Million Song Dataset

Re:Million Song Dataset by AndrewUnmuted on Tuesday October 29, 2019 @04:11PM (#21391452)

This is such nonsense it's just incredible that people with such seemingly strong conversational strengths in music could say something so perversely false.

If you are looking at the kind of music that makes it onto Top 40 radio stations, then this is undoubtedly true. But that's not what is meant when you say

> For the past 30 years music has definitely become more "bland"

When you suggest that, you appear naive and ignorant. Because it means you don't know about Tyshawn Sorey [0], Mary Halvorson [1], Anthony Braxton [2], John Zorn [3], etc.

Pop music, a tiny sliver of all the important music being composed and performed today, has gotten progressively shittier. Fine, I'll grant you that. But who cares? That's not what we're talking about when examining the vast complexities being propagated and explored by today's musical masters. We are in a golden age of harmonic and compositional innovation.

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqw-HE9szrs [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEfK0ZfbLRA (featuring Nels Cline, who is actually much more important for his participation in the NYC avant-garde than for his involvement with Wilco) [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNJfU0AJK2c [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYis3q0vv7g

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Re:Million Song Dataset by mellowdream on Tuesday October 29, 2019 @04:57PM (#21391930)

I don't even think it's necessary to point out specific examples, though you're welcome to do so. All it really takes is showing the kind of numbers music databases like discogs (for both generalist and specialist consumers alike) are posting - millions of records added PER YEAR [1]. This alone shows "a million contemporary popular music tracks" is not representative of modern music's "state" whatsoever.

[1] https://blog.discogs.com/en/discogs-year-end-report-2018/

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Re:Million Song Dataset by autoexec on Tuesday October 29, 2019 @06:36PM (#21392843)

> Pop music, a tiny sliver of all the important music being composed and performed today, has gotten progressively shittier. Fine, I'll grant you that. But who cares?

I guess if by "pop music" you mean everything that gets played on the radio, gets aggressively promoted by the recording industry, and has the widest audience I'd argue that many people should care. It's great that there are awesome musicians who are putting out amazing music in their basements or at local shows but if 99.99% of the population will never hear it does it matter that what they will hear is watered down crap? I'd argue that it does. Even your own examples show only a few thousand views. Compare that to what a currently popular song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlJDTxahav0) has seen in views over just one week. The song isn't even bad, but I can see how it could be described as "simple".

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Re:Million Song Dataset by Miner49er on Tuesday October 29, 2019 @04:31PM (#21391647)

I wouldn't say pop music has gotten worse. Maybe popular music, but not pop as a genre. There's a lot of great pop out there.

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Re:Million Song Dataset by 52-6F-62 on Tuesday October 29, 2019 @04:31PM (#21391641)

Thanks for mentioning Wilco, because I wouldn't just stop at harmonic and compositional innovation. Songwriters and big-tent performers are as good as they ever were as well. I had the pleasure of seeing them Oct 8 here in Toronto and it was fantastic. I'd also mention Willie Nelson/Avett Brothers/Matt Mays and Tame Impala all this summer. I'd dreamed of making it down to Red Rock, CO to see Jason Isbell last month, but it didn't materialize.

There's no shortage of worthy and soulful music. And it's more accessible than ever.

Maybe there's just more music in general, and that is easily mistaken as a consensus rather than just all-around growth.

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Re:Million Song Dataset by AndrewUnmuted on Tuesday October 29, 2019 @04:50PM (#21391843)

I was pointing out that Wilco is a poor example of what I am talking about.

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Re:Million Song Dataset by 52-6F-62 on Tuesday October 29, 2019 @05:00PM (#21391968)

I'm sorry, where did you say that Wilco was a poor example of anything?

It sounds like you didn't read my comment in full.

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Re:Million Song Dataset by malvosenior on Wednesday October 30, 2019 @09:58AM (#21397776)

There has always been underground music and there always will be (thankfully). I'm talking about mainstream music, which most definitely has become simplified in the past 30 years.

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