Which format will be the next to go?

[cc333]

The music hasn't been getting worse or better. You've been getting older.

Yeah, I guess.

The thing is, my interests in music were actually about the same then as they are now, but I've been expanding over the past few years and actually discovering more music now than I ever did then. For example, back then I pretty much categorically avoided music made after the early to mid 70s, but now I'm well into the 80s, and even a bit into the 90s as I've discovered that styles I liked from the early 70s continued more or less until the present day (I discovered a song just yesterday that sounded as if it was recorded back in the early 80s, and I actually kind of liked it, but when I looked it up, I found out, to my amazement, that it was first recorded in 2021!)

c

 

[Delete My Account]

I would say, however, that technology and the Internet has made mainstream music more "grey" in terms of sound. When all the sounds sort of blend together, there's less honing of the instruments or the craft than in previous decades. So while it's all being blended together with newer artists, much of it sounds less distinct. Which is why I can listen to a CHR station and not find it necessarily "bad" but very little of it is distinctive. That being said, plenty of good music is still being made, but I think the streaming age actually works against the mainstreaming of distinctive artists.

I'm sure the usual suspects will be along to argue this, but it's what I hear. It's different than when the CHR "today's best music" often had more clear strands of pop, dance, R&B, alternative, rock. Now there's no real "rock" on CHR, in most cases, much of mainstream country sounds like pop or hip-hop in production style, and most hip-hop (on mainstream radio) sounds like murky cloud rap. These aren't "get off my lawn" assertions, as I can appreciate music of all genres. I'm simply saying that it's all blended in a way that makes more music sound generic, and fewer distinctive artists reach the mass market.

And I'm sorry, but you can't say that vocally or orchestration-wise, that some modern top 40 artist is equivalent to Sinatra, for instance. Objectively, that's just not the case.

 

[cc333]

@Andy Travis I agree. Streaming seems to by and large favor prolific noise over artfully created music, and it makes most of it hard for me to listen to, mainly because it all sounds the same, and it all sounds kind of hip-hop ish in that there's a strong emphasis on a loud, pounding, metronomically perfect beat with in your face lyrics delivered with a loud, angry vocal style.

And I'm sorry, but you can't say that vocally or orchestration-wise, that some modern top 40 artist is equivalent to Sinatra, for instance. Objectively, that's just not the case.

I'm not trying to, however much I wish that were true. I have to say though, that I forgot to mention that this particular artist (whose name escapes me at the moment) is an older one who began performing and recording back in the early or mid 70s, so the lack of change in style, perhaps, is unsurprising.

If a new artist would come along that sounded like, say, Sinatra, and actually attained some level of mainstream popularity*, I would be genuinely impressed, because there's such an inordinate amount of "noise" out there that everything else seems to get drowned out.

*Apparently, Lady Gaga accomplished this to an extent with her collaborations with the late Tony Bennett (a favorite of mine, naturally), but she isn't exactly a new artist either; she's been around for, what, at least 20 years or more now?

c

 

[TheBigA]

I would say, however, that technology and the Internet has made mainstream music more "grey" in terms of sound.

Depends on the format. In Country, I will tell you that we LOOK for distinctive sounds. When Morgan Wallen goes into the studio with Joey Moi, they are not looking to make vanilla. They are looking to get different sounds from instruments. Stuff that stands out from the pack.

 

[cc333]

it all sounds kind of hip-hop ish in that there's a strong emphasis on a loud, pounding, metronomically perfect beat with in your face lyrics delivered with a loud, angry vocal style.

I forgot to also add that this so-called "music" is so ultra-processed, it feels somehow like it's more a creation of the studio engineers and producers, and the session musicians (if any) and so-called "artist" whose name goes on the record are little more than eye candy.

One could argue that this has been true, to various extents, for as long as records have existed, and they'd probably be right, so I guess this is just the way it is, and pop music is simply doing what it has always done since at least the beginning of the tape era in the early 1950s: evolve to take full advantage of the newest and most advanced equipment and techniques available.

In conclusion: I think when it comes to recording, I have a more classical approach: process the sound as minimally and transparently as possible for a natural sound. And this is why I find pop music so grating at times.

So, to make myself relevant again:

I think all the classic hits, ACs and CHRs will merge into one catch-all that encompasses pop from 2000 to the present, with some 90s thrown in for good measure. Given that most of it sounds about the same across that period, this seems to me like a natural progression. As has been pointed out up thread, something like this is already happening with plain CHRs evolving into "Adult CHRs."

c

 

[PTBoardOp93]

*Apparently, Lady Gaga accomplished this to an extent with her collaborations with the late Tony Bennett (a favorite of mine, naturally), but she isn't exactly a new artist either; she's been around for, what, at least 20 years or more now?

Lady Gaga had her first big hit in 2008 with "Just Dance," which became a sort of party anthem during the recession of that era.

Her collaborations with Tony Bennett sold quite a few copies, including an RIAA gold certification, but had no success as singles.

 

[Larry]

If a new artist would come along that sounded like, say, Sinatra, and actually attained some level of mainstream popularity*, I would be genuinely impressed, because there's such an inordinate amount of "noise" out there that everything else seems to get drowned out.

I wonder if Cynthia Erivo is such an artist? I think most people, if they knew her it was from broadway and acting (and PBS July 4th, etc concerts) but the movie Wicked brought her mainstream success. This might not translate into radio airplay or record sales (except possibly Wicked soundtrack) but I think she will now be in more demand.

 

[TexasTom]

CHR has really fragmented. The many flavors of CHR are: Mainstream, Rhythmic, Urban, and the latest being Adult CHR, which in my opinion is a renaming of Hot AC. WBBM-FM in Chicago refers to themselves as Adult CHR. We can expect more and more CHR's to become ' Adult'.

Really, there's nothing new about Adult CHR -- back in the seventies and early eighties, a syndicated Top 40 format that was quite popular at the time was "TM Stereo Rock". Despite the name, it was actually a Top 40 format that targeted an adult audience -- it basically went away when syndicated taped automation formats lost popularity, but it did very well for a time.

It seems like they all play golden oldies from the 10's and even the 00's.

By Top 40/CHR standards, those are indeed oldies -- and by reaching back and playing songs that are several years to twenty years old, that is again a throwback. Since I was mentioning "TM Stereo Rock", I'll note that in the early eighties they played plenty of songs from the seventies and some from the sixties, which was reaching as far back then as playing the tens and oughts is today. And you could hear the same thing on some locally originated Top 40 formats; when Seattle's Top 40 KUBE-FM (originally "The New 93") debuted in 1981, they also reached back and played songs from the sixties and seventies -- an approach that lasted through much of the eighties during their "mainstream CHR" period. In Dallas/Fort Worth during the eighties, then Top 40 KEGL would also reach back for oldies that were ten or more years old, as did competitor Y95 for a brief period.

The reliance of Top 40 stations on music that is a little older does indeed seem to be cyclic, and we do tend to hear more older songs on these stations when the current music is fairly weak -- as is currently the case (and was also the case in the early eighties and early nineties).