Last spring, my brother and I listened to music while he drove me home from my youth group. Throughout the ride, he skipped through some of his favorite flavorless raps, only listening to the first minute of each song. The next song in his playlist was “Call Me Maybe”: a 2012 classic. We screamed the lyrics as he sped over the roads leading to our house, but halfway through the song, he skipped it.
“What’d you do that for?” I asked despite the fact that it was more an exclamation than a question. I knew the answer. He had spent the whole drive picking and choosing which parts of songs he wanted to listen to. Why should I assume he wouldn’t do the same with a song that I enjoyed?
I’m sure many have noticed the decline of pop music in the last few decades even if they haven’t been alive for that long. In no way am I saying that modern pop is bad—plenty of great artists have produced captivating, complex music. But today’s music is starting to feel repetitive and almost boring.
I have no doubt that most students at our high school have heard the famously tragic “abcdefu” or “10 things I hate about you” as they circled around on TikTok—songs which many claimed to be inspired by “good 4 u” or “brutal” by Olivia Rodrigo. While they do share some similarities, such as a pop-punk beat and angsty lyrics, there is one important factor that sets these songs apart: the originality and quality of the lyrics. While Olivia’s lines are filled with feminine fury and genuine feelings, many of the songs that are influenced by Olivia’s songs are passionless and unoriginal.
Some may call the wave of unremarkable songs that are churned out using the same thrifted ideas the “Olivia Rodrigo Effect.” While I do agree that the “girl mad at her ex” trope in music is highly overused, there is a much bigger element affecting modern music than one artist who got popular for her style of music: TikTok.
There are many songs that have become exceedingly popular on TikTok, whether from a challenge, trend, or dance. Usually, only a 10-20 second portion of a song is used in a video, which is one of the main issues that leads to the “TikTokification” of modern music. Songs will have a captivating hook or a head-bopping chorus, but the rest is a generic pop beat with unimaginative lyrics. So, yes, the portion of a song you heard on TikTok might be appealing, but if you actually look into it, the rest of the song could be complete trash.
While the new advertisement of songs on TikTok has affected their quality, it also makes it a lot easier for artists to get their music heard. 67% of people who hear songs on TikTok are more likely to look up those songs on Apple Music or Spotify. TikTok creates a great environment to showcase music quickly to a mass amount of people, sometimes taking up a large portion of the “Billboard Hot 100.” In 2021, 175 songs that had gotten up there were, at some point, trends on TikTok.
Because of the new easy way to market their music, artists will cater their songs to the TikTok 20-second standard. They will try to catch attention with a cool light switch sound or a “song from the perspective of anxiety” but ultimately lack the creativity that makes people want to continue listening to the song.
The reality is that as new technological advancements arise, our attention spans are getting shorter. We should be able to enjoy different artists and genres of music without just enjoying one style of music or listening to bits and pieces of songs. Artists should be free to create authentic music that captivates the listeners’ attention throughout the whole thing instead of skipping through brief sections of mediocre songs like my brother.
The lack of variation in the “pop” music genre is putting taste into a box and rarely letting that definition develop. If we can expand our horizons and find out how to appreciate all kinds of music, we can connect with each other on a much deeper level. After all, music is an immensely important part of cultures all around the world and should be shared regardless of the barrier of differing languages. While not everyone speaks the same language, everyone has an appreciation for music, and we should start having an appreciation for all of it.
