Opinion
Commercialism vs. the “Noise” I listen to
By Houghton Yonge ’18
March 31, 2016
Tags opinion
“That’s just awful!” “How can you listen to that garbage all the time?” “I can’t believe you actually like this.” No, I’m not a Ted Cruz supporter, but I am a big fan of heavy metal. If you do not already know who I am, I’m that dude that plays metal for an hour on the radio station, usually at inconvenient times such as at 9 in the morning (sorry!) or midnight on Thirsty Thursdays as people are stumbling across Martin’s Way. While I definitely got more reactions of surprise throughout high school from my friend group, I still run into some people who criticize me for liking metal and for having “horrible taste” in music. I find the latter to be a particularly interesting claim. What exactly constitutes having a “good” taste in music?
Usually when people comment on the kind of music you like, they are assessing it in relation to how similar it is to what they like to listen to, that one person you know who actually stuck with a classical instrument from elementary school probably won’t click musically with your aggressively vegan, folk-loving hipster friend. But all of us who think we have the best possible taste in music conveniently ignore the simple truth: for the most part, “taste” is subjective. I say “for the most part” because pop music is an interesting exception to the rule. This is especially true when examining how the music industry has become more efficient at producing this music.
A study by the Spanish National Research Council found that over the past five years, pop music has gotten progressively louder while its range of sounds has gotten less diverse. It is easy to accuse all songs in one genre of sounding the exact same, but in the case of pop music, there is scientific evidence to support this claim. Furthermore, as Derek Thompson of The Atlantic notes, the biggest record labels in recent years have invested heavily in data analysis tools in order to predict what next song or artist will be the most successful based on people’s listening habits from streaming services and visits to bands’ Wikipedia pages. Having received this information, the record companies then invest more resources into promoting artists that are most likely to be popular. This behavior becomes part of a cycle that perpetuates itself; record companies release music based on an aggregate opinion of what would be most popular, people devour the new artist, which is then reflected through social media likes, streams, page hits and positions on the Billboard 100 that the record companies then digest again and create the same songs.
All of this is to say that a big reason pop music—and other widely popular genres like indie and hip-hop—are liked is because their music is engineered by the record companies to be that way. Some artists, such as Foster the People and Joey Bada$$, may try to creatively break the well-defined commercial molds of their respected genres, but they will never become as widely appreciated as their simpler counterparts. These molds are slowly but surely becoming more stringent. Record labels are constantly refining sounds that will likely sell the best, resulting in an identifiable “sameness” in our music.
So, why do I like metal? It definitely helped give me strength when I was trying to find my way during my awkward middle school years, but even now I still enjoy it for lots of reasons.
I like its aggressive and tough sound—a much-needed shot in the arm in today’s watered-down, flat-sounding rock world. As someone who has been playing guitar for over seven years now, I always appreciate the challenge and ferocity learning complicated metal songs and solos bring to each time I practice. It is also really energetic and great for getting you pumped up to work.
There’s definitely a part of all of us that likes Ariana Grande during a quick abs session, but nothing will get you running up a massive hill faster than Amon Amarth growling about Vikings and Norse gods as thunderous guitars and drums rage on in the background. And while there is some truth to the critique that metal is only about violence, it goes mostly unfounded. There are also bands who write about grieving over loved ones in distress, the mysteries of space, the ethics of technological advancements and even Egyptian mythology, all of which I find to be more interesting and profound topics than partying, sex or whatever Pitbull’s new album is about. A big reason I like metal because it is so different from what’s on the radio, not in spite of its being different.
There are always going to be people who question why metal is my favorite genre. I know my classmate who said she loved “T-Swizzle” (Taylor Swift…yeah, I don’t get that name either) will give me a tough time about what I like if I ever bring it up. But that’s fine. I don’t mind and I can always chirp back — that’s what keeps life interesting. I love the fact that I am one of WHCL’s Fantastic Four, standing out from the endless indie landscape of the weekly radio schedule. You can call me an oddball, but at least I’m not a sheep.