Boiling Point: Why Good Singers Fail On Pop Radio Today

Jan

3

2012

Boiling Point: Why Good Singers Fail On Pop Radio Today

Written by TriniTrent | Filed under Boiling Point

Those of you who paid attention to the 2011 Billboard Year-End charts may have developed the same conclusion as other intelligent consumers of popular culture – most of the year’s successful songs were performed by artists who can’t sing. So, where are all of the powerhouse vocalists? At the bottom of the charts.

Top 40/Pop radio was once a battleground for some of the industry’s best singers. Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Celine Dion were lauded for their massive vocal ranges and incredible skill whereas those acts who were unable to compete with a plethora of grandiloquent high notes were mocked. In fact, if artists such as Madonna and Janet Jackson didn’t compensate for their lack of vocal ability with shocking visuals and dance-heavy performances then they would have had no chance of scoring a hit single.

However, we are now in a completely different era where the tastes of the average young consumers are polar opposites to their older and quite frankly, more intelligent counterparts. Members of the dominant iTunes generation do not demand vocal bombast bolstered by intricate runs or thrilling trills. Instead, those individuals crave catchy hooks, memorable melodies and bouncing beats to which they could dance. Really, the consumer of the modern era merely desires simplicity.

We live in the Digital Age; a time where people demand speed and accessibility in every aspect of their daily lives. Think about it: 20 years ago, you would have taken the time to slap your classic Nintendo at just the right angle to stop the screen from jumping and if that didn’t work then you would have probably blown the tape to remove the dust. Now, if an app on your iPhone takes too long to load then you would promptly delete it and slander the developer on Twitter. Well, guess what? A similar mentality applies to music.

“People flocked to iTunes in droves to purchase Rihanna’s idiotic ’We Found Love’ because it was simple enough for even the silliest Media Take Out reader to understand.”

Many people didn’t want to listen to Jessie J use complex staccato and vibrato as she soared through the octaves in ‘Who You Are’ because that required too much time and energy to learn. In other words, it would involve too much work. Instead, the same persons flocked to iTunes in droves to purchase Rihanna’s idiotic ’We Found Love’ because it was simple enough for even the silliest Media Take Out reader to understand.

Let’s use more comparable artists for our next example – Christina Aguilera and Lady Gaga. The former’s ‘Not Myself Tonight’ was a solid record with all the elements of a club hit. Yet, the song was a mediocre success and failed to crack the top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100. Gaga, on the other hand, ruled the charts with ‘Bad Romance’ – a song that was also geared toward club audiences.

Why did ‘Not Myself Tonight’ flop on the Hot 1000? Not considering Aguilera’s horrendous PR in 2010, the single tanked because she was doing too much singing. People did not want to hear all of those vocal tricks while driving their cars or shaking their backsides at 3am in the club. It was too much for the lazy young fans to handle; a noisy disruption of their steady diets of ringtones and jingles.

“But Trent, Adele is a great singer and she dominated 2011!” It is true that Adele had a phenomenal year and appealed to a wide range of listeners but is she really an amazing vocalist or is her talent exaggerated when compared to her feeble competition?

Honestly, Adele does not execute the vocal gymnastics of Jessie J or Leona Lewis. Rather, like most traditional British Soul performers, she functions within a comfortable pocket of her range and her singing is far more expressive than impressive. For instance, dozens of artists, such as Nicole Scherzinger, covered ‘Rolling in the Deep’ and easily hit every note but failed to deliver the same emotion and that is why their versions paled in comparison to the original.

In conclusion, good singers fail on Pop radio today because they overwhelm lazy listeners with their vocal talents. Simplicity is the key to success and if the average person is unable hum all the notes of a song then it would probably fail to chart on the mainstream formats. Perhaps, that is true reason for Rihanna and Katy Perry’s prolific careers.

Thoughts?
- Follow @TheLavaLizard
  Tweet
- Make sure that you follow The Lava Lizard on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Tumblr
Keys: boiling point
- That shit Cray
  
  TRUE! TRUE! TRUE! Ppl just want to dance now as opposed to soaking in the talent.
- http://www.RonaldMatters.com RONALDMATTERS.COM
  
  SHITTED ON EM!
- Amber
  
  I think the dance/electronic music that is dominating the airwaves right now works to the advantage of weak singers. With all the noise and clutter in those songs, the voice is the least important part. The vocals have to blend in and be emotionless. Producers matter more than singers. I hate it!
  - Destiny
    
    Exactly! I believe your answer is the most accurate for this phenomenom. Its the switching of genres to electro pop and dance which relies more on production than vocal prowess. The person who wrote the article is a little off base because if fans always wanted to just hear a singer that they can easily emulate, Whitney, Celine, Mariah would never be the 200 million +album selling MEGA stars they were to begin with. Different genres breed different vocal prorities. Besides, check out Demi Levato’s Heart a Break. Its topping the chart and she’s doing all kinds of little runs……
- boonella34
  
  Love it!!! And I’m in complete agreement; I love Adele but she does stay in her lane. Her music and the way she sings it is what makes her so great….
- Cliff
  
  exactly rihanna’s we found love is an easy song you can remember the lyrics too, so it appeals more b/c it can be easily sung. smh you couldn’t have gotten a better picture of christina aguilera ? lol and that is the reason why nicki minaj is famous b/c she is js noise !!
- Katie
  
  This was really interesting to read, well done. Artists like Katy Perry and Ke$ha are fun to listen to but could never compare talent wise to Beyoncé, Mariah and so on. It’s not right how people, especially my age, rate catchy songs over vocals and lyrics.
  I do respect Katy and Ke$ha for the fact they do write their own songs though A reason why I love music like Taylor Swift and loads of bands is that they write all their own stuff rather than getting some random person to write a quick hit. But again great article
- sam
  
  I disagree with you on some of the stuff you said. Adele’s voice is phenomenal and I would place is higher than soulless Leona and Jessie (I do actually like both though). You don’t have to have the biggest range, longest notes, loudest belt to be the best singer. Jessie J didn’t do well because she’s boring after a while, her music is shit and she tries way to hard with her image. Practically everyone I know said this, but everyone agreed that her voice is AMAZING.
  
  Agree with what you said about Nicole Swidgdfssfsz though
- NI
  
  I completely agree. Its unfortunate because so many talent singer will be overshadow by Popcorn music. You are also correct about Adele. At first I thought she was the next Annie Lennox . I am curious to to see what music will be hot 2012. Because I R&B is dying.
- whatever
  
  I agree with you with the exception of the Adele part, she has a beautiful and powerful voice that works for and she can be placed in the same category as the Leona’s and Jessie’s out there. I do feel within time the tables will turn and we will be back to singers who can “sang”. On a side note, Janet and Madonna granted they have so so voices, they had good music along with the dancing. For entertainers like them they need both.
- DB
  
  Instead of complaining, maybe you should support the “vocalists” more than try to down the ones who don’t have the vocal abilities in your eyes. It’s not so much the consumer, but it’s people like you who complain about singers who don’t get their due and them flopping. Going into 2012, fans should support their fave, whether it’s a good pop song, or a soaring ballad. Adele proved that you don’t have to have flash to sell.
- Well Damn!
  
  That .gif is so ruuuuuuude LOL.
- Sir Sim
  
  eh, the article implies that vocal talent = hi notes and rifting; a bit simple-minded imo
- Laura
  
  It’s easy, stupid. Just because you have a louder voice dont mean you have better music, look @ Beyonce her music is god awful, and everybodies albums are better than hers, stop being so pressed
- Ms Boss
  
  @sir sim, I didn’t get that from this. Trent made sure to clarify that it was about the vocalists who do extra. You’re the simple minded one here tbh
  
  @laura wtf are you saying?
- Americanboi
  
  I agree with most of this except for a few areas. I think Adele can definitely hang with Leona Lewis and she OUTSINGS Jessie J. IDK what your infatuation with her is, but shes not that great. She’s boring, and yea she can sing, but shes no power vocalist like you claim. And if she is, her songs don’t show it, which are SHIT. I totally understand why shes not so successful here, she cant hold anyones attention long enough.
  
  And i thought that Xtina’s single was terrible. I knew from the MOMENT i heard it that it was going to flop. When your making a comeback after a 4 yr hiatus you have to come back HARD. She failed to do that. Same with Beyonce and Run The World. the song was crap. Bad Romance was AMAZING.
  
  But everything else is pretty accurate.
- Love It
  
  GREAT Post! This is coming from a Bey Stan
- X
  
  Yas Trent! it’s all about beat and how catchy the song is, the lyrics take a backseat in this day and age. Love that Rihanna gif btw.
  
  You couldn’t have used a better picture of Xtina tho???
- :D
  
  It’s not that people don’t wanna hear good singers on the radio (ADELE), but simply, some great singers are BORING and just fail as artists. For example, Jessie J, the most boring out of all. Her music is terrible and her image is recycled and try-hard. She’s not the only one, but a lot of great singers just get terrible material
- sunshine
  
  I totally agree, I was nodding my head agreeing with all the points in this article. Hopefully music gets a lot better in 2012 because I’m sick n tired of pop/club music being mainstream. Ive actually haven’t listened to the radio since 2007 I’m dead serious. I only know about this BS music because of social sites and Tv. (Thank God and Steve Jobs for Ipods) I can listen to my old favorites and indie artists.
- T
  
  I Agree but at the end of the day the real talent and pure entertainers come out on top and have life long careers. Think of all the hit makers that came out in between 2000-2005. How many are still here and doing well? (alot of new artist/groups came out in that period) not knocking any current pop artist but if they had concert tickets on sale 10 years from now would you go? (most current artist would be in their late 30′s early 40′s) Who Could still put on a good show 10 years from now?
- olly_tei
  
  To be honest i think it has nothing to do with vocal talent and everything to do with musical styling, genre and in some cases even quality. You compare Christina aguilera to Lady GaGa but “not myself tonight” doesn’t even come close to matching the quality of Bad Romance or any other no.1 hit Gaga had in 2008/9. People appreciate great vocals, but great vocals does not necessarily equate to good music.
  
  Outside of quality you have to look at musical trends. The truth is the majority of the great vocalist you speak of make music which doesn’t fit into the dance/
- Micah
  
  Catchy songs have been a part of the music industry for so long …Abba, Destiny’sChild, Aaliyah, hell even ur Queen Mariah with her Touch My Body, Shake it off,etc.
- olly_tei
  
  Outside of quality you have to look at musical trends. The truth is the majority of the great vocalist you speak of make music which doesn’t fit into the dance/electro genre that dominates radio currently. Christina is arguably the only one amongst them who attempted it and her attempts were not exceptional in quality, nor were they very catchy. The vast majority of great vocalist nowadays produce mid-tempo ballads
- Lonny
  
  It’s the quick, short attention span. If you’re born in the 90′s you grew up with the internet. If you were born in the 80′s then you just had tv and if you didn’t have cable (which wasn’t in as many homes as now) you didn’t get music videos. You didn’t see blogs. You heard radio. Your ears heard the emotion, the high notes, the smooth vocals, etc.
  
  But 90′s born people have been saturated with google, twitter, etc. They don’t have to digest music. On the computer you’re on tumblr, you’re updating your status, you are hearing production, not LISTENING to lyrics.
  
  The complaint that the young generation has for any vocalist is that they are “boring”. They say artists like Rihanna are fun. “We Found Love” has two verses. Like 8 lines of lyrics. That’s not boring? How is that interesting. Rihanna is not boring because of how she looks, dresses, and what she types, but that doesn’t do anything for your ears. Her fans type things like “she sounded good today” “She doesn’t sing great, but she has swag”. Shouldn’t singing be a requirment for a SINGer?
  
  R&B singers tend to do slow jams that you can relate to. Songs about love, crushes, trying to be someone, heartbreak,family, losing friends, being successful, etc. That’s boring because you can’t dance to it? Dancing and singing don’t have to go hand in hand and even dance tracks can mean something. Look at the lyrics to Michael Jackson’s “Jam” or “They Don’t Care about Us”. His songs are on a dancing game but he still had lyrics , he still used emotional vocals.
  
  Not that artists like Rihanna don’t (“Cold Case Love”, “Firebomb” great, real, lyrics but her voices goes into awkward falsettos, and croaks at times. (I’m using her as example because she’s a successful artist whose sucess exceeds her talents)
  Melanie Fiona sings about similar stuff. Listen to her “Somebody Come Get Me” like “Man Down”, yet she can sing and show emotion and range. It’s not about being a powerhouse vocalist or loud. But she means what she sings, but to sing well is “boring” because the associated image/presence of the entertainer is not boring.
  
  Weird.
- DOMOdotSCORE
  
  I can see where you’re coming from, Trent. But I don’t think it’s only consumer laziness. Yes, it’s true that Rihanna’s “We Found Love” is catchy, simple and danceable. But if radio only played the song once or twice a day, no one would buy it. But every station I listened to would play the song all the time. I hated the song but now after being bombarded with it, it’s tolerable. I don’t think that people flocked to Itunes from their first or even second listen of the song except maybe her stans. Most people were driven crazy with the song and after hearing it for the umpteenth time, they bought it.
  
  It all comes back to label support. Rihanna’s label gives the radio stations incentives to play her music constantly. Hearing a song constantly will eventually cause people to buy the song. But Christina Aguilera’s label does not give incentives for reasons unbeknownst to me. I can say with confidence that if Christina’s label gave radio stations incentives to play “Not Myself Tonight”, it would’ve been a hit. Or if people used it in commercials like people did with Adele’s music, Christina would’ve been okay. Adele’s music was everywhere. Almost every song from her album was used in TV shows and commercials. Many people bought 21 because they heard the songs over and over again. Think about Jessie J’s “Price Tag”. That song was used in many commercials and shows, that’s why it became a hit. Look at her other songs, you don’t hear those songs as much so that’s why they go nowhere.
  
  I believe that it all comes down the consumer annoyance/bombardment. Good singers could be back on top if listeners were basically harassed with the music. It’s really messed up but that’s one of the only ways for vocalists to rule the airwaves again. That’s why non singers are on top, people are harassed to the point of exhaustion and they give up and give in.
- Lonny
  
  For the Xtina Aguilera example. “Not Myself Tonight” wasn’t a great song. It was trendy. It actually cheated her vocals with all the technology.
  
  “Bionic” wasn’t a bad album though. “Elastic Love” “Prima Domma” and “Desnudate” are upbeat songs that sounded good. Esther Dean wrote on “Vanity” and people love her Rihanna and Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj work so it was pop enough and well made enough. But people didn’t even try the album because of a poor single despite knowing that Xtina is a vocalist..or maybe because they know she is one and expected that to mean “boring”
- http://www.Romeoscorner.net Romeo
  
  I have to agree with all of this. I’ve said it time and again, Jessie J is a much better VOCALIST than Adele is. Adele pretty much sounds the same ALL the time on ALL of her songs; she doesn’t attempt those vocal gymnastics like most Divas like riffs, runs or anything. Instead she sings the song just like the record and it gets boring.
  
  I think that Jessie J failed to catch anyones attention because her team doesn’t know what to do with her. She’s like this girly girl yet comes off like a dyke (no offense to anyone) but she just doesn’t know what to do with herself and nobody knows what direction she’s going in.
  
  I also think ‘Not Myself Tonight’ was grossly underrated, the song was good and so was her voice. Had someone else sang the song, say Lady GaGa, Rihanna or Katy Perry, it most likely would have been a hit…why? Because none of those women can sing like Christina can and also because they have more support from their teams and from their label.
- Cindy
  
  Hmm I agree with half of what your saying Trent. I am a lamb so I can definetly appreciate amazing vocal ability, however when it comes to Jessie J I feel like she does too damn much every performance. Its like every time she goes on stage she has to ensure she shows off every single ounce of her range, its like ‘hey look at all the notes I can hit!’. As well as being impressive, its also quite annoying. I wouldn’t put this down to me being a lazy listener. Also I live in london and jessie j had massive success here last year, most succesful debut artist of 2011, and so did rihanna who broke numerous records as well as adele so I don’t tink its as simple as that.
- olly_tei
  
  Until a top vocalist comes out with something which sounds like a definitive number 1 smash but with vocal gymnastics in toe, and we see it flop, this theory won’t be concluded.
  
  I think a good test would be beyonce’s “Radio”. Its not over the top but it definitely shows off her vocal capabilities and it sounds like it would’ve been a number 1 had it been releases in 2008/9/10…. i’m not so sure how it will fare now. Europop has taken a backseat to dance (tinged with dubstep). I think thats also why some of Gaga’s new single are selling aswell
- olly_tei
  
  are not selling as well*
- Lals
  
  I agree, but Christina Aguilera is not a vocalist. Her off key barking can barely be called singing. She can’t even hit half the notes she hit in the studio live without sounding like a straining mess.
- theman
  
  I strongly disagree with you about the Adele Jessie and Leona thing, Adele has shown several times that her voice can be versatile. It’s not always about range, rather execution. Leona voice is way too whiny, and Jessie J is still trying to see who she is as an artist. Adele’s voice is far more polished than both of the ladder two…
- Bee
  
  sunshine says:
  January 3, 2012 at 6:26 pm
  I totally agree, I was nodding my head agreeing with all the points in this article. Hopefully music gets a lot better in 2012 because I’m sick n tired of pop/club music being mainstream. Ive actually haven’t listened to the radio since 2007 I’m dead serious.
  —————-
  Same situation with me except around late 2008. Not only has the quality of mainstream (pop) music been quite poor the past few years but ever since this annoying phase of electropop-dance music, there has been NO variety on mainstream radio (no r&b, rock, alternative, etc – just the same dance-pop music, most of which severely lack quality w/ the overuse of autotune, overly simple & repative lyrics, etc) Late 2008 is where I started listening to the radio less and less. I typically would turn on the radio, flip through a couple of stations and be satisfied with what was playing but by late 2008 I was constantly flipping through stations each time I turned the radio on, trying to find something “descent” to listen until I eventually completely stopped bothering to turn on the radio at all. However, I feel like 2011 has been an improvement since 2009/10.
  ====================
  
  Micah says:
  January 3, 2012 at 6:55 pm
  Catchy songs have been a part of the music industry for so long …Abba, Destiny’sChild, Aaliyah, hell even ur Queen Mariah with her Touch My Body, Shake it off,etc.
  —————
  That is so not the point of his post. Also, a song can be catchy but can still contain great vocals/be quality music. The songs that are catchy today are extremely repetitive and simplistic with very poor lyrics & vocals (all production) and ridden with autotune.
  Also “Shake It Off” isn’t particularly catchy especially compared to ‘lesser’ songs like “Firework” or “We Found Love”.
  =================
  
  @DOMOdotSCORE:
  Agreed! In the end it comes down to greed – its all about the easiest way for the ~~artist~~ RECORD LABEL to make a profit.
- The Truth
  
  I agree with Trent on all points even in reference to Adele. Yes she is above most the main hot 100 artists vocally but not that great. She is good. However her music and production are what help her too. Production in a song also plays an important part in how well a song charts.
- jokerjojo
  
  this article was wrong in a lot of ways…..first those great vocalist like mariah,celine and whitney had great material and ballads but leona lewis’s music is just sad.she has no emotion in her voice and its all comes across boring.jessie j just hasent broken in well to the u.s because shes looks like a wannabe gaga.rihanna.&katy and america dosent like copycats.xtina has had major success all this decade.her single and album flopped because gaga comparisons.bad promo,a horrid video ,and bionic wasent that great in the first place(im a huge xtina stan too, i own the cd) also we found love video made people love the song and she’s a huge star. gaga and rihanna are like the madonna and janet of today, they are the biggest pop stars out.also everything they do will have major success. it has nothing to do with vocals.its the music and visuals and the name. compare price tag,obsessed,collide,not myself tonight to we found love and well WFL is just better, vocals or not those songs were not that great to begin with and neither is WFL but the video made up for it unlie those
- Alex
  
  I agree with a lot of what this article says, but I do have to say that Lady Gaga has an amazing voice. Search videos of her just playing the piano and singing, and you will see that she’s actually talented
- Alex
  
  I agree with a lot of what this article says, but I do have to say that Lady Gaga has an amazing voice. Search videos of her just playing the piano and singing, and you will see that she’s actually talented compared to Katy, Rihanna, Jessie J, and Ke$ha. The Adele point about her not being a powerhouse singer is actually true. She is a really good singer, but the reason people liked her was due to the fact that her music is depressing and has a lot of emotion, leading people to say she is an amazing, talented singer.
- Americanboi
  
  i think someone above made a very good point also when they said a great voice doesn’t necessarily equate to good music. Alot of artist can sing, but they just put out music that sucks. i.e Jennifer Hudson. Her latest album was TERRIBLE. And even though Rihanna and Katy Perry can’t sing for shit, they put out some great “For the moment” catchy music that makes people want to listen to it over and over again.
  
  to the people saying the labels give radio stations incentives to play certain artist music…not really true. radio stations play what people WANT to hear. They won’t play WFL over and over again if majority of the listeners didn’t want to hear it, because if people don’t like it they change the channel. And they can’t that. People loved WFL. People HATED Xtina’s single. Nobody wanted to hear it. Had she had promoted it more people STILL wouldn’t have wanted to hear it. The song SUCKED. Beyonce RAN with RTW even after the bad feedback from the leak, she still promoted it (best she could) and radio stations still weren’t spinning it like talking about even after the great video, simply b/c the song was just BAD. My bestie works at a radio station and we always have conversations about current music and the audiences and stuff.
- King B
  
  Trent doesn’t seem to understand that a great voice =/= great music. Hence NMT flopping disastrously.
  
  And he also doesn’t understand that a technically better voice =/= overall better singer. Adele might not have the biggest voice out there, but she makes the best of what she has, and does a damn good job of it. And singing isn’t her only talent, she’s also a songwriter and people clearly can relate to her music, hence her universal appeal. Jessie and Leona don’t have that. Not to mention that some of the most revered artists ever aren’t great singers, but Trent apparently seems to think that the history of music only consists of Aretha Franklin and Mariah Carey. He made some great points about the current musical climate, but his theory on why things are the way they are are just way off-base. I mean seriously, you work in the music industry, and this is the tripe that you write? This article makes you look as if you have NO IDEA how things actually work in music.
  
  BTW, didn’t you use to dog the hell out of Christina for her bad singing techniques at one point? Now you consider her a great singer and ponder why her last album failed? Do you have selective amnesia or something?
- http://conversationchamber.forumotion.net/forum.htm CzarM
  
  In order for things to change, I think there will have to be an industry PUSH in the direction of the ‘vocalist’, after “a” vocalist comes around and has surprise (profitable) success. That’s always how it happens. Gaga came along with cheesy dance/pop at a time when hip hop had dominated the top 40 for years, and folks were tired of the same ol’. People suddenly gravitated to her for no other reason than because she was “different” when a change was needed…then the industry took notice and started hyping her to hell and from there all the dance/pop clones followed. As a result, we now ultimately have a scene overrun by dance music – simply because of this game of “Follow the Leader/Supply & Demand.” The record label and radio suits ignorantly believe it’s all people wanna hear as they force-feed more of it down everyone’s throats.
  
  Dance music always tends to get popular in the last few years of one decade and first few of the next, but then dies down again. It’s been a good 4 years of wall to wall dance music now, pretty soon people WILL get sick of it. The popularity of euro/electropop/dance-pop/dubstep, from what I can tell, is on autopilot/replay mode now. It’s accepted because it’s all that’s out being mass marketed. I think in the upcoming months the music listening public will become open to a shift away from it (hell, one can argue that the success of Adele might be the first straw to the demise of dance music.) If during this moment of vulnerability some R&B vocalists can produce something compelling enough to capture mainstream attention at a time when people receptive to hearing something “different,” and if the industry then pushes that model from there, then we may possibly see a return of the ‘vocalist.’ But it’s going to take something ear-popping and noticeable, not some uber-generic Trey Songz/Keyshia Cole snore-fest.
  
  The sad truth is that even though dance music sucks, the R&B genre hasn’t been on its game since about 2001. The genre has been on life-support ever since and doesn’t know what to do with itself. Nothing killed R&B, IT lost its own luster and willingly took a seat behind Hip Hop. Something (or someone) fresh and new is going to have to come out it in order to jump-start it again.
- http://laternativa.wordpress.com Yoggy
  
  Hi. Well, I’m agree with you at some point. But, I don’t enjoy dance/club song. So I’m not the lazy listener of dance song. I’m more into simple songs about life&love, like Adele, Taylor Swift, and Mumford & Sons. So, not everyone who don’t listen to singers with annoying vocal acrobatics are lazy listeners. Just my 2 cents.
- mimii
  
  What he is said about Adele is 100% true! Honestly, lots of people can sing Adele’s songs well cause its not difficult. But the great songs by Mariah, Whitney, Celine etc. can’t be replicated and are extremely difficult to sing.
- killbill
  
  @Americanboi Are you serious about Adele hanging in their with Leona, I guess you need to go watch her sing on youtube. Adele vocals are average compared to the vocal runs of Jessie J or the belting of Leona. Not many people could sing Who You Are, because of the runs and riffs she execute, and not many people could sing Bleeding Love because of the control and flexibility, but Someone Like You and & Rolling in The Deep are easy to execute or cover perhaps John Legend who covered it, and sounded just as great. Trent seems he studies vocals a lot because he knows what he is talking about.
- Ariana
  
  I mostly agree with Americanboi and King B statements. Vocalists have failed to deliver great songs, their albums lacked consistency -music that only hard core stans appreciate-, and poor PR management were the common denominator.
  
  To call the younger generation as lazy just because they prefer to listen to Rihanna over Mariah or Christina it doesn’t make any sense to me. Every generation is different, in the 70s people were listening to Pink Floyd and Queen, in the 80s glam rock bands such as Aerosmith were taking over, in the 90s R&B powerhouse vocalists and grounge bands -as weird as that sound- were the biggest sellers.
  
  This generation enjoy listening to different types of music; music that we may not like but that doesn’t necessarily make them lazy or stupid. People’s likes always change and it will keep its course like that.
  
  As soon as these “good singers” like Mariah -whom I love btw- come up with great music -and with a great PR team behind- I bet people will buy their music, whether there are crazy difficult vocals runs or not.
- Ariana
  
  Oh and the whole Adelé vs. Leone vs. Jessie is nonsense. I don’t care who owns a higher vocal range. Is about wheter you like their songs or not.
  
  I really don’t give a fuck if I can keep up with the original vocals, if I love the song I sing it, duh!
  Leona may be a better vocalist than Adelé but I much prefer to listen to the last one since she’s not a snooze fest like her peer.
- L21480
  
  Honestly, I don’t think music has ever been as bad as it is right now…and that’s saying a lot. I really think a tide NEEDS to turn like RIGHT NOW because music is dying. And that’s not just me being dramatic because I hate everything out now; look at music sales. These days you’re lucky to sell 1 million. WTF is THAT? These so-called “pop stars” of today don’t have any personality, real star appeal or cultural impact. They seem more like video game characters. At this rate, I predict that it won’t be long until they have the technology to digitally create a pop star, and live action performers become obsolete…and yes I DO blame this current generation for being flaky enough to embrace such an overabundance of mediocrity at once. There have always been poseurs, puppets and manufactured pop stars…but damn! This is too much now.
- http://www.youtube.com/JonathanGardnerTV Jonathan Gardner
  
  I see absolutely no fucking lies here!
  
  One of your best posts Trent!
- Dan
  
  Definitely 1 of your worst post because it’s just plain wrong
- Myra
  
  You clearly dont know ANYTHING about music or the industry. Sorry but if you want Mariah & Xtina to have hits, they need to make better music, because despite your opinions on the music out today, its getting more attention & better reviews than your flopping faves. So stop hating.
- DOMOdotSCORE
  
  @AmericanBoi
  Okay if incentives aren’t given, then how do songs get played? When a song is brand new and it’s sent to radio, do people have to request the song or does radio stations automatically play the song? When a new song is first sent to your friend’s radio station, does the station automatically play the song or do the jockies wait until someone calls the station and asks for the song to be played? I’m really curious. I understand radio playing the song because people request it after it’s been out for a week or two. But when a song is just being released, What is the process for the song being added to rotation?
  ——————–
  
  Another question that I have for everyone is why is it that non singers can get away with terrible material but good singers cannot? Why is it that non singers can release catchy and simple songs but when it comes to real singers, we have high standards. Music, in general, hasn’t been good in a while but it seems as though we are harder on those with the actual vocal talent instead those without. Yes, Jennifer Hudson’s last album wasn’t very good but neither was Rihanna’s but it seems as though we hold Jennifer to a higher standard. Why is that? Good singers’ material is no worse than non singers but we allow non singers to get away with less. So is material really the problem? or is something else going on?
- plain & simple
  
  With all this payola going on with itunes & the radio stations the real artists with really great voices will not have a chance because itunes and the radio will keep certian artist in the first, second & third positions on the chart. I really don’t trust itunes and the radio stations also
- plain & simple
  
  Trent I really like this Blog. Some blogs have alot of made up stories then have the fans arguing with each other over a lie. SMH
- plain & simple
  
  Also in order to make it in the industry you have to sell your soul. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2xUaTv0jm8
- Shawna
  
  Yall who agree with this is stupid, which dont suprise me at all.
- TeamBreezy
  
  SUCH A STUPID ARTICLE …
  
  MUSIC EVOLVES, ARTISTS EVOLVE AND SO DO WE!
  
  …DO YOUR RESEARCH AND GO BACK TO THE DAYS BEFORE THE 90S, WHEN MJ, DIANA ROSS, DONNA SUMMERS, CHER AND SO MANY MORE WERE DOMINATING MUSIC IN THEIR ERA AND DID NOT INHIBIT STRONG VOCALS
  
  THIS IS JUST AN ATTEMPT TO THROW SHADE AT RIHANNA ONCE AGAIN..
  
  #FAIL #FAIL #FAIL #NEXT
  - Anonymous
    
    MJ and Donna Summer weren’t strong vocalists? Are you sure about that?
- http://nobullshhh.wordpress.com/ DTG
  
  It’s really very simple: this generation of 12-24 y.o. music listeners are very shallow and readily accepts mediocrity because they are too ignorant to know better. They listen to likes of Gaga, Rihanna, Ke$ha, LMFAO for Godsake while sashaying in ridiculous skinny jeans and bad emo hair.
  
  Hopefully they’ll grow out of it, and soon…but until they do, we’re stuck with their bad music choices.
- Shawna
  
  DTG just made a fool of themself. You just desplayed how shallow you are. If anything its shallow to think that “if you can sing, you should have hits no matter what forever” bitch please, if the music sucks, it’ll flop, and thats all there is too it, demand that your faves with the big pipes start making better music so they wont be failing like they are. You guys can talk all the bullshit you want about who’s hott & on top today but obviously they’re doing something that your faves arent.
- Julien
  
  I’m going to really need for people to stop trying to turn Jessie J. into a superstar. I have yet to hear anything remotely good from her and her look is blah!
- Justin
  
  While I agree that there are no good singers anymore, I think Adele is actually an impressive singer. Yes, she sings in a comfortable range and doesn’t push her voice but she sings well.
  
  Not everyone who likes good music and some good singing wants some oversinging by Jessie J, Christina and Mariah. Yes, they are amazing singers but they oversing too much. Intricate and melodic runs and adlibs are great but when overdone (which is what they do in almost every performance), then it sucks..
  
  Brandy has cleaner runs and doesn’t oversing as much. I love me some Nicole Scherzinger as well, that bitch can truly sang and is easily the most talented popstar along with Bey.
- Justin
  
  You guys should understand that singing isn’t about how high you can go or how intricate the vocal runs you can do.
  
  Singing is about connecting to people through good lyrics, good music and a good voice. Sadly, Mariah, Christina and Jessie J are only concerned about hitting the high notes and showing off how powerful their voices are and how melismatic their runs are.
  
  P.S.: Christina Aguilera isn’t even a good technical singer. Her high notes aren’t supported well by the diaphragm and hits them from her throat. That is the basics of correct singing and she doesn’t even know how to do it. Even Rihanna and Katy Perry who aren’t very good singers know how to hit a note correctly.
- Ni
  
  @Justin… Please I have heard Rihanna and Katy Perry so call sing live and no they do not know how to hit a note correctly. Please stop the lies… Neither one of them would be able to sing a duet with a Mariah nor a Whitney Houston or Ledisi or Christina. This is why they are Pop singer because they do not have to compete with real singers. I can tell you are a stan and its okay but there is no need to embellish.
- Mia
  
  And Whitney & Mariah are way to boring to keep up with any of the pop acts today, and too predictable. Oh and sorry but anybody can outsing Whitney today, her vocals are snatched. Im sorry I just hate it when stupid people think “If you can sing loud you should be on top” bitches please, if your putting people to sleep then yo ass need to flop (which is what they all doin)
- whnotaskwhy1980
  
  Well done and articulated Trent. This is why you’re one of the best entertainment taste makers online. You won’t kiss @$$, you’ll tell the truth. The other blogs have been bought and sold, not yours. Kudos sir!
- Ni
  
  @ mia and this is what happens…. reading is fundamental if you would take the time and read the article you would understand but of course like Trent said before the younger generation want instant dance music and repetition songs. Why is it when people disagree you have to call people out of their name it is so childlike… there is no need for b**ches that is not cute. We can agree to disagree.
- grown
  
  Dumb article… are you sure that you know anything about music history because If you do you would not write so much nonsense… In every era bare none there have been great technical singers, great singer/songwriters and great stars who may not have great abilities at singing or writing or performing. It takes alot more than just singing well or even having great material to have a hit song. You must be able to connect with your audience. Rihanna is successful because her songs/image work for her… we get her and we believe when she sings. Diana Ross was not a great singer, neither is Madonna, Janet Jackson, etc… also tastes change in music… in the 70s Disco was big and so was soft rock… only a few R&B singres made it big singing R&b back then
- http://Shah Endures
  
  I disagree bccoversinging is terrible too
- heidi
  
  I sware to God, I just can’t stand these vocal runs that Christina, mariah, Witney just do.
  I mean, they were so over rated before, but I’m just glad that as over as they once were.
  some people think that Celine Dion over sings, and they couldn’t be wronger at all.
  While she does some rifs and runs, she does them the correct and propper way, but the other ones that I just said?
  I did listen to them when I was younger, and I honestly couldn’t get through the dam songs from start to finish with out having to deal with there painfully uncomfterable acrobatics.
  I sware to God, it will be a day in hell when I start to like that and that day in hell is never, thank god.
- Emma
  
  Whilst I totally agree with the sentiment of this article, Janet Jackson (a very good vocalist) is mentioned in the same sentence as Madonna (very successful but vocally limited) and suggests that ‘Rolling in the Deep’ is easy to sing (though it is) because Nicole Scherzinger (whose vocals wipe the floor with the strained, ugly voice of Adele) “managed” it. Adele’s success is simply down to the millions that she has sold to dumpy women who buy into the “That could be me” philosophy. She’s no more than a younger version of the similarly visually plain and vocally less than spectacular Susan Boyle.
- mary
  
  And there is the most exciting live performer and powerhouse vocalist Adam Lambert who the world needs to hear and cant get radio play. There is something wrong here.
- http://LOL-Psychic.com Lauriellen
  
  So that’s why we don’t hear Adam Lambert’s new music.
- Pingback:
  Last Chance: 5 Steps to Save Christina Aguilera's Career :: The Lava Lizard
- Pingback:
  How Mediocrity Became the Music Industry Status Quo
- - Search for:
  - Hot Stories
    - A GIF Celebration: JoJo Signs New Record Deal
      0 Comments
    - Beyonce the Sex Merchant Demands Gender Equality
      0 Comments
    - Make That Change: Ten Artists Who Need Reinvention
      0 Comments
    - Trini Trent TV: Beyonce’s New Album
      Comments Off Comments
    - Trini Trent TV: 2013 AMA Review
      Comments Off Comments
- - Hot Links

Boiling Point: Why Good Singers Fail On Pop Radio Today

Thoughts?

Hot Stories

Hot Links

Trini Trent TV

Latest News

The Archives

Boiling Point: Why Good Singers Fail On Pop Radio Today

Thoughts?

Hot Stories

Hot Links

Trini Trent TV

Latest News

Hot Tags

The Archives