Old 02-07-2020, 09:22 AM   #1
Peterk312
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Default "Bedroom Pop" as a genre?

In Reference to the NBC news article:
https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/...sical-n1131926

I just wanted to share this with fellow REAPER users and this thread seems to fit here.


Bedroom Pop. I'll call it BP. I'd rather call it BP because putting the term "bedroom" into the label instantly cheapens it. I and you have heard about this but not through the mainstream news media. Youtube among other video websites has for many years been a place that if you want to write a song and then make a video of it in whatever way you're capable of as an independent (unsigned) artist, there's a platform for it on the Internet. Anyone can of course do this, but in the end, there's one thing that seperates those who get the most attention other than how well they know how to advertise or exploit themselves: genuine talent.

Genuine talent becomes more important for the BP artist because you don't get to make the slick videos (e.g., sexploitation of female artists) that are so good at hiding marginal musicianship or vocals. The song itself gets the spotlight because BP artists are not employing pro engineers to make the best recordings. It's actually a better opportunity in some ways than the old route many of us went trudging to some studio shelling out hundreds or thousands on a demo that odds were wasn't going anywhere. We weren't doing much different then as these BP artists are doing now --except of course for the giant technology now available and affordable and high enough quality to do this stuff in your own freakin' bedroom!

And it makes sense that these BP artists are now getting somewhere because of the technology being more reliable, affordable, and much easier to use. I remember the first Sonar DAW that Cakewalk made. What a nightmare! It would crash constantly turning music production into a torture session. Pro Tools was out of reach of most people's budget, and computers sucked in terms of CPU power, RAM capability, audio cards, latency problems, etc and still cost an insane amount of money compared to what you can buy now and do with it.

So yes, it's a sign of the times that BP is now becoming something of a genre of its own.

But some points in the news article disturb me. I don't understand why women seem to be the ones benefiting the most from the "new" genre, even to the extent that A&R people have noticed them and then signed them to their label. And it's not believable to me that these artists sign on only to retain all creative powers. I also can't understand why the author suggests BP is more appealing to the LGBTQ community, except perhaps for BP assumed to be "outsider" music. Highly ironic is it though that a few BP artists have forsaken their bedrooms to become absorbed by the music industry anyway. I don't think once they've done that they deserve to be considered part of the BP genre anymore.

Maybe this is really about making something old look new again? I mean, lots of people have written songs in their bedrooms. I've written songs in bathrooms. Can I start a new genre and call it "Bathroom Pop" ?

Not to end on a cynical note, but I think eventually the music industry will seek to snuff out BP as a respectable genre. I can see a BP artist being accused of plagiarizing a song from a major label. Fear of lawsuits or having one's own material stolen as a BP artist would hold some of us back. But still, I've said for years the Internet has remained an untapped opportunity for many artists who have genuine talent worthy of appreciation and who should be sharing their art to inspire us all but for one reason or another they'd never be signed and mainstreamed. That's encouraging enough because everyone deserves more than just one chance to present their own music to the world.
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Old 02-07-2020, 09:47 AM   #2
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I don't understand why women seem to be the ones benefiting the most from the "new" genre, even to the extent that A&R people have noticed them and then signed them to their label.
I have not read the article yet but as a part time BP creator, it's probably the boobs (proverbially)... and I don't mean that in an objectively demeaning way - it's just a fact of life watching an attractive female is apparently more interesting and will pull more traffic than some dude - at least by what I see in my suggested videos on YT which is what made me think it's a possibility. There's a reason a lot of album covers from the 70s didn't show band members.

I agree though on the premise of the overall post, it's likely the new breeding ground for music (exiting since this was on my radar as early as 2001) for awhile now and one of the reasons I do what little I do in a similar manner.
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Old 02-07-2020, 02:37 PM   #3
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Maybe I should go back on the hormone implants I had when recovering from cancer...
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Old 02-07-2020, 10:00 PM   #4
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I love bedroom pop. So great.
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Old 02-08-2020, 10:49 AM   #5
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I think that due to the availability of software like Reaper, so many more artists are able to express themselves without having to go to a "pro" studio.

Sure there's lot's of crap-artists (me included), but there are hidden gems should you be willing to dig deep into the InterWebz.

Here's another odd/weird genre category - I've seen ads on YouTube for learning how to play "Worship Guitar." Can someone explain that one to me.
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Old 02-08-2020, 11:05 AM   #6
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Worship Guitar is nothing more than Explosions In The Sky-esque post rock / ambient. Pedals, shimmer reverb, delays stacked on delays. And lots of volume swells. Stuff that bands like Mogwai pioneered. "Epic", in a sense. It's pretty. I can't argue that.
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Old 02-08-2020, 01:38 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by karbomusic View Post
I have not read the article yet but as a part time BP creator, it's probably the boobs (proverbially)... and I don't mean that in an objectively demeaning way - it's just a fact of life watching an attractive female is apparently more interesting and will pull more traffic than some dude
Interestingly - I remember hearing a podcast in which they were discussing clickbait with some professionals in the field, and apparently the research actually shows that a thumbnail/pic of an attractive woman actually solicits more clicks from both women AND men. It's the most clickable image, full stop. Of course there's a certain type of hyper sexualised image that is obviously designed to appeal to men, but if you're just generally talking about attractive women getting clicks, then that is just as much women clicking as it is men (apparently).

I'm not sure I agree with you entirely on this point though. The biggest proponent of bedroom pop right now is Billie Ellish, in fact she's the reason the phrase is suddenly on everyone's lips. Her and her very talented brother just swept the grammys with an album they literally wrote and produced in their bedroom (plus an expensive mixing and mastering chain before final release that conveniently doesn't get mentioned, but hey, still very impressive). When she emerged with 'Ocean Eyes' she was 14 I think, so of course her image was not sexualised in the slightest, and it still isn't. In fact she seems to go out of her way to appear genuinely grotesque in many of her videos.

Of course you could argue this is a marketing strategy in itself, she's playing to her bedroom pop roots by openly defying the typical industry standards of how a female teenage pop singer should present herself in a music video, but my point is that people respond to this rejection of industry standards, they acknowledge it and like it, so I really don't think sex sells in the same way in this specific industry that it did 30 years ago. Consumers are a bit wiser to crass manipulation. Only a BIT mind you, but they are.
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Old 02-08-2020, 01:44 PM   #8
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The biggest proponent of bedroom pop right now is Billie Ellish, in fact she's the reason the phrase is suddenly on everyone's lips.
I was more about when you see YT videos of people as unknown in mainstream popularity, with millions of subscribers. Granted I probably moved out of BP a little a bit since sometimes that's just someone playing covers but then it's "bedroom pop cover artist" I'm not bothered by it, and could just be anecdotal.
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Old 02-08-2020, 04:43 PM   #9
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Quote:
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...a thumbnail/pic of an attractive woman actually solicits more clicks from both women AND men. It's the most clickable image, full stop. Of course there's a certain type of hyper sexualised image that is obviously designed to appeal to men, but if you're just generally talking about attractive women getting clicks, then that is just as much women clicking as it is men (apparently).
--Okay, but that applies to getting traffic to your post. If what you posted still sucks, I doubt even if you call it Bedroom Pop anyone's going to care. Conversely, if you have material that you created entirely yourself that's impressive, and people like it, then what should you do to potentially get more traffic? --post it with a vid or still/thumbnail of an attractive woman? Can the same be said about creating a thumbnail of something like a cute dog or cat?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Joe90 View Post
The biggest proponent of bedroom pop right now is Billie Ellish, in fact she's the reason the phrase is suddenly on everyone's lips. Her and her very talented brother just swept the grammys with an album they literally wrote and produced in their bedroom...
--But if she's on a label now and has received music industry awards, how can her music still be considered "Bedroom Pop" ? Is it that, as you say, "defying the typical industry standards" is all it takes to be considered BP?
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Old 02-11-2020, 04:14 PM   #10
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"But some points in the news article disturb me. I don't understand why women seem to be the ones benefiting the most from the "new" genre, even to the extent that A&R people have noticed them and then signed them to their label."

I would guess it's because they get to compete on an equal footing artistically for the first time in ... ever.

And a perhaps slightly more than equal footing specifically on Youtube which is male dominated.
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Old 02-11-2020, 04:55 PM   #11
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I would guess it's because they get to compete on an equal footing artistically for the first time in ... ever.
From an actually getting signed perspective, I think that's great.
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