Why does pop music seem worse today? What will AI mean for music? │ Q&A#7

[@doctornov7]

I remember the days when David Bennett Piano didn't often play the piano. Now he does and we should all be glad :)

[@DavidBennettPiano]

😊😊😊

[@alec4010]

@@DavidBennettPiano David, does the four chord progressions apply all throughout these songs? If so, how do they apply? If not, what formula does apply throughout these songs? These songs seem to have chord progressions that don’t correspond to the 12 bar blues or the four chord progressions.

[@davehall8584]

You're fantastic David......I've learned so much from you.....one of THE BEST youtube channels for musicians...

[@PianoVampire]

Here's the thing about the state of modern music - it's VERY hard to name a single band that are world famous that was formed in the last 10 years. From the 1950's to the 2000's you could never say that.

[@n8pls543]

Wagakki Band. I think a big deal in Japan and also well-known across the Internet probably counts as "world famous," but other than that, there are many many many more musicians now than there used to be, and the Internet has made it so you don't have the 1960s phenomenon of "This is one of the six bands that exist, everyone buys their records" simply because there's a much greater variety available now. This is partially due to the decline of radio, but also due to the decline of physical music stores.

[@msalas5963]

The REAL STATE OF MODERN MUSIC other then bands will never reached the world-wide notoriety like Beatles are ... AI Music will make Intellectual Property Lawyer SUPER RICH... because AI technically INCAPABLE of creating original song. Anyone who touched AI is literally guilty of being accessories to the crime of Intellectual Theft!!! 😂😆😛😜😝🤣 if the song writer, instrumentalists, producer & their "family & friends" listen only to the SAME CRAPPY SONG over & over again the 24/7 365 days... That SAME CRAPPY SONG I spotify can get Trillions viewers & be in the year-end top songs list WITHOUT ANYONE EVER KNOWING!!! 😂😆😛😜😝🤣

[@davidthepangolin]

Pop music right now is so varied, there is no one consensus for mainstream sound or genre. Some of the biggest hits this year (in the US) have been house, hiphop, neodisco, hyperpop, r&b, bedroom pop, rock, and piano ballads. Independent artists and non-mainstream artists like Steve Lacy, Kim Petras, Joji, and so many others are currently doing absolutely great on the charts (all of the artists i listed made it to number one on Spotify and subsequently top 5 on Billboard Hot 100, the first two reaching number one) which is great that people who wouldn’t usually get promoted are actually getting popular for the music they make and not what the industry wants to be big.

[@OMGitshimitis]

Yeah pop in the last 5 years has gone from something that I found borderline unlistenable to something that I regularly find really interesting. The production is so much more creative. I listened to Taylor Swift's new album and was so shocked to hear baselines that 20 years ago would have been experimental hip hop. Digital effects have also opened the door on really creative vocal processing, stuff that wasn't possible in the era of chipmunk vocals is now common place. Pop is actually having a renaissance imo.

[@hpatss4966]

@@OMGitshimitis pop is having a renaissance in redundancy. I would like to hear pop music that isn’t the same music I’ve heard for 50 years. It’s all the same mindset. When someone starts creating something NEW I’ll be impressed

[@Nicenigel14]

For real though, that unique piece of music at around 10:30 sounded really cool! Gave me haunted whimsical carnival vibes. I think part of the reason it worked so well in my mind is because rhythmically it was solid and interesting.

[@jenmarks]

you continue to be such a great help to me, and i'm grateful for you. thank you very much, david! ☺️✌🏻

[@Skelterbane69]

Rare footage of David Bennett Piano playing a piano.

[@GamerStickslol]

Underrated

[@shan_ma]

The high contrast makes it look like chroma key though 😂

[@ombrenightcores4153]

10:37

[@efficiencygaming3494]

Thank you for answering my question! I agree that "The Daily Mail" is an absolutely fantastic song, and "Cry Baby Cry" is good too! On the topic of pop music, I always thought the reason why radio stations today tend to play the same songs over and over is because radio is no longer as important for discovering new artists as it once was. We didn't have streaming services in the days of "Bohemian Rhapsody" or even "Paranoid Android". It's gotten to the point where if you want to discover great new music, the Internet is your best bet.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Agreed 😊

[@alec4010]

@@DavidBennettPiano when you are studying blues and rock n roll it is my understanding that you learn several different four chord progressions. Particularly the 12 bar blues. However, I would like to learn the theory behind rock n roll and pop songs taking chord progressions to the next level as you see all throughout rock and roll and pop music. I notice they use several different chord progressions as well as playing a melodies over the chords/main riff.

[@heywally2739]

I’m 70 and so grew up with pop music from about 59’ on. What a progression. The pop music I’ve loved was either melodic and/or expertly played on instruments. So it went from early pop radio hits to heavier rock stuff in the 60’s and 70’s. Eventually, I learned to love standards and straight ahead jazz. Some classical too. It’s obviously not easy writing great melodic songs and eventually the melodies get used up. To compensate for that, bands and performers use/used their version of style over substance and it just got carried to the extreme. Eventually, computerization watered down the musicality further. One of the several reasons I don’t like hip hop or rap is the monotonous computerized percussion. The one great thing going now that somewhat compensates for the lack of good new songs is KZbin and all of the great small band musicians that show up there, along with all of the informative music related “videos”.

[@alejandroc4960]

I immensely love Ringo's drums on Cry Baby Cry and hearing it evolve over each verse. Fantastic song.

[@rosettag7292]

I immensely love this song.

[@zebravox]

Your best video to date. I was glued to the screen from start to finish. Keep up the good work and have a great weekend.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thank you!!

[@joedurantguitar1447]

29:00 A good indicator of what key a song is in is to see what chord sounds right to end it. I was playing Rebel Rebel by David Bowie recently with a couple of friends and we couldn't figure out if it should end on D or E - the two chords the hook revolves around. Eventually we discovered that the only chord that sounds right to end it was A, which was bizarre because it barely comes up in the song!

[@Roikat]

I’ve always considered the main riff to be E Mixolydian, so resolving to A makes sense. Also, the point where it goes to A in the song is very satisfying, but you don’t necessarily feel it’s the tonic at that point.

[@whycantiremainanonymous8091]

I once wrote a whole song made up entirely of maj7 chords. It's definitely one of my favourite chord sounds.

[@hifijohn]

That's a major accomplishment.

[@edzielinski]

@@hifijohn I second that. Far be it from me to diminish such an achievement.

[@X-UP-and-DOWN-X]

A dominant choice of puns

[@htm4106]

@@X-UP-and-DOWN-X not even a minor flaw in these answers

[@pesosgouda8223]

Really augments the original comment

[@Ron-go8cf]

Thanks for answering my question right in the beginning! 08:59 It would be great to see a video about bridges that are well composed/arranged. First songs that come into my mind are Fields of Gold and Every Breathe You Take.

[@lululovescatsverymuch]

Congrats on 700k subscribers! 🎉🎊

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks!

[@lindadee2053]

I saw a video that stated that autotune is now used in virtually all commercial music production these days. The main problem with that, the video explained, is that human variations in singing and even playing music has been pushed aside causing much recorded music to lose those little variations or differences that used to make music actually more exciting or simply more interesting.

[@jitiu4l926]

This is accurate.

[@ChasMusic]

Nice variety of questions and great answers. Thank you for the intro to Rina Sawayama and Phoebe Bridgers, neither of who I'd ever heard of and now enjoying their music.

[@Jpanda16]

I find that the major thing that makes music "good" is the purpose it serves. Is it a headphone song? Or radio song? Party jam? Break up anthem? Bedroom music? Lullaby? Study and focus? Workout? Bragging? Moral lesson? Story telling? Etc... But also any music that is so synthesized, computer generated, and bog standard. Puts it further into the "bad" category. Where as music that is experimental, revolutionary, ground breaking, and more "hand made" with real instruments. Pushes it until the "good" category.

[@11panithilopas9]

That's just not true. Just because the sound was made by computer doesn't make it bad, a lot of interesting/experimental and ground breaking/revolutionary records are 100% electronics.

[@n8pls543]

The human standard of "good" in music comes heavily from familiarity. Things sound "good" because they're similar to other comfortable things we've heard before, otherwise "Jackhammer Sonata in Microtonal D-adjacent-Minor-but-also-sort-of-Major with Arrhythmia and a Dying Elephant" by B. F. Weck would be the new standard of music. Anything too ground-breaking goes over like noise, but things that build on the same development of thousands of derivative years of musical tradition but with a little fascinating twist go over much better.

[@tiddlypom2097]

6:00 The AI topic is a very interesting one, glad you showed Dall-e for art. One point though: digital processing like quantisation and auto-tune aren't AI. They are powerful tools, but they use set algorithms designed by humans rather than machine learning (ML, which is what people usually mean by AI).

[@onursahin7970]

Yeah not all computer programs are AI.

[@msalas5963]

AI Music will make Intellectual Property Lawyer SUPER RICH... because just like what David said, AI technically INCAPABLE of creating original song. Anyone who touched AI is literally guilty of being accessories to the crime of Intellectual Theft!!! 😂😆😛😜😝🤣

[@attitw]

Makes me think of how I’ve learned to play “like someone in love”, the first section is nearly all maj7 chords, and nearly all descending. It’s fun to see the motions when you’re playing it on the piano.

[@anyemarouthna1033]

That 'b III' as a Major 7th thing was great. It set me about trying to find different ways to resolve it. New territory for me! Thanks David.

[@TheMister123]

8:32 - OMG it's "Heart of the Sunrise"! 😀

[@tymime]

Hey now, I really like "Windy"...

[@greenfear8272]

Congratulations David! I commented at an earlier time that you were fast becoming my favourite music KZbin channel. You are now my official favourite. Well done mate!

[@ShaharHarshuv]

Alternative analysis - F/G is actually a G7sus4sus2. To me the feeling of it is a feeling of suspensions, and it usually used in music before a regular G chord, which enforces this analysis.

[@AJBlueJay]

Music nowadays is marketed towards children and teens, so the music is simple and childish and repetitive to make it catchty. Most music nowadays is really just background noise so people can dance. Simple repetitive syncopated music in 4/4 at around 100 to 115 bpm is the easiest to dance to, so that's why almost all pop music and rap is made made that way, because that is what sells to children, teens, bars, clubs, DJs, etc. Most music nowadays is also made to be very easy to sing, so that way people can sing along easily and get the songs stuck in their heads. So vocal parts mostly just move in stepwise motion with small skips, and melismas and long notes are unpopular today, and the range for vocal parts is also small to make them easy to sing.

[@jorisvoorndj]

That Black Legend track is amazing though!!

[@guprovasi]

Amazing video! Congrats on the 700k subs!👏🏻

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks!

[@DanSchaumann]

I had this on in the background while I was making breakfast and my ears pricked up at 10:36 thinking “what was this incredible outburst of avant-jazz”? Skipped back to see it was an example of something awful

[@DavidBennettPiano]

😂😂😂😂

[@Gregorovitch144]

It's not just that people compare random songs off Spotify or the radio to the best of the best from past, it's also that people get the sounds of the music of their early teens imprinted in their heads and find it difficult to accept anything subsequently as equally good or better, the first cut is always the deepest. A third issue is that the 60's was turbo-charged by the emergence of amps by Fender, Vox and Marshal, the 70's by 32 and 64 track consoles (Beatles only had four), and the 80's by a whole series of classic drum machines, analogue synths, sequencers and samplers. An important side chain to all this was the development of the Jamaican reggae sound systems which were largely responsible for the development of Techno, Hip Hop, House and rave/dance music culture. Each of these dramatically changed the sound of new music. We haven't actually had anything like that happen since the 90's really. The DAW has arrived big time, yes, but that is just a substitute for a big console and vehicle for playing virtual instruments that are mainly copies of analogue originals from the 80's and before. The point being when musicians get their hands on new instruments and equipment that make completely new sounds you always get an explosion of creativity leading to much music now considered "classic". Plugging a Strat or Les Paul into a Marshal Plexi or getting your hands on a Rhodes was a super-major big deal back in the 60's. It's a long time since musicians have had something new like that suddenly available to them.

[@briancunning423]

Black Legend's "You see the trouble with me" is a great tune!!

[@MenelionFR]

10:36 Well, that's how the vast majority of the so-called classic or academical music from 1950s till now sounds like, unfortunately. Thank you, David! Speaking of cleverly written music, do you know The Alan Parsons project? If not for some reason, listen to "Silence and I", for example. It's extremely sad, sorrowful and even gloomy I'd say, but the instrumentation is gorgeous and the music itself is outstanding. For instance, its main part is written in B-flat minor and it starts like this: D-flat Major - C minor - C-flat major over D-flat - B-flat Minor. It also has minor dominant chords in places where we'd expect normal, i.e., major dominant chords. And also there are quite elaborate modulations.

[@Yawnyaman]

Big fan of their music generally.

[@AJBlueJay]

10:36 sounds like the 7th Guest 😂

[@TheEppi3]

Great video! 🙏🏽

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thank you!

[@nabila1379]

I love how your Q&A video gives off the Wired's "answers questions from Twitter" vibe. 👍

[@tyroil3078]

The images generated by Dall-E are in fact not composite. Yes, the network has been trained on real art and images and so on, but the output images are not generated by lifting parts here and there from existing images and then somehow smoothing the connections between the different parts. A youtube comment is probably not the best place to explain the details of how it works, but there are plenty of resources for that for those who are interested :)

[@angelfire2085]

David, I watch your videos all the time, just dont comment often, but I do love your videos... it was such a great surprise to hear you on pop master the other day, I was like omg I follow this guy on youtube... haha you did well... kudos!

[@DavidBennettPiano]

😃😃😃

[@ustedtubo]

On the AI topic, I think you should take a look at iOS apps like Riffler (for guitar), Piano Motifs (for piano), or Beatly Pro. They aren’t expensive and they can produce some really cool music. Will they replace songwriters, not yet, but they can be great idea starters or sources of inspiration.

[@nikkothegoblin]

People also respect musicians more than they do visual artists. That's just the way it is, so if AI has a strong or negative impact on music people will actually care Meanwhile AI is another step in a long line of attempts to undermine and "cheaply replace" visual artists

[@SoleaGalilei]

I find it surprising that anyone would ask you what effect arrangement has on a song, since you have so many videos comparing songs with the same progression that sound wildly different in large part because of the arrangement!

[@richarddoan9172]

A good epic example in major would be Beethoven's Ode to Joy, when the big choir comes in.

[@andrewpappas9311]

The question asked at 23:57 was actually from a friend of mine, cool to see him on here

[@althealligator1467]

28:40 Those are exactly the two songs / videos about those songs I was thinking about when asking that question, they're the examples I always go to. The thing is that I don't hear them either in Em or Am, or D or G, but both at once: it just depends on where I shift my focus.

[@crstudios4457]

Was a surprise to hear your voice on BBC Radio 2 the other day, although not a surprise that you tried your hand at Popmaster!

[@lululovescatsverymuch]

10:36 Musical Masterpiece by David Bennett 🎶

[@DavidBennettPiano]

It will be out on Spotify soon

[@martinda7446]

PS This is a truly wonderful channel. Thank you.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thank you!

[@mirandak3273]

I think you blew it on the question about sheet music in different keys. There are plenty of charts that are different not just what you said. I’ve been told some publishers change keys to fit standard vocal ranges for Soprano, Alto, Tenor, Bass.

[@TheDruidKing]

Great video. Really enjoyed all of that.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

😃😃

[@danjones9999]

700 subscribers huh?! Go you! 😅 Congrats on 700k!

[@michaeleaster1815]

1:08 I love that tune so much! Its "morality tale" lyric is ridiculous but IMHO the melody is wonderful... Congrats on 700k !

[@GianniBosio]

"Do not get attached to your stuff" is a universal law for being a good professional, IMHO.

[@jameriles]

I have to bring a point here: AI image generation is not a just "pre-existing images composition". It works pretty much like artist create their works, learning from work from other artists to synthesize a new style or even an original trend. It is not "programmed". It take choices that tries to produce what we told it that it is actually a work of art that matches whatever the prompt is. They are basically improving at a very fast pace on how to fool our brains and let us think that their work is actually a dog, a cat, a person, or, let's say, a perfectly competent music composition or arrangement.

[@user-cj4fu8qq9b]

for me i think what makes a song epic is actually the modal mixture of minor and major keys

[@GianniBosio]

Is that you, Elton? 😉

[@tvdan1043]

Okay, now I NEED to see a video of a middle-school music class playing "Final Countdown" on recorders. It would be epic for all the wrong reasons, but epic nonetheless.

[@wavesofeuphoria2493]

Totally agree about cry baby cry. Recently started appreciating it a lot more. With it being so late on a long album I think I naturally never heard it as often. I can hear oasis in it a lot

[@aaronbruce5568]

Bumping someone else's idea of making a video about well written/arranged bridges in songs! I think it's a really great idea and would make for an awesome video!

[@williamshears9953]

The hybrid ai composition is the concept of the software Synfire by Cognitone. It's a bit awkward sometimes but pretty neat.

[@Pinko-Diamond]

use it every day, but I'd hardly compare it. the ai only changes the "language" of the music to allow for a bit conceptual form of editing similar to a composer coming up with an idea and telling his assistant to write the notation according to those directions. it doesn't do any composing at all! Things like Rapid Composer do, and people use them together.

[@dancoroian1]

AI is very much already at the point that it could be composing original works, and judging them via a "discriminator" which is trained by learning successful patterns from existing songs -- using a generative adversarial network, the same technology behind Dall-E.

[@robster7316]

Really enjoyed this segment, David! Thanks for covering my question regarding the role of arrangements. Excellent answer! Your remarks about Sir George Martin were on the mark. I would offer that his interpersonal skills and keen understanding of the musicians he worked with also played a big role in his success.

[@MrXyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

There are so many "plus ones" on this video but a "plus 10" definitely for playing "things we said today". That's a great Beatles Song that is often overlooked.

[@matthewungar601]

Thanks for answering my question, David! I suppose I shouldn’t be too surprised at your fave (he’s mine too). Cheers!

[@shanelarue8162]

I fucking love your channel. You enrich my day

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks! 😃😃😃

[@shanelarue8162]

@@DavidBennettPiano its well deserved

[@MonkyTube18]

because the effort is put into the production and selling perspectives more than into the musical creativity

[@pheeble29]

Loved this video! Also I was wondering, if you haven't already, could you maybe make a 'music theory for dummies' video? I've just been practicing a lot and trying to develop my skill that way but I don't take formal music lessons anymore, so I don't know that much about terminology and types of chords. Like when you call chords 'thirds' is that because that chord is a triad? Anyway I've been looking for a video like this and haven't found any ones that explain it very well (always terminology like modal interchange that I don't really need to know yet). Just an idea because I know you'd explain it all really well haha

[@hoagy_ytfc]

Woah, All Kinds of Everything isn't naff! Beautiful lyrics too. Check out the wonderful cover by Sinéad O'Connor and Tery Hall.

[@Steveofthejungle8]

Now I want to make a recorder cover of the Final Countdown

[@douglassloan6831]

There are so many reasons why today's pop doesn't seem as good. For me, it comes down to groove, or vibe or whatever you want to call it. This was something that happened in the studio when there were a bunch of great players doing what they do feeling what was coming from the other guy and vice versa. It was hard to record music back in the day when it was done analog to tape. You HAD to play it right. There was no "fixing it". On the other hand, human error was a part of the joy and the feel of music that was recorded live to a tape machine. Singers rarely sang 100% on key. Tempos were varied throughout songs and the songs were the better for it. Every try quantizing a Bonham drum part? It kills the feel completely. Mixing was an art form. I remember being in the studio and having 5 of us on the board moving faders at exactly the right point in the song. (Before automation of course) It was a performance in and of itself. In the end, I think the music of the 70's, etc. had that human element. Albums were listened to as entire works, every song serving a purpose. I truly believe with all my heart that "Night at the Opera", deserves to be in the Smithsonian museum, maybe the original 2 inch or something. It is a masterpiece in every sense of the word. There will never be another like it, especially with the way music is made today. Listen to the Foo Fighters record they did in Dave's garage some time. It has the vibe, the groove..that thing. Anyway, that's my 2 cents. Love the channel!

[@edzielinski]

"Is David Bennett still making good videos about music theory and related topics? Is David Bennett actually an AI?" Yes to the first. "Maybe" to the second.

[@GizzyDillespee]

I haven't seen him glitch out yet...

[@MyMy-tv7fd]

'Gruppen' by Karlheinz Stockhausen is pretty unique, and it sets my teeth on edge just to think about it. Unique and listenable are overlapping categories, but not the same thing at all.

[@jamescastelli]

I know the bias you refer to exists, but I have to say you chose a few "naff" songs which are actually good, or at least better than most of what comes out today, that it undermines that point. Windy, Next Time I Fall, Do That To Me.... sure, some are a bit cheesy or have their hearts too much on their sleeve, but you can't tell me there is anything at the top of the charts today that is more harmonically sophisticated (at least two know how to use a secondary dominant) or unique in their arrangement. Not to mention none of them used auto tune. So, you were saying?

[@bareknuckles2u]

I thought AI already replaced songwriters about 10 years ago! Excellent channel BTW!

[@quailstudios]

LOL Good observation!

[@joegr7162]

Nice video man

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks!

[@sylvanwroe1213]

Congrats on 700 subscribers 😂

[@royalex21]

Thank you David for you answering my question. I probably should’ve phrased it differently when I asked it though.

[@BeastinlosersHD]

A note about Dall E is that it is multiple AIs, one generates images and one is picks what looks good, it’ll keep playing back and forth and give you a bunch of images. Same could be done for music but I feel like the human aspect will be crutial, but AI may be used to judge stuff or to recommend that next chord in the song idk

[@FromGroundToMud]

You should check "Her's", british duo. Sadly both members passed away 3 years ago in a car accident. Band of the decade for me.

[@missingwestcoast]

That selection of naff hits from the past is still a pretty nice selection though, would def listen to them instead of most (not all) current hits.

[@CoolDudeClem]

Yes there was some bad music in the past ... BUT, even the no. 1 stinkers of the old days, even those are still better than the mainstream garbage music of today. We need more musicians and artists to do stuff like Michael Jackson, The Beatles and Queen again.

[@cakemartyr5794]

Year of the Cat by Al Stewart starts with a Cmaj7

[@DavidBennettPiano]

I believe it does, yes!

[@Alsike]

so glad to hear recognition for radiohead's the daily mail. my favourite song of all time

[@LiamMonticelli]

The rhythm alone on the passage of, uh, *that* at 10:36 still makes it sound like music. And now nothing makes sense anymore. 😵‍💫

[@mike_valenza]

The slam against the Association is uncalled for. While "Windy" is personally not my favorite Association song---maybe even my least favorite among all their hits--it is better than 90% of the crap that is popular today, and it did feature the excellent vocal harmonies that characterized all their better hits like "Everything that Touches You".

[@Nossairito]

The AI innovation argument is very interesting because one could argue that that would also hold true when it comes to humans, in that maybe the only thing allowing artistic innovation to march on is the human intention behind it, whereas coming from an AI maybe it wouldn't be granted the same good will, despite, in both cases, it clashing with the existing standards given that we're not used to that novelty.

[@sophianazzaro636]

you should listen to Michel Polnareff. He has very interesting songs in many different styles. His music sounds very different from American/British music, especially the early songs. What it sounds most like is maybe folk? And he seems to write melodies as if it's a language for his emotions. It would be interesting to hear you analyze his songs.

[@miniwy01wyatt70]

So glad he finally reached 700 subscribers

[@robbietelfer2919]

Was rooting for you on pop master the other day

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks! Pretty horrid questions on that occasion but happy to get double figures!

[@jeremiahlyleseditor437]

Great Video Dave. Definitely a difficult choice between those piano men

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks!

[@jonathanosborn4800]

So I actually like the type of sound of top 40 music the last ten years, the EDM ish mainstream, processed and produced, relatively simple harmonically, synth bass…but, there are NO tunes from the last decade that I really care about

[@themovieandmusiclover6390]

Hey David, thanks 4 answering my question!!! Sorry that I took so long 2 say thank u!!!!! I luv ur videos!!!!! I would luv 2 ask u in the next Q&A: Do u think The Beatles would carry on making good music if they haven't split up in 1970 or do u think their music would've gotten worse?!?!

[@callumevans77]

Heard you on radio 2 the other day!

[@MichaelForbes-d4p]

When alphago beat the world champion at GO it used a move that no person had ever thought o. I think that AI will be able to become creative and original

[@oliverdiamond6594]

10:36 i know it was a joke, but that last part was such a bop.

[@apparentlybrian]

David I think you ought to give the music of The Association a deeper listen. The #1 hit "Windy" was one of the preeminent examples of the genre later known as Sunshine Pop, a mix of commercial jingles, psychedelia, middle-of-the road soft pop, folk, baroque pop, the whole "California Sound", early British invasion and Motown. The songs featured upbeat themes and optimistic, colourful vocals with lots of extended chord harmonies. The Beach Boys were a big influence and occasionally, practitioners on songs like God Only Knows and Do It Again. The Turtles, Mamas and the Papas, Spanky and Our Gang, Grass Roots and the Fifth Dimension were all part of this sound which was so emblematic of the 1960s. "Windy" and similar titles ultimately influenced REM, Dinosaur Jr, XTC, Marshall Crenshaw and even Prince ("Raspberry Beret"), really the entire power pop sound. Yes there have always been awful pop songs, but not this one. "Windy" was and is a great record that captured the zeitgeist with a gorgeous melody, fabulous vocals, indelible hooks and a cracking performance from the Wrecking Crew.

[@BryTee]

"best song of last 60 years" - I guessed either "Day in the Life" or "Bohemian Rhapsody" I'm glad you agreed with Bohemian Rhapsody, but what would be the second best song?

[@cakemartyr5794]

For a superb arrangement, I suggest Jealous Guy by Roxy Music, covering John Lennon's original.

[@cienciadedados]

Your take on AI is very insightful for a non-expert. I’d just add that your predictions are very good for the near future. But given enough time (be it 10 years or 10 centuries), theoretically AI can do anything. Anyway, always impressed by your knowledge and didacticism.

[@pooroldnostradamus]

There’s an argument to be made that perhaps at that point of singularity, we’ll have greater issues than AI music-making to reckon with. So, only such a shorter term prediction may be relevant

[@cienciadedados]

@@pooroldnostradamus yes, indeed. But I think AI music creation will be indistinguishable from human creation way before AGI.

[@girlgeniusnyc272]

David!! I have learned so much from your channel! I released a "comedy CD" and am working on a serious CD. Thank you!

[@sophiemilton5939]

Someone asked how to make a dramatic impact with a song in a similar way to "The Final Countdown." A great deal of the drama is not from the song per se, it's from the arrangement and production. I recently began working with a Producer and what he has done to my tracks amazes me - I did not know that "I" could ever sound like that. He and his engineer have transformed the somewhat rough and ready demos I sent them into tracks that sound like "a proper record." (...which they soon will be :-) ) The classic example of this I always cite is "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." by The Beatles. George Harrison wrote the song and brought it to the band by playing it to them on acoustic guitar. It's a pleasant enough song, but it does not at all jump out at me and strike me as an epic song. This original demo is online (just George alone with an acoustic guitar) so you can listen and compare to the version off the White Album. The intro and the arrangement and production are what make it the outstanding track it became. Yes, the solid nucleus was there, but what elevated it was the subsequent work. I similarly did not pay enough attention to arrangement and production until I recently realised how very important those are. It is very possible that you are writing reasonable chord progressions etc in themselves but not arranging very well. If you learn the chords of "Final Countdown" and then just play it with a wanga-wanga strum-pattern on an acoustic guitar, you'll soon see that it doesn't sound particulalry fabulous either. Start paying close attention to arrangement and production on records you like and asking yourself questions - why did they choose to play this riff on brass (or strings) instead of guitar? What is it that makes me feel immediate excitement as this song starts? - often it's not what you have........it's what you make of it.

[@whycantiremainanonymous8091]

Funny you put the F/G to C question straight after the one on Paul McCartney and Wings. That very sequence (well, maybe an equivalent in another key) is prominent in the Wings song "With a little luck".

[@andywoollard]

Great stuff, although I do love a bit of cheese like Captain &Tennille and silly love songs by Macca

[@mta1864]

A few of the songs in your "naff" list are songs that I remember quite fondly (Peter Cetera and Amy Grant! C'mon! :D) I bring that up because, in the question of old vs. new songs, it's not so much that people compare new songs to the "greatest songs of all time" because that's always a debatable list. Rather, people will compare new songs to the songs they remember, songs they have chosen to be part of their personal "good" songs list. These songs will be the songs that get replayed the most by them and become part of a person's personality. As people age, they invariably grow their list to a point where new songs will have a tougher time competing with the stacks of old favorites. So new songs will, in that sense, always be "worse" regardless of any inherent quality they might have.