In all honesty it's very hard to say what's more "creative", just because some of my most favorite Jpop and Kpop songs are very western-sound influenced and etc.

If the question comes down to what kind of music I prefer, I'd say western. I enjoy a more diverse field of artist in the western genre whereas generally I find that I just tend to stick to a handful of jpop artist. And a lot of western artist's voice appeals to me more, so...

I feel like it's a lot of misconception from the jpop and asian pop fans that western music is just Britney Spears, and dismiss western music as being "oversexed", and while some of the very prominent western artists do have songs like that, the western music scene is very diverse and some of the best selling western artists in the past few years you wouldn't categorize with someone like Britney Spears. (For example, one of the best selling female artist last year of this year is Taylor Swift, and she's not really someone you would put in the same category with Britney Spears)

Also, a lot of people mentioned Britney Spears, but honestly she's more known for her scandals than her music. And tbh it's kind of baffling how people always use her as an example of western music because in terms of musical influence in the America mainstream she barely registers.

...I'm rambling...lol...but my point is both industries have its share of good and crap. music is music, and if I don't like this song I'm not going to like it regardless of where it came from.

Asian...
Sometimes western is too boring because most of the lyrics are just 'bout love?
Nothing else... T.T

Sweet Jesus it's obviously "Western" music isn't it? Asian music is inspired by Western music 99.9% of the time anyway.

Asian music

Asian music for sure :yes

Overall, I have to go with Western music, but then again I don't listen to a lot of Western Top 40 pop unless I'm in the car. Most of my favorite bands and artists are British, and the vast majority of those are from the electronic/new wave and indie categories.

I also listen to a lot of Slavic music (Ukrainian, Russian, ETC) because I love the way the languages sound. I'd still say these are "Western" artists as well, even though they're from the easternmost end of Europe. As for their style/creativity, I used to listen to a lot of cheap Slavic pop when I first discovered it, but now my tastes are closer to what I listen to in English but with a more "folky" flair.

To be honest, I think Asian pop is not inherently better than Western pop. ACO (a trip-hop singer) is my favorite Japanese artist, though I still do love Ayu's older albums and Namie is also pretty great when I want something truly "pop."

However, I do have to admit that I'd like the Western pop I hear on the radio a lot more if the lyrics weren't so dumb. It might be fun to listen to while driving or dancing, but I'm really starting to get tired of this "party rap" fad. It seems like everything played on American radio NEEDS to have a rapper to be a hit, and most of it makes women out to be pieces of meat. Now, I don't mean for this to turn into a feminist rant (or a discussion about the merits or non-merits of rap --- I listen to some local stuff on occasion), but it certainly does make me wonder if many of the English-speaking people on this board who say they prefer Asian music 100% do so because they want catchy and upbeat music without being distracted by the dumb lyrics!

Exactly!

http://i30.tinypic.com/1070v4p.jpg

:luv2:luv2

Posting a .gif of Britney Spears isn't the best way to prove that Western > Eastern music. "Womanizer" isn't entirely original in this current wave of pop with strong beats and electronica sounds...

^ Well, posting a Namie gif doesn't really help either, most of her music is as creative as Britney's...

lol the results really would be biased since we are in an ayumi forum..

i go for western music~ theres hardly any successful experimental artists in japan anyway.. and those who try to categorize ayumi under experimental should just jump of a cliff..

havent seen any japanese as creative as bjork, florence or gwen stefani. ;)

^ RURUTIA, KOKIA, Hitomi Shimatani, Gackt, Yumi Matsutoya, Shéna Ringö. :)

^ Why did you spell Shiina Ringo's name like that? xD;

rurutia is just ethereal fancy pop, her song structures and vocals are all standard, kokia is just folk, hitomi shimatani is more of a pop artist these days, shiina is rock (cant stand her!!). these artists follow the standard song structure and vocal performances, so they're not really experimental.

i dont know about the others.

Cuz, on most of her releases her name is written either 椎名林檎 or Shéna Ringö. :)

I don't think that RURUTIA's vocals are at all standard, I don't think I've heard another Japanese artist with her whispering, raspy vocals. Her lyrics are ingenuous, even if her music is "standard structure".
KOKIA is folk, but you can't deny that her album trip, trip is VERY experimental. :P
Hitomi Shimatani still has that Spanish feel about her music that I've not really encountered much.
Shéna's music isn't JUST rock, take her new album Superficial Gossip, a lot of the tracks on there are barely rock and lean more towards jazz or swing, also her earlier music also has an experimental edge to it. :P

honestly i don't believe in a global "western music"

germany pop music is different to england music ,north american music is totally different of central american music, and that is different to south american pop music)

maybe the USA music is similar with England music..but that's all i think.

and if we are talking about tradicional music...well... you have options as countries in the world

Why don't u try listening to latin music instead of fake latin music then? :P

^ Because I'm not learning Spanish but I'm learning Japanese. :P

^Read a translation :P
There is nothing that Shimatani did with latin music that isn't VERY common on latin pop

^ Well, actually I do sometimes listen to this one guy...uh but I always forget his name. XD
He sung La Camisa Negra? XD

But I prefer Hitomi's vocals to most Spanish female vocalists I've heard. XD

^Juanes^^
Well, I just listen to what make sucess over here, so, I myself don't really know many singers (like... I listen to them on radio or something, but don't care about knowing who is singing)