The music formula

I listen to a lot of music. If I'm awake, there's a good chance music is there. My tastes are on the broad side. From Celtic to Classical, to Jazz and Rock, it's all in my MP3 player. Listening to all this music through the years, I've noticed bands that write this music tend to go through phases. They start raw and disjointed and end up melodic and repetitious. In my earlier years, I called it "going pop". As bands matured, their music tended to become more mainstream and acceptable. While in the beginning bands were raw and fresh, near the end of their tenure they drifted toward sounds that were homogeneous and indistinguishable from anyone else. Hence, the phrase "going pop". Because as anyone will attest; pop music is always the same and always predictable. That is not necessarily a bad thing unless you enjoy variety.

This phenomena is probably what drove me to different music styles. I just couldn't listen to the same type of music every day of my life so I'd switch the channel. It was then that I noticed that many of these different musical styles and the bands that played them, tended to do the same thing as the musical forms and artists I was trying to leave behind. They would migrate towards a similar melodic and vocal style that left them all sounding the same. I found this irritating and it required more channel changing. After a number of decades of this chase, I became concerned that I would run out of genres to turn to. Basically, I would run out of channels.

To give you some examples, I'll reach back a few years. Huey Lewis and News was a raw pop band their first couple of albums. However, as each new album was released, I noticed the inevitable drive towards pop. Near the end of their reign, I didn't buy their music because I knew it would sound like too much pop. There were plenty of other bands that went this same way. REO Speedwagon, No Doubt, Van Halen, ELO, Keb Mo', the Chieftains, The Stones and Jimmy Buffett just to name a minuscule few. Regardless of the musical genre, they all migrated toward a repeatable similarity that basically spelled the end of what made them special. There were some exceptions to this and they were usually less popular bands who didn't get the comfort of the big record industry. That is when it hit me.

Today, making a hit song is straight forward. If Britney Spears can make a song that goes to number 1, you know it can't be too difficult. It's even easy to make a song that sounds like it is from days gone by into a hit. For example, take "That Thing You Do". The reason this is so easy is that there is a formula for making popular music. Music executives know this and this is why record producers will steer artists into altering their music to sound different than it was originally written. The goal is to adhere to the formula.

What kind of proof do I have? Well that should be fairly obvious. The Beatles, Radio Head and a number of other bands have struck out on their own starting their own record labels so they could produce their own music. However, most of the time, when an artist is popular enough and has enough resources to go this route, they've already been indoctrinated with the formula and they are never able to retrieve that special something that brought them original glory. The vast majority of artists stick with the music industry and their formula.

I was listening to a band called "Great Big Sea" recently. They had just released their latest album. The CD also came with a video of the band making the CD. And there he was: The producer. "Change this so it flows", "Reduce this so it fits better." A number of changes were made to the original tune to make it better in the producer's eyes. To make it more homogeneous and to lose the edge that made the music different. The end result, from a Celtic band who during their first few albums spent their time recreating old sea faring songs in a modern vein, was a pop album that could have been made by Michael Jackson.

I can understand the producer's plan. He wants an album that can sell and make everyone a lot of money. To reach the widest audience, you have to have a consistent trait the masses will flock to and buy in droves. So the music has to adhere to the "Hit" formula to get it mainstream. It is in that movement towards popularity that the music and the artist dies. His music becomes someone else's. It becomes the mobs music. It's Popular.

There are some bands who were able to buck this trend. REM is an example. They made a concerted effort to return to their roots. And in doing so, they disappeared from the radio. However, bands like REM are the exception, not the rule. For most, the idea of fame and glory leads them down the pop stream until their music isn't distinguishable from anyone else's with the exception of the lead singers voice.

The formula works when pushing music to the masses. It generates sales which makes everyone rich. However, in recent years as we all know, sales of music have fallen off. Record companies blame it on downloading. That might play a part, but I think the true reason is that many people are getting tired of the formula. We want to hear the awkward lyric or out of pitch voice that makes the artist more human. We want music that is more human with all its imperfections. We don't want to hear the formula. We want to hear the artist.

Alas, there is where things have gotten tricky. The formula is powerful. People new to music or easily led will listen to the formula not really knowing (or caring) that it is contrived. They are comfortable knowing that each tune, each song, will sound the same. Variations only exist in minute detail. There is comfort in familiarity. But there is also boredom. So those of us who live on the fringes, who desire raw human emotion and raw displays, will continue to search. It is a hard road because those artists we find who break the mold, often don't get enough following to survive. And the formula brings them into the fold of pop.

My dream is that the Internet will eventually wash away much of the formula. It will certainly mean the end of music as we know it today. Instead of multi-platinum records, artists will make a living performing in small venues where the money is low but the support is intense. Regional sounds will return to music so music heard in California will sound substantially different then what is heard in the outskirts of Atlanta. It's a dream I have that the formula will fight against. And it will take people with a desire to stand apart to make it happen.

I don't hold out much hope. So my search continues. The formula keeps on making money and those of us who want the human touch continue to search the dark crevices of music looking for that nugget. The hope is that we can find it long before everyone else so we can enjoy that raw emotion, that unbridled passion for a little while.