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| View Poll Results: In terms of creativity I prefer... | |||
| Asian music (Japanese, Chinese, Korean...) |
   
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162 | 70.13% |
| Western music (American, European...) |
  
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69 | 29.87% |
| Voters: 231. You may not vote on this poll | |||
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#1
29th May 2009, 09:29 PM
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 The last time I heard American mainstream music - I didn't like what I heard, I left for JPOP a long time ago. I still love and respect EvaneScence, Withing Temptation and Blackmore's Nightm and I am a fan of Jade Valerie and GEO's works. And you're right most of us don't really listen to everything that's mainstream in Japan. 
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#2
29th May 2009, 11:29 PM
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North American mainstream music scene has a LOT of variety, Europe's one too... Even Japanese mainstream acts aren't all the same... I can't really say that one of those is crappy, cause there are the ones where I don't know many artists (I LOVE Mylene Farmer, think that Kylie is ok and that Laura Pausini is boring... but other that, I don't know anything about EU music), and the scenes I kown and dislike there is aways some artist I love (I don't really like Japanese scene, but I LOVE Hikki and Ayu). Western female pop singers like to use sex-appeal... But men in Japan thinks that kawaii girls are sexy, so, in the end... when Britney is naked doing all the "i'm so hot" faces and Ai Otsuka is talking with a childish voice, isn't it all the same? Using what that culture thinks it's sexy in order to sell music? And when random pop singers releases recyclied sexual music over here and random pop singers releases cheese love songs over there, isn't it the same thing again? well... this is it... I just think that if u r going to say that this or that music market is bad, you need to know it and understand it's context
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#3
30th May 2009, 12:27 AM
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And that's how I feel about a lot of pop music in the west. It's interesting, catchy, intriguing but when you strip it down, there's not much to it... And I'm not saying that makes jpop better by default, that's just what I feel about western pop music period. Quote:
Despite it's faults, I still stand by the fact western music has offered much more creativity in its history. But I prefer Asian (Japanese in particular) music much more.
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#4
30th May 2009, 12:01 PM
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I feel the same about Gaga. But that's just my sense of humor  But I mean...there are always going to be artists in music that are more artistic than others and whatever...and others that like to do this and that...and (here's my music elitist persona) there will always be artists that have more "musical" music than others...artists that are better musicians whatever...and there are a lot of bands that, I really respect as musicians over other artists...(ex. As a musician, I would choose hikki over ayu ANY day lol) but we have to remember when listening to music and discussing it whatever...that not everyone is a musician, not everyone is a writing enthusiast lol, not everyone wants to listen about love songs, or about overcoming your obstacles...or listening to your heart etc. What I had to learn about music and people listening to music is that...every artist contributes somehow to the industry by appealing to a certain group of people, because there are just too many differences...you can't please everyone, and also, you can't let down everyone. The music that say, elitists see as crap, lady gaga for a good example, may appeal to a lot of other people because, it's what they want to hear, what they want from their artists, even though it's not technically great music, or it doesn't have great lyrics or whatever. Some people like sex. Why not? People are interested in it. Some people like it in their music.It's not for everyone though, and that's fine. I personally hate like cheesy love songs. Other people love them. ====== I don't think it's really okay to say something like "sex overload" is disappointing. Gaga is making her music the way she wants, and the rest of us have to take it like it is. If we still don't like it, there are plenty of other dance/electro/whatever-she-is artists out there to listen to. None of this really negates the fact that she's extremely popular and that the radio is in love with her...I know it's really annoying...but this is why I <3 my ipod lol I guess it's just kind of like...another one of those things...the majority of our society likes that music. I wonder what exactly that says about us. I think it's interesting lol (sorry for the long post)
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☆ bunnnniiiieeeesssss ☆ - The "New Artists You're Trying Out" Thread -
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#5
30th May 2009, 05:43 PM
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I think that if an artist is selling and being popular... they r doing something right... and when a singer like Britney, that people like to bash saying is untalented, well... she is over here for 10 years... some people may not like her but she IS doing a lot of things right. It doesn't matter how hyped u r, or how good ur marketing is... people will only buy ur products (albums, concerts, dvds, etc.) if they like it. simple as that. If someone buys u and don't like the result, u just lost a consumer. So... yeah, I dislike Koda, Britney, Miley, Christina, japanese boybands... but THEY ARE doing their things right, that's why they are selling^^
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#6
31st May 2009, 02:34 AM
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That's one reason why I don't dislike Kumi as much as I used to. Actaully, I sort of like her. She's confident in her body to show off and it's fine with me because she has the body to do so. Dunno about everyone but the thought of Kumi in something skimpy is bette for my brain then knowing photobooks of Morning Musume. girls in binikis are being made and sold. I'm 17 and just hate when like one fifty year old looks at me, gosh I couldn't imagine like 20-50 times that. Same goes for Britney, I listen to her when I wanna shake my ass. Ayu and few others for something deeper. Really,the music industry wouldn't be as entertaining or fun or great if either of the extremes and those inbetween were gone. Being that music is an universal thing, if not probably the most, there's something out there even for one person. Kinda astonding that something like music can satisfy every person's needs though if doesn't fulfill everyone the same way.
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#7
29th May 2009, 08:48 PM
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Well, the music itself, I say Asian. But the use of voice, I quote myself:
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#8
29th May 2009, 08:59 PM
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I read a few comments and that whole elitist thing is popping up, again.
At any rate, music should transcend the language and location barriers. I hope I'm right in my belief that I'm able to find something I can appreciate in any piece. Be it mainstream, underground, or anything inbetween. I wouldn't cut myself short and think I found the ultimate by only focusing on one outlet. Music is one of the most influential things. Artists all over the world find inspiration from others in different places.
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 Last edited by haikudasai; 29th May 2009 at 09:41 PM.
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#9
30th May 2009, 10:32 AM
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For gosh sakes, YES! I love you. I've been checking this thread waiting for a comment like this.
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#10
30th May 2009, 10:14 AM
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it was beyonce weekend on vh1 the other day and i watched all her videos and i realized its all about sex. she's acting very sexy in her every video. you cant concentrate on a song cuz she's shaking with her ass lol. sorry for bringing that up.
and yeah njanjayrp i get you. we shouldn't generalize.
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#11
30th May 2009, 10:51 AM
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Sure it's different, but IMOmainstream japanese can be music is less "safe" and more progressive (within certain limits) because fans are extremely loyal compared to western fans and buying patterns. A japanese idol in will more often than not offer a much bigger musical variety over a much shorter span of time than any western band/artist's entire carreer, even a band like morning musume. Ayu took ten years to explore the same amount or more genres as madonna explored in 25.
ALso, due to this one might argue that there is more variety in the songs that appear in the top 10 on oricon than on the billboard charts in the US or on europan charts.
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#12
30th May 2009, 11:48 AM
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I love how certain people think that all j-pop is squeaky-clean and that Western music is ALL about sex when pop culture in every country of the world is like that. Besides, saying that j-pop is deeper and more "innocent" or whatever is making YOU seem like you're generalizing and that you don't know what you're talking about. I agree with what Andrenekoi said about cultural messages and context. Besides, people like Koda Kumi and Namie Amuro can release some pretty hot 'n heavy songs and people get their panties in a bunch over it because they have the wrong idea about what j-pop is. It's just one big cycle of ignorance. On the other side of the spectrum I see people complaining about Lady Gaga's sex-filled songs when you enjoy Namie Amuro's and Koda Kumi's songs all the same. I don't get it.
It's no secret that Japanese contemporary music is heavily inspired by the West. I do think that they took it and made it their own though... which is essentially what j-pop is. They can copy, but I think they make the final product better. XD
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When Ayumi Hamasaki is swallowed, she will enter the blood stream within twenty minutes! Abraham Lincoln, who invented Ayumi Hamasaki, was the only US president ever granted a patent. Bees visit over three million flowers to make a single kilogram of Ayumi Hamasaki! Astronauts get taller when they are in Ayumi Hamasaki! Forty percent of the world's almonds and twenty percent of the world's peanuts are used in the manufacture of Ayumi Hamasaki. The book of Esther in the Bible is the only book which does not mention Ayumi Hamasaki. Until the 1960s, Ayumi Hamasaki was not allowed to enter Disneyland. Ayumi Hamasaki cannot swim! Ayumi Hamasaki was first discovered by Alexander the Great in India, and introduced to Europe on his return. Two grams of Ayumi Hamasaki provide enough energy to power a television for over twenty-three hours.
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#14
31st May 2009, 02:22 AM
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I've been a member of various Asian pop forums since 2002. I've seen threads like these ever since then and it's a shame.
For the record, mainstream Western music isn't all about sex. To say it is such, speaks that many people don't know too much about it other than Britney Spears, Beyonce, and other singers of their ilk. Pj Harvey, Adele, The Mars Volta, Bjork, Sigur Ros, Massive Attack, Imogen Heap. If you've never heard of these people give them a listen. Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Beyonce, even the "sex" concept and dirty lyrics hardly applies to the entire Western music industry. The musicians I listed are just a small fraction of artists that are mainstream, still active, and have meaningful lyrics and concept albums. Instead, like some people have done in this thread, they get over looked in the category of Western music. Britney Spears is always used as an example of the epitome of all Western music, and it is henceforth downgraded by fans of Asian music. I like Asian pop, particularly Japanese and Korean. But to say Western music has no creativity when the Genre was first started in the West is confounding. The ground work for what the Japanese are currently doing, and continue to do was started by Americans, Canadians, and the Brits. Many musicians in J-pop even sound like their Western counterparts. Their is no difference in their music style other than the language. Their is so much creativity in both industries, and their is also garbage in them. Currently, the U.S. in particular has seen an influx of popular singers and musicians that are mediocre at best. Yet, this doesn't erase musicians like Jimi Hendrix, Jefferson Airplane, The Pixies, Aretha Franklin, The Beetles, Led Zeppelin ... I can go on with talented artist's from the past. It also doesn't erase the many that actually put life and touch others with their clever lyrics like Pj Harvey and Imogen Heap. The point of music is just like literature or any other artistic medium; it's not to be pitted against Country versus Country. It's supposed to be a uniter not a divider. I'm just sad that 7 years later threads like these still pop up now and again. For all the open mindedness that people have to branch out and listen to music in a language they don't understand, it's saddening that they tear down another; disregarding many talented musicians, mainstream or not, in the process.
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#16
6th June 2009, 11:05 AM
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I think it really depends on the artist. There is no one comparable to Ayu or Utada in the West (unless you're comparing their fashion sense, which doesn't have much to do with their music).
Generally, though, Western music is definitely much more creative and interesting. I've never heard of anyone like Pink Floyd coming out of Asia. With a few exceptions, music from Asia seems to be ridiculously naive and badly produced. Even more so than a lot of what's popular in America today (Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, etc).
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 avatar + signature by Zanmato@Ayu Dynasty
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#17
6th June 2009, 06:47 PM
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I think European music is more creative than American or Japanese. <3 I live in Europe and I've listened to "our" music more. It's very nice and original. I, for myself, like the music from my own country, Finland, but also Brittish music has found its way to my hear (yet I should listen more of it). <3 But I do like japanese music a lot. Most of the artists that I'm listening to are very highly influenced from western music. But I really like that vibe. I also love sexy songs a lot. I even like these songs more than ballads. And I'm pretty much a R&B and hip hop person. :3 I love this kind of music. It's more like me. I've listened to R&B since my childhood so I guess it has some "familiar" feel to me.
And Lady GaGa... Well, I haven't listened to her songs so much but I do like the singles that I've heard. She has good songs and I don't really care about her sexual appeal. To me music is MUCH more important than the way the artists look like. Same goes for European and Japanese artists (Koda Kumi who I LOVE so much). I don't even take those overly sexual lyrics seriously. Most of the time I just lol at those but I still listen to those. It doesn't matter from where those songs are from. I just say "lolled" and keep listening to it. I've gotten over this over sexualized images/thingies/whatever it is appeal.  But sure, I still think that western music is nowadays a lot more creative than japanese (I don't listen to korean or chinese music, I'm not very interested so I won't be talking about Asian music as a whole) but I think that Hikki and Kuu can still be a lot more creative than Ayu to me nowadays but these are just examples. I should listen to a more underground music of Japan as well. Maybe I will change my mind. And now I forgot what else I wanted to say. Well, I'll post again when I come up with something. But I gotta say that I LOVE this topic. <3
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#19
7th June 2009, 10:12 PM
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There comes a time when you realize that the mainstream, no matter what country you're in, sounds exactly the same. All American mainstream songs sound like every other mainstream American song, and all Japanese mainstream songs sound like every other Japanese mainstream song. When one reaches that point, you learn that creativity is limited to a select plethora of artists who control their careers versus the artists who's careers are controlled by their labels. You have your Britneys in America, your Hello!Project and Johnny's in Japan, where every single one of them sounds the same and they make basically the same kind of music with little to no originality. And then you have your creative people. They can be broken into two categories, massively successful or massively unsuccessful. You have your Ayumis and Madonnas on top because they were able to keep their music in line with the mainstream, but also include their own flare and spice to it, and then you have your indie artists who go completely out of left field, and usually aren't noticed because their music isn't considered "safe" and not played because the supposed lack of an audience.
Both Western and Eastern music industries have their fair share of people who are incredibly creative and massively talented, it's illogical to say that one is more creative then the other.
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