isn’t really one, since the main range of songs, and yes, we do mean songs, because, let’s face it, instrumentals are nowhere to be heard on mainstream stations, is reduced to one, two genres at most.
Today, when you turn on your radio, odds are you’ll hear a Sugar-Pop song by either some female artist or male R&B singer, featuring a rapper and, perhaps, a DJ. And for those who may think we hold a gruge against contemporary music and the 21st century, we also think the situation during the 70s, 80s and 90s was pretty bad too. In fact, we wonder: how is it that you know (we assume) bands such as Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, and not (again, we assume) Sun Ra, Camel or Spirit? Well, that’s probably because their music didn’t get as much airplay as the first three, if at all. So most of the music from the last century that remains in Pop Culture is Mainstream -or as many like to call it, Classic- Rock. Now, some “connoisseurs” may list Pink Floyd as a Progressive Rock band, and rightly so! Sure, they were pioneers of the genre, but let’s see: in a pool of 100 people, wether it be today or back in 1979, how many would know their true progressive songs, such as “Atom Heart Mother Suite”, “Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast”, and “Echoes”? Most of them would name “Another Brick In The Wall (Pt. 2)” (probably as “We Don’t Need No Education”), “Wish You Were Here” and “Time” if they were asked to. And that is probably because long songs like the first ones do not make it to the listener’s ear through radio stations.
Ever seen a “(Radio Edit)” tag after a song title? That’s probably because it was adjusted by the artist in order to get some airplay. Just this summer, Tame Impala, typical Indie band, not only drastically changed their style (we’re not complaining at all), but also cut the length of their biggest single in order to get it played by radio stations. The eight-minute long “Let It Happen” got cut down to four.
And this is happening more and more often. Unfortunately not all artists can afford doing so: it could be because they haven’t got the budget to remaster a track, or simply because an artist’s story and creativity shouldn’t be cut just because radio stations don’t want to take a risk by playing pieces that go over five minutes. However, if it happens more frequently than ever, it’s because it isn’t a hard process. Sure, you’re taking out part of what you’ve been working on for weeks or even months, but most long songs have a “weak” spot. You guessed it: the instrumental. Guitar, drum or synths solos? Cut it out. Crazy, mind-blowing screams like this one? So out of style. And so it goes. You therefore have but one kind of music: Pop. That R&B Beyoncé’s the queen of? Still Pop. It may still have the Rhythm but certainly lost the Blues. In fact, what R&B stood for when it had just emerged and what it sounds like today are very different. Both are amazing, don’t get us wrong, but they can’t possibly belong to the same genre, simply because, over the years, R&B has evolved to fit a certain profile and reach a certain audience.
And this is probably why many radio listeners, and especially the younger generation, limit their appreciation to a handful of musical genres lacking knowledge in “outdated” genres like Jazz or Classical. They just take what they are given. Too easy. Way too easy.
Mainstream isn’t a bad thing. Even though hipsterism made the sentence “This artist has gone mainstream” a pejorative statement, it isn’t. In fact, it just means that this artist broke through and can now reach a wider audience, and that’s great. But if “mainstream” has to be limited to one single style or genre, then that’s just plain sad. Music is here for you: grab it, embrace it, and discover it for yourself.
Greatness is not exclusive to the greats, and artists don’t have to get huge through huge distributors. Take Kendrick Lamar for example: he is nowhere to be seen on radio charts but is arguably be the best rapper of his generation and may have dropped what could be one of the most acclaimed records of the year. Sure, he’s been all over the internet for a while and doesn’t really fit the whole “emerging artist” profile, but this partial virtual absence pushes people to look for him and perhaps stumble upon other similar performers, and this is what makes music an active pursuit of happiness.