On The Radio

Dictionary.com defines music as an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color. Though this definition is great, I feel as though it is no longer accurate.

Here's a little test. Turn on your radio right now. Put it on a station that plays "popular" music...in other words, anything that has recently come out. What do you hear? Is it Fergie's latest masterpiece in which she wastes a whole verse spelling out a word, or is it a new 50 Cent ballad in which he discusses "gettin' crunk in da club wit da hoes". Pardon my language. Now, I'm in no way trying to attack these two particular artists or put down their music. My general thought, however, is that music and it's dignity have seriously declined in the past decade.

Looking back at the previously stated definition, rhythm, melody, and harmony are listed as the key elements of music. When listening to current popular music, I find that many songs contain neither melody nor harmony. How unfortunate it is that music has become merely words on a page recited at alternating speeds over drums and synthesizers. Whatever happened to the heart wrenching pop ballad? It seems as though music has become more about "selling the song" and less about conveying a hopeful/positive/meaningful message.

For me, a great song is this - beautiful lyrics that touch my heart, a solid, catchy or soothing melody, and an excellent vocal. That brings me to another point. Is it really necessary to use synthesizers and studio "magic" to enhance the quality of the singer's voice? Now, I'm not trying to say that we shouldn't take advantage of our avaliable technology. I do, however, feel that sometimes the alterations made to singer's voices are above and beyond necessary. If a vocalist needs that much enhancement to produce a good sound, it's likely that they don't have a very pleasant and/or powerful voice. What's so bad about recording a singer's natural voice? There was a time when this technology didn't exist, and even still, artists were able to produce some of the most empowering and amazing songs the world will ever know.

I think that the standard of music has decreased considerably over the years. If only radio stations promoted songs with messages instead of the latest rap song. Being an art form, music is derived solely from personal passion. The passion that music once had is no longer prominent in today's world of poorly written pop and rap. Once you strip away the passion from music, all that remains is emptiness.

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