Originally posted by thepixelgarden
.(Btw, you people who hate Christmas music and complain that it's everywhere this time of year: this is what that's like, except ALL YEAR LONG.)

Hahahaha! I know exactly what you mean! Except, I love Christmas music, it is my favorite holiday after all. But, yes, you have my sympathy. There are a few that I like, but mostly, I don't even listen to the radio anymore, and if I do it's either Classic Country, or Classic Rock, because even Country is getting a bit to "popish" for lack of a better word. But, I don't hate the people who like that stuff, I just don't like their music. But, some music just makes me angry and puts me in a violent mood for some reason or another, newer pop and death metal usually. Anyway, a star to you sir or ma'am.

Originally posted by thepixelgarden
I'm generally a "live-and-let-live" kinda person. I'm pretty peaceful and try to let other people be themselves. But I have dealt with this for so long, and it just keeps getting worse, that I just NEED to vent. I don't WANT to be judgemental towards the entertainment industry; I'd rather we each do our own thing on separate sides of the playground, so-to-speak. But how can I not react when it's constantly IN MY FACE?

Most pop music is like nails on a chalkboard to me. Not all, but the vast majority. You know the ones: they have the words "tonight" "club" and "sexy" in the lyrics somewhere. They have the generic techno beat. They "feature" a rapper, even if the primary singers normally don't do rap. They usually have TMI about the singer's sex life (or just brag about themselves).

So dear Nicki Minaj, Black-Eyed Peas, Kesha, Flo Rida, Rihanna, Pitbull, David Guetta, etc.

Oh my God. Shut. The Hell. Up.

I don't care about your nasty, pathetic, low-self-esteem sex lives in the back of some dirty night club.

"If you don't like it then just turn it off!"

A big "screw you" to anyone who's ever said that. Right. Because it's just that easy to get away from pop music. It's not like it's playing over the speakers at grocery stores, fast food restaurants, department stores, amusement parks and any other public place I forgot to mention. I have an idea: Why don't we replace the pop music with death metal and see how long YOU last without pulling your hair out, huh?

(Btw, you people who hate Christmas music and complain that it's everywhere this time of year: this is what that's like, except ALL YEAR LONG.)

Why does there always need to be some kind of music in the first place? I just want to buy my groceries or eat a hamburger in peace. Why is this too much to ask?

Oh how I wanted to say that myself, thank you

As a musician myself, I agree wholeheartedly and actually am starting to believe there is an underlying ploy that's far more sinister than meets the eye. I feel that it is extremely lazy (or a cop out) for society to dismiss music as simply entertainment. Every culture on the planet throughout history, up until relatively recently (when the music industry with recording technology and radio developed) cherished the power of music to the point that it was sacred-- it transcends language, lasts forever and alters consciousness by bypassing our logical mind and appealing to our more primitive (and more powerful) emotional mind.

There's always an argument about whether art reflects society or vice versa.... but nonetheless, one can't help but notice the correlation between topics of pop music and everything thats corrupt in western society. For instance, isn't it funny how so many pop songs today worship money like a god? I could drop lyrics all day but it's pretty pointless because you all know at least one song in your head, and whether you agree or not, the seed has been planted. The more you hear that message or see that promiscuous video the more acceptable it becomes, whether you like it or not. All of a sudden, issues like the 1% and the 99% for instance are no surprise anymore.

Also, notice how all of the artists who have become famous and decided to promote peace, unity and love (Lennon, Michael Jackson etc) get murdered or systematically destroyed?

S&F!! It isn't a case of "turning it off", either, as you pointed out. You simply cannot get away from it. I don't even care what sort of music it is; most places play it too loudly, and you can't NOT listen. If they kept the volume lower, that would be a start. Plus, nothing played at any business should have lyrics about sex, drugs, etc. If it's controversial, leave it off the blasted playlist! That's assuming there is even a need to play music at all. Shopping, I don't mind much, IF it is quiet, and IF there isn't anything objectionable. You can ignore it as background noise. Restaurants? STOP THE MUSIC! Seriously; who wants to eat, and have to listen to someone else's choice in music? Country music in a burger place. Pop music here. Mariachi music there. Why? The obsession with having televisions all over the place in restaurants is just as bad, or worse. We actually stopped going, EVER, to one place here because they had some horrible trivia game going, and it was so loud, you could not even hear yourself speak at the farthest end of the place. Big game on? Forget a quiet dinner! Come on, people, watch the games at home, and save the trivia for a bar. Save the music, too. Let people eat in peace. When I worked at a bookstore many years back, we did play some music, but ONLY instrumental stuff, and that very softly. Anything else, and people could not concentrate to shop. Music in a workplace? Totally uncalled for! Don't blame the one person for taking measures.

I am not certain, either, that there isn't more to this. Looking at the stuff you hear most, it's like they are trying to program the masses. "Listen to this." "Immorality is good." "Money is your god." "watch the game, and don't think." It's an audio-visual version of They Live

Originally posted by Carreau
I vote for Death Metal, actually Black Metal would be better.

I agree! Some very technically talented musicians play Death/Black metal.

well said ... my vote goes for black metal or punk rock ( true punk not the sellout # ) .. otherwise most modern western ( non- asia ) music is rubbish ... theres much to be said in favour of being able to eat .. shop .. relax in peace and quiet without the seemingly mandatory idiotic "music" alot of establishments choose to torture customers with ... noticed on my last trip downriver the annoying trend of shops playing "music" starting to show up over here in asia now too...

Originally posted by thepixelgarden
So dear Nicki Minaj, Black-Eyed Peas, Kesha, Flo Rida, Rihanna, Pitbull, David Guetta, etc.

Oh my God. Shut. The Hell. Up.

Never heard of them. To my knowledge, I've never heard their songs. It really amazes me that some of you are in situations where you are subjected to a stream of unwanted music. It'e even more amazing to me that some people seem to NEED a constant stream of music their every waking hour, the iPod crowd with dangly white earphones.

So in a way I agree with you completely. I don't want to hear ANY music at ANY time unless I so choose.

The thing is, I don't.

So that begs the question. Why do you continue to hear Pitbull, etc.? You must be living a lifestyle that puts you in contact with this stuff constantly. So, if it bothers you sufficiently enough, you need to make some changes, including jobs, if necessary, to rid you of this bothersome situation.

We have this amazing ability as human beings to tune things out.

Use it. Being negative about a negative only makes things worse. Pop music is shallow, 'fun' music with little substance. It shouldn't get even more than a passing thought from anyone, either good or bad.

I use to have sat radio. I really miss it. I cant stand regular radio and right now one song I am really hating is Muse- Madness. It is on constant repeat. Thats is when I turn it off.Certain restaurants play a certain type of music to get you feel satisfied/eat quicker and get you out the door for the next customer. So yeah for Justin Bieber

Originally posted by solarjetman
As a musician myself, I agree wholeheartedly and actually am starting to believe there is an underlying ploy that's far more sinister than meets the eye. I feel that it is extremely lazy (or a cop out) for society to dismiss music as simply entertainment... ...one can't help but notice the correlation between topics of pop music and everything thats corrupt in western society.

Ever since I've found myself in a position to be exposed to pop culture (read: married), I've noticed this as well. Like watching some kid show; some pop star shows up and the audience cheers, so I'm like "Ok, apparently we're supposed to know who this person is." So I Google her to find her NC-17 music video and sexual lyrics, and I'm like "What is she doing on a show that's aimed at kids???"

Now we have 12 year olds experimenting with sex in public school bathrooms. It's really not that hard to see how we got here, and it's not that hard to figure out where we're going, either. There's a reason that I say we're halfway to a Brave New World.16 year olds getting pregnant is not as shocking as it used to be, is it? Now we have reality shows about it. Because it's a cycle of shock/desensitization/acceptance. Give it another 15-20 years, we won't be too shocked at the 12 year olds anymore, either, because we'll be too busy being shocked at what 8 year olds will be doing.

But no one else seems to notice. No one ever notices. They just care about the beat. That almighty beat. Seriously, that's what people say if I point out the lyrics.

Them: "Oh, I just listen to the beat, I hardly even notice the words."
Me: "So... you didn't notice that he literally just said 'tonight I'm f***ing you'?"

I volunteered for a pop radio station one time because they were doing a thing for child abuse awareness. Hey, I can put my musical differences aside for a good cause. But this song by Katy Perry comes on, which is obviously about sex, and specifically says "I wanna be a victim, ready for abduction, kiss me kiss me," etc. I'm like... Really? Nobody else finds this to be in bad taste considering the theme that we're dealing with? REALLY?

So dear Nicki Minaj, Black-Eyed Peas, Kesha, Flo Rida, Rihanna, Pitbull, David Guetta, etc. Oh my God. Shut. The Hell. Up.

The only band on the list that I have ever heard is Black-Eyed Peas. I have pre/teen age children and still haven't heard any of it. Yes you can just turn it off. Maybe it helps that I don't allow t.v. in my house?