That's like saying blue bubblegum and pink bubblegum make for a diverse range of foods. I guess maybe that seems like the case, given we've all mostly been eating bubblegum for some time.
There are far more similarities in these songs that have a greater impact:
* Very similar tempo (approx 120 bpm)
* Very similar keys (Eb Major vs Bb Major)
* Very similar dynamics (crushed and loud)
* Very similar ultra-present vocal processing
* Very similar light syncopation (Katy Perry's synth chords vs Kesha's chopped vocals)
(edit: formatting)
Re:The Musical Diversity of Pop Songs
by mwcampbell on Sunday June 03, 2018 @01:48PM
(#17220695)
Yeah, you're right. The differences I listed are only superficial variations on the same template.
The example I remember is two different songs by the same artists. ("California Girls" and "Tik Tok" are the same song.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2dPA2dCRNY
I disagree. I just listened to both songs on Spotify, and they do not sound alike. Different keys, different vocal ranges, different voices, different instruments (or at least, different synthesized sounds). The Kesha song has more electronic effects on her voice. Kesha raps, while Katy doesn't. Really, the main similarity between the two songs is that they repeat the same chord progression through the whole song -- that's probably a consequence of what John Seabrook calls "track and hook".