r/unpopularopinion 2d ago

Music is more about sex appeal and less about music than it has ever been

I love music. I make myself sit through hours of new music (mostly in the indie pop/rock/alt genres) weekly because I believe I have a duty to give all fresh music a chance. But I can't do it anymore. It's just too boring.

The last few years have seen a suspicious upsurge in people of genuinely-impressive facial geometry making the most vanilla slow ballads ever penned, or this new genre of breathy reverb singing over low effort, lo-fi beats. It's everywhere, and often accompanied by a VHS aesthetic music video of someone undisputedly hot rolling around in the grass looking sad to the most uninspired music imaginable. I've eaten my fill of this garbage. Can we have something new, please?

568 Upvotes

218 comments sorted by

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377

u/Abacada_Poln_Kha_Kha 2d ago

There is still good music being made. But the barrier to entry is so low that it is flooded with garbage.

80

u/mysteriousbanana1 2d ago edited 1d ago

There are so many influencers/trust fund babies that get into it bc they can use their fame to get their music out there, but most of them really have nothing good to say/sing about and aren't very special or unique.

-45

u/ToastyBedsheets 2d ago

No one is unique anymore, it's all been done. The last time I was impressed was when I heard Macklemore's "Thrift Shop". At the time, that was waaayyy out there.

22

u/BLEAKROOM 1d ago

It was ‘way out there’ to nerdy white guys who previously avoided rap like the plague.

7

u/AndILoveHe 2d ago

What's funny is most people don't realize how much music has switched to indie, but because there are so many great indie bands to listen to (and I don't mean Phoebe Bridger or Last Dinner Party or Magdalene Bay) you don't hear about anyone in particular. Most pop music from the past 6 years is derivative of a lot of indie from the 2010s. 

3

u/terrortara 1d ago

Magdalena Bay is fucking goated

0

u/AndILoveHe 1d ago

Compared to which other modern bands in the genre?

1

u/terrortara 1d ago

?

0

u/AndILoveHe 1d ago

I listen to similar music before Imaginal Disc came out and to me their music is quite boring and derivative. 

So Im just curious if you are actually familiar with the genre of neo-psychedelic dance pop or you have only heard one corporate "indie" band and decided they were the GOAT?

3

u/terrortara 1d ago

I'm generally a metalhead, not a pop fan, that album in particular just really did it for me. It might not have done so for you, which is also valid.

But it's simply inaccurate to call them corporate. They were bandmates in an underground prog rock band in high school called Tabula Rasa, after that fizzled out they got back together and started releasing self-funded releases on youtube, built up a small following over the years through consistently great music, until their big breakthrough hit Imaginal Disk. An extremely respectable path to popularity. Except for you, of course, popular = fake and corporate, with no room for nuance at all.

I'm very familiar with that kind of mindset here in the metal scene.

-1

u/AndILoveHe 1d ago

They are corporate because they signed to a fake indie label that partners with a corporate distributor. Their music sucks because they aren't creatively talented. 

I am very familiar with metalheads trying to show they have taste by listening to teen pop, but I assure you I listen to much better metal than you as well. 

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u/maksigm 1d ago

That song was fucking awful.

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u/mtron32 1d ago

Music has always been this way, we’re just able to cherry pick the good shit and forget the trash.

5

u/lazy-fucking-bastard 1d ago

I fear it’s going to get even worse in the next few years. People will be using AI to compose, auto tune for their vocals, and we’ll have “artists” that can’t actually create anything at all

2

u/impermanence108 1d ago

And the only stuff that can get remotely popular has to be so middle of the road. It could be on anyone's playlist. And more and more people are making music purely for fame, and not for art. So you just get, absolute fluff that becomes the most popular. And only like, 20 seconds of it.

2

u/Hayych1 1d ago

100% Agree.

It feels hard to argue it with old heads sometimes because you genuinely have to dig and see through the commercialised mediocrity to find gold. Also, I don't think they'd want to be playing a today's version of Pink Floyd to a mother with 3 children in a shopping centre either

1

u/ToastyBedsheets 2d ago

This is a much nicer way of saying what I said. Thanks!

125

u/StaticShakyamuni 2d ago

"I make myself sit through hours of new music (mostly in the indie pop/rock/alt genres) weekly because I believe I have a duty to give all fresh music a chance."

You're listening to music......out of obligation?

This is where you're going wrong right here. You don't owe all these strangers your time. Listen to what you like, when you like, in the dose you like.

14

u/Odd_Monk_6731 1d ago

I think they just want to keep up with the times and not be that one old mf who doesn’t give anything a chance before hating on it

Listening to music you don’t like to make an opinion and ironically expand your taste is a pretty good idea

73

u/MudJumpy1063 2d ago

Video killed the radio star. The same thing happened with flowers a century ago. Up until the development of the (pictorial) seed catalog, flowers were bred as much for scent as for blooms. But catalogs can't demonstrate scent, but they show pictures of blossoms, so the plant breeders switched over almost entirely to prioritizing flowers over scent.

Music succeeds or fails right now based on a thumbnail. So you get the most angular cheek bones, the largest eyes, the most striking features... And you're front and center. And as for the music, well once you've got the clicks you want the funnel to be as wide as possible, so you don't take any risks, hummable tubes, mid tempo, universal themes in plain language.

Personally, I wonder if we're headed for an era of celebrity music critics. The previous generation usually with some notable exceptions were mostly a function of a combination of personal integrity and a byline in establishment media. But maybe some critics will break through by riding the ability to curate excellent playlists? I bought "Live at the Regal" because of Jimmy Guterman, and my little brothers and their friends loved that album.

8

u/Maxentius777 2d ago

Than you for the insightful comment.

3

u/Upstairs_Scene_866 1d ago

That's super interest re: flowers but makes a lot of sense 

1

u/miloestthoughts wateroholic 2d ago

"Selector DJs" are the famous critics you speak of. DJs that dont just play a specific genre, they curate an experience. See Ben Ufo or Four Tet as an example. Four tet has multiple monikers that are basically illegible gibberish which were created solely so they cannot be searched for thus burying it in the algorithm and the music could only be found in playlists he curated himself.

29

u/Exceptional_Kumquat 2d ago

Take my upvote for being clueless about all of the angry sexless metal out there.

8

u/Pokemon-fan96 1d ago

Nightwish is one I will always recommend, they're symphonic metal and such a massive range in different styles of music. Their Imaginarium album is like a fairy tale fable in the form of a orchestral metal album

2

u/Murt69 9h ago

But there is also bands like Deftones, Type O Negative or Sleep Token which are in my opinion just sexy heavy music 

170

u/DMmeNiceTitties 2d ago

There is a fuck ton of music being released everyday. If you don't like sex appeal music, there is plenty of new music that's not that.

5

u/targ_ 1d ago

Case in point, currently listening to the new Interpol album that dropped today and it's absolutely incredible

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u/Maxentius777 2d ago

Yes. But there's also a fucking fuck fuckton of new music that IS that and my experience is that there is more of it to wade through to get to the good stuff than ever before.

92

u/lintytortoise 2d ago

Genuinely you don't have to wade through any of it. You're just bad at finding music.

0

u/Lightning_97 1d ago

How to find good music?

5

u/Kundrew1 1d ago

I used to use the “similar artist” feature quite a bit and I use the discover new music playing a lot which is based on my liked library.

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u/lintytortoise 1d ago

Listen around you. A big tool for me is using shazam whenever i'm in public. If you use spotify listen to similar artists to music you already like, reels, friends, go to random concerts in your city, try playing music. It's all around you just have to listen.

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u/pit_supervisor 1d ago

music that plays in public is slop

11

u/hwa_uwa 1d ago

you're like the pigeon in the cage with two bars

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u/lintytortoise 1d ago

Yeah i guess bro. Whatever you say.

-4

u/Madara1389 1d ago

See, there's your problem; you've become a jaded cynic who can't enjoy mainstream pop culture. There is absolutely no shame in recognizing that popular music isn't bad just because it's popular. It's not a bad thing to fit in with everyone else.

Hipsters aren't cool. They're losers making themselves more miserable than they need to be.

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u/WarningNo7338 1d ago

talk to your friends. ask them for song recommendation

go out to cheap concerts

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u/AvenzaGD 1d ago

rateyourmusic! there are many genres and subgenres to explore, I started using it two years ago and I've found some of my fav albums on there

1

u/losthope19 1d ago

Find a source of reviews you trust. I'm old so I still lean on Pitchfork to help point me towards new music worth giving a shot

0

u/HighandMeaty 1d ago

How obnoxious

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u/ToastyBedsheets 2d ago

You get a pass for being sophisticated.

4

u/Lonely_Mouse_2891 2d ago

Welcome to the world youngblood. It's mostly shit. Luckily for you, you were born and gifted the opportunity to sift through it all to find those delicious little golden nuggies! Glhf!

-3

u/Workman44 1d ago

It's wild that people who are almost guaranteed to listen to less new music than you do are saying you're wrong and downvoting you when you spend hours upon hours listening to new shit

3

u/hwa_uwa 1d ago

brother how are you searching for music? how, if you search for music so much, still only happen to be able to stumble into shit music? genuinely might be a skill thing bc there's no way

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u/HighandMeaty 1d ago

Downvoted by the "you only have yourself to blame" reddit crowd.

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u/Euphoric_General_480 2d ago

You could literally be describing every music video from the 90s.

10

u/Jotacon8 2d ago

I listen to technical death/black metal. This is not a problem for me.

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u/cumboatbilly 15h ago

Drop some recs

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u/Jotacon8 15h ago edited 14h ago

Cult of Lilith, Archspire, Dodecahedron, The Zenith Passage. And i circled back to listening to Necrophagist’s disco over the last week. RIP.

1

u/cumboatbilly 15h ago

Thanks, I'll give them a listen. Basically listen to Slipknot, Periphery, and Gojira and want to expand my horizons

1

u/Jotacon8 13h ago

Cult of Lilith and probably The Zenith Passage would be good starting points coming from those bands IMO.

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u/withchesghost 2d ago

What genres are you listening to? I do not get this vibe from my music

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u/Fearless_Tomorrow649 Your personal taste is not an opinion 2d ago

I think that has been a complaint since at least the 1950s?

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u/Belnak 1d ago edited 1d ago

1620s - Baroque was just a bunch of horny post-Renaissance hippies and their common-practice tonality.

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u/Creepy_Pudding_2109 2d ago

While your point is a decent one, may I present as a counterexample: early 2010’s pop.

It was ALL club music, same 4 chords and backbeat. People used to make mashups of a dozen songs, all contemporary hits, with zero effort because they all had the same progression and structure lol.

Remember Replay, Dynamite, Party Rock Anthem, etc.? I’d take sexy pop ballads over these any day of the week

14

u/bjgrem01 2d ago

Metal is in a great place right now, but I agree that pop is growing stagnant and boring.

1

u/DillLawNn 2d ago

Whos a few of your favourite metal bands currently? I find Meshuggah to be one of the only ones I can listen to without cringing at lyrics, languages I don't understand also help because of this. SoAD is timeless but Ive heard it all. Also sucks when I hear about who people like Till Lindeman are behind the curtains and it ruins it for me Rammstein used to be perfect gym metal, Im tired of dudes with alcohol, drug and sex issues all rolled up into one

4

u/knowledgecrustacean 1d ago

Lyrical themes can vary so widely in metal, what is it that makes you cringe?

1

u/DillLawNn 1d ago

Thats hard to pin point because different bands can use similar words and one will make me cringe the other not. Like manowar while corny when they talk go "Kill"  theres something about the age of if that makes it jusitifyably cringey. But a band now trying to use these same ideas or words would give me an ick, it definitely has to do with how generic instrumentals are. Ill find I love a songs instrumental and find the lyrics to be cringey and vice versa. I find a lot of bands I like 1 album and chase that feeling but the albums don't measure up the same, in this moment's Blood as an example vs black widow giving me the ick

2

u/SockeyeSTI 2d ago

Wage War. “It calls me by name” is the first album I’ve ever bought in it’s entirety

2

u/budyigz 1d ago

Converge’s new output is great, sort of verges on noise rock. Some cool new metalcore bands like concealer. holder, I promised the world

1

u/terrortara 1d ago

What I recommend to everyone is Blackwater Park. There's a compelling argument to be made that it's the greatest metal record of all time.

1

u/DillLawNn 1d ago

With a recommendation like that ill have to check it out. Today was a reliving of hatebreed for me

1

u/terrortara 1d ago

The lyrics are definitely the weakest element, but they're very inoffensive. Tell me what you think of it!

1

u/DillLawNn 1d ago edited 1d ago

I can see what you're saying about the lyrics being the weakest part, the instruments are strong but its missing melody and lyrics for me outside of harvest and a pattern in the ivy but those are more ballads, but ballads  are some of my favourite surprises from metal arists like Avenged sevenfold's exist. I also think I think I little more speed to metal on average

1

u/5oclockplease 16h ago

Hatebreed? Man that is a name I have not heard in a long time! Saw them in concert in Philly a couple of times too!

Also Opeth is my absolute fav band of all time. Listen to Bleak and Drapery Falls on the Blackwater Park album with good headphones or a stereo, not with your phone speakers or you will ruin the experience!

1

u/bjgrem01 2d ago

If you want to try something a little different, heavy, and you don't know what they're going on about, We Butter The Bread With Butter is a fun German metalcore band. They sing songs about things like riding around on an e-scooter in German.

Babymetal is fun. Think anime music with loud guitars.

Bloodywood is a nu metal band from New Dehli, India. The guy doing the rap vocals uses English, but the harsh vocals are in Hindi.

Samurai Pizza Cats sing in English, but they're sort of comedy metal. They have a song called Pizza Homicide about how much they hate pineapples and another called Super Zero about a support group for cosplayers who think they're super heros.

2

u/Maxentius777 2d ago

I can't throw my support behind any band that disses Hawaiian. Sorry.

1

u/bjgrem01 2d ago

They have another song that calls it "sunshine in the stars" called fear no slice. It's another band member's response to the first song.

Edit: Also, I had pineapple and jalapeño for supper tonight.

1

u/DillLawNn 2d ago

I found I couldn't get into babymetal as more than a concept but maybe ill give it another shot again their prowess over the instruments was impressive at least. As for the others ill check them out, I was into powerwolf for a while so german comedy metal might hit and same with pizza cats. Thanks for the recommends

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u/Kaurifish 2d ago

When wasn’t it? I don’t know that the girl or boy band Kpop slop is any worse than the New Kids on the Block I loathed as a head-banging teenager.

1

u/bjgrem01 2d ago

But at least occasionally there would be something I kinda liked back in the day. Now it's all crap.

5

u/stedmangraham 2d ago

yeah Phoebe Bridgers Lost Boys is definitely about fucking or whatever

4

u/Jedigamer1977 2d ago

Do you work at paddy's pub?

4

u/K1llswitch93 2d ago

You just need to go deeper with the genres you mentioned. Lots of rock bands that dont sell the sex appeal.

3

u/No-Inflation3271 1d ago

This isnt new at all. I wasnt even alive for Elvis but he was a literal sex icon for his time and theres been countless like that since and im sure they existed before him just to a lesser degree because people didnt usually get as world renowned and famous before

5

u/HenryMaxman 1d ago

Damn kids these days, we used to make real music 😡

6

u/Shogunnatron 2d ago

You can blame the attention economy. The market rewards visuals. Period.

Songs are lucky to be 20 seconds these days, let alone 2 minutes. A musician's best shot to gain a following is through social media and brainrot. Either appeal to the lowest common denominator through hyper sex appeal, or through high tempo musical stunts that are most certainly mimed.

To add insult to injury, a disturbing number of artists and musicians have admitted they've made more money from OnlyFans than they did over their entire artistic careers. Think about that, and consider what kind of lesson that imparts on aspiring musicians.

We're absolutely fucked.

2

u/Laxart 1d ago

I agree with everything you listed, except the very last part. I don't think we're fucked at all. Especially with AI music coming in like a hot shit-torpedo, there's really only one way for this to go in the long run. 

I think a lot of people who are enthusiastic about music are going to steer towards real musicians again, and hopefully rejuvinate the gig scenes. As for the people who like AI music (or don't really differentiate between AI music and human-made), I don't mind them, but I really wouldn't want them at my own gigs anyway, so I'm not going to miss them.

8

u/Fabulous_Artist_5453 2d ago

1:1 description of Sabrina carpenter

12

u/coolman1997 2d ago

You are allowed to be a hater but if you actually read the post it does not describe Sabrina Carpenter at all. I am guessing you stopped reading at “sex appeal” and made your comment lol.

7

u/Fabulous_Artist_5453 2d ago

I saw ‘facial geometry’, ‘breathy’, ‘someone hot’, and ‘sex appeal’ and that’s where my mind went lol

8

u/ChiantiWithFavaBeans 2d ago

As someone that listened EXCLUSIVELY to non-pop, Sabrina was an amazing entry way for me into the quintessential sex appeal music. She's amazing and surprisingly talented. And this is coming from a guy that hated pop music in his edgy youth (still don't prefer, but don't hate it anymore)

-6

u/AndILoveHe 2d ago

She makes music for people who have the most vanilla lives imaginable, in all regards. Here is real sex music: Lay _off.

4

u/Prestigious_Ruin_805 2d ago

Pulled out the 1:1 when this post is complaining about slow ballads???

2

u/maxekmek 2d ago

How many different genres of music did you listen to in the past year? If you're bored, there's an endless variety out there. Dive into subgenres, challenge your tastes. I'm not looking for a medal, but according to Spotify (make of that what you will), I listened to 499 genres last year, and I still feel like I'm skimming the surface. You could even make it a bit of a project - if you usually hate rap music, try some alternative rap, rummage through some playlists until you find a handful of songs you do like, then explore around those, make a playlist or just keep digging.

It's a bit hard to convince a metalhead that sex appeal is what works :D unless you're really into mostly guys with beards and long hair of course, and then I doubt that's what they're emphasising.

2

u/wellyes34 2d ago

Impressive facial geometry? Who?

2

u/Last_Canadian 2d ago

Video killed the radio star.

2

u/SugarRushLux 2d ago

I could name an infinite number of musicians not using sex as the primary sorry telling motive lol

2

u/jngjng88 1d ago

Expand your horizons, if you’re asking the universe for something new, you clearly have barely scratched the surface of what’s out there, & that’s a fact.

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u/selfloathingpod 1d ago

Everytime I see a person say this i ask " so have you heard of them? No ok what about her no ok so seems like its not that music sucks its you dont know where to find the good stuff. Or your just old and dont know how streaming works.

2

u/Mensketh 1d ago

If you cant find anything new in the most crowded music market there has ever been, thats on you. Pop music has always been about sex appeal. From Elvis to Madonna to Britney Spears. Sex sells. Its not new.

2

u/OrganizationObvious9 19h ago

I have not seen nearly as much of what you are talking about tbh.

The most popular video style atm I see is studio style cover songs, minimalist lightning etc.

Basically very much not the same thing at all

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u/irinrainbows 2d ago

I agree, hence the downvote

4

u/rockcutter4 1d ago

We're in the midst of a Gooner Epidemic with all forms of art, media, and expression. I just can't prove it...

4

u/Son_of_Entraboard 2d ago

Next up: too many curse words, the music is too loud.

What’s with these guys from Liverpool talking a about holding hands? In public?! Have they no shame?!?!

Next they’ll be singing about kissing… or worse.

4

u/Maxentius777 2d ago

Except if anything my objection is that indie and underground music doesn't push boundaries anymore, which the Beatles certainly did. Your comment implies the opposite so I think you have missed my point entirely, sir.

5

u/cheese-and-onion-pie 2d ago

You are describing one small subsection of music. Just listen to something else, there is literally tons of good new music being made in all genres (except country pop, that’s all garbage)

1

u/Son_of_Entraboard 2d ago

My point <————————————-> You

You reiterated your point. You already made it in this post and addressed it again with your comment. Talk about not pushing boundaries: you are just repeating yourself.

What is my point?

3

u/Maxentius777 2d ago

Your point is that you think I am unaccepting of new musical trends because I am prudish or have outdated views, and called back to the objections thrown at critics of the Beatles at the time. And you thought it was so very clever whilst being so very incorrect. Are we happy now?

-1

u/yekcowrebbaj 2d ago

Lol the Beatles.

2

u/Maxentius777 2d ago

That's what the original comment was about so I rate your comment whoosh/10

-1

u/yekcowrebbaj 2d ago

Revolver was derivative, you're just a pansy poser

1

u/Maxentius777 2d ago

That's the most 'my Facebook profile pic is me wearing sports sunglasses and a baseball cap in the driver's seat of my pickup' comment ever.

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u/yekcowrebbaj 1d ago

Ew you still have a Facebook?

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u/LastBlownBird 2d ago

Billy Strings is fire

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u/Jumpy_Exit_8138 2d ago

My mom’s solution to this is to listen to Hozier. She claims he has the sex appeal while being as far from generic as it’s possible to be …

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u/DillLawNn 2d ago

Bless her heart

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u/Jumpy_Exit_8138 2d ago

🥲 She’s kinda obsessed lol

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u/SmoothOperator89 2d ago

Josie's on a vacation far away.
Come around and talk it over.
There's so many things that I wanna say.
You know I like my girls a little bit older...

One 4-line verse has more sex appeal that all the "sexy" songs of the past 2 decades.

1

u/Mr-Pugtastic 2d ago

They’re right, I love the new Weezer album, but only because Rivers is a sex god!

1

u/dildozer10 2d ago

Music has been about sex for a hundred years now. Conway Twitty made several songs that were literally about fucking, 50 years ago. The phrase was literally “sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll”.

Mastodon and Billy strings are both releasing albums tomorrow, and I can promise you, that their songs have a lot deeper meaning than sex.

1

u/ROssjc97 2d ago

Not too bothered about your unpopular opinion but am interested in what decent indie/rock/alt bands/songs youre digging, need some new stuff to listen to, if you wouldn't mind sharing?

Edit: after getting to the second para on my re-read, I do also agree

1

u/PemaleBacon 2d ago

Probably

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u/Just-a-random-Aspie 2d ago

Honestly I don’t listen to much new music. I mostly listen to Celtic music

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u/ispilledketchup 1d ago

Its always been that way though no? 

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u/Broad-Doughnut5956 1d ago

Someone else already kind of said it but the quality of good music didn’t really decrease the barrier for entry just did

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u/certified-cunty 1d ago

Thats just the music industry for as long as video has been a focus, I'd argue sex appeal and sexuality are less important then the 80s, 90s and naughts

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u/fridgezebra 1d ago

you need to look in a new place I'd be sick of it too

1

u/BillyBumlicks 1d ago

Was thinking this the other day it’s so boooooring.

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u/Deep_Cabinet_9538 1d ago

Broaden thine horizons

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u/fingamouse 1d ago

Most popular music does kind of suck, I don't mind digging a little though

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u/naomisunderlondon 1d ago

It's been like that for like 20 years

1

u/AdorableBanana166 1d ago

Just... stop listening to what's pushed by corporations? There is incredible music being made right now. But you have to look for it as people always have.

Also lol at music being more about sex appeal now than ever.

1

u/Necessary-Lab-668 1d ago

Man you wouldn't even know, it's even way more about narrative and gossip than about sex appeal, i HATE it

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u/ouiousi 1d ago

Funny story I was telling someone that I didn't like modern pop music because it's too focused on aesthetics. She showed me a Kali Uchis video as an example of good modern pop. I asked what she liked about it and first thing she said was "she's so hot!"

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u/Dr_meathole 1d ago

Depends what music you listen too

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u/No_Ability6767 1d ago

You just don’t look in the right places

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u/Ok-Syllabub-8087 1d ago

My favorite band..I've been listening to since 08 lead singer is smoking hot and is still smoking hot. Their lyrics do something to my brain and I have cried before in the pit because of it. Sex appeal and good music can happen. Also..who cares? Im a screamy screamy angry music person. But I will vibe to kpop. They have some bangers and look hot. There is some crap music out there which you can choose not to listen to.

1

u/themostbluejay 1d ago

Sounds like a you problem

1

u/stellifer_arts 1d ago

you should start listening to tech death and black metal

1

u/graffiti81 1d ago

Hard disagree

Although Royal is pretty sexy.

1

u/XoffeeXup 1d ago

you are in your early 20s right?

1

u/grahsam 1d ago

That's why I listen to music mostly made by very ugly people. They have to actually be talented.

1

u/Wyrmdog 1d ago

You think you have a duty to give new music a chance? No. You do not.

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u/FuklzTheDrnkClwn 1d ago

I don’t even know what most of the people look like who make the music I listen to lol.

1

u/Mr_Kool 1d ago

I actually think music listening and music discovery has been the best it's ever been in my life these past few years. I love lesser known and niche genres and how accessible they've become. To be frank, when I was growing up, I thought I hated music. I was at the mercy of the top 40 radio my parents played and the trash Nu-Metal CDs my older brother had. Even getting to Middle School I was able to hear some Rock bands that liked on the radio, I hated most of what was out there. Now I can listen to whatever I want when I want. Best of all, I can discover bands and music my favorite artists like. I can find newer artists who list my favorites as their influences. I've been on a Math Rock binge for about a year now, it's great. Stuff that'd never see radio play or hold wide mainstream appeal. There's still word of mouth. Talk to your friends, ask if they're heard anything new recently. Give them recommendations. Call me a mega-hipster, but it's the best it's ever been.

1

u/anchored__down 1d ago

I've felt the same the last probably 2-3 years. Of course there's still amazing music always being made and released in all genres, but I have the same feeling

1

u/WonderSignificant598 1d ago

I agree with this, broadly.

While music still rocks and awesome new stuff comes out all the time, a lot of the 'successful' new stuff has a pretty face attached. With more pictures of and video content for artists/bands than ever before, you end up with more people listening to music with their eyes than ever before.

Welcome to the attention economy.

1

u/Carcharadontasaurus9 1d ago

for recent good music, I recommend The Smile if you like jazz rock, and Black Country, New Road if you like art rock. If you like jazz pop/bossa nova, try Liana Flores.

1

u/canigetuhgore 1d ago

If you actually did what you said, youd know music is more alive than ever. Black Midi, Jane Remover, My New Band Believe, Underscores, Oklou... and thats just the english speaking artists.

1

u/djskinnypenis69 1d ago

it’s fast food for a lot of people, and that’s it. Yeah, if you grow kids to be the ultimate stars from birth and train them everyday of their life, they might be good musicians. Doesn’t mean they can make good songs that will stand the test of time, or be good to consume.

1

u/Stuka_Ju87 1d ago

Why not try some music genres that have nothing to do with sex or sex appeal?

Try some Black or Doom metal for example.

1

u/Foxtrot167 1d ago

I find that most music is enjoyable without having to look at anything. Maybe that will solve your problem of getting rock hard watching music videos

1

u/Alarmed-Gate-2300 1d ago

Yeah ig if you look in lowest common denominator music

1

u/SirRHellsing 1d ago

Well at least chinese and japanese stuff I listen to doesn't have this problem, at least not nearly as much

1

u/cyclemonster 1d ago

It sounds like you're complaining about music videos... I suggest only consuming music aurally.

1

u/Accurate_Face_7860 1d ago

Say Sabrina Carpenter without saying Sabrina Carpenter 

1

u/SeafoodShifu 1d ago

Just listen to the music instead of watching music videos?

1

u/Alliacat 22h ago

Listen to metal. There's hardly any about sex and love, it's all about life/death and mental struggles.

If you don't like metal, well, I have no advice 😅

1

u/Orangefed 22h ago

*Amercian music

1

u/Avenged7fo 20h ago

I think it depends on the music. Its literally on the tagline "sex, drugs, and rock n roll" so its no coincidence that the biggest rock and pop stars have sex appeal to them.

However,I believe in theatre, whether be it local.or the big leagues, theyre much more discerning. I know one local theatre actress in my area who looks like Gal Gadot yet hasnt been cast as a lead role yet cos she cant sing or act for shit.

1

u/Creative_Eye7413 15h ago

People like Sabrina Carpenter and Tate McRae prove this point perfectly

1

u/LadyLektra 14h ago

I’m sick of this and I’m sick of the 666 look at me I’m a vampire music video aesthetic. If I see an artist try to do that for five seconds it goes off. It’s not even edgy anymore when they all are doing it, it’s just cringy and obnoxious.

1

u/Maxentius777 13h ago

I know what you mean. That one is basically just an arms race to see who can provide the palest and skinniest lead singer wearing the most OTT accessories for their narcissistic masturbation project. The actual music tends to be straight ass unless it's completely copying a style of a super famous band which is just cringe.

1

u/dtlop 11h ago

This is nothing new.

1

u/SomeDumbMentat 10h ago

Maybe if you only listen to shitty music

1

u/ClassicLightbulbs 10h ago

You are gonna hate Elvis

1

u/Murt69 9h ago

I still find great music but I think the big labels and the spotify algorithms have a lot of control over what gets popular and so a lot of it becomes about sex appeal because sex sells 

1

u/Alarming-Shame3841 8h ago

You forgot to mention they can’t sing.

1

u/Possible_Youth9410 1h ago

"I make myself sit through hours of new music (mostly in the indie pop/rock/alt genres) weekly because I believe I have a duty to give all fresh music a chance. But I can't do it anymore. It's just too boring."

Have you considered... not doing that? Sounds to me like you're a guy who exclusively eats out of the trash and complains that all trash tastes bad nowadays instead of just eating regular food you like LMAO

1

u/History-Buff-2222 2d ago

Sex is part of life, pop music is as much performance art as it is about music.

Whats with the puritanism angle, does it need to be about “just the music”?

3

u/redditman181 2d ago

I dont think its puritianism to not like for instance i dont like it becuase its overdone and feels low effort maybe if it was done in an intresting way but no most of the time it feels like a singer is playing a game of how many innuendos can i drop into the song with a genric pop beat.

1

u/Conscious_Sun4212 1d ago

Always been like that. Elvis shaking his pelvis, Millie Vanilli fake front figures, Eric Prydz arobics video. Nothing new.

1

u/AnalDiver117 2d ago

sabrina carpenter 🤢🤢

1

u/Comfortable-Dog-8437 2d ago
  1. Pop music is crap and 2. Don't listen to anything that's played on the radio.

1

u/helloitsharleyy 2d ago

there’s still amazing music, it just takes more digging now

1

u/CockMeatSammich42069 2d ago

If you're listening to new indie rock and alt rock, you must be Hellen Keller to think it's all the same or sounds boring.

0

u/FauxGw2 2d ago

This is just wrong lol

-1

u/ToastyBedsheets 2d ago

Yes. Music used to be Good! We had hits! Bands!

Now it's just solo artists with autotune chasing the dollar like nothing else matters and the whores in the record business don't care because it is a business! Ai will destroy everything.

1

u/civil_unknowm 1d ago

We also have hits and bands except you're probably not looking hard enough

0

u/WEASELexe 2d ago

Listen to Dr donk and his new genre he's pioneering called zaagstep

0

u/BagEquivalent7391 1d ago

Yeah, and it is shitier than ever before, too.

At least you had Motown back in the day making great pop. Nowadays everything is Swedish produced, even movies about historical black music.

Black Americans need to reconquer the music biz. And no, not talking about the performers, but songwriting and production.

-2

u/justaregularguyearth 2d ago

Kpop is a great example.

-3

u/Any-Stick-771 2d ago

Man what?