Rick Beato: The Real Reason Why Music Is Getting Worse

[DonR]

 

[Deleted member 43924]

old man yells at cloud computing

 

[Somafunk]

Beato is the epitome of “old man shouts at clouds” in that video, he can do one with his grandad rock , however good it was at the time, music evolves.

He’s just upset as he is rapidly becoming obsolete with the rise of so called “bedroom” producers that he derides, when you can collaborate with musicians all around the planet and mix/produce/master and release to your fans from a Mac mini then what is the point of a. “beato” anymore?.

Fred Again, all samples/electronic so beato better go lie down in a darkened room.

 

[kemmler3D]

Is there anything new to this rant or what?

"Music is worse now" has always been a misconception born of naked survivorship bias.

Somehow people always say it, and we somehow always find good new music to listen to... which should eventually be impossible if they were correct.

This video is a great example. He compares "music of today" with the all-time greats of the past. He forgets all the s*** acts that nobody remembers, including him, which were around at the same time as Frank Sinatra or Queen or whoever.

Quick, name the 8th best singer that was on the radio when Frank Sinatra had his first hit? Right... well, they sucked, and so did the 9th through 100th singers at the time, but nobody is bemoaning how bad music was getting in the '40s anymore.

Music is as good as it ever was. Jacob Collier, (a notable "bedroom producer" and admired by Herbie Hancock and Hans Zimmer, among others...) Kimbra, Samara Joy, Sturgill Simpson... they stack up. We can probably all name some others. They're not as famous because they haven't had decades to pick up new fans and become "old favorites".

He identifies real trends in the industry that aren't good, but they haven't done anything to the underlying musicianship or music.

 

[GoDawgs]

Is there anything new to this rant or what?

Seems like a lot of the same folks who sit around still listening to mainly music from their high school and college years have this same viewpoint. I hate when my old friends just want to listen to the 1960s & 1970s, let’s explore new territory!

ASR, Qobuz & Roon all are great sources for new excellent music discoveries. I’m exploring jazz now and loving it.

Perhaps these folks are just reminiscing youth with a subjective viewpoint

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Fred Again, all samples/electronic so beato better go lie down in a darkened room.

I guess you could call that music. Although, there is not enough money in the world to make me sit through that for two hours.

 

[Ktacos]

There's so much incredible new music coming out that I just can't understand anyone with his take.

 

[VMAT4]

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

We can only wait for the importance of verse to rise again in "Pop" music. But for now the chorus rules.

 

[Raxumit]

There are many things about the current commercial environment for music production and delivery that are not mentioned in the video that you can make a solid argument for being worse. The clear-cutting of the royalty system to screw over artists using streaming as the machine is awful. The loudness wars are a sad loss too.

But he's not talking about these things, he's talking about the absolute artistic quality of current music. If music makes someone happy, and they enjoy it, that should be the end of the story. I don't like hyper-produced, auto-tuned, click-tracked pop for the most part - but I do like some, and I don't fault anyone who does.

I think it is a unalloyed good that music production has become more and more accessible to people from all walks of life, not just a fortunate few who get an expensive record advance and get into an expensive studio. And, if streaming weren't raping artists royalty streams, I would find it equally unobjectionable. Wasn't this the promise of the internet, all knowledge and art at our fingertips? We actually got it for music, at least for a few years here.

I have access to streaming, but I still spend most of my time listening to complete albums in sequence, unshuffled - mostly things I've purchased in the last 3-6 months. His point about the difficulty of saving up for and selecting and buying music 30-40 years ago is a circumstance worth remembering and explaining, like a boomer's explanation of a rotary dial phone to a Gen Alpha, but not one to privilege or be nostalgic about.

 

[Deleted member 58670]

Rick Beato…. Personal hero of mine.

 

[Somafunk]

I guess you could call that music. Although, there is not enough money in the world to make me sit through that for two hours.

Exactly my point, thank you for making it.....what I consider to be music and the pinnacle of achievement will, to your ears sound like a racket.

I'm sure I would think what you consider music to be would drive me to pull out my own teeth and punch myself in the face.

 

[mhardy6647]

Amen!
Bring back that great ol' timey music!

 

[ShadowBoxer]

I'm sure I would think what you consider music to be would drive me to pull out my own teeth and punch myself in the face.

Maybe if you have odd taste. Except that millions/billions of copies of what I, and many others, consider music were sold (and are still selling) and that guy is highly unlikely to ever be in the HOF, imo. His musical talent is laughable.

But, yes, music is by definition subjective and sales are only one measure of artistic value. Eye of the beholder kind of thing.

 

[WillBrink]

Seems like a lot of the same folks who sit around still listening to mainly music from their high school and college years have this same viewpoint. I hate when my old friends just want to listen to the 1960s & 1970s, let’s explore new territory!

ASR, Qobuz & Roon all are great sources for new excellent music discoveries. I’m exploring jazz now and loving it.

Perhaps these folks are just reminiscing youth with a subjective viewpoint

It's depressing, all my friends who listen to music, all listen to what was during their peak memories. It's more about nostalgia than music for them I think. They complain about how bad modern music is, spend zero time attempting to find good modern music. I have one friends who literally only listens to Van Halen. While they had some fun songs, always thought they were overrated, but I digress.

Yes, there's a lot of terrible music out there today, we will never see the likes of bands like Zep, Stones, Who, etc, or Crosby Stills, Nash and Young, JT, etc. There was also plenty of terrible music (and movies!) 60s, 70s, 80s too.

I like the classics, still listen to them, but I'm about moving forward, always looking for new music, and find some real gems in various genres.

 

[gorb]

Maybe if you have odd taste. Except that millions/billions of copies of what I, and many others, consider music were sold (and are still selling) and that guy is highly unlikely to ever be in the HOF, imo. His musical talent is laughable.

But, yes, music is by definition subjective and sales are only one measure of artistic value. Eye of the beholder kind of thing.

Plenty of critics/people seem to like Fred Again:

 

[ShadowBoxer]

Plenty of critics/people seem to like Fred Again

Sad state of affairs if that's the best of what is being produced today.

 

[GoDawgs]

There was also plenty of terrible music (and movies!) 60s, 70s, 80s too.

So we never repeat our mistakes, remember the leisure suit, with bell bottoms

 

[gorb]

Sad state of affairs if that's the best of what is being produced today.

You seem to be making some fairly quick/harsh judgments. Is your only exposure to him a few minutes of the YouTube video linked by Somafunk?

 

[Somafunk]

Maybe if you have odd taste. Except that millions/billions of copies of what I, and many others, consider music were sold (and are still selling) and that guy is highly unlikely to ever be in the HOF, imo. His musical talent is laughable.

Perhaps you should have researched who/what he has done and is currently doing before calling his musical talent laughable, he is currently one of the most in demand artists across a multitude of genres, music evolves whether we/you/I like it or not.

You’ll be telling me you never went to an old skool rave in the early 90’s next…….

 

[WillBrink]

So we never repeat our mistakes, remember the leisure suit, with bell bottoms

All of which have returned multiple times, and will do so again every few decades or so.