Sep 20, 2015  The Bad. Of course, the main association auto tune has with music is producing awfully off-key songs as well as hurting the music industry as a whole. Because of the popularity of auto-tune, many feel the emphasis on how good a singer is has been cast aside for how technologically gifted they are. Jan 12, 2011  No, the real issue is that music is a business and auto-tune sells well. But first of I want to say music is not ruined, there are plenty of talented artists out there in all genres of music. But the issue is that the most popular artists at the moment: Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne etc. Use it and because radio hypes it everyone wants some of that money.

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The following sentence might come as a huge shock to teens and Millennials, so stop tweeting for a second, kids, and get prepared for a totally outlandish statement. Here it is: Once upon a time, pop singers were actual singers.

1. 1. Autistic ballerina dances her way into hearts

      In a popular YouTube video, the beaming little ballerina dances an entire four-minute routine seemingly perfectly, matchin...

Yes, I know. That’s hard to comprehend since the pop charts are now dominated by artists who use Auto-Tune, the software plug-in that corrects the pitch of those who can’t really cut it in the vocal department and turns their vocals into robo-voices. While everyone under 30 recovers from that revelation, here’s what I mean by “actual singers.”

Back in the day, pop artists like Frank Sinatra and the Beatles used to be able to record albums in just a few days. Country musicians like Patsy Cline and George Jones trudged through grueling tours in out-of-the-way rural locales yet still missed nary a note. R&B musicians like the Supremes and the Four Tops navigated their way through complex choreography but still belted out songs out like their lives depended on it.

And while today, we still have singers with massively impressive pipes, a whole lotta them could never have rocked it for real like the Motown gang. These days, artists are able to get by on looks, publicity and aid from Auto-Tune.

You can hear the robotic, processed sound of the plug-in on recent hit records like “Blame It” by Jamie Foxx and T-Pain, “Just Dance” by Lady Gaga and “Right Now (Na Na Na)” by Akon. It’s also heard on tracks by Kanye West, Britney Spears and Lil Wayne. When West attempted to sing “Love Lockdown” without the plug-in on “Saturday Night Live,” the results were none too impressive and got ridiculed online. You can hear 10 examples of “Auto-Tune Abuse in Pop Music” on Hometracked, a blog geared toward home recording enthusiasts.

Paula Abdul also uses Auto-Tune on her new song, “Here for the Music,” which she performed (i.e. lip-synched) on “American Idol” May 6. It was evident just how artificial Abdul’s vocals were when she was followed by Gwen Stefani, who gave a warts-and-all live vocal on No Doubt’s “Just a Girl.”

Country and rock singers are said to use Auto-Tune to protect themselves from hitting bum notes in concert. Pop singers use it when they have a hard time singing while executing complicated dance moves (raising the question as to why they’re letting their dancing take precedence over their music). Auto-Tune has become so ubiquitous that indie rockers Death Cab for Cutie wore blue ribbons at this year’s Grammy Awards ceremony to protest its overuse.

Building the ‘perfect’ beast
The prevalence of Auto-Tune comes from two longstanding pop music traditions — the desire to alter the human voice and the quest for perfection at the expense of real talent and emotion.

The first of these can lead to inspiring moments, as the New Yorker’s Sasha Frere-Jones noted in an essay last year. Pioneering voice tweakers include producer Quincy Jones, who punched up Lesley Gore’s vocals with double tracking on “It’s My Party,” and George Martin, who gave us a childlike sped-up John Lennon on “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Later on, Peter Frampton wowed audiences with his talk box guitar effect and a decade later, vocals were being put through harmonizers to get jarring outer space effects.

Of course, to pull off any of those effects, you had still had to be able to sing. With Auto-Tune you don’t.

Then there’s the quest for perfection. By the 1970s, producers were able to edit or splice together vocal takes from various tracks and eventually they started to use hardware that corrected vocal pitch to create “perfect” performances. When the sound editing program Pro Tools became the industry norm in the 1990s, kludged-together vocal tracks became the norm.

But too much meticulousness in pop music strips away passion. And the very reason we listen to music, noted the late rock critic Lester Bangs, is to hear “passion expressed.” Auto-Tune makes people sound like robots. And if there’s no feeling, why listen at all?

Some people apparently aren’t listening anymore. Sales of major label CDs are down. But more authentic sounding music still has fans. Paste magazine recently reported that indie music is selling more, and the one area of commercial music that’s remained popular is “American Idol,” where you can’t fake it (unless you’re Paula Abdul).

The producers speak
A lot of producers like to use Auto-Tune because it saves time, says producer Craig Street, who has worked with Norah Jones, k. d. lang and Cassandra Wilson. “If you have a smaller budget what you’re doing is trying to cram a lot of work into a small period of time,” Street says. “So you may not have as much time to do a vocal.”

Craig Anderton, a producer and music writer, observes that Auto-Tune “gets no respect because when it’s done correctly, you can’t hear that it’s working.

“If someone uses it tastefully just to correct a few notes here and there, you don’t even know that it’s been used so it doesn’t get any props for doing a good job,” Anderton notes. “But if someone misuses it, it’s very obvious — the sound quality of the voice changes and people say ‘Oh, it’s that Auto-Tune — it’s a terrible thing that’s contributing to the decline and fall of Western music as we know it.”

One producer who dislikes Auto-Tune is Jon Tiven, who cut his musical teeth in the punk rock era with his band the Yankees, and went on to produce soul singers Wilson Pickett and Don Covey as well as Pixies founder Frank Black. Tiven thinks Auto-Tune has led to the destruction of great singing.

“I don’t know how many levels you want to drop the bar for what it takes to become a successful musical person,” Tiven says. “You could sacrifice on some levels, but it would seem to me one of the first things you would really be hard pressed to sacrifice is if the person could sing in tune or not.”

Street says the like or dislike of Auto-Tune largely comes down to aesthetics, and likens people’s feelings about listening to unnatural sounds with the way some people feel about unnatural body modifications, such as breast implants.

And that makes sense. After all, today we have models and actors whose faces and bodies were never intended by nature, reality TV that’s not real, and sports “heroes” whose strength comes from pills not practice. It’s totally understandable that the commercial pop world would embrace an unnatural aesthetic. Whether audiences will someday want pop singers who are first and foremost singers remains to be seen.

© 2013 msnbc.com. Reprints

I get a Headache every time hear pop music for over 10 minutes. The Simple notes, the bad singing, the stupid lyrics. It just hurts my brain.
And here I wanna list the top reasons why I think its awful
I mostly listen Punkrock, hardrock and metal, and with metal I mean everything in this huge genre what is good, from Melodic metal to trash and progressive metal to metalcore and numetal.

The Top Ten Reasons Why Pop Music Is Awful

1'Singers' need AutoTune

Man I seriously hope that AutoTune gets banned or something. You can sing without it, it won't hurt your lungs or anything. - NuMetalManiak

If autotune was banned, Kanye's songs would get a whole lot less emotional. - WonkeyDude98

Crappy singers everywhere, from Chris Brown to Taylor Swift. Flops, show-offs, nothing more than to feed their ego and falsely show off their technical vocal 'skills', and worse, do it all under the name of capitalism at its greediest: music companies that demand lots of $$$, as more crap, stale, lame, bland, generic, and repetitive music videos are released, further pushing the music industry's greedy and selfish agenda, forcing them to demand more generic auto-tuned 'singers', and then feeding the 'singers' ego and pockets, but also subliminally draining out their self-esteem and values. The deadly cycle goes on and on, and auto tune is definitely one of the biggest factors to that modern-day music industry cycle.

If your gonna sing, at least try! If your so afraid of messing up that you need to use a computer to make everything perfect, perhaps you shouldn't even be singing or making 'music' in the first place!

This is true for many singers (Bieber, Katy Perry, Rihanna etc.) but there are many Pop Singers who are very talented without autotune, the main example being Lady GaGa.
Other examples being Demi Lovato, Beyonce and obvious examples like ADELE, Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith

2No instruments are played

I would like to elaborate that it's not necessarily that there aren't any instruments being played, it's that there is no longer any creativity, or any attempt at making anything other than overly simplistic, market-driven formula drivel. A computer can be an instrument too, it's all in how you use it. Unfortunately, especially varied or creative instrumentals in music doesn't really sell to the lowest common denominator, resulting in the constant generic spiel emanating from your typical Top 40 radio station.

Agreed. An instrument is a tool. A synthesizer is also a tool. It al depends on how you use it. - MChkflaguard_Yt

Pop songs mostly have no instruments played at all. A single boring beat, and the same 5 same computerized notes played over and over. There is simply no soul left in today's music, and anyone who hasn't lost their taste in culture or enlightenment can agree with my claim, while brainwashed sheep follow and listen to whatever they're told because they can't comprehend that the computerized garbage they relish in consists of no instrumental soul, emotional movement, or varying sound.

Drum Machine, and vocals. I understand that over half of pop songs use samples from other instruments, but real drum just sound better (just my opinion).

I think the more important thing is that they just play a recording behind them when they play live

3Almost always about love

I find it that most pop music I hear is always about love and stuff. I don't like that type of music focus.

I understand that love is influential to many people, but broadening your music might make it better.

Love isn't everything, there's other things to talk about as well.

Can you make songs that aren't about love? Nope, because REAL music sings about more topics than the same boring thing over and over.

4

Do You Think Auto-tune Is Good Or Bad For Music Free

Songs are overplayed

Radio stations should play a wider variety of music. It's probably been like this for decades.

Remember when Justin Bieber's song named 'baby' come out? god dammit this song was overplayed everywhere.

That's just radio music in general. The fact that people hate on songs based on how often they're played is just questioning my faith in intelligence. - DCfnaf

Yeah it's probably because you're listening to a station that only plays rap or pop. Just change the radio station or somethih - Luckys

5Stupid lyrics and messages

Don't get me wrong but I think this website takes rock too far. I mean it's okay to like it but you're just making every other good genre invisible. What about Jazz? You guys just shame pop because of its stupid songs even though certain songs are stupid and repetitive but really you going to diss long time classics like Janet Jackson over rock? Are you serious? I mean rock is good but you just make everything else invisible. You know that some of the crappy pop songs could have meanings and I don't mean messages like get a new boyfriend or get over your heartbreak but messages that really stand out but you just compare that to rock. It doesn't make any sense. Fine, thumb down my comment I don't care I'm making a point here. Attack me all you want, it's a shame and you just hate people that don't like rock. Seriously. - JaysTop10List

Jazz music sounds great, while pop music on the other hand is turning your brain into a useless rotting clump. - IAmNotARobot

You all know what I mean there... 'I came in like a wracking ball'
Like your kidding me? And the messages which does stupid lyrics deliver... I didn't had that much party yet in my life but I already know that it isn't that much fun to 'party all the night'
And none of the pop songs really is about the real problems in the world. Did you ever heard a pop song even just say the simple message 'War is bad'. No because they suck and they don't care for the real problems and nobody wanna hear about real problems... Sad world

If you like Beyonce, she actually the first artist to sing this song but was disapproved by herself and later was given to Miley. - BeaM456

Wow! Before people start agreeing with this, let me just say, PAY ATTENTION TO THE LYRICS FIRST! People who say Shake It Off is bad probably say that because they DID NOT take time to pay attention to the lyrics! The song could help you in life if you ACTUALLY paid attention to the lyrics! The song was created for a REASON! So before you go saying some song is meaningless, MAKE SURE IT ACTUALLY IS!

Some of the worst lyrics in my opinion :
- 'I was busy think about boys, boys, boys'
Who tf cares if you were busy thinking about boys? It's like some stranger walk to you and suddenly say 'Hey you know, I was busy thinking about boys! ' What you would do? I guess you would keep walking, pretend you don't listen, walk away, listen but then angrily say 'I don't care! ' or 'You're wasting my time! ' or something similar
- 'Till I find someone I love, kissing strangers'
The songwriter is 100% abnormal. Normal person will never kiss strangers. Can you imagine disgust reaction from strangers when you suddenly kiss them? I can guarantee they'll think you're a crazy person. I never tried this but I use my logical thinking.

6No talent

This really annoys me, every singer has talent. People just enjoy pointing out mistakes. For instance I thought that Katy Perry was an untalented pop artist who couldn't play an instrument if you paid her. Then I suddenly found myself on YouTube bawling my eyes out at one of the most emotionally deep and vocally impressive performances I have ever seen. (Funny, huh? ) Anyways Justin Bieber has a much different problem, he doesn't quite have ENOUGH talent. There are plenty of boys that sound just like him and are hardly recognized. Not to mention all the trouble he has gotten into, but you still can't say he is untalented. And by the way, I think it's ridiculous how people constantly say that pop music isn't REALLY music and that it's all horrible. That's your opinion and you need to label it that way. For instance, I don't like Adele that much, this is how I should point this out, 'I think Adele is a really good singer, but I personally don't like her music,' and here is how ...more

This is the greatest comment written in the history of the Internet. And finally, an Adele hater who IS NOT BIASED. - DCfnaf

I don't say that pop music is all that bad, but it is way too overrated. The singers of this genre don't even need to make a song that sounds good and it becomes a hit instantly and gains hundreds of millions of views. Compare Justin Bieber to sum 41 or Green Day. While the last two pit their talent into their songs along with their music all Justin has to do is try to sound sexy and all his fans go crazy. People have their own preferences but it isn't coincidence that everyone likes only pop. To all the pop fans out there, give some time to listen to other genres like pop punk, alternative rock, soft rock, hard rock, post hardcore, etc.

All singers have talent. Maybe some like Jacob Sartorious (I dunno if I spelled his name right) don't, but others do, Ariana Grande can hit notes without autotune that are quite hard to hit, Taylor Swift is actually quite creative when writing her songs, and Adele has a beautiful voice. Most talent in pop is stuff you're born with. Talent in rock is stuff that takes time to learn. There are different types of talent. And there are more talents then just singing. Drawing, Dancing? Anyone forget those? You can't just go around saying folks have no talent.

All you need to do is to sign to a record label, and fake your voice and instruments. You also a small amount of talent.

7You hear it everywhere you go

So true, especially if you work in a public place like a popular restaurant or amusement park, you're subject to hearing this crap and have no liberty to prevent it from reaching your eardrums. - NuMetalManiak

It's like hearing hell! It's always on the radio, grocery store, public places in general, school it's unavoidable! My god I like Rock music, but at least Rock music isn't played non stop, every 2 seconds you're in public. Honestly I'm just glad to be a rock teen.

That's what's so hellish about it.

This is what angers me the most. Fine, wanna listen to pop? None of my business. But why do you play it literally everywhere? Toss some variety into it!

8It's corporate

It's a legitimate way to make a lot of money, nothing wrong with that at all, it actually shows the ease of doing business in the region - styLIShT

It's completely processed. Made with a team of audio engineers to clip the sound and beat-correct the instruments. There's no musical talent, and no musical effort shown.

Those sound engineers make me feel ashamed to be one. (I have never used autotune.) - MChkflaguard_Yt

It's made to sell, not to express any feelings

Most of the pop music nowadays is literally made by the same 2 people, and just made to sell.

9Lack of creativity

Just look back at music in the 60s, 70s, and 80s. Each musician had their own style and each song was different. The melodies, the harmonies, and the layers of instruments and vocals all fit together like a giant puzzle and created something extraordinary and unique. Now in pop music, there is no more creativity. Every song feels the same with barely anything changing. It's truly sad.

Bobby Womack once said: 'In my day, everybody wanted to sound different, individual. Nowadays, seems like everybody wants to sound like everybody else.' Creativity uses influences, but is more than just copying what you admire.

Psychedelic rock is the most creative. Tame Impala deserves to be more famous - Lsdjesus

Anyone in 21st century can 'sing' and use auto tune, back when music was good they had a very specific style, now it looks and sounds the same

I don't even know how to use auto tune or editing stuff. I guess I can be seen as lucky. I don't do singing, that's probably why. - LemonComputer

10Most of the modern Pop songs talk about Drugs, Partying, Sex, and Weed

This is why I don't listen to pop music

I definitely think this needs to be #1. The songs today are still talking about it.

That is basically all of them. Go listen to The Veronicas and compare it to one of the modern songs about only adult themes.

Music is no longer family friendly except for the songs that are exclusive to family friendly movies an example being Run Like The River by Meghan Trainor from Playmobil The Movie.

The Contenders

11It's too simple

As a music reviewer, I pick apart the songs and analize them. I can get everything there is out of a pop song with my first listen. So why would I want to listen to something with the simplicity of a baby's lullaby when I can listen to less commercial music, perhaps prog rock/metal which you can get so much more out of. This also causes the songs to get old FAST!

The main reason why I prefer Rock over Pop when it comes to mainstream music.
I like Rock, Classical Music, Folk, and probably everything except Hip Hop and Pop. - Kiteretsunu

True. I am looking for a more overall experience, and pop is an utter disappointment to me. - MChkflaguard_Yt

This is a problem to me. I want new experiences! Hard, spicy stuff for music. - LightningStrike

12Only thing that plays on the radio

I agree. I wish I could find a radio station that didn't play pop music, which these days, are always love songs. This is why I listen to the soundtrack I got from iTunes on my phone, or I go to YouTube and find a good song, and even if it's mainstream, it's never a love song, usually like a night core version of Can't Hold Us by Macklemore.

I hear a lot of new wave on the radio, but maybe that's 'cause my dad's in charge of choosing the stations we listen to. lol - Misfire

I dreamed about having a orchestra radio and dubstep radio 24/7! It would be much much better than the cancerous same pop song played over the radio! - InfernoTopTenners

Totally agreed.Remember when Justin Bieber released 'baby'? it was overplaying on the radio.

13Hard sexual themes

True, its hard to find music on the radio that is really appropriate for kids. Not that they completely focus on the lyrics, but they may repeat words they hear

Nicki Minaj, go eat a cactus. - MChkflaguard_Yt

To be honest most of them sing with this theme and just to correct you Ed Sheeran, Adele and Michael Jackson all sing about sexual themes (But not mostly)

Good luck turning on the radio and have it child-friendly anymore.

14Auto-tune

There is nothing wrong with autotune - when used in moderation as mean to add an specific atmosphere to a song. In pop, however, autotune is just used as a way to make mediocre singers sound acceptable. It's a waste of a potential tool...

Proves that pop singers can't sing for #$@!.

How it is used mostly its just a cancer.

Auto-tune is a tool, not meant to be used as a vocal effect. Period! Used sparingly, it can help correct difficult notes. My advice as a vocalist... If you have any, use your talent to fix the notes. If you can't, take vocal lessons.

15No variety whatsoever

Yes , modern pop is all about love and beats are pretty repetitive, so boring. But some artistes like imagine dragons, twenty one pilots and blackbear are doing great job by adding lot more rock and rap vibes to pop make it much more fresh , energetic and cool.
Not to mention talented pop artistes r there like Halsey , ed Sheeran , Adele that r really talented and know how to make songs

I really hate how all the pop songs are above love, if not complete nonsense. - MChkflaguard_Yt

Dig a bit into the independent music scene. The artists listed on my 'homepage' button on my profile are a good starting point. - PetSounds

Every pop song that has ever existed is about relationships. Every pop song is either 'My girlfriend is mad at me and I want to make amends' or 'I love my girl'. It is the most unoriginal, exhausted, overused, unrelatable subject to write a song about and it needs to stop.

16Bad singers

There's lots of good pop singers too to be honest. Melanie Martinez is a really good pop artist, But like EVERY good pop artist she's ignored and no talents like Justin Beiber and Katy Perry are noticed.

Melanie Martinez is the worst! Katy Perry is good, I hate Justin Bieber. - marisolsanchez

Look at how many people hate Justing Bieber and Rebecca Black. You listen to their songs and then listen to Taylor Swift. You cannot tell me you don't see any similarities.

If you think Taylor Swift is one of the worst pop singers, I'd recommend listening to more of her music, especially her country music. - DCfnaf

Bad singers indeed, because they already know they sound horrible in front of a mic so they just use stupid autotune to make it sound even worse...

Anyone who needs a computer to 'sing' needs to take ACTUAL singing lessons. My sister might go into pop, but at least she can sing better than anyone else out there. - Metalhead1997

17Most modern pop artists are immature

Buddy, If I'd known you earlier, I'm certain we would've been best friends. Every single damn point of yours matches my reasons for hating Pop. You're so right.

This is so true! Let's all take a moment to thing about pop singers. We've got Taylor Swift... Check. Justin Beiber... I think I should stop.

And...this is why pop MUSIC is awful? Just goes to show you how little arguments Metalhead Elitists have. Adele is not immature, Pink isn't very immature (she's just honest really), Kelly Clarkson is not immature, Tyler Joseph is not immature... - DCfnaf

Did you forget about that time when Kelly Clarkson lost World Idol? I think that was sometime around 2004 or so. - allamassal

If you don't agree with this, watch either of Taylor Swift's appearances on New Year's Rocking Eve. You can't deny she's immature.

18No poetry

Why does music have to be poetry? If you hate pop music, just stop listening to it. You can't force people to listen to 'poetry' songs

Why does it need to be poetry?

You call Nickelback and Skrillex 'poetry' then? - DCfnaf

yep!

19No passion

Passionless, heartless, emotionless. that's pop music right now. Its just there make money and that's not what music should be for. don't get me wrong I have nothing against when artists earn money and can live from their job. But that shouldn't be the main focus.
Pop music has no passion for the most part, and if they get some emotion in it then they mostly sing about stupid instead of important topics.

And there is no emotional depth, relaxation or great original tunes to compensate for the lack of passion! - MChkflaguard_Yt

I know right! Honestly they're all like, 'I loved you but it never lasted' seriously? is this a joke? don't they realise that some people are dying and in poverty and all you care about is your dumb boyfriend? They think they have it so hard. 'Oh look at me I'm a millionaire platinum singer! I live in a huge house in Beverly hills, everyone adores me life is so hard! '

Music is meant to be passionate. The reason many artists only compose, play and sing to one topic is because they feel a connection. A passion. They will sing with all their heart and lungs to get a message across. They will play an instument until their lungs are ready to burst and their fingers are sore. They will compose until day turns to night. Pop music, however, is not passionate. They only care about money, and even songs about that are rubbish. Ask pop music fans if they've ever cried to a piece of pop music. Their answer will most likely be 'No, but... I thought...' or 'Umm... Yeah... (lies)'.

Yeah, most of them just care about how much money they make. When they sing, they sound like robots: flat and emotionless. Now, not ALL of them are like that, I do know a couple of pop singers who put their heart and soul into the lyrics they belt out, and some older singers sing/play instruments emotionlessly. But majority of them don't really have passion in music and that sucks.

20It's repetitive

To be honest I don't know if this is a fair reason... I mean early Beatles stuff (I Want to Hold Your Hand, She Loves You, etc.) are quite repetitive, and yet it's considered classic. I do dislike modern pop (with some exceptions), but I don't think repetition is really the problem.

Yes! The music is the most annoying music ever! They really Shame the legendary artists like MJ, Janet, Whitney and even people of other genres like The Beatles, Elvis, and many more.

Baby now we've got bad blood... yeah shut the hell up Taylor at least you have blood

So 'Can't Touch This' isn't repetitive? Or Barbie Girl by Aqua - BlueTopazIceVanilla

21Annoyingly always playing

Go ahead and tell me how many times you've heard 'Take Me to Church' or 'Call Me Maybe' or even 'I Love It' or 'Anaconda' - you see my point?

Honestly, Take Me to Church was creative and I'd do anything to hear that playing over and over instead of the newer stuff. - Stormskies

I agree, I like listening to this one radio station and there was this one song. Oh what was it called? Oh, yes I remember it was called 'Welcome To The Black Parade.' I love this song, but the station just kept playing it. So now I can barely listen to it. Isn't that hard to believe, a ROCK/ALTERNATIVE song being overplayed. *sarcastic voice* Yeah, idiots it's all up to what station you listen to. So if you don't like the songs that keep being played, don't listen to that station. - RandomWeirdo

I always hear 'Blank Space' or 'Call me Maybe' on the radio. So annoying! - Pegasister12

Always in the radio they put on pop music. I remember going on a car trip before. I've heard 'Dessert' so many times!

22Some focus on the music video more than the actual song

Greedy people made songs about women's butts a thing. Disgraceful as hell. - SirSarcasm

This is actually true. :/ - Misfire

Those K-pop videos with pornographic dancing and painfully catchy beats. Sigh. - MChkflaguard_Yt

23They are popular because of their looks, not talent

Ariana Grande is one of my fave singers, but I hate the way people sexualize her because she's pretty. - marisolsanchez

Sigh, again, Adele. Michael Jackson. Sia. Tori Kelly. Kelly Clarkson. Pink. - DCfnaf

Exactly! we should focus on the music, not the people making it!

So why do we focus on if Justin Bieber made a song? Seriously, he could make a song that surpasses Imagine by John Lennon, and no one would let him win. - WonkeyDude98

This should be top 5. I miss when people were famous because of their talent, not looks. RIP Good music: 1950s-2012

24It's more for the money

They Psychologically make popular songs sound good and the same so many people will buy it instead of a variety of music and creativity. - scoopoo

This is so true.Why is Nicki Minaj(The worst singer and rapper who just makes songs about how big her ass is) more well known than Immortal Technique(A highly underrated rapper who makes some meaningful and political songs) or why is One Direction(A bad band who might not be Blood On The Dance Floor level bad bit still a bad band and a band that is highly overrated) more well known than Rage Against The Machine(A band that combines Rap/Hip Hop,Heavy Metal and Alternative and they also have songs that speak out against bad stuff done by the government and by really big corporations),just why are bad musicians with either horrible lyrics or repetitive lyrics more well known than good musicians who have good lyrics that speak the truth? -DarkBoi-X

Warner Bros music legit rejected Yankee Hotel Foxtrot by Wilco just because it didn’t have the potential to be commercially successful. Money hungry idiots. - SmashedAvvo

25Most of the songs are about the artist themselves

It really is. The artists, well most of them, don't give a damn about what their fans think, or them period. They don't sing from the heart, and that is the most important part. Now, I don't blame anyone who is attracted to the music, but in my opinion, and the only artists that I'm aware of that still sing from the heart, and not about sex is Adele, and Janet Jackson. That's pretty much it. The pop music today is the worst music in the history of...music!

I'm not a fan of pop music but I don't think this is true. Maybe I haven't heard of enough pop music? - Misfire

To the comment, 'Not Necessarily True, Artists like Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Amy Winehouse, Sam Smith, and Adele.They always have messages in their songs and I can't name a song of any of those artists above that wrote a song about themselves in vain. Especially Michael Jackson ever heard of 'HEAL THE WORLD,'WE ARE THE WORLD,YOU ARE NOT ALONE. That's just stupid too say MOST of their songs are about themselves because that's not true. Stop being Narrow Headed and Close Minded and Dive into the lyrics and see what it means. Instead of hatting on a entire genre. Learn to appreciate what these POP artists have done for us' these artists you've mentioned have been around for quite awhile and have proven to be some of the greatest musicians of all time. This is talking about most mainstream people today like Nicki Minaj or Kanye West.

Not Necessarily True, Artists like Michael Jackson, The Beatles, Amy Winehouse, Sam Smith, and Adele.They always have messages in their songs and I can't name a song of any of those artists above that wrote a song about themselves in vain. Especially Michael Jackson ever heard of 'HEAL THE WORLD,'WE ARE THE WORLD,YOU ARE NOT ALONE. That's just stupid too say MOST of their songs are about themselves because that's not true. Stop being Narrow Headed and Close Minded and Dive into the lyrics and see what it means. Instead of hatting on a entire genre. Learn to appreciate what these POP artists have done for us.

26Most pop stars are fake

Fake boobs, fake butt, fake nose, fake everything...

Tell me. What's a fake singer? Anyone can sing. It just doesn't have to be talented and you'd have to get hate. - Ultron123

Katy Perry is one of the most fake singers ever. - DumbWays2DieFan

Especially K-pop. Ghost writers and plastic surgery everywhere... - MChkflaguard_Yt

27Some pop fans judge people who listen to other genres

I love Metal to and everyone in my school thinks I'm satanic and they say Metal sucks and the most of them are pop fans - METABOLICA

Well, same! I listen to metal, dubstep, and orchestra classical music! They all call me satanic and demon possessed when I break dance and act mentally disabled! Well these genre took time and it's better than same boring pop music that brainwashes kids at my school to cuss and do drugs! - InfernoTopTenners

Do You Think Auto-tune Is Good Or Bad For Music Lyrics

A classmate of mine gave me a weird look and told me not to play the song I was planning to play. That song was Bohemian Rhapsody. - Misfire

I love metal and rock and when someone asks me what type of music I like and I say that most of the time they instantly think that I'm some sort of satanic or something, and guess what, the ones that think that like pop. That really sucks

EXACTLY! I listen to electronic music, not like the bad trashy pop music Google calls electronic music, but stuff like dubstep or hardstyle (yes, I like hardstyle). I share what I like with my classmates, but they discriminate what I like, because they're basically brainwashed by that trashy pop music that they call is good music. Pop music is basically poison to their brains! But, fortunately, many of my classmates who listen to a lot of pop music lag behind in class. There are so many bad things about pop music, and this is one of them! Classical is healthier for your brain! (NOTE: The only way to cure the poison of pop music is to listen to good music, like NoCopyrightSounds)

28Idiots like it

That's a fact. Did you ever meet an idiot how doesn't listen to stupid rap or pop music? No? Doesn't suprise me anymore...
Doesn't mean that everyone who likes it is a idiot. Often smart people who don't listen to much music like pop music. But they do so just because they don't know better... at least that's what I hope

Intelligent people prefer classical most of the time, a word that has been forgotten for generations since today. - IAmNotARobot

Don't call people who listen to pop idiots. It just makes you seem ignorant and desperate for reasons. Don't slander pop fans just to make rock and metal look better. - BlueTopazIceVanilla

Not in all cases, but the reason 'pop' music is 'popular' is because it requires no thought to listen to. It is a dumbed down genre. It's quite obvious that it's sole purpose is to dance to in a club, or to use as background noise while performing a braindead, repetitive task. Most intelligent people prefer music that has depth and is going to provoke actual thought. Jazz, metal, and classical is music for the thinking man. Even some classic rock. Pop is for the average bonehead (mostly).

You people are missing the point. They're not saying everyone who likes it is an idiot, they're saying that there are more idiots who listen to pop music than any other genre.

29It's more famous

That's because modern people are too ignorant to look up some real, REAL music.

I never said they should listen to crappy songs. I'm just giving out my thoughts. If they want to listen to crap then fine. It's good enough for me.
Maybe I just didn't explain myself better. But you should probably worry about yourself anyway.

I personally hate pop, but 'it's more famous' is a stupid reason, seriously. - TheDarkReshiram

I think that 'It's more famous' is a bad reason. 'It's oversaturated' is the term I believe you were looking for - kaeger63

'It's more famous' may be a bit of a bad reason, sure but I think you might just be using the wrong term. Overrated would be a better way to put it, in my opinion.

30Modern popstars don't write any of their songs or play any instruments.

There's like 6 people writing an unoriginal, overplayed song, And then there's a legend like Freddie Mercury who writes one of the most emotional, mysterious, and legendary songs ever written.

And thanks to auto tune they basically don't even sing is like all the music industry cares about is how they look

What I don't understand is why people hate artists who do not write their own songs. What if they can sing, but just not have the creative ability to write their own songs? That's like hating someone because they can bake really well but can't frost a cake good. (I know that a crappy example, but do you get me? ) Why should the artist be forced to waste their good voice on a terrible song they wrote themselves? - BlueTopazIceVanilla

That's not true. However much I don't really like Taylor Swift, she DOES write her own music, so I can respect her for that. - Stormskies

31Most lyrics are written by ghostwriters

Ghostwriters cause pop songs to become repetitive; they follow a formula aimed at the masses.

No wonder why I cannot tell apart Katy Perry and One Direction... - MChkflaguard_Yt

Max Martin and Dr. Luke, along with 2 others, write like 90% of pop music.

32Real music isn't on the radio

Yeah, like I don't need to hear Fifth Harmony for the 80 billionth time. - Anonymousxcxc

Oh, of course! Because songs about a mother being there for her child, a father who abandoned his little girl at six years old, a four year old who died of cancer, and an abusive relationship between two psychopaths are clearly not real songs. Let's just put noise such as Cannibal Corpse, Skillet, Marilyn Manson, Limp Bizkit, and Nickelback on the radio instead because that makes complete sense! *Rolls Eyes* - DCfnaf

Because it's not real music. Most video game soundtracks are better than pop songs. Would rather listen to Mario kart Wii bowser's castle than shake it off. - DumbWays2DieFan

*crying* Play some Slayer! - Metalhead1997

I dunno, if you look hard enough you can find good stations. There's one in my town that plays only 90's and 80's music, I've found a lot of my favorites from it. - Stormskies

33Their lyrics feel rushed

Read the lyrics of Adele's music in '21' because they are amazing. Read the lyrics of Kelly Clarkson's 'Piece by Piece'. Read the lyrics of Bruno Mars' 'Grenade'. Not rushed. - DCfnaf

For me I think the lyrics in pop music feel a little to rushed

That is not true. The most legendary songs these days are not rushed

Read the lyrics in sia's chandelier or Miley Cyrus's twinkle song.

34Modern pop gives Michael Jackson a bad name

Lol. That is true though! He was even in an interview around 08 talking about how kids like it, but it changed a lot, and how Ne-Yo was probably the only person he was proud of. They really did shame him.

Pop makes jackson get ashamed of his kingdom, he would probably die again if he hear what pop music has now become R.I.P mj

I find it funny that people hate on Justin Bieber for being mean to his fans but Michael Jackson was accused of pedophilia. Also, Adele, Rihanna, and Ed Sheeran are modern pop. - DCfnaf

Michael Jackson deserves respect - Gehenna

35No one has good taste in music anymore

Kinda true if you think about it.-DarkBoi-X

I feel like I'm the only teen that likes old music. I love House and Trance music but anything today is trash. The only good songs nowadays are by the remaining artists from the 90s 80s and 70s.

I agree teens have such bad taste, let's compare lyrics
God show me the way because the Devil's tryin' to break me down
(Jesus Walks with me)
The only thing that I pray is that my feet don't fail me now (I want Jesus)
(Jesus Walks)
And I don't think there is nothing I can do now to right my wrongs
(Jesus Walks with me)
I want to talk to God, but I'm afraid because we ain't spoke in so long
(I want Jesus)
- Kanye West 'Jesus Walks' which was made in 2004 to
Oh baby, why don't you just meet me in the middle?
I'm losing my mind just a little
So why don't you just meet me in the middle?
In the middle
Baby, why don't you just meet me in the middle?
I'm losing my mind just a little
So why don't you just meet me in the middle?
In the middle, oh
- The Middle by Zedd and some dumb pop artist
These lyrics are so dumb

Kanye is alright considering the lyrics took a break from the usual love. Zedd's music makes me freak out and I sincerely hope him lose fame soon. - MChkflaguard_Yt

Me:
*insert chillstep with no lyrics, just pure chill*
Truth by Sappherios (2018)
Almost everyone else:
GUCCI GANG GUCCI GANG GUCCI GANG LIKEY LIKEY LIKEY - MChkflaguard_Yt

36Most modern pop songs have horrible melodies

Disagree with this point. It's not that pop songs have horrible melodies, it's that they don't have melodies at all. Try playing today's most popular pop song on a piano or something. Notice anything? You're literally just pressing one key over and over again! Bland, boring, unoriginal, just pointless. Is it really that hard for someone to come up with an actual melody? Just look at India, Europe, really just any country other than Canada and the U.S. Full on, interesting, unpredictable sets of notes. Using the term 'real music' is cliche here, but that's really what it pop music isn't, undeniably.

It sounds 'Chinese' or like chanting. Same three or four notes. And that damned nasal autotuned voice. I hear it everywhere I go in Westchester County, NY, in the supermarkets - even doctor's offices. I never listen to radio anymore. Maybe there'd be a nicer variety of music outside of the New York Tri-State area, which I'll be escaping by June, thank God.
I may be old, but I remember when music on the radio had creativity and spirit.

Lady Gaga's songs are poetry. Disagree with this. - DCfnaf

You are so wrong!

37Least good singers

Have you seen one of those unedited dubs they played at a concert for Beyonce? Whether you like it or not they are hilarious.

Taylor Swift is the worst. She makes Justin Beiber look like a star. - DumbWays2DieFan

There's good pop like Miley Cyrus
Then there's bad pop like Justin Bieber. His music is more like poop.

Pffft. It takes talent to sing in a metal band.

Yes, screaming into a microphone at the top of your lungs requires so much talent. - DCfnaf

38Stupid songs about relationships

I'll take songs about relationships over Cannibal Corpse's horrible and disgusting topics and Mainstream Rap's constant discussion about sex, money, and drugs. - DCfnaf

'I'll always be there for you! My little girl' :punches radio: - DumbWays2DieFan

Are you metalheads serious? - Ultron123

It is an indisputable fact that a lot of modern songs are about relationships. This actually applies not only to pop, but also to rock (but to a lesser degree, I believe). - allamassal

Yes.

39Music videos are vulgar

It is the only reason why any man watches a video of a pop song isn't it? I like boobs and asses, sure I do. That doesn't mean I need it to be the main focus of a MUSIC video.

Like Miley Cyrus's Wrecking Ball video.

Please, she's made videos way worse, and at least the song is good - DCfnaf

Like Taylor Swift's Safe and Sound? Or Avril Lavigne's Nobody's Home? So vulgar. Totally believe you. - AnonymousChick

And that why the MUSIC sucks? So your logic is that 'Wrecking Ball' is an awful song because Miley was naked in the video? So your logic is that 'Stay' is an awful song because Rihanna is naked in a bathtub? Jeez, get a damn life. - DCfnaf

40Several pop stars treat fans like trash

That's why it says SEVERAL. Can you read? - ARandomPerson

SEVERAL. Not ALL. Thank god. I was gonna say 'Not Tori Kelly or Meghan Trainor' - DCfnaf

Cough cough Justin Bieber cough cough. - coolguy101

I mean, there are disrespectful people in any genre, so...

41Say one thing and people will try to convert you

If you say one thing about it to friends/family/people who like pop, they will start trying to get you to start listening to it, I always listen to a Pop Song and I think 'meh that was ok' but then I get sick of hearing, my friend came over when that horrid song Uptown Funk reached popularity and he started blaring it out of his phone, a few days later I started getting sick of hearing the song, my parents actually started blaring the stuff when they found out I hated Pop, so I was constantly having to block my ears but the worst Pop singer of all is: Taylor Swift, it all started when Shake It Off started coming on, if this is the so called 'best' the music industry can give us now, I shudder to find out what the future holds

This list in a nutshell. - DCfnaf

Then again, there is good and bad pop artists. More people here are trying to convert people who like pop artists here than the other way around.

Aren't you all trying to convert people from hating on pop to worshipping metal? - DCfnaf

Convert people from hating on pop to worshipping metal? I think you meant liking pop. - allamassal

42Pop singers are bad singers (for the most part)

Most pop singers are very good actually. Metal artists are bad singers since they just shout, props for them for playing an instrument though. - Luckys

MY THEORY: That's why people scream at their concerts. They can't use auto tune in person, right? They can barely hear their voices and they like it that way cause they can't SING so they auto tune and then drown out their voice in person because of lack of auto tune

One of the concerts they go to should require the fans to be quiet. - Metalhead1997

They just can't SING. Its as simple as that. and that's of course the reason they use autotune so often.

Only except Michael Jackson, Bruno Mars, The Beatles, Katy Perry (she used to be good with California Girls and Fireworks), and other good singers that made us getting through the beats. But with Nicki Minaj, Justin Beiber, modern Katy Perry, and others are bad.

43It's not art

Well, first of all, the main problem with POP music or just modern music these days is that they lack meaning. Art is about expression oneself, it's not about being appealing to the audience. I mean if it is appealing, then that's good, but that should never be the whole point of why one creates art. Now, POP music these days, is the opposite of 'expressing oneself'. All the music talks about is love, sex, or 'oh I'm heart broken, cry cry cry'. There's nothing, absoluteing nothing at all in the lyrics which talks about themselves. Its okay to sing about love, sex or being cheated on, but, just don't make it plain! You have to be able to feel yourself in the music! So yeah, the nonsensical jumble of words in modern POP music is not art, because, in the end, it makes zero sense and has absolutely no passion in it.

44Ruins the career of some bands

Fall Out Boy, Imagine Dragons, and Twenty One Pilots are pop rock bands. Don't even use that argument. - DCfnaf

For example 30 seconds to mars, paramore, fall out boy and the perfect example of the decadency by the pop, Linkin Park

Except Fall Out Boy, Imagine Dragon, and 21 Pilots. - Ultron123

If those 'bands' were so good, then they wouldn't be supressed by the popularity of pop music. I'm speaking the truth, hating will only prove my point, but do it if you want. - BlueTopazIceVanilla

But you don't realize that what keeps rock bands from being popular is the promotion of the biased music industry and the social stigma or rock bands.

45The songs are inappropriate

Pop music is supposed to be universal, yet nearly every pop song has an explicit version. Its really to bad because when a kid hears a cool song on the radio, they might want to listen to it again elsewhere. But unfortunately, it turns out that it has explicit lyrics. Explicit lyrics don't bother me, but pop stars should really try to keep it clean. Because, who else is gonna want to listen to modern pop besides the kids?

So what! I guess that means cannibal corpse is like nursery rhymes now.

Wouldn't that apply to almost every genre besides pop? Funk was built on making love. - Swellow

Take shape of you for an example. not for kiddies. NSFW

It was played at our school I mean can't they just be a little bit more careful about what they play to the elementary students? - XxembermasterxX

46Creepy lyrics

I dare you to translate Despacito to English!
And Zayn Malik can't write two songs with using the F word!
All they songs about is how much they want to mingle with a random woman they see!

Do You Think Auto-tune Is Good Or Bad For Music Youtube

47Appeals to the general audience

It's unrelatable to lots of the kids who are forced to listen to it.

Ummm, why mainstream music is always compared with metal/rock? There are lots of music genres (jazz, reggae, classical, etc) Maybe people who hate mainstream music only listen to rock/metal? Why you don't compare mainstream music with jazz, reggae, classical, etc. I won't compare mainstream music with those genres either because I don't really listen to those genres, I'm just wondering if a fan of those genres also hates mainstream music or is it just rock/metal fans being mean to mainstream music?

I do agree that when a song is overplayed, it becomes really annoying, but this is the same for every genre of music, not only pop. Pop music exists for a reason, it appeals to the mass audience and is relatable, although not to everyone. This is why it tends to be simple, but this is not always the case, there are many complex pop songs out there. People saying that metal or rock music is better, are very biased.
Metal often includes screaming and the cliché distorted guitars, quick drums/tempo, longer song duration, complex harmonics, which may be appealing to some people but to the general audience, sounds terrible and overdone, hence why I call people who state it is better, very hypocritical and biased. Rock on the other hand is very tied in with pop music, considering pop music is basically a watered down version of rock, and modern pop consisting of some electronic elements. Rock typically includes, repeated verses, hooks and the same set of instruments. Pop music tends ...more

You guys are seriously crazy. You don't know junk about music. Not all pop sounds exactly the same. Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, Daya, Owl City, Nick Jonas, are the best. They are very distinctive. Give pop a chance.

48No sustainability over time

Michael Jackson is still standing the test of time. Adele will also stand the test of time, believe me. - DCfnaf

The point they are making is that repetitive dance crap is gonna sound corny in 20 years time but the Beatles, Michael Jackson, The Stones, lynyrd skynyrd, Creedence etc still sound good - SmashedAvvo

49The background is too loud

The background does all the singing, while the vocals are less heard and are very useless. We want to hear more vocals!

The production of 'Hello' by Adele allows you to focus on her voice instead of the background. Do I need to name several other examples? - DCfnaf

It's called production. And it really depends, like in any genre, some songs are well produced, and some aren't.

I mostly agreed with this, I'm just about to become a teenager, but that doesn't mean that I want to like these newer pop songs just because of my generation, there are some songs that I liked such as any Clean Bandit song, why? Because the instrumentals aren't covering the emotion and meaning brought to you by the lyrics, and the Instrumentals follow the type of meaning it's trying to give, songs such as Don't Let me down by The Chainsmokers are the ones I disliked, the instrumentals and vocals were good, if they were on their own.
But the song can't really make you focus on the lyrics, but only think about individual words rather than a whole sentence. - iHYPERATE

Agree! - waraypiso

50It's in glitter force endings!

Like u can't just put cheap ass stuff in glitter force.yeah put it in Elmo.but Glitter Force?!?! not to good

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