Exposure to music.

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pmp
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Exposure to music.

#1821985

Post by pmp »

I was talking about this issue over on the Sinatra forums and thought it would be interesting to bring it up here, too.

I'm going to simply copy and paste some of what I wrote there to start with:
...What i find more problematic is that, because of the way things are now, people get to hear a much narrower range of music than they used to, and they see a much narrower range of film and TV than they used to. When I grew up, there were four TV channels, and if it was a rainy day in the school holidays you had a choice of an Elvis film on BBC2 or a Judy Garland film on Channel 4! So you watched one or the other. Now, people often find their own niche on a cable channel or Netflix etc, and watch what they already know they like. Therefore they're not exposed to a lot of stuff in the way that people my age and older were.

The same is true with music, I think. People can listen to the Elvis channel - or, indeed, the Sinatra channel - on something like Sirius, and only hear music that they already know they're going to like or be familiar with. Or they can ask Alexa to play nothing but Justin Bieber all day. But ten or twenty years ago, if you had the radio on, then you were likely (in the UK at least) to hear quite a range of songs - even if it was a chart station like Radio 1, you'd hear rap and rock and pop or whatever. Now, you can just tune out all the bits you don't want to hear and go off and hear only what you know you like. And I find that rather sad.

That makes me sound like a "days were better when I was young" old fogey, and I don't believe that for the most part, but I think exposure to something is important - and not just Sinatra, but anything. And I think the trend over the last decade or so for governments to view music lessons etc at school as relatively unimportant means that lots of people never get to hear anything new that might inspire them. I was so lucky when I was eleven to go to high school and have a great teacher of classroom music lessons who I somehow connected with and started my journey into classical music. But without that exposure to those pieces we examined in class (Danse Macabre, Vltava, Till Eulenspiegel etc), that never would have happened - and I wonder how much harder lockdown would have been for me if that wasn't the case.
That was two days ago. And then I started reading a horror novel last night, and this is what I came across...
IMG_20210227_153014504.jpg
It's a complete coincidence that I came across that by accident just after writing the other comments.
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SteamrollerBlues
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Re: Exposure to music.

#1821988

Post by SteamrollerBlues »

I definitely fall into the rut of only viewing or listening to things I know I'm going to like. I find myself binging Tom Segura's Netflix specials instead of finding something new, because I already know I'm going to find him funny. I watch Rescue Me, not only because I'm a huge Denis Leary buff, but I already know I'm going to relate to the subject matter no matter how many times I've watched the series. And the same can be said for Elvis or blink-182, Angels & Airwaves, The Gaslight Anthem, insert artist here...it's familiar and I know I like it. I've become more cognizant of this lately and I've been trying to go out of my way to ingest something new, whether it's through my Spotify Discover Weekly or the Netflix feature that will pick something new for me to watch based on my tastes. Interesting topic, pmp, thanks!



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Re: Exposure to music.

#1822338

Post by Gamma Master »

You're spot on pmp, and of course I'm guilty of it myself, it's all to easy to just find something that you like and then listen to/watch it over and over and over again. I find myself not really listening to things outside of the genres I enjoy, because I don't have to listen to things I might not enjoy, as you say, I can just tell Alexa to play my Elvis playlist and just like that I'm listening to pure Elvis. I do end up getting exposed to new stuff when I'm at work and they usually have 'Magic' on, but I don't particularly enjoy much of what they play on that, and when I'm driving in my car, if I've not got my playlist on, I listen to 'Absolute Radio' which is what my Dad normally listens to, but then again, that's pretty much just a loop of the same songs every day (but they don't repeat songs on that day which is nice though). I don't really have much exposure to 'new' music really, mainly because I don't really enjoy much of it, my friends (well at least a good 75-80% of them) all listen to that Rap music and other things in a similar vein, and I just can't get into it, which believe me, really sucks when you're at a party and it's all that gets played (although my friends often let me play a couple of my own tunes though, I tend to try and pick some of the songs that they may be more familiar with in terms of musical style, make it a little more recognisable for them, let's just say that 'My Babe' gets more of an airing than 'Fairytale', no matter how much I enjoy the latter :D ). So realistically, when I'm listening to music it's just the same old stuff which I enjoy, I do sometimes let fresh blood in though :) At any social event with my friends or when I'm with other people I do get exposed to newer stuff, although I find myself recoiling like a vampire exposed to sunlight at the music being played, but I suppose we do have somewhat contrasting tastes ;)

Like SteamrollerBlues (fantastic avatar by the way!) though, I often do try and go out of my way to listen to something new now and again, but it's just too easy to stick to one's comfort zone.


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mike edwards66
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Re: Exposure to music.

#1825903

Post by mike edwards66 »

I, for one, am always actively seeking new musical performances. Here's one I like from a few years ago. Enjoy:



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Re: Exposure to music.

#1826211

Post by mike edwards66 »

The first person this guy heard sing Unchained Melody was Elvis. Enjoy:



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Re: Exposure to music.

#1826437

Post by mike edwards66 »

I Can Speak Spanish. Enjoy:



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Re: Exposure to music.

#1829390

Post by mike edwards66 »

Mexican Girl. Enjoy:



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NeverEndingLove
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Re: Exposure to music.

#1861737

Post by NeverEndingLove »

mike edwards66 wrote:
Tue Mar 23, 2021 10:35 pm
The first person this guy heard sing Unchained Melody was Elvis. Enjoy:

My favorite Chinese singer Justin Lo (actually he was born in the US and is mostly known as a singer active in Hong Kong) sang this song live on a mainland Chinese TV show as well:




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Re: Exposure to music.

#1861738

Post by NeverEndingLove »

I don't worry too much about the limited exposure to music, since I'm very subjective and judgmental with my musical taste anyway. I quickly dismiss music that does not grab me, including most trendy styles today. To quote the band Genesis: I know what I like, I like what I know.


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