How important are vocals for you to like a song?

Quote from chounim

I think the most important element in music for me is emotions. Unless I'm going to get up and dance (in which case I would mostly only care about the beats) then I mostly consume music either when I'm working (or studying back in the day) or sometimes when I am lying down for the purpose of listening to music, so I care so much for the emotions being delivered and the way they make me feel. I think the most important elements as far as emotions go are lyrics and vocals. Lyrics are likely the most important thing for me in songs in my native language, but in kpop no matter how much many fans insist they stan for lyrics or that lyrics are the most important, I'm too opinionated to take someone else's interpretation of lyrics at face value and then proceed to feel things about it. It's nice to understand what a song is about but translations are nothing but someone else's interpretation that's influenced by their emotions, experiences and thoughts and that's vastly different from understanding lyrics first hand while listening to the song. So all there's left to deliver the emotions here is the vocals.

But to be Frank, this is not a black or white matter. Even I have many songs where I don't focus on the vocals much and primarily like them because they're fun or because I find the beats or arrangement interesting etc etc. It's just that if I am going to stan someone then they better have good vocals for me to be able to enjoy their music in the long run.

I agree emotions are pretty important element. Thats why I like Yoohyeon a lot because she is really emotional once she sing.

There are so many average vocalists out there that I got used to it - as long as they don't sound bad I can enjoy the song. There's so many vocal processing techniques out there that can make singers sound better.

The most important for me to like a non-ballad song are the instrumentals and melodies. For ballads, vocals take precedence because conveying emotions is the most important part.

Nonetheless, good vocals can make a song stand out and bad vocals can ruin it. Harmonizing and vocal flexing can definitely boost the song. But some vocal tones and excessive autotune/vocoder can ruin it too.

P.S.: I realized the vocals are what usually makes me love a song more than other songs.

It only important for me when it comes to live singing. No offense, but with today's technology, it is easier to make your voice sound good in a recording song. Their certain idol in KPOP feels totally different when he/she sings live compare to his/her recording song.

Depends on the genre and the emotion a song is trying to convey imo. In genres like pop, lo-fi or rnb for example, I prefer a stylistic approach to delivery of vocals. They make the whole aesthetic of a song. I can give a lot of BTS songs as example but my favourite is Pied Piper. That song is so addictive and it's because their voices are so aesthetically pleasing in the song. Another example is Rihanna. She mostly uses stylistic singing but it doesn't matter cause that voice matches the aesthetic of the songs. So for me vocal tone matters more in these genres.

If it's a ballad or a very heartfelt, emotional song, the technique really matters a lot. Cause to a large extent it influences the amount of emotions you can convey from your voice. And in such songs even if the instrumental is minimalistic or basic, the vocals make the song much much better. A recent example from my experience is driver's license. I find the instrumental of the song very generic but Olivia's delivery is insane and I think her emotions reached a lot of people which is why the song is so famous. Another one is Someone you loved. A very minimalistic melody and instrumental but amazing vocal delivery (some might disagree but I love his voice in the song lol :-D ).

I think in K-pop most idols prefer stylistic singing more cause K-pop is to a big extent about aesthetics. And tbh, any preference is fine as long as you actually manage to sound good lol. Your voice is just another instrument anyways.

Quote from chounim

But pop music is different because the singing is the main attraction anyway.

I guess my question here though is, "is it?"

I don't mean to ask that in a, "nah, no it isn't" sort of way. It's not rhetorical. I'm genuinely wondering. Is it?

For most people?

There doesn't seem to be any correlation between technical ability and popularity, for example.

But that doesn't necessarily mean that the vocals aren't the most important thing to most people.

I think most people would agree that the most important section of a pop song is the chorus, and yet a lot of modern pop songs have instrumental or mostly instrumental choruses.

But again, that doesn't necessarily prove anything.

When I was growing up, instrumental music would straight-up chart. But no, I wouldn't call it pop music even then.

So I dunno.

I think maybe there's no rule on it, and MOSTLY the vocals are the main attraction for pop music for some people, but other times it's... something else.

?

Did I just use a lot of words to say nothing at all.

Maybe I did what of it

definitely. it's crazy how many songs I enjoy mostly because they have been elevated by the vocals.

Vocals are of medium-high importance to me. It all depends on how the parts fit together. A great singer on a weak song won't make me like it. A weak and overprocessed autotune singer on a great song will more than likely make me just like the producer more than the artist.

There are artists outside of K-Pop that don't have a big voice or a broad range, but compensate in valuable ways like having background vocal layering that is otherworldly and many catalog songs with good production, melodies, and minimal autotune.

If I dont like the singer voice, then I will probably dislike the song.

But I dont think you need great vocal skills to make the song enjoyable, although it can help to improve the song.

Vocal Skill of itself is not particularly important for the studio version. Anyone can be made to sound good in the studio. My problem is more with the artificial sounding effects put on the vocals which are “in trend” that I don’t like.

But vocal skills are extremely important for the live performances.

Vocals for me are pretty unimportant. Mainly flaws in songs can be found in melody moreso than singing skill.

I prefer a lot of vocal runs in songs. Even though I don't Stan them, Red Velvet is my 2md most played gg

It's a lot easier for me to get into a song if I like the vocals. Vocals can help elevate a song as well, I don't think I'd apreciate certain songs as much if other singers sang them differently.

At the end of a day, as long as it has a good beat it's fine. However, if the vocals are pleasing to me, it needs less to impress me in other ways. So, I guess they are important, but they won't drive me away from a song if the vocals aren't the best.

As for technique, I don't need a vocalist that is strong in it. As long as the tone sounds pleasing, I'll enjoy it. Sometimes I'll find my favorites are called bad technique wise anyway.