Last night, I listened to the podcast called “The Art Of Manliness.” Specifically the episode,”#432 How To Achieve Creative Success,” being a musician, I had to check it out. I highly recommend you make time to listen to the podcast. Bret McKay and Allen Gannett, author of the book “The Creative Curve,” discuss what it means to be creative, how to be creative, and how creative people actually come up with their ideas.

Gannett mentions the importance of familiarity and novelty. Humans are attracted to both these seemingly contradicting feelings. He uses the example of a prehistoric human to illustrate his point. A Neanderthal was more likely to sleep in a cave that they had already slept in. A new cave would create a sense of danger rather than the security provided by the familiar place of rest. While exploring, that same Neanderthal might have stopped and noticed a new type of berry and considered it as a new food source. This new berry creates a sense of novelty to the caveman. Because this wanderer has seen and eaten other berries, this seems safe enough to be ingested.

Humans are creatures. While we are advanced creatures, who can create art and music, we are still just animals. These same preferences the Neanderthal would have regarding its food and shelter are the same preferences we have regarding music. Pop music is popular because of its familiarity. New pop songs are novel as well. Artists take what has been done and work to change it just enough to feel different. Songwriters get paid a good amount of money to find this balance.

There is a lot to learn from Pop music. Maybe you prefer the underground stuff though. That’s great! However, as a musician, it’s important to realize why people like music and how to use that when writing music. Many people want to be professional musicians. An important step to making music that sells is writing music that people already are familiar with. Music has to be written to allow people to make subconscious connections to their favorite songs of today while still having a sense of novelty.

“Pop songs aren’t complex.”

“Pop songs are overplayed.”

“Pop songs all sound the same.”

Pop music is often bashed for not being complicated, being overplayed, and sounding like other pop music. Those aspects are exactly what makes it sell.

Complexity often leads to a less memorable song. As with anything, the more complex it is, the harder it is to memorize. It is far easier to remember a Halsey song than a Dragonforce song. That isn’t a debate; simpler things are easier for the human brain to process. That does not mean that complexity is bad. Often, pop songs are complicated in other ways, such as having more layers. It’s also more of a challenge to write a number one song than it is to sweep pick.

Music that is played more often creates a sense of familiarity. This actually makes people like the song even more. Have you ever listened to a song on repeat and noticed more of its subtleties? Being able to sing along also makes a song more fun to listen to. It is possible to hear a song too many times though. If you’re a real fan of music you’ve overplayed a song so much that it doesn’t give you the same satisfaction as the initial listens.

Pop songs being similar to other songs in the genre provides a sense of security for the listener. Many metal fans start out listening to classic metal, such as the big four (Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax) and Black Sabbath. These bands have the familiarity from classic rock songs everyone has heard while still bringing something new to the table. From there, their music taste will expand to songs with screaming and later extreme forms of metal. It’s rare to find someone who listened to bands like Cannibal Corpse and Behemoth before listening to any other metal. This same phenomenon is the reason Pop music is popular, it is what people recognize and identify with.

Some artists like Ed Sheeran use this idea of familiarity in different sections of songs. His song, Shape Of You, (I’m sure you’ve heard it) was one of the top songs in 2017. The introduction’s melody continues throughout the entire song. Sheeran adds in his signature percussive acoustic sounds and different instruments under the melody. Here is a video from The New York Times breaking down the hit;

https://youtu.be/ZpMNJbt3QDE

Some people think pop music isn’t written well because of its familiarity, it’s too similar. I’d have to argue pop music is written exactly for that reason. These songwriters often have as much songwriting talent as metal, rock, blues, and jazz musicians. Auto-tune and computer made beats might not be your “thing,” but it is clear their songwriting abilities aren’t bad. A hit song only happens when there is that sense of familiarity, security, and safety along with the feeling of novelty, freshness, and creativity.

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Make zero excuses;

-Matt, Shred ‘Till You’re Dead