@@SimpleDecay nah ... being a top 10 on any platform in any medium means you take zero risks and pick what sells. You won't find innovation in a popular medium, unless you pick artists that don't give a f*ck about what others think.
it's just iconic - mr beato finds a song, tries to like it, then tries really hard, and then just gives up and says "you know what this ain't even worth all that why do i try lol"
His review of Fortnight is perfect. “She has the chance to do something new but she does that. I don’t know what that is, but it ain’t original sounding”. Lmaoo
I wasn't sure how he was gonna feel about So Sweet cause I don't think it's close to being his best work, but it's clearly leagues above most of what you hear in these top 10s
As an older guy, what it sounds like to me is is that today’s music is just a vocalist with average backing tracks. Music used to be groups of musicians in a band each bringing their own skill and style to a song. The dynamic between the members was the beauty, now it’s just about the singer being social media star.
I think it’s important to note this is primarily true within the context of top 100 music, stuff that charts, etc. there are plenty of amazing group acts out there but it’s not what’s marketable
@@nexavus6426 But why is that what’s marketable? There are quite a few modern Canadian musical acts that have found success at home and abroad, but the U.S. market just wants Drake - this would seem to be a problem with the shortsighted American record labels more than anything else.
Most of these songs are likely in the top 10 because they went viral on tik tok. 10 second loops, rather than full sings and albums, is what's driving taste now. kinda crazy
One of the things about pop music that I can't f-ing stand is they do not build to anything. I want DYNAMICS, I want CRESCENDO, I want a GRAND FINALE; or if there is a bridge/middle verse where the subject reaches a realization/breakthrough, it needs to feel distinct. You need to GO SOMEWHERE by the end of the song. Or you need to go somewhere in the middle and then return to home, but it needs to be modulated, a call back to the beginning if you will.
@BlessYourHeart254 My gf showed me this new Adele song last night and I really liked it. But I was expecting her to go for it at the end and it was just more of what already happened and I got really disappointed. I get that people got really tired of guitar solos in popular music a, long time ago, but they elevated specific parts of songs. I don't care if it's a guitar solo, sax, piano, synth, the singer opening up more, or whatever it is. Elevate your songs people.
Here's something to try: if you want to be moved by music as you've described, watch Attack on Titan. The experience isn't contained in one song, but, it'll get you what you're looking for, especially when you listen to the music after you've finished the whole thing.
Was Glad Hozier got some love. He is one of the rare main stream artists who is still an absolute artist. LOVE what he did with Unknown/Nth. That song is a great display of his musical and vocal talent
That was the point of the song though. She went through a breakup with someone she was with for 6 years who never committed, but she was on tour at the time so she had to put on a happy face for her performances.
@@johnwrath3612 I absolutely see what you mean and i think you are partially correct. But I also don't think its "easier" to be depressed on either side of the spectrum because every experience comes with different stuggles and isolating challenges. Depression is terrible for everyone and discounting someones struggles just because they have money, to me, is wrong. Privilege and money may help insulate people from some of those experiences experienced by people who don't have the same resources, but, really, the experience is determined by the person not their monetary status. Say what you want about billionaires or rich people in general, I just think that most people are still deserving of empathy (not necessarily /sympathy/, but certainly empathy)
There was an article in the New York Times this Sunday, and it was about Television, but the same idea I think applies to music - they called it the reign of “Mid” television. It’s TV that resembles TV you really liked, that pushed the boundaries, TV from 10 years ago, and technically it’s executed by absolute masters of the craft so visually it’s excellent, but at the end of the day it’s just a Mid copy of something else you liked in order to satisfy the algorithm. The same exact thing is happening in music.
A really terrific article you reference and very much an analog for the music industry. Same algo-driven orientation on Spotify as Netflix and Apple +, and results are also super safe and "Mid." Appreciate the tip on this excellent read.
Several of them sound like the creator consciously said, "start with grove and hook from [old hit]. Rewrite melody as X. Write middle eight Y. Finished." That "Bar Song" one was shameless. And not even good. And the whole "R&B going country" trend is just not working. It will continue, but it's producing superficial, soulless music. It's Pat Boone's cover of "Tutti Frutti" all over again, but in reverse.
honestly i lost respect for him after that, after he was saying he wants to see more innovation in music and when she does something different he’s like “no, don’t brake the rules” he only cares about how things sound to him subjectively and doesn’t have an objective view on music. apparently.
I think it’s less that it’s major, and more that it’s generic major, it may be ironic but it’s also lazy. I see both. She also complains in that song the way that people complain when they aren’t super familiar with suffering, so it’s in a self-centered way, which though understandable can get annoying. Especially from a born-rich and now richer individual currently on top of the world. Additionally, the whole ironic thing has been done before. It’s not breaking the rules, she did it in quite a generic way. She could’ve pushed boundaries, like he said, but she didn’t, cause she isn’t that kind of musician, yet at least.
@@jamesvanderbilt201irony isn’t exactly breaking the rules, and it’s not that she was just major ironically for a sad song, it’s that she did so in a generic way. She’s fine, don’t get me wrong, but people who think she’s breaking boundaries haven’t listened to as wide a range as they think they have.
I think hed like it more if he listened to the whole thing, I really like that song and found it organically not on tik tok which helped me personally like it more
These songs are a perfect representation of how we're creating art these days. 98% business, 2% craft. You can almost hear the spreadsheets and the target group diagrams.
I don't think that a Spotify top 10 list is exactly representing how "we" are creating art these days. Outside of the big brand music industry and their pretty faces and polished productions, I see a _lot_ more of us ordinary Joes creating (occasionally interesting) stuff on the local and indie scenes. Turn off Spotify, visit a few clubs, and a whole different musical landscape emerges.
I don’t see any problem with that. With the amount of music literally at your fingertips…your choice. If people don’t mind listening to crap…their choice too.
I like that Benson Boone is breaking through the country style mainstream with a weirder indie style vocal. Not the MOST pleasant but still pretty cool. Love listening to the track
@@of9490 i agree, i'm pretty sure franz liszt and mozart would literally laugh at any composition the beatles made, even if you have a bucket and some sticks, music can move people, these people saying 'iS thIs EVeN mUsIc' including this rick fella need to lighten up and smell the roses
@@paya5911 I think Franz and Mozart we would be bewildered by the sounds of electrical music when hearing The Beatles music before composition even enters their minds.
There’s a phenomenon called tiktokification of music that is the reason behind everything “sounding the same”, where artists are encouraged to make songs with very catchy choruses or sections that can be used in a short video. It ends up creating very similar songs that focus on the chorus and the quotable lyric.
How does everything in this Top 10 Sound the same? How does "I like the way you kiss me" sound even remotely similar to "Beautiful Things" or that raggaeton song or "Fortnight"? Those alone are based on 4 completely different genres of music.
Same thing in other businesses. Here's what works. Now you do it. Don't even attempt to be different -- even though different is what made the things that work work.
@@missoats8731 that’s what i meant when I put it in quotes. Not much complexity, all the talent is focused on making a useable sound for tiktok/instagram. That means the sound feels repetitive and uninteresting, done before. For example, taylor swift’s songs feel recycled. Antinoff did nothing to change the sound, and so the songs feel similar to each other and similar to her previous albums like folklore and evermore. This js more because she probably rushed it to be put out after tour. Or ariana’s song, which has little to no oomph on the song except for the chorus. The rest of her album uses other tactics. “yes, and?” Is the definition of something made for tiktok. “the boy is mine” uses a slow and understated trap beat with no flare or originality and does the chorus tiktok sound. Djo’s end of beginning didn’t try for a tiktokish sound, i think, but the chorus is definitely the main appeal, since the rest of the song is very monotone and dry. A song that doesn’t do this as much on this list is too sweet. Obviously, the chorus is supposed to be the best part of the song, but the verses aren’t overshadowed by the rest of the song here. They’re actually used as buildup rather than just blah blah blah drop. The backing then disappears and it lets hozier sing by himself, which kinda subverts the expectation. Basically what I’m saying is every sounds like they just want to get to the chorus. The “sameness” isn’t in actual sound, but in the feel of the verses and chorus. Part of this is my opinion, but the tiktokification is real
Let's face it - people's idea of what "good" music is isn't what it was 25 or 30 years ago. So much of it is unrelatable to the average person these days.
@@Writestuff82162there is so much unique and good music available it’s crazy. Just say you’re a grandpa and don’t know how to look for music. You think the top 10 was only good stuff 30 years ago? Definitely not
Rick in video titles: This Top 10 Assaulted Me, Burned My Guitar Collection and Drove My Dog Insane!!!! Rick in the actual videos: This song could be worse and it's kind of a bop!
end of beginnig and i like the way you kiss me are some of my favorites but specifically for these reasons. theres nothing major happening, repeating sounds, they sound good, they stimulate my brain enough but not too much, i dont have to think about it, it can kind of be in the background of anything and everything, i really enjoy it, and its perfect to dissociate to especially because of them being so repetetive and not having any surpises or big changes that would pull you back to reality. (i def get the critisism tho, you wouldnt expect songs used for what i just explained to be in the top ones)
ikr, it's repetitive and active enough to get me going on a treadmill, like phonk/hardstyle music. it's hard to listen to it very often tho. would drive me nuts
Rick, I'm an American living in Paris. if you want to take today's music to the next, worst level, check out last nights performers in the Eurovision contest. It's like the dystopia of music.
Although of the majority it isn't great music, there were at least 5 good songs on the contest: Ukraine, Croatia, Portugal, France and Italy. I think one of this songs would be good for him.
"Dystopia of music", I feel you. Couldn't agree more. And I feel so weird that the song contest is such a huuuuuge thing in Europe. It's like some form of mediocre/bad mass programming (like agenda setting, not like total conspiracy crap. like lowering the bar on purpose. it definitely feels dystopian. maybe it is simply just really bad "Schlager" music. How I would call it in German. Schlager is like 100% trivial music. In comparison even the worst US Country music has some soul or some identity to it. Schlager? Not so much.)
"I like the way you kiss me" sounds like it was produced to be a TikTok sound. the fast pace, almost no changes in the dynamics, and the high pitched chipmunk voice... that's very TikTok
I just listened to "Espresso" from Spotify two days ago and, damn! I fell in love with it instantly that I played it all over and over again. I'm glad it's #1 on the Top 10 Chart.
I keep waiting for Rick to fall in love with King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. What do you want? Metal, Blues Boogie, Sludgy Stoner Rock, Rap, polyrhythmic Prog, Funk, Acid Jazz, EDM...? 25 albums, all different. All amazing musicianship and no ego. Start with the album Omnium Gatherium.
I think Billy Eilish is the primary cause of this. I like her voice but I definitely get the sense people without that actual voice style try to emulate her nowadays and it’s like…hey just be yourself
My kids grew up with me playing classic rock all the time. My oldest doesn't listen to music; my middle played piano, but only classical and jazz; my youngest likes kpop and modern rap. If that is what they like that is what they like. its their ears.
Hozier's "Too Sweet" is just a slight rework of that breakdown in "Beat It" by MJ. Then it goes into an odd sounding section with church bells a la "alternative" urban RnB type music you'd head Gorillaz, Blu Cantrell, Timbaland do in the late 90s-super early 2000s
Remember Rick’s interview with Sting? Sting talked about needing to be surprised by the music. That if he’s not surprised by a certain number a bars into the song, they’ve lost his attention.
Also, drum machines and software don't argue back. The Police needed to be under the stress from each other to be as good as they were. For any band for that matter. Does that happen today?
90% of pop music but I encourage you to look into other music. There is more music being made now than ever and if you look around you’ll see that unfortunately this is what makes it to the top but there is so much great music out there.
benson boone's new album is actually one of the only pop albums i've enjoyed in recent years. it's pretty damn good, imo. especially "drunk in my mind" - such a banger! i adore his vocals a lot, they sound very pleasant to me, personally. i grew up listening to rock and metal, so i like all the screaming :D
Nigel Tufnel: It's part of a trilogy, a musical trilogy I'm working on in D minor which is the saddest of all keys, I find. People weep instantly when they hear it, and I don't know why. :P
You stole my comment ;p . So I left a comment about Dm. Which I now find as a reply here. I think this means we need to meet for beers, shots & production values at some dive bar in suburban Atlanta. Beato buys first two rounds.
I don't get how half of these songs are so popular. There is genuinely amazing music being made that nobody knows about, but the most reductive and repetitive earworms still get the most play.
Because anything that has more than three chords and a 4/4 beat is too "prog" for normies to digest and 98% of music listeners fall into the category of "normies". Kurt Cobain figured out the formula. Two chords, verse chorus repeat verse chorus outro. Very easy to shoot your smack and nod your head to
Simple: they're being pushed hard and if they win awards or get radio play the public tends to think they're good but that's not true. We're just being fooled. Also it's money and views that tell the public what's good and what's not these days exhibit A: Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Kanye, Ice Spice. It's sad but that's the music industry for you. Everyone's confirming to be popular even if it means the quality of their art is subpar.
It’s simply because a vast majority of people who listen to music listen casually, which means they’re just looking for catchy ear worm songs they can sing along to. And these songs are made well enough to do just that
Your critiques are a nice blend of musical insight and gentle snark. My take on the repetitive, uninspired songs with an infectious, driving beat: Oh, it's dance music. Creativity bar lowered, lyrics dismissed - hips, feet and boogie bits engaged.
Writers moved to this sort of format years ago. They either write a song with one hook, or sometimes put a couple together, once they would have been used for commercials - nowadays they are used for tiktok videos, typically a thin preamble often in an Indy voice, quickly switching to the anthemic hook, just in time for the "influencer" to open the doors to their van life, or lake view, or them having an inexplicably ecstatic experience on a pretty street or drinking their matcha. Basically you need to have a 30 sec song, going from furtive to triumphant in around an 80/20 ratio. And have a 15 second version available too.
I love how Rick has evolved on these Spotify Top 10 lists over time. A few years ago he was infinitely more charitable, looking for something positive in even the most execrable dreck on Spotify. These days his snark meter is cranked to 11 and he has absolutely zero patience for the lifeless, uncreative crap that rises to top of these lists, and I am HERE for it.
I'd say it stands to reason that as he hears the same dreck with each return to the list, he's lost patience with trying to find the positives in the same uninspired trash that keeps making the playlists of similar uninspired listeners.
That's what Miley Cyrus does. Every song, the music and even the notes she sings are something I've heard before. Almost note for note, she's stealing from the past.
Sixty years ago, The Beatles and the Rolling Stones sold their attempts to imitate American music from the 1950s to children who didn't have older siblings with those records.
I feel like it can be used in artistic ways if not used to just cover up a bad performance. Like if it's used intentionally to add a cool element to a song - a rare kind of usage tho. personally I like the autotune on the chorus of Adam neely's reharmonization of Run Away With Me. I try not to be too quick about judging something as a whole just because I don't like it in one context. In Adam's I found it so sick
That shaboozey song sounds exactly like what you’d get if you asked an ai song generator to make a bro country song about being at the bar, right down to the digital, bizarre sounding vocals. I’m not convinced it’s not just an ai song.
@@patriotoftruth I swear all the hit songs for the past few months have had at least some ai involved, whether in the lyrics or the backing track. There’s a certain undefinable quality about it but you know it when you hear it.
A.I. just copies music that its heard before being interesting being unique is not something it can do. Music is the one thing human beings kind of pull from the ether. If you ever seen Ricks interview of Seal, when he wrote some of his biggest songs he couldn't read music yet. He just wrote what felt right, same thing with jimi hendrix or most legendary virtuoso early rock and blues guitarists they couldn't read music to save their lives but they could play you anything in the universe. A.I. doesn't have any feelings, it just works off a template so it can't create new feelings, why? ultimately it's programmed to make something safe that people already like to make money. Human beings don't make music for money it's a human endeavor to express something you almost can't express with words.
@@RENZO4993Nonsense…for the average person it’s very hard…any decent musician will tell you that…takes a long time to be able to do it…it’s not impossible by any means but the average joe ain’t doing it
@AugustWest888 hugely disagree…I been lucky to find it fairly easy but I been teaching music for years and can confirm the vast majority of people don’t find it easy…most don’t get it and most likely never will…again, it’s not impossible for some of us but as a general rule it’s a very difficult task
One thing I really like about hozier is he doesn't try to make tiktok hits. he makes what he makes and it catches when it does. Most of my favorite bands do that and its how i stay away from things sounding like the same things over and over again.
I agree. Hozier’s was the one song that was good and well-constructed all the way through. The Djo song had a nice moody vibe but it didn’t seem to build or go anywhere.
The little rant about having no reason to be depressed because she has money and fame was really disappointing though. Very boomer take on an illness that doesn't care about material wealth or achievements.
@@ianwakersagreed. He's a well adapted gen X, but no one is perfect. It was funny as hell, though. On the other hand, you can't argue his questioning 'why C major?'. I agree, It should have been D or E minor, which actually sounds depressing.
Hey, I think this type of video with reacting and teaching about music from shows and/or a select few artists top hits would work great. For example Arcane the show has some interesting music that would draw some different viewers to the channel as well :)
I was sure Rick would dig the Hozier song. That's actually the main reason I clicked on this video. I liked a couple of his songs but never listened to his albums, then last week I went to one of his shows and was blown away. The guy is a true rockstar. He can play guitar, he can sing, and he's a great songwriter.
I rolled my eyes when i first heard Take Me to Church back in 2014 on the radio, but then i read the lyrics and was like wow this is surprisingly deep poetry for a pop song! I rediscovered his discography a couple years ago and I have been a huge fan since.
That’s was the perfect statement too because it’s just so true. I actually love Fortnight. To me it’s heartbreaking…. but it’s not innovative in any way.
this is exactly how I feel about her music. Like how can you continue pumping out THE SAME MATERIAL over and over and over, forcing albums into the world that sound exactly the same at such a rapid clip. How does someone have so much boundless creativity and talent and yet is unable or unwilling to push boundaries or reinvent themselves in the slightest? I’d be such a fan if she simply tried something, ANYTHING new because it would presumably have such a positive impact on the state of music today. But nope, same old crap.
She’s been doing “ THAT “ since she first broke into pop pablum . She knows a few chords on guitar, and piano which is very limiting . Taylor doesn’t have the Joni Mitchell gene by a long shot. Joni had a huge vocal range ,and sophisticated tunings on the guitar where she pushed the envelope . Joni went from the personal Blue to Court and Spark in three years . She then went down the jazz path thereafter. Sadly that’s when he started to tank commercially . Several jazz influenced albums showed Joni falling out of favour with the musical hoi polloi. Mingus was the end of her commercial success. Listen to “ RAISED ON ROBBERY “ intro Joni did all her own harmonies long before there was autotune.
I saw a truck on the highway this week hauling a dumpster that said "regulated garbage." I found that hilarious but now I know it was filled with this list of songs.
I think those were great analysis of these. Im way too jaded when I think about what music should sound like but lately ive been trying my best to understand that not all music has the purpose of being sat and listened too with your full attention on being as immersed in it as possible. I think that variable creates a lot of different music that I dont understand why people like, but its because I dont use it the same way they do. Still fun to break them apart and take looks at them, but yeah ill always find my listening home inside passionate, emotional, stimulating songs that somehow a lot of "top hits" fail to fall into for me.
Fortnight doesn't sound orginial because it has the same chord progressions as Hey Daddy (Usher), White Dress (Lana Del Rey), and Dilemma (Nelly), not only that but the melody actually sounds like Dilemma (Nelly)
@@darrendaj He had the chart on his left side for the first tune and then moved the charts closer to his left hand for the subsequent tunes. You can see on the chorus of the first song when he messed up around 1:00, he kept looking back at the chart on his left to get on track. You'll fanboi disagree because you've never played any reading gigs, but when someone is looking at their left hand and makes a mistake when playing by ear, they don't look away from their left hand and then back at their hand and then away again. This is why he changed the position of the charts for the rest of the songs to be close to his left hand (down and in front of him - on a desk). If you look closely at his eyes, you'll see him going from looking at his hand to the chart like at 4:54 several times. Also, at 5:17, if he has never heard the song or didn't have a chart, he wouldn't have changed from playing F chords to an Fsus2 directly on the beat. He would have expected an F chord again and played that and then changed it to Fsus2 upon hearing the 3rd was missing from the chord but he didn't do that. I could go on and on, but you're going to ignore it all anyway.
@luke5100you’re missing the point mate… she’s doing nothing to push the art form forward, simply indulging in the same standard formula … despite being in an extremely privileged musical position… regardless of how she got there… or how she feels
@luke5100 Everything you said is true, but coming from Taylor Swift, I'm not buying it. Depression sells, unfortunately. Same with Billie Eilish. You can see interviews where the mask is off and she's smiley and well adjusted. Depression sells. Kurt Cobain was depressed. Some of those other dudes weren't. For some, it's an image and part of the product.
I was in a band many many years ago in a galaxy far away and we had to learn all of the songs by listening to them. Well, the ones we covered. It was awesome! Trying to write the lyrics down after listening to the song on the juke box. Good times!
I know there's got to be someone who has already suggested this but doing these kind of breakdowns with Top 10s from different decades would be awesome.
Tame Impala fr i think he is one of them that reignited the love for synthpop and psychedelia together, his album Currents in 2015 is basically an homage to the sounds and visuals (cover art and all)
"The rest is just the same, isn't it?" - Mozart to Salieri in a scene from "Amadeus" It would be brilliant to have Tom Hulce in character as Mozart rating the Spotify Top 10
You, and RB, are probably right. Now, psychologists and musicologist would say you that the minor scale is perceived as "sad" is an acquired concept. As far as we know, our brain wiring is not pre-coded that way.
@@danielpalmer6266 I don't know. I come from a culture where sad chords aren't necessarily perceived as sad and happy aren't always perceived as happy but I felt that way ever since I was a child.
The top 10 almost always reflects the songs that have gone viral on social media. It doesn’t matter if the whole song is repetitive if only a 10-15 second clip of it is being used for videos. If social media was taken out of the equation, the top 10 would probably be very different.
That is exactly the thing. At least half of these songs are on the top 10 list because they've gone tiktok viral in the recent weeks. There is still tons of great music being released every day, but it doesn't get the clicks.
Almost all the issues I have with popular music is the fact that they dumb down any musicianship or instrumentation to just underwhelm you with a mediocre centrepiece of vocals mixed with some shitty autotune. Voices without autotune sound so much more real and raw resulting in a much more emotional sounding performance rather than a coffin dressed up in glitter to make it seem bright and alive when really it’s just housing a corpse.
I agree that natural voices are the way to go. It doesn’t matter if the singer has a “perfect” voice or not. In fact, so many of my favorite singers have just an average voice….but it’s the passion and intensity of that voice that makes it interesting.
@@OriginalGrasshopper Agreed! One of my favourite singers is Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, and the reason as to why I like his voice so much isn’t because it’s perfect, but rather that it’s dark and really fits the bill for the songs that his voice appears in.
Nothing to be blown away by that's for sure. The vibe I get from these songs is that they feel like an intro or interlude to something better, but they never get there.
i think vibin' culture pretty much shaped this kind of music, all about vibin' with no distinctive part. I wouldn't say these songs in the list are bad per se, but it's kinda same.
With the Taylor Swift song he really didn't. He stopped it after the first few words of the chorus, that by the way completely flew over his head, and then he proceeded to trashtalk it on the grounds of not understanding the lyrics.
@@mburland What does that have to do with anything? He can upset the swifties all day if he wants. You said in your comment that he gives every song a fair chance and I proved you wrong. What a miserable attempt at deflection. 😂
The way I can do it with a broken heart went right over your head. The whole point is the juxtaposition of the lyrics and the “happy” c major sound. The whole song is about faking it.
There's a scene in a completely forgettable movie (Eddie and the Cruisers II) where Eddie tells the leader of the bar band something like, "your music is enjoyable. I'll go home and lie down and forget all about it." That's how I view most of new music today. There are so few songs that make me want to listen to it again.
Could not have said it better myself, but I suspect, you may be, like myself, from a generation that had it so good we can't POSSIBLY tolerate what passes for "hits" today.
"D minor, the saddest of all keys". Rick following the teachings of the Master Yoda of rock guitar, Nigel Tufnel . "Buy another jet" is the PERFECT closing.
