Why would I say such an incomprehensibly weird thing? Because of this video that Blogger won't embed:
Max Martin and Dr. Luke, between them, are responsible for writing the majority of hit pop songs recorded by a host of different artists, which does rather explain why they mostly sound the same. And Steve Jobs, whom we revere, normally? Well, he came up with the iPod which put thousands of songs at people's fingertips and ultimately resulted in the risk-avoidance of the modern music business. Go watch the video, which is well-argued.
I could make a lot of criticisms of it, from an aesthetic point of view. For example, the mere fact of the reduction of timbral variety need not have any aesthetic implications. Take Steve Reich's Drumming for example. It reduced every possible kind of musical variety down to the absolute minimum, which I think makes it one of the most important musical works of the 20th century. Not everyone agrees, of course.
But the creator of the video critique, known as "Thoughty2" makes a lot of good points. The only thing that really drives modern pop is dollars. And, if he is correct about the marketing, it is the dollars that drive the popular acceptance of the music. Rather a vicious circle.
I suspect that the main reason I like Kanye West's music is that he does in fact "write" his own songs and he certainly produces his own videos. Remember "Famous"? Blogger won't embed that one either:
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