Your opinion on Western music?
 

Okay so I thought I'd make this topic since
A.) I have been brought back into Western music
B.) I wanted to see other opinions on it

I got back into it after hearing Only Girl (in the World) by Rihanna and Just a Dream by Nelly in September-October. Those two songs are just so amaaaaazing. Then I started to listen to the radio more and more and fell in love with Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars and so on. Now I'm back into the Western music scene and trying to catch up on everything I've missed these past 2-4 years. I can't believe I ignored all this music...because to be honest, I was one of those J-Pop fans who thought that "all music on the radio is about sex and drugs and have no value to them". Yes, there are some songs like that, but they are insanely catchy and fun to dance to (unless it's something like Sex for Breakfast by Christina Aguliera which is just boring XD). So yeah, what are your opinions on Western music?

And please do not start fights or anything. If you have negative feelings towards Western music, try to arrange your post in a calm manner.

I also checked to see if there were any topics like this, couldn't find any so I think this is okay.

EDIT: To answer one person's post, I mean music in America and I guess some acts from Europe (like Girls Aloud, etc.)

The Western music industry isn't as bad as weeaboos try to make it out to be.

"OMG no originality" "omg not as good as my homeland Japan" "NOT GOOD CUZ THEYRE NOT ASIAN" etc. etc.

I like a lot of mainstream acts and I like some less than popular, but a lot of the mainstream radio sucks truthfully. But that is any music industry for you; they all have their cringe-worthy artists who are popular. (looking at you too, Korea and Japan)

I love Rihanna the most at the moment, Nicki Minaj is great too, but I haven't really found any new artists who stand out to me. Ke$ha is gross but she makes catchy music, DEV, Keri Hilson, Ciara... are good and stuff. I like the more rnb pop than the Disney-girls/boys.

And I hate Chris Brown!

Well, when you say western, do you mean the west hemisphere or just the USA? Cause if you mean USA, then, I really don't like the popular music that appears in the charts there. However, I love music from France for example, which is still western, but classier and not so invaded with R&B influences.

Also, depends if you like only pop or also have a liking for diverse music styles. The western music scene is HUGE and there are tons of styles. So maybe specifying a bit more where you want to take this thread could help a bit? :)

music is music... Sometimes we just need to ignore the delusional otakus,...

Nothing in Western music is really catching my attention at the moment, but if you found songs you like that's great! I have different tastes than most people so I can't really recommend anything. I'm sure you already know the big names already though. :P

Ehh... I don't like what they're playing on the radio nowadays. But every once in a while, there will be a song that will catch my attention. :)

I really love Western music, but the mainstream radio stuff is definitely geared towards very specific things and very specific tastes.

And hip hop and dance, really takes the cake for being what is popular.

But uh...I gotta say, it's pretty ****** if you define a whole industry by what radio stations play.

I know it's about popularity and whatever, but honestly, like, broaden your horizons a little bit.

I really love the professional and sophisticated sound that western music has. It's all really well made, regardless if the song is cheesy or retarded or something, and that's something I personally value.

The one thing I've noticed about music around the world, is that they are really unable to pull off that mastered sound.

I also like that...uh singers usually...USUALLY have some nice vocals on them. It's nice for me, as a change of pace from Japan, where I'm surrounded by people with unique voices...that are sometimes not so great.

One thing I HAVE been having a problem lately, is this mainstream "rap" lyric crap that people are pulling. I have a special appreciation of rap music, and I would like at least SOME effort to be put into lyrics...which is like...uh the most important part of "rapping"...right? i mean, come on.

Biggest culprit are the collab songs. Like RiRi's "What's my name". Crap rap lyrics omg.

long and rambly post...sorry, im like, so tired right now.

omg, i used to be just like you. LOL.

i used to be uptight about Western music, because like you said, the messages of mainstream American/Western music was sex, partying, or whatever. but i think over time, i just kind of got over it. music comes in all forms: it can be serious, inspiring and thoughtful, but it can be carefree, dumb, and fun too. now, i listen to everything and i have no shame in listening to what i like to hear. it can be top 40 or indie. it doesn't really matter to me anymore.

i definitely thought Japanese pop was superior to everything at one point (...oh youth, LMAO). but J-pop is the same as every other music industry, imo. i mean, it has acts specifically for mainstream consumption and it has talented musicians.

I, for one, was definitely one of those who didn't like American music after a while—I think from about 2002 to maybe 2007 or 2008 I listened exclusively to Asian music with only older music in English.

However, I think as I got older and my taste changed, I've come to prefer "Western" music because of the sound—I still love Japanese lyrics much more than almost any English lyrics (save for Cheryl Cole's Fight For This Love and maybe Girls Aloud's Untouchable), but the way the Western industry in general generates sound is actually quite amazing. To have hooks played on end and those catchy lines really stick, it's quite fun, to be honest.

I still prefer Japanese music because of the variation, though. I think a good example would be Morning Musume or Hamasaki Ayumi—they've dabbled in so much in their careers, and they have songs that are essentially so different it's amazing to think they're the same artist releasing all kinds of stuff. I mean, Ayu has done gospel, classical, rock (although poppish), good old pop, and one could say "DREAM on" is kind of R'n'B-ish; then you have Momusu who've done big band, latin-inspired, and their own brand of pop as well.

But "Western" music has its merits; I think Katy Perry is a pop genius, and Girls Aloud has helped redefine the British pop scene massively. I think America is finally coming back around to the pop scene, which provides a better medium for better lyrics, but there are some really good hip-hop and rap songs out there, too. In terms of musical diversity, I think Britain may have it there from what I've seen at the BRITs and stuff, but America has some great stuff, as well.

-----

I was totally just writing this on the top of my head and it may not make sense. Haha.
But what I just want to say is I've come around to "Western" music. They definitely have just as much as diversity as Japanese music, just in a different way, I think.

I can't really find anything lovable or impressive like I do with a lot of music in other languages. It's just not my taste.

I'm a lot into Western music lately. Asian music is rather weak nowadays... to me anyway.

I haven't been a fan of a lot of the music I've been hearing on the radio in the past few years (I'm not really into rap at all), but as of late, there are a lot of current western artists whose music I've been enjoying. :)

I'm not into western music at the moment... but when I'm in the car and the radio is on I don't really mind the Western music playing ^^ though I'm not listening to Western music at home because I simply don't have anything I like, but I did went to see Celine Dion and Lady Gaga live :yes I agree music is music and the language or looks shouldn't matter.

I care only 'bout western nu-metal, rock, hard rock, rapcore. I don't listen to western pop (well Leona Lewis is the only exception), r&b, hip-hop music. I prefer Asian, POP/R&B and Hip-Hop.

The western music I like is mostly either rock/direction metal or from established artists that have been popular for some time, aside that it's like a few songs per singer max.
Lady Gaga was pretty great in her late The Fame/early Fame Monster era but that has faded with her releasing piles of **** again now.
However I'm not saying one industry is better than another, because there is not one artist that debuted after 2007 from Japan I actively listen to either I think.

It's amazing to me how people can be so snobby about Asian pop music. Generally, Jpop and Kpop are just as vapid and mindless as western pop.

I dont call my music western eastern or anything like that, I have music I like and music I dont like LOL. It goes by genres in my case. I like rnb, so I listen to japanese singer Hiromi and american Dondria, they are equally awsome imo.
So I dont know what to say about 'western' music except I listen to what I like no matter where it comes from.

About really mainstream western music like Katy Perry or Lady gaga I dont have opinion since dance and electro were never my thing.

I don't listen to the radio except for NPR....Other than that, I still love good old American punk, rock n roll, metal, etc

I like it as much as I like any other country's music :) I have the singers I'm dedicated to, Britney Spears, Nicki Minaj, etc., plus I like a lot of random songs, Grenade by Bruno Mars, Black and Yellow by that rapper guy (I don't know his name). I always liked "club" music, due to my love of acts like Daft Punk and other electronic artists, and since that is popular there are quite a number of songs that appeal to me. I do think that its getting a bit over-done since artists that never made club music are now, just because its popular. I also find it annoying that when I was into it as a kid, everyone else thought that kind of music was "lame" and like it now, but whatever.

So, I have singers that I'm dedicated to and singers who I like only one song, both in English and Japanese. I would never turn my back on the Western music industry.

Wiz Khalifa I believe :mini

I love Black and Yellow...

anyway...lately ive been figuring out what ive been missing out on in western music (since for a couple yrs ive been focused only on particular japanese artists and a few american artists and bands)

but now im realizing how much music i love in western music...and somehow ive been able to get back into hip hop and rap (like i how i enjoyed it when i was a kid)..plus those are definitely the more fun genres for me :)

I LOVE the Killers...I still love Linkin Park.
Ive also come to adore Passion Pit, La Roux, Drake

and Roman's Revenge solidified my love for Nicki Minaj (and ive come to really like other things about her...more than her music really...but i love her rapping a lot)

Thanks to my cousin ive just started getting into Marsha Ambrosius (her song "Hope She Cheats on You With a Basketball Player" made my life lol...shes so full of lovely soul)

and then I've been getting i love some other random bands like Anberlin and Coldplay and The Script (i already mentioned LP and The Killers)
and then theres lots of other good rock music. epsecially with hard rock and all. like how although theyre not a fav band, i System of a Down has some of my fav rock songs

and then theres other artists who i find can produce good music like Chris Brown, Lady Gaga (<3), etc etc....

i LOVE western music cuz it has a lot of great music imo...and sometimes its just to have fun...like with Soulja Boy....Speakers Going Hammer is awesome to me haha~

I think Western music is like the sea. There are a lot of barnacles out there but there are also pretty tropic fish.


I also think you can't really compare eastern and western music because they're just too different.

i don't know if its my age or the fact that i've been so immersed in J-pop for so many years now, but in general i don't care for much Western music, plus i find that even when i do like a song i tend to get tired of it really quickly.

one thing about Western music that really drives me crazy are the lyrics. i am in no way claiming that J-pop lyrics are better, because i'm sure most of them are crappy too, but some of the lyrics i hear on the radio just kill me with their corniness. for example, when i first heard "Firework" by Katy Perry, i thought the lyrics were so atrocious that i actually pulled out my iPhone to ID the song just to see what it was. i just feel like in the majority of Western songs the lyrics are so trite and simple and the rhymes are so elementary.

plus, i honestly do get tired of hearing the same thing in songs over and over and over. every Ke$ha song for example is about sex, drinking, and glitter and those things are great, but it gets old after a while. maybe part of my problem is that i feel like most Western music is targeted at a much younger age range. i'm almost 29, but i feel like most Western music is targeted towards teens and college age kids, which is simply not me anymore. and yes, i realize that J-pop is probably targeted to the same groups, but being removed from the culture and not knowing the language really changes one's perception i think. i just want Western musicians to be more creative musically and lyrically.

but there definitely are catchy songs out there in Western music, and yes they are very good! i do like some songs by Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, etc... and definitely like when i hear them on the radio, they're fun, but even the songs i like just don't hold my attention for long periods of time.

when it comes down to it, i guess most Western music just doesn't grab me. there are some artists that i like a lot, like Robyn, Marina & the Diamonds, and etc... but i guess those aren't exactly mainstream Western music.

^omg no, lyrics in western music omfg.

I don't know when, I don't know how, but somewhere along the way, people got really lost when writing lyrics to a hit song.

Sometimes I feel that, artists and their producers put all of their effort into the sound, and they forget the lyrics...but then they say that they're like, the most important part...so why are they so cheesy? lol

Not knowing exactly what they're saying in Japanese, for me, seriously helps. Then again, maybe like, the language, with all it's emphasis on context...doesn't really have super cheesy lyrics the way English does...but idk.

Sometimes I think it's the way English is just formed...cause even English lyrics in Jpop annoy me cause they're so cheesy lol

Well, Ayu is not really having a huge radio airplay for a while now... Most mainstream big pop acts (and I'm using "pop" as "popular", not as the music genre) are targeted to younger people, people who spends more money on their idols... not only in the US, but in Japan too... Just a few pop acts can make it with an adult public, that's why most of them fail after a certain age... They get too old for their usual age group, and too "teen" to more mature people...

U can filter ur eastern music by downloading only what interests u... But maybe u r searching for western music in the wrong places...

I keep up to date with my western artists like katy perry, rihanna, britney spears, lady gaga, etc. but besides that, I don't listen to the radio. I can't stand listening to certain songs and would rather just listen to my own music where I can choose what is playing.

I have a little over eight years until I reach your age, and I sure hope age doesn't affect my music tastes! But then again, all my idols are older than me or my age so they will be changing musically along with me!

I was reading an article today that was talking about the same thing and it pointed out that a lot of music sales today are by children, tweens, teenagers, etc. so a lot of music today is geared towards that demographic so it will sell and make a lot of money. That's why a really ****** song by like Nickelback or Justin Bieber will be super popular and a song by some genius artist will be virtually unknown by most people.

Well, for me, it's radio that's absolutely killing me. The Top 40 the last 5 years have sucked so much ass. I used to love listening to radio, all day long and now I can barely listen to it during a car ride for 10 minutes without shutting it off and putting on my ipod. Yeah, I know you can't judge the state of music simply by what's on radio but radio used to be a big thing and the only source of music before mp3 players and CD players so it does worry me when there's nothing on it that appeals to me. What makes it worse is how every pop station seems to have the same *****ty playlist and it's just frustrating how I have to filter the music in my own backyard by searching for it and putting it on my mp3 player much like I do Asian music. I can count on my hand the amount of more recent acts that actually put out something listenable. Riri, Nikki, Gaga, Robyn... can't think of any more. lol Everyone else I listen to has already reached their peak or is "old news" so to speak. It's a shame that to get quality pop music I have to keep going back to Britney, Madge, and basically anything else before 2005.

It's weird... with Eastern music I feel so young because of all the silly, cutesy idol music I like to listen to but with Western, it's like most of what's on radio is too young for me. It's like what ohsixthirty said, when I was younger I used to not care about lyrics (it's partly how I can easily listen to music in languages I don't understand) but I think listening to so much Japanese has had the opposite effect on the music I can actually understand. Now I'm actually paying attention to what's being sung about and most of it is so unbelievably cheesy and juvenile I have trouble believing that adults wrote it. I don't care about the subject matter, it's the actual writing that seems weak and lazy. "Firework" is the perfect example. The song is an absolute cornball and the first time I heard it, I thought for sure it'd be a flop. I couldn't believe how well this song did and people on forums and the like were calling it "the most inspirational anthem of the year". O___o Last year was full of similar hits, songs geared toward the miserable and emo youth of America that need to be told that "you're perfect the way you are" because they need to feel like they're individuals since they're not smart enough to have an identity of their own. I'm just so tired of looking at the Top of my beloved Pop music and feeling lost and intellectually insulted.

*sigh* Meh... maybe I need to go back to Rock and Metal for a while.

I was always in western music but there was a time where I didn't want to listen to anything besides asian music.
But then I started to feel left out when people asked me what kind of music I listen to
and if I liked this western song so I started looking at billboard charts and found some music.
I loved it immediatly but I stayed away from rap music but then I started to listen to Missy Elliot, Kanye West etc....
(I like a few rapper's song)
I usually listen to pop and trance.

Sometimes their lyrics can be shallow but I usually stay away from artist with those lyrics.
My main queens are Ke$ha and Lady GaGa

I like western music :yes

I don't listen to 'western' music much. I don't enjoy it. I have never really listened to mainstream acts from North America so nothing has pretty much changed my whole life. I only listen to a select few artists that perform in English. I don't think 'Asian' music is superior I simply enjoy it more than what I have heard of popular acts that sing in English and at the moment don't feel like branching out. =)

ROFL! Know your information before you start hating on an artist. Ke$ha has songs called Hungover, Blind, Dancing With Tears in My Eyes and The Harold Song. All about heartbreak to some extent. Not referencing sex, drinking (well, minus Hungover) or glitter. Sorry, but you're doing what my friend did. She hates on MiChi and blindly said "all her songs are covers". The hell? If you're gonna hate on an artist, at least try to say something legit. Maybe if you worded it as "Ke$ha has a majority of songs that are about sex, drinking, etc." then maybe that would've made more sense. But saying "EVERY" ruins your argument.

Western music has killer rock. All I have to say.

I love threads like this, where people post thought-provoking opinions rather than dumbly fan-personing ayu/their favourite artist.

I think J-Pop, and more generally 'Asian music,' appealed to me for the same reason as most people on this forum. During my mid-teens I started losing interest in mainstream chart pop (maybe because it started declining in quality, maybe I just wanted to be different) and a friend introduced me to Ayu. Looking back, I think her music was appealing because it had the accessibility of mainstream western pop music, but approaches 'pop' in a different, more exciting way for a western kid.

I became obsesssssed with J-Pop, based on how amazing I found Ayumi's songs and albums to be (the idea of interludes was insane back then haha) and was always trying to find more j-pop artists to fall in love with. Hikki became a favourite and I loved Namie Amuro and Ai Otsuka... but the more j/k/c/m/BLAH-pop I listened to, the more I realised that the J-Pop really isn't any better than western pop and that the depth, inventiveness and quality of Ayu and Hikki's music was really an exception to the rule. To me, (early) Ayu and Hikki aren't at all representative of the quality of asian music- they're way above the standard. I started hating this forum because it over-rated so many artists I found to be really mediocre and plain bad. So sorry, AHS.

So eventually I became interested in alternative and "indie" western music once i over-played ayu and stuff and I have to say that it's without a doubt the most brilliantly creative, forward-thinking and diverse area of music I've heard.

That being said, the western mainstream is great too, provided you listen to the 'right' stuff. I mean Lady Gaga's stuff is so much fun (minus Born This Way, perhaps) and right now, I think Rihanna's definitely ruling the scene.

I don't want to make unfair generalisations, but I think that people who listen to Ayu/Hikki/Namie/Kuu/K-Pop groups/etc. listen to a very small selection of western artists. Just look at the last.fm profiles of people who mainly listen to asian music or at the very active 'general music' threads here on ahs and it becomes pretty apparent that most j-pop fans listen almost exclusively to chart-topping pop divas like xtina and britney and gaga.

What I'm trying to say is that western music is really good and fun to listen to if you keep your taste diverse. It's easy to think that it all sounds the same or that the lyrics are bad, but dig around a bit and there's plenty to love. (Actually I kind of prefer it when pop songs don't have very meaningful lyrics haha because they're usually not written by the singer and the end product sounds insincere and cheesy).

Eurgh, loooong post. Sorry!

western artists with great lyrics have become greatly appreciated by me...especially in a day when rappers (who supposedly are good lyricists have crappy lyrics at times)....some of my fav artists probably happen to have lovely lyrics...but some dont. and well, if the music is good, ill generally be fine.

Yes! I knew he had a weird name that reminded me of 'wizard'. But, I do love that song.

About Western lyrics. Yes, some artists do have cheesy songs, I agree so much about Katy's song 'Firework' and I do find it hilarious when the tweens talk about how that song is "so the story of my life". However, sometimes it does fit the artist. Like Nicki Minaj, her odd lyrics make me laugh ("Haters you can kill yo'self!" Best lyric ever!). And there are plenty of amazing lyrics by Western artists, even the ones who have odd lyrics on the radio. Gnarls Barkley's albums have some pretty amazing song lyrics. Sometimes you need to listen to album tracks for the real gems. Unfortunately, the songs that are released are geared toward a certain audience.

Also, Asian lyrics are hardly any better, and I bet most people can't understand half of what is being said. Kuu has some real... interesting lyrics, although I do give her props for writing the majority of her own song lyrics. Actually, to me, no matter what language, or what they are singing about, I deeply respect artists who write their own lyrics.

There are manufactured Western and Asian artists. And what's so bad about it? Sometimes I need that song about clubbing to just take my mind off stuff when I just wanna dance. I just prefer that the singer themselves wrote the song. But alas, so people just have no talent for that kinda stuff.

yes to Lady Gaga, yes to Rihanna :yes

If you look at my last.fm though (I'm a Kuu/Ayu fan when it comes to Japanese) my library is small but diverse. I listen to a lot of western music compared to about 2/3 years ago!

omg I :heart Nicki Minaj's crazy lyrics, even when they're so stupid lol She's like, at least creative, you know?

And now every time I hear "Firework" I can't stand it. "Even brighter than the moon"? What amazing lyrics. Only she could have come up with that line.


And I think the album tracks thing is really true. Songs played all the time on the radio really don't give the artists proper credit imo.

Yeah my favorite lyric is "Rah Rah, I'm dungeon dragon, I'm startin' feel like a dungeon dragon."


I feel that a lot of western lyrics are bad and/or deal with the same lame and stupid subject matter and it gets boring after a while.

Loving the Nicki lyric love. And that crazy voice. She makes very unique music.

nicki's lyrics :heart

one of the reasons i have fallen in love with her...theyre amazing imo...and yes her voice too, and her different personas...love love love

SHE ON A DIET BUT MUH POCKETS EATIN CHEESECAKE

I can't even think of where to begin when defending Western music...
I don't want to write a ****ing book about it though, so I'll just make this brief.
There is nothing wrong with Western music, and those people who claim to "hate all Western music" are ****ing moronic idiots who think that ALL Western music is like what they play on the lame ass radio. There is AMAZING music out there, people just don't take the time to actually listen to anything other than the garbage of "artists" like Kesha or some stupid lame crap like that. Real amazing bands / artists do exist! :weep
Sorry if I sound vague and defensive, but it just really baffles me when people say Western music sucks. I honestly do not understand it at all :shrug

I'm in CRAZY mood for Britney right now...:D Hold It Against Me is just pure GOLD... :heart

^S&M is pure gold ;)

:heart

Yes! I am dying for her new album!!

In short:

mostly trash, some greats.

Too safe, nobody seems to know how to think outside the box in terms of producers, melodies, and arrangements.

I love it. It's not really different from any other kind of music in terms of style and genres, but in management and artist freedom it might be.

When I was 17 I was japanese music OBSESSED. Wouldn't listen to anything else but Ayu and a few other artists. But now in the last few years I've discovered so many valuable artists and I won't go a day without them. I used to also never listen to mainstream artists because, well, because they were mainstream, which is a pretty idiotic excuse. There's most likely always a very good reason for stuff being mainstream, other than good PR.

I still listen to japanese music of course, but I treasure western music just the same.

I listen to japanese music only.
For me, Japanese is such a melodic language. I have never heard another language, that sounded more awesome than Japanese. I'm now 23. I started to listen to J-Pop when I was 14.

The main problem in Western music for me is, that I understand the lyrics. I don't want this! If you love a song that you can't understand lyrically, you have extremely much space for your own fantasy. That's why I usually don't read english-translation of Ayu's songs. I don't want to know the lyrics! I want to decide, what the songs means to me, without having the actual lyrics in my mind. That's the biggest reason, I prefer Japanese for songs.

Beside that, I never really listened to commercial western music before I started to listen to J-Pop. I was busy playing Game Boy and N64 xD

I don't mind western music though. It may exist, but not for my personal music preferences :mgagged

Are you for real?


By "western", I'm assuming anything that's not Asian. One has to be extremely narrow minded and ignorant to dismiss such a gigantic amount of the music industry, from the underground to the massive stars.

But even if "western" is USA alone, it still applies. Every industry has generic, bland and streamlined, overproduced music but I find the Asian to be particularly bad.

Anyone who instantly dismisses "western" music as not being unique or original are no better than the people who go "ew, Japanese music? that's weird".

^I be agreeing wit u...

...

anyway, you know, I was listening to the radio the other day, and I was thinking about the lyrics thing again...and sometimes I think, some artists care more about the flow of the lyrics, instead of the actual words...

anyway, it's interesting. Most music on the radio seems to be about like, partying. I guess that's what they want to be.

It's normal in western pop music in general to have a big focus on how the lyrics flow, sound, rhyme and on the rhythm of the words...

It may not be deep, but doing a good lyrics work based on flow, rhyme and rhythm is a really hard thing to do... I would say it's as hard as doing a good lyric work on the japanese music way...

+1

People do not seem to understand that "Western music" does not mean "only the music that is popular / on the radio" :rolleyes

This.

I would actually think that about Jpop.


+100,000,000

Holy crap I love Wiz Khalifa at the moment. His song "Roll Up" is sooooo good!!

Although the radio station I listen to overplays a lot of songs...Like "Give Me Everything (Tonight)" by Pitbull and "Party Rock Anthem" by LMAFO (especially this song -.-)

I think Western music, just like any other type of music, has its ups and downs. I think Western music in the 90s was incredible, and the best out there. I think from about 2006 on, mainstream Western music has fluctuated between being great and awful. At the moment it's pretty piss poor, but so is K-Pop if you ask me (and I LOVED K-Pop a year ago). I think all the industries have some really good music here and there, and that it just varies. Of course, there's always something decent going on in any type of music if you look hard enough. I turned to British music from about 2007-2009 because it was incredible during that time and I felt like American music was just awful. Really what I'm trying to say is that every country has their ****** music that sadly becomes popular, but also some truly great music.

That being said, if we're talking about current music, I mostly listen to Japanese music because the only current music I've been really liking right now has been from Japan. That doesn't mean American music won't be good again and that I'm swearing it off; it just means that I'm preferring what's been coming out of Japan at the moment and that that's what I've been in the mood to listen to. Completely limiting oneself to only Asian countries for music is just as lame and close-minded as when people insult others by calling them weird for liking J-Pop or whatnot.

I think overall for me... no matter what language, as long the music is unique and original, with an artist that has a great voice, I'll listen to it.

I noticed that when I'm listening to western music I'm more picky than with jpop or kpop. Maybe because it's more understandable to me (I mean english and italian music. Even a little of spanish music :laugh just 'cause it sounds like italian lol) so I wanna listen to something with good lyrics. Not just party-sex-love ones.
Usually I listen to rock, metal, celtic, folk, indie music, classical, pop-opera and so on. And my favorite western artists are mostly from 30s to 70s lol.

I'm not a crazy wapanese who thinks Japan > the rest of the world anymore though. Wapaneses thinks that whole western music it's just what radio plays. That's not true, of course. Every country has their good music and crappy music, even Japan.

well i took the time to expand my what i listen to in the western world (since i kinda ignored most of it for ayu)....and honestly i really just love western music. cuz u can still find amazing lyrics about anything and a great variety of course and so many unique artists with music i love...so its gotten to a point where i listen to more of it than asian music...which hasnt been the case since i first discovered asian music :)

^ Same here buddy :) When I rediscovered English music, I neglected Asian music for like, a month or two lol.

I love a lot of western music, although I did go through a stage where I couldn't stand anything western :laugh...I just couldn't find anything appealing I guess. Either way it is what it is...I absolutely adore Asian (mostly J-pop & K-pop) music & I love western music.

Western Music (top ones most of the time) > Asian Music (top ones most of the time).

When i was younger and really got into Jpop i wouldn't listen to ANYTHING western at all... I treated it like the plague. But as i've grown up and matured I've found a balance between both. End of the day, good music is good music, wherever it's from. I now listen to a mixture of pretty much any style of music and singer... though I'm still mostly Jpop and now Symphonic and Death metal from (mostly) Europe.

^ That's me. Well the "...I'm still mostly Jpop and now Symphonic and Death metal from (mostly) Europe." part.

I think music no matter where it's from can have good or bad points. People who think all western music is bad need to look at artists that are not on the radio.

I'm glad I changed the music in my iPod in 2006. since that time I've been listening western music MUCH more than asian.

I can even say that sometimes Jpop sounds so uninteresting! the songs remind themselves and they are structured and composed in the same way...... it's difficult to find a good stuff, cause YOU HAVE TO search for it and I don't want to search XD I'd better listen to my favourite western bands and etc.

But well, I think I'm not fair, cause I don't listen to pop-music that much.....

Sadly this is a situation that a lot of modern Jpop has fallen in to at the moment, just as western pop etc... did the same. Probably in a few years we'll get some more really outstanding stuff, but for now, it's pretty much mundane with the occasional great release. I miss the mid 90's - mid 2000's Jpop :laugh

I think the name of this subject is not correct. this should be called "western pop music", because there is MUCH more in western music than just Rihanna,Katy Perry or Ke$ha LOL :roflmao

Western music was really crappy to me between 2004-2006 when I only listened to anything that was japanese mostly. Then in 2007 when music began having these electronic vibes in it, I thought they sound good. I think that when the finnish music television The Voice started airing programs, I really got into western music (I thought Rihanna's Umbrella was awesome <3) In 2008 I began listening to more western artists but I think that between 2009-2011 I've really been obsessed with western music.

I really think that western artists can make awesome songs (especially when they write everything themselves and there are some artists here who do that). Most of the singers I listen to are R&B/Pop singers though, but there're few Rock artists too. Lately I've been really into Rihanna too, and it's kinda odd because I used to hate her when she made her debut in 2005 I think. XD

But I have to say that I'm getting a bit tired to this electronic influenced music because some of the songs are really boring. :/

Nop, it should be named "USA pop music", cuz you have tons of different pop marketing on the west, and they are totally different from each other...

^
Ia with you and Lady Eowyn. I bet when people see this topic,they most likely think Lady Gaga, KP and Justin Bieber and certainly not Kraftwerk, Pink Floyd or Bob Dylan. Which is kind of bad to say the least.

I like some Western music, like Lady Gaga and Rihanna's S&M and Maroon 5 has some nice songs too. It really depends on the song though whether I like it or not.
It's not like I think Western music is bad or anything, I just like Asian music better.

Honestly, I think, for me, when it comes down to preferring Asian music, I think it's because I find more of a diversity in their influences.


I mean, of course every industry has their pop, hip hop, rock, "indie", genres, but that's not what I mean by diversity...I mean the actual influences that go into making a song. For example, I really believe what Hikki said once, about the American pop scene being ruled by hip hop, it still is today.

I mean think about it, how many years did we go without having a really big pop star who wasnt R&B or hip hop dance...since like, brit brit? Christina? until these new people came in, Katy Perry, Gaga, etc.

Sometimes I feel like, in the Western industry, we have a lot of people who are like, "okay, I'm gonna make rock music, and I'm gonna draw influence from The Rolling Stones, and the beatles, and...blah blah whoever." But it's usually like, all the same people across the board...

In Japan, I felt like, there was more of a diversity in where they got their influences...you know? So a rock band in Japan is taking influences from, all those people, plus maybe all the idk synth artists in the 80s, and funk in the 70s...

And for me, it creates a more unique, and sometimes for me, better sound.

I think more artists in the West are starting to do this now too...and I really think mainstream music is becoming more broad, but I still feel like, my little indie, experimental Japanese artists are just, kicking their asses lol

Another example, I love R&B. And I can listen to R&B from the States, and it's basically the same stuff with all the same influences from R&B in the 90s, and some 70s stuff here and there, but it'll never compare for me, to say, Emi Hinouchi's R&B ME... album, that had all that same R&B western stuff, plus influences from the 60s, and influences from Japanese pop itself, which is very different from Western pop in it's own right.

idk I just think, at the end of the day, American pop has it's influences, which comes from, basically it's own history, while in Japan, they use our history, plus their own, and I even think they're a little more open to using influences from other parts of the world too, like brasil, india, africa, etc.

edit: (and I say this because...sometimes I feel, in the States, if you start using say, a bunch of African instruments and stuff, your music kinda gets typecast, and marketed towards specific groups, even if, you aren't all about African music...I dont feel this happens in Japan as much)

And it really does create for some artists, a more diverse sound. And for me, that's much better.

...uh long post, sorry lol rambles...

yeah, I was kinda surprised that most of people here in AHS listen to mainstream US pop-music. I can't explain exactly but I thought like as soon as these same guys listen to ayu and asian music they could also listen to some interesting non-mainstream western music... :rolleyes it's just me, I think

I don't think anyone can truly say a song is "bad" (unless it's Friday by Rebecca Black) since everyone has varied tastes. It always upsets me when someone says "oh yeah, that band sucks and you suck cause you listen to them". It's like "okaaay sorry for having different interests than you".

I love Ayu, Utada, Florence + the Machine, The Fray, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj, and the list goes on. I love any kind of music (except for Screamo...>.>; not my type)

I personally feel that many indie bands/artists make really strange music that I find hard to listen to. Mainstream pop is something... familiar, should I say. :) At least to me. :)

And I noticed a while ago that most of the western artists I listen to are American. Surprise, surprise. XD But I really like american music, there's just something that I can't explain. Especially american R&B is my jam. x3

//And I forgot to say that when I choose some asian artists for me to listen, I've noticed they all have little or more western influences in their music, which I really like quite a lot. :)

I didn't say that their music tastes are bad, I was just surprised that mainstream wins even here.

Though actually I think I just expected more :D Of course mainstream will win since all the world know about it. It's easy to discuss and post a lot, so it will be always on top of General Music Chat forum.

And I'm really glad that you listen Lady GaGa, Katy Perry along with The Verve and Faithless :)

cause I do enjoy some pop-music like Britney or Lady GaGa too, and I can also say that I'm opened for almost every music genre. I believe it's possible to find at least 1 great song of every genre.

I just want to see something new here not always the same mainstream.

I like what Bjork said about music:



I think there are biases for every genre of music. The only argument comes down to people who are unable to see that their opinion is only an opinion and not always shared.

In the states we have a popular sound right now that is very club friendly. I particularly do not like it but I don't hate people for liking it. I wish the radio would play other styles though. Going to brunch at 11am on a Sunday and listening to music about going to the club and getting drinks just doesn't fit the mood.

In Japan there is a popular group that has me really question the music integrity there. AKB48 is not music to me. It is rubbish. I'm not going to insult those that like it though.

^aww come on, you dont like super pop music? Arent they so cute and sexy and....lol whatever I cant stand them either...
Mainstream is like the only thing here lol

After all, remember that Ayu is an extremely produced mainstream artist, just like most of the artists popular here. But what I think is interesting about our population, is that even though we may love the "mainstream", I think we have tastes that are very similar to ayu's repertoire of music, and so we have members who are into anything and everything under the sun as far as genres go.

Its really a deep thing about AHS that makes this community so great, and its nice that we are getting new members who are open to anything :)

Bjork is awesome.

Out of curiosity have you heard anything outside of their singles? Some songs have pretty good lyrics and aren't cutesy like Mush no Ballad for example but people have different tastes.

Again Bjork is awesome. It seems like every other day I see someone being a music snob. "Oh you like X so you suck." blah.

I agree with you on the club friendly music though.

This is one of the good things. Hopefully it will lead to threads about more indie artists like Piana or something.

omg Piana :heart Youre awesome~

You know Piana? :D Awesome. :hi5 Piana is great. More people should know her.

I wonder if all these "omg I only listen to asian music I'm so unique!!" people realize that the music they're listening to is MAINSTREAM in Asia :rolleyes

I got a question. Who is AK839 or whatever its name is?

It's an immense populair girl group, with singles selling above a million copies.
I don't know much about them, except they have like A LOT of members, all young girls dancing in bikini's, and they had a computer animated member.

There music is not really what I call great, but that's just my opinion

Banana's are stupid to eat. That whole video was amazing. :)

I find myself listening to more western music lately, as Japanese music in general has started declining in quality.

Also, the current idol boom is really tiring me out. The mainstream groups are all starting to look and sound the same. And throw in the Korean groups and it's like a party of perfect people. Yawn.

Is that being snobby? haha I hope not. I don't think so, considering I don't care what others listen to.

This is kinda why I havent really been getting into a lot of newer people..I just can't stand the idol stuff...but then, what I liked was never really popular beyond Ayu, hikku, namie, and the koda...and they arent really...up there anymore as far as huge sales and popularity...

My favorite artists are barely charting or arent at all and they have no exposure...guess I got used to it.i

^ Im with you

when the artist I like is liked by some more people Im like shocked. I think ayu is the only one that is really huge that I like. Others are huge at the moment and only in japan (like kana, juju, miliyah), when it comes to western music no one has even heard about artists I like

That can be good 'cause artist I like dont get a major deal and dont start to make crap music to sell, but at the same time you are always scared artist will stop making music cause no one actually cares besides low number of people AND I can feel bad at some times when I see for example Rihanna on television 'cause I can name 50 other artists more talented/have more charisma/have more creativity/are more pretty/are more appealing than her, so you think this mega talented person deserves success, but success can also ruin the person and music itself.

Ok, this is longer than expected, just felt I need to let it of my chest