Popularity =/= Quality

  • Here's a song that has both popularity and quality


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    Kpop is the only music genre where I see people hoping that their faves get mainstream popularity. It's a death sentence everywhere else. :pepewash:

    • Official Post

    A mood?


    Usually people are embarrassed to say they like things that chart in the top 40.


    Saying you like mainstream pop is like saying you have no taste kekek

    So true. The way people will drop a rapper or a rock band when they get popular too. I've got a friend who is a music snob and I listened to so many rants about indie bands getting popular when he was in college. :pepe-cross:

  • I have a whole ass thread dedicated to it


  • Oh, thank you :pepe-tongue: kkkkkk

    Is there? I'm gonna search kkkkkkk

    Here ya go


    What I really want to know is how you got the does not equal sign to show properly instead of doing =/=

  • Here ya go


    What I really want to know is how you got the does not equal sign to show properly instead of doing =/=

    Ooooh. Guess is the new black kkkkk

    I copied it on Google Kkkkk i searched the different symbol and copied it kkkkkk

  • That's the assumption. I have a question. If you live in an area where K-Pop or any "choice genre" is an underdog, how much "quality" does the songs have if you are ashamed to say you listen to or play your K-popular fav(s) in public?

  • That's the assumption. I have a question. If you live in an area where K-Pop or any "choice genre" is an underdog, how much "quality" does the songs have if you are ashamed to say you listen to or play your K-popular fav(s) in public?

    Can't relate. I have no shame. Everyone knows I am a kpop fan. I even play kpop at work. I've introduced all my employees to my faves lol

  • I agree. BTS had the most quality even when they were not most popular. Popularity, especially right out the gate, is usually based on marketing, not quality. With exceptions, of course. But Ive never seen a quality artist who became very popular in first few years.


    The whole gatekeeping phenomenon is very strange though. Ive seen even in indie circles fans promoting their faves to influencial reviewers in hopes they break through. And in few cases it actually worked, on a small scale, of course. I dont know why some stans want their faves to starve.

  • Can't relate. I have no shame. Everyone knows I am a kpop fan. I even play kpop at work. I've introduced all my employees to my faves lol

    That's rare for most! If it isn't dope, someone would either speak up or prepare to roast around here!

  • That's the assumption. I have a question. If you live in an area where K-Pop or any "choice genre" is an underdog, how much "quality" does the songs have if you are ashamed to say you listen to or play your K-popular fav(s) in public?

    Quality and mainstream music in the same sentence is a joke here. :pepepizza:

    That's rare for most! If it isn't dope, someone would either speak up or prepare to roast around here!

    They will roast, but what can they do when the music they listen to is even worse? Just ask them why their music is good and they shiver in their pants. :pepe-toast:

  • The whole gatekeeping phenomenon is very strange though. Ive seen even in indie circles fans promoting their faves to influencial reviewers in hopes they break through. And in few cases it actually worked, on a small scale, of course. I dont know why some stans want their faves to starve.

    It's not so much a gatekeeping thing as a fact that the vast, vast majority of the music has no chance in hell of ever being mainstream-popular. The only way to be popular is to essentially make pop music, and obviously we don't want our faves to be doing that. Otherwise we'd just be listening to pop music in the first place.


    And I don't think starving has anything to do with it because there's no money in music anyway, you can't make a career out of it. Unless... as above.

  • Quality and mainstream music in the same sentence is a joke here. :pepepizza:

    Yeah, that's usually when the music quality takes a hit. I read some recent Maroon 5's GP reviews and people are still saying they sold out after the "Songs About Jane" album. ^^

    They will roast, but what can they do when the music they listen to is even worse? Just ask them why their music is good and they shiver in their pants. :pepe-toast:

    I don't have that problem. Mainstream listeners won't say much, but the less popular genre listeners would roast many of the K-Pop groups that don't have any kind of vibes or decent musicianship in their production.

  • It's not so much a gatekeeping thing as a fact that the vast, vast majority of the music has no chance in hell of ever being mainstream-popular. The only way to be popular is to essentially make pop music, and obviously we don't want our faves to be doing that. Otherwise we'd just be listening to pop music in the first place.


    And I don't think starving has anything to do with it because there's no money in music anyway, you can't make a career out of it. Unless... as above.

    I have a very hard time telling if this is a parody or not :eyes:

  • Because you can make a living from music even in non-pop genres? Theres a whole range of popularity between mainstream pop stars and needing to work 3 jobs to be able to make music.

    I think we're using different terminology here.

    For instance,

    Tame Impala might not be "mainstream pop stars", but they are a band that makes pop music. This is still a tiny minority of music that is being made.


    You can make money by constantly touring. That's not possible right now, obviously, but it's also not a lifestyle most people would choose. Especially for people who prefer to create rather than perform.

    Outside of THAT, I know of some musicians that manage to eke out a living doing it all themselves with no label taking a cut. They almost universally have had label support in the past that had helped them to get to that point though. It's much easier when you have built an audience over decades.

    Outside of THAT, you have the ones that do film work or work on art installations at the like. Your Ben Frosts and your Christian Fenneszes.

    But outside of that??

    Nobody's making any money. Think of a label like Kranky. Most of the people who have put out music in the history of that label never made any money from it.

    Take for example the band Neurosis: Possibly the biggest band in their subgenre, ploughing away at it since the 80's, very well-regarded, and one of the most-cited influences in that branch of metal. They've all got day jobs. They never didn't have day jobs.


    Edit: Here's an article with even relatively big names:

    https://www.vulture.com/2019/0…y-make-money-in-2019.html

    Edited once, last by tenfour ().

  • It's so funny when in arguments about music quality, fans bring chart positions as if that matters

    This year Cherry Bullet's Love so sweet is one of the best gg songs imo yet it's so unknown that nobody knows they released it

    who's Cherry Bullet?


    Kidding :D


    But yes, sales numbers prove nothing. I don't know why people think it does.


    "I don't think this is a good song"

    "Well, a million others enjoy it"


    Umm, so? Millions of people eat McD's.Doesn't mean that's good food. Maybe the song is just appealing to the lowest common denominator or is just cheap and easily digestible.

  • My problem was with the very black and white statement of "pop or nothing". Yes, obscure metal subgenres or instrumental post rock doesnt make any money, but more mainstream non-pop genres do or at least did pre-corona. Rock dinosaurs still sell out stadiums and rap stars at least seem to make money. But I guess if we classify everything more mainstream as pop, regardless of genre, then I can agree.


    Now Im feeling guilty for all the pirating I did with Kranky artists before streaming came along....

  • My problem was with the very black and white statement of "pop or nothing". Yes, obscure metal subgenres or instrumental post rock doesnt make any money, but more mainstream non-pop genres do or at least did pre-corona. Rock dinosaurs still sell out stadiums and rap stars at least seem to make money. But I guess if we classify everything more mainstream as pop, regardless of genre, then I can agree.

    I mean, yeah, maybe "pop" isn't the word, but there's music that is part of the industry and music that isn't. There's independent music that has broad appeal and there's independent music that is very niche. There's DaBaby, and then there's some random dude on soundcloud.


    Like if you're saying it's absurd to be mad that Phoebe Bridgers blew up last year, then, yeah, you're right. But it's not the same thing as thinking, "I hope Tim Hecker doesn't make a Taylor Swift covers album for chart success". I mean, sure, Tim Hecker can do that, that's his right, or whatever, but that's not why anybody's listening to Tim Hecker.


    It rarely works out that established independent artists find particularly great success on majors anyway. The opposite is usually the case. I think Sonic Youth is like the one major exception of it working out in their favour.


    And you know what.

    They fuckin sucked after they signed!!!!!!!

    (well, for like ten years, they got good again eventually...)

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