Is social media killing music?

Submitted by your_friend_dingus t3_zzqnke in Music

Are people being told by social media which songs should they listen to? I don't see many people listening to different type of genres or is it just the trend which changes from time to time?

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bloodyell76 t1_j2d3fss wrote

I’m not sure social media is any different in this respect than radio/MTV were in the past. Or TV shows and movies, for that matter. Either because of association with a thing they like, or because they genuinely like the song and were just exposed via a particular medium doesn’t really matter.

Music is resilient, and great music is all over the place.

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your_friend_dingus OP t1_j2d5r2a wrote

Can we listen to the whole song on social media?

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bloodyell76 t1_j2d651a wrote

Is that relevant? Usually it’s just a clip- but the option to find the song and hear the whole thing is always there, if you care enough.

One impact social media has had that is fairly new is the song made for social media. What I mean is songs that have maybe as much as 40 seconds of actual song. Regardless of how long the full thing is, you’ll have heard everything the song has to give you in less than a minute. There’s a lot more of that these days. But that’s not really what you asked in the first place.

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liquid_at t1_j2d42k6 wrote

Imho, the opposite is true.

With all the reaction channels and classic songs being used in meme-videos, I've never seen a time where young people have had more access to great music than now.

Just in 2022 we've seen Fleetwood Mac and Kate Bush going viral.

Plus a ton of musicians without traditional success, who are well known due to their social media and youtube content.

It's just different...

Edit: But one problem is that the algorithms only show to you what they think that you want to see. So if you do not diversify your musical input, you do not even see the content that exists, that others watch.

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whatistheformat t1_j2d6mvd wrote

> Edit: But one problem is that the algorithms only show to you what they think that you want to see. So if you do not diversify your musical input, you do not even see the content that exists, that others watch.

This is the crux of my objections. Too much decision making is left to machines for my comfort. A great band that would be getting positive word of mouth from a good show may never see the light of day in an AI-dominated world for reasons often obscure to the end user.

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liquid_at t1_j2d7a45 wrote

if you get it by word of mouth, you actively look for it and your choice affects what the algorithm shows you.

Considering that the professional music industry has been taken over by large firms buying listeners to gain chart entries and actually independent musicians have no chance to get into their corrupt system, the recommendation-system where no one but you decides what is recommended to you, is vastly superior.

If you start looking for new music, you get new music.

"Algorithms that show you what you want to see" only show you new music if you have a habit of looking for new music. If you don't bother looking, how should the algo know what you want?

Sure, they are not perfect, but at least better and more democratic than the practice of buying chart-ranks by paying for fake streams...

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GlueForSniffing t1_j2do3z3 wrote

Okay but we've seen Kate go viral due to a popular Netflix series .. .

That isn't social media? ---- Though I guess . . . okay I guess you could say the influx of people posting their covers of it on Social media gave it a secondary boost?

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liquid_at t1_j2dr0q5 wrote

Did the song go viral on Netflix or social media platforms like tiktok?

Where would it have had the chance to go viral, if the internet was just a consumer medium like TV and radio?

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GlueForSniffing t1_j2drk81 wrote

Like I said I answered my own question.

But given what cinema and television did for music in past generations, I think the answer is yes? ( I think you thought you had something, but let's be real. Netflix is a huge platform and Stranger Things is their biggest show? )

Social media aided its longevity and numbers perhaps but it would've happened regardless. Plenty of songs have blown up from being used in shows and commercials.

I mean look at Lizzo.

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NavBChrono t1_j2d3677 wrote

I see it as likely that groups who seek to be trendy are prone to have a playlist that is, lets say, tiktok friendly. But I would not say that it is killing music. Once you're ready to leave that bubble it is also easier to find any other genre.

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TechnocraticWardance t1_j2d4jbm wrote

Nah, the publishers are to blame for that. And mainstream radio, but that all started many years ago.

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DarrylCornejo t1_j2d58m8 wrote

50/50.

50% no. Looking at the bigger picture, it brings new fans to the artist. Thus the artist continues to grow and vice versa. The more you get, the more you grow as an artist. That will always be a big plus.

50% yes. While there may be some songs used in a terribly made meme or however the song was included, the artist ends up being only known as x viral song was used in meme haha or just a one hit wonder than fades into obscurity.

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FrostyWizard87 t1_j2dkrvx wrote

I don’t think so.

For example I have such an eclectic mix of music genres that I think I would break the algorithms lol.

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GlueForSniffing t1_j2dny37 wrote

I think it hurts a little bit . . . because it used to be the radio . . . which people still hunted for music at shops and such and wouldn't listen to the same stations?

But now it's becoming whatever is on Tiktok or makes the memes or like you said they're told to listen to?

It's not a 100% this is now that, situation but things AID in certain behaviors.

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No-Context5479 t1_j2e2mtv wrote

As opposed to MTV telling you what to listen to our Radio in the past?

Did those kill music too? I'd argue those filtered what music got broadcasted to the audience so the less repaint we were on those two mediums the better music accessibility became but with that means accessibility to more middling stuff to buy I'd take this over MTV curating my taste

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MurkDiesel t1_j2f80tr wrote

not killing but heavily skewing

people aren't "being told" now any more now than they were with radio

but the game has completely changed

connectivity has completely bypassed the original structure

now, some obscure Soundcloud artist can go viral if the popular person at school plays it at their party etc and then everyone links it to their friends

and at the same time, a 12-year-old girl can have the same favorite song as a 24-year-old dude

or a band that's been around for decades can get a bump from TikTok

we're in a wild west, "cats and dogs living together" era of music

there always has been, and will always be, an influential dominant consensus of some sorts with music

before it was controlled by music execs, now it's completely random and everything is up for grabs

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MoneySike3000 t1_j2e8gga wrote

The net killed music. Up to the early 80s artists couldn't even step foot in a studio if they didnt have exceptional talent. These days we have non talented kids turning out complete garbage on the net daily. Another factor is when these talentless hacks get a little attention, they begin introducing their even less talented friends to be on tracks.

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