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Decline In Music Standards

In this day and age – with all the music videos, photoshoots and T.V. exposure – to be a musician, you need to have much more than an amazing voice; you need to have the looks too. Because of this, appearance ends up being given more importance than it should, and talent becomes less of a priority.

An obvious example for this would be Justin Bieber. He doesn’t have that good a voice, his songs aren’t that hard to sing and he barely has any talent, yet most girls seem to go crazy over him. This may sound harsh, but I honestly don’t see why. I don’t find him that good looking, and I just find his voice so annoying (though that might just be me). I’m sure a lot of people agree with me on this though.

A lot of my friends get shocked when I say that I don’t like Taylor Swift. It’s artists like her and Katy Perry that I just find overrated. They can sing, yes, but they’re honestly not that good.

There are other people, like Ke$ha, who I think have pretty close to no talent at all, at least in singing. I have to admit, her songs are catchy, but she’s barely an artist.

I remember Adam Lambert being amazing on American Idol. He wasn’t my favorite, but I did want him to win (yes, there is a difference). Even when he didn’t, I expected so much from him. I expected him to be a rocker. When his album was released though, I saw that it was mostly made up of these weird disco-ish songs. His vocal range is amazing, and the songs he sings now just do nothing for it.

At least there are still some truly talented people out there like Beyonce, Alicia Keys and Hayley Williams (Paramore) who really do have talent and don’t hold back. They’ve definitely gained my respect for that.

Surprisingly enough, I also have a huge amount of respect for Lady Gaga. She’s strange, but I don’t really care; behind all the costumes and glitter, she’s actually extremely talented. Quite awhile ago, I listened to her acoustic version of “Poker Face”; it showed me that she could do so much more than I thought she could.

All these disappointing singers make me not want to listen to the radio anymore. I’m sick of hearing the same Justin Bieber songs playing over and over again, and listening to songs and singers that sound almost exactly the same. It’s just so frustrating, actually.

I hope nobody gets mad at me for this post because that’s honestly that only thing that keeps me from posting my thoughts on these types of things here. Please remember that these are just my opinions and nothing more, and that I didn’t mean to offend anyone with this post.

Original Thumb Image Source Public Domain Pictures

My city’s library is pretty dull, too. But there’s a room where the “books for teens” are, but most of the books there are not as good as the books in the General Fiction section. It’s really bright, and I’ve seen people sit on the high chair with their laptops. And the chairs are so comfy.
My school’s library is boring. But at least it has sofas.
It’s too bad I don’t have the layout anymore. I miss those cute little blue-eyed black chicks.
I don’t think I would want to sell my services as a graphic designer either. If you compare me to several artists on deviantArt, I’m not that great.
~
I don’t like Justin Bieber. He’s not that great of a singer, and his voice is too soft and high. I don’t mind it when male vocalists sing high notes, because Ian Watkins (Lostprophets) does a great job of doing it. I don’t even know if Bieber is even a good singer live. For New Years, I was watching the live afterparty, and he was singing playback.
I don’t listen to any of the artists you’ve said in your blog. I’m not into their genres. But most of them are really talented. I listened to Lady Gaga’s cover of “Viva la Vida” on Youtube and it was a unique cover, because she added her own personality to it.
Most of the songs on the radio are crappy now. But there are occasions when my favorite songs are played. When I was at the hair salon, The Script and Three Days Grace songs were played.
I used to listen to Metro Station. But their songs got overplayed so now they’re annoying.

Comment by Nugget • July 25, 2010 • 12:28 am

I sorta agree, like you know susan boyles? She doesnt have looks, but she became famous because of her voice.

But I yea, justin beiber has no talent and he isn’t attractive at all.

I really don’t like overratted people, i just dont like famous people at all. I like bands that aren’t that popular you find some how on itunes.

Comment by Mandi • July 25, 2010 • 2:20 am

Oh Em Gee. I love this post of yours because you have addressed almost all the points I thought of! Hmm, I have to say Justin Bieber may have or may not have talent. But we find his singing horrible because we’re trying to compare his singing with others. He’s got his own voice, that’s what sets him apart from others. Okay, if he’s got a girly voice, still he’s trying yeah? I’m just trying to say that he’s trying his best. He’s only learning and you can’t compare him with really good old bands because that requires experience.

Oh, you don’t like Taylor? Surprising. xD I don’t love her, I can listen to her though. I don’t find her songs so ‘wow’ either. I’d also like to include that songs with dirty lyrics are the ones that become so popular! Lady Gaga, I like her but almost all her songs have some dirty phrase.. I mean, kid-friendly tunes are fast vanishing! Now I can’t even play songs in front of my mom! :S

Comment by Ash • July 25, 2010 • 3:10 am

You are absolutely right there. I have long thought of this and it seems I’m not the only one who thinks that the music industry is now filled with lots of people who either: a) little singing talent, b) no talent at all.

Most of these newcomers depend on their good looks to charm the fans. Meh.

I love Lady Gaga. I love her songs and I love her style. True, a lot of people thing she’s strange but at least that makes her unique.

I’m sick of having to listen to J. Bieber’s songs almost everyday. The radio loves him, my sister loves him. It kinda irritate me, really.

Comment by Kitty • July 25, 2010 • 7:33 pm

Yeah, because there’s this massive influx of people going into the entertainment industry (thanks to all those reality shows), so you’ve got a lot of people with barely-there talents trying to be on TV. Sometimes I find it hard to differentiate the singers if I just listen to the voices through the radio. I even thought J. Bieber was a girl the first time I heard his voice! XD

Oh I do hope to find the ring soon. I hope I just misplaced it somewhere in the house and not totally lost it.

Comment by Kitty • July 25, 2010 • 10:31 pm

Thanks. I should make a complilation of my artwork from a few years ago up to now. I’ve really made a lot of progress.
During school, someone said that Justin Beiber was in Atlanta. I live an hour north of downtown Atlanta, but when everyone heard this, they didn’t care at all.

Comment by Nugget • July 26, 2010 • 1:19 am

You definitely didn’t offend me. I’m siding with you because a lot of mainstream music is, quite frankly, balls. Some of the artists don’t have that good a voice, I agree. They’re just not amazing.

If a 20-year-old could sing songs like Justin Bieber’s, he wouldn’t get anywhere. I think his age also plays a part in it all. Just because he’s young, they look at everything and see him as some kind of star.

I find Katy Perry’s music to be catchy, like a lot of artists out there, but the music is – well, far from amazing. I look at people like Christina Aguilera – absolutely beautiful voice, not afraid to try any kind of song; Michelle Branch – she plays instruments as well; Kylie Minogue – one who sings good songs and can dance.

Current radio music is just crappy. It’s not good anymore. I know some songs are easy to sing, as you say with Justin Bieber. My mum felt that way about the Beatles. She thought that they weren’t anything special – their tunes were easy. But that was in the 60s. My mum just isn’t a huge fan of them. But they were a complete revolution at least for that time.

There’s barely any music “now” that holds that kind of effect. Lady Gaga is strange, but she does have catchy music. I haven’t heard any of her acoustic songs though.

I was actually 10 years old when I started ballet, which is pretty old, but I enjoyed it anyway. :D I started dancing because a few other girls in my school also danced.

Oh man, I played piano up until about 2 years ago. It’s sad… I can still play, but my piano at home is way out of tune and sounds disgusting. I had concerts and things as well, and I was with the band at school. I miss it! I went on to play guitar and formed a band, but that died too.

Ooohh ahha. My mum’s a beauty consultant now, but she used to work in finance and mortgage. It’s far off, haha.

Comment by Georgina • July 26, 2010 • 7:24 am

Yeah, having singing and playing (instrument) ability be more emphasized wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. But, it takes more than ability to get my attention. For me, it’s not about how great the artist is or how deep their lyrics are. I already have my own ideas and role models. It’s about a song that I can dance or sing along to. As a result, I go strictly track by track. Radio has always seemed to have a certain 5 songs on repeat (in my experience), so I don’t even listen to it; iPod dock ftw. All the people in your post are super stars. Maybe you can browse Myspace or Youtube, and discover some smaller artists. They may be just what you’re looking for…

Comment by Olivia H. • July 26, 2010 • 2:21 pm

Well, to be honest, few of the people you listed are actually musicians. They’re singers, entertainers, performers. Justin Bieber is popular, not because he’s talented, because of good tween marketing (and a “swag” coach *rolls eyes*). You don’t have to have looks to be a good musician, you have to have looks (or be able to get them) to be an entertainer. When I think of musician I think of a cellist, or violinist. Not the latest pop sensation.

Comment by Megan • July 29, 2010 • 7:21 am

Katy Perry actually got better as she got more famous so she’s gotten pretty good but live is sorta…
Ke$ha is just plain drunk…
Justin Bieber may be cute even I can do better than that and I’m practically tone-deaf…
Adam Lambert tries to hard to be a pop artist but he should be in more of rock. I don’t like Whatta Ya Want From Me but it’s sort of his genre.
Taylor Swift has sort of a voice but she’s gotten too overrated that it pisses me off.
Lady Gaga really surprised me with her slow songs because she computered up her voice too much in some songs. And the only risk for Hayley is she might get laryngitis again.

Clarisse

I have to admit, Katy Perry has improved, but I do still think she’s a bit overrated. As catchy as her songs are, they can become so irritating after a while.
Adam Lambert and Lady Gaga are just so much better than the songs they sing.

Comment by Denise • September 2, 2010 • 7:57 pm

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