Disenchanted

I’m not here to bash the artists out there that genuinely worked themselves to the bone trying to make it in the music industry, but lately it is so hard to find the songs that stand out among the rest. This is coming from someone who is pretty open minded about their music taste. Whether it’s pop, opera, hip hop, classical, musical show tunes, rap, jazz, r’n’b, rock n roll, heavy metal, or ancient Celtic sea shanties, if I like it, I’ll listen to it. Music is something with which I like to cry, dance, meditate, lose my voice singing at the top of my lungs, I just can’t seem to find anything like that among what’s hot today. They blur together in this mix that just shuts off the brain. Even those that I do recognise are usually so overplayed they become the root that ties them all together in a nice little money bouquet for their respective record companies.

When did we allow music to be so restricted to the same rhythm, the same vibe, and the same figure on MTV? Is this just the sound of our time? Or are we running out of ideas? So far out of all the newer artists out there that I can distinguish from the rest, there’s Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Lewis Capaldi and… well… yeah that’s it. Even pop stars that I used to jam to just because I liked them for who they are and how they sound – those easily recognisable voices singing deep and relatable lyrics to such memorable beats – they’ve all faded into this summertime singularity that these labels are trying to sell us.

I recently switched on a Billboard Top 40 the other day, just to hear what was out there, playing in the background as I worked. One song after the other, they all sounded like clones of each other. Just when I was rolling my eyes, thinking it was another one hit wonder by some young’un in a sea of TikTok memes, I look up, and it’s DEMI FREAKING LOVATO!

You know, the Disney Star that was a judge on American Idol?

I had my fangirl phase for a whole heap of artists in my teens (which is a whopping five years ago!), and Demi was one of those singers that I loved, simply for her talent. Hearing her belt out a chorus, oh man, what a set of pipes that girl had! But this new single that I found floating around those forgettable songs playing on that countdown, I admit, it broke my heart. She’s not the only one that’s been discarded into this blur that is the music industry today. It's just sad at this point! Shouldn’t music be adventurous? Emotional? Profound? Have we sacrificed passion and relatable lyrics for youthful looks and a catchy tune that everyone else has done to death? Not that this new song didn’t have a great message and video to go with it, but if I kept my eyes on my work, I wouldn’t have known it was Demi, I wouldn’t have taken the time to actually listen to what she was singing about. Even so, it wasn’t the Demi I knew.

I don’t blame her in the slightest. She has amazing talent, and she’s been through enough. What I’m shaking my head at is the industry and record labels. I’m not an expert, all I know is from what I’ve seen in music biopics and pop-star scandals, (#FreeBritney), but each case seems to be them forcing the artist that they ‘represent’ into only singing what sells, rather than letting them just be creative.

More than that, I blame us. Because who keeps streaming these sorts of songs? We do! We keep sending the message that this is what we want. But is it? Is it really?

Maybe I should chalk it up to me getting older, complaining about how ‘back in my day’ music was way more awesome (Not always the case when it comes to the 90's, 00's and 10's) But I’m still in the early half of my twenties, I should be able to at least enjoy the music that's being played in my prime, right? But everything I hear nowadays just mimics whatever's popular, and popular doesn't always mean good!

What happened to those artists that were pushing the boundaries? Those musicians that played for the passion of it and not just the quick buck it made if it got enough YouTube views? How obscure is my taste now that I’m starting to think I’m old at only 23?

I don’t know what it’s like for other countries, but we Aussies aren't any better. We're responsible for ACDC, Kylie Minogue, The Veronicas, Troye Sivan! What are we even doing now? Please, if you’re a musician with a killer new act that wouldn’t make today’s top 20 because of the Man, I beg you to prove them wrong. Don’t be shy, share it around, let us hear it! Let us all FEEL SOMETHING AGAIN!

-M