Your opinion on Western music?

[Kazeyomi]

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 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.

[primavera♥]

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

[NintendoHTF1242]

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

[CHE.R.RY]

I love a lot of western music, although I did go through a stage where I couldn't stand anything western ...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.

[kotora]

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

[bulmasman]

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.

[Amrai-chan]

^ 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.

[YUKARI]

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.....

[bulmasman]

Originally Posted by YUKARI

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.

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

[Lady_Eowyn]

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

[Minttulatte]

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. :/

[Andrenekoi]

Originally Posted by Lady_Eowyn

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

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...

[Kanzaki]

^
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.

[AyuHamasaki01]

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.

[koumori]

I listen to what I like the sound of. My music is a mix of Asian and Western; although those two categories are really broad. I can't really compare the two in terms of what I 'prefer'.

[emi♡]

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...

[YUKARI]

Originally Posted by Kanzaki88

^
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.

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... it's just me, I think

[koumori]

Originally Posted by YUKARI

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... it's just me, I think

Just because people listen to mainstream music from the USA doesn't mean their music tastes are bad. Nor does it say that people who listen to Ayu/asian music in general are going to have a varied music taste.

For example, I love a lot of asian music, but I also have Lady Gaga, Nick Minaj, Katy Perry, Rihanna etc in my iTunes. But I also have The Cranberries, The Verve, James, The Veronicas, Faithless, Deep Forest...those are all really different bands with different genres of music. I love having music to fit any kind of mood I'm in, and just because I like some mainstream music, whether it be from the U.K, Japan, Korea, USA etc - doesn't mean that I can't listen to, per se, "interesting non-mainstream" music.

Also to clarify, I think some mainstream music can be very interesting. It's just about giving everything a chance despite the reputation that artist or genre of music may have. You never know what you might like.

[NintendoHTF1242]

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)

[Minttulatte]

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.