Eurovision Song Contest 2018

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Comments

  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    I wonder if these same conversations are being had elsewhere in Europe ? Or do we really think we are better than the rest of them ?

    It's only a song. I really think most people are voting for the one they like and not remotely bothered about protest votes.

    Who holds Englebert Humperdinck up as the pinnacle of music ?

    I can see how brexit happened now.
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    Not sure where you get that from. Here are a few facts which suggest otherwise:
    http://www.statista.com/topics/3903/music-industry-in-europe
    Then you just need to look at how well British artists do round the world. Apart from the US, which country has the sort of music output that the UK has?

    Pop songwriting.

    Who do you think writes the billboard topping hits for Rhianna, Katy Perry etc?
    Clue: middle aged Swedes.
  • kingstongraham
    kingstongraham Posts: 28,244
    If anyone thinks it is down to the quality of the song or the staging, I refer you again to the 10th placed finalists:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5evrVL1rJPA
  • timothyw
    timothyw Posts: 2,482
    My only reflection, having watched the whole show, was that the song which was by some margin the worst was the one that won it.

    It's fair enough that the nutters that want to vote at home (up to twenty times, apparently) can vote for the shit one, but the fact that it was already in the top quarter from the jury votes was basically ridiculous.

    Didn't think the UK one was that bad this year, fairly catchy, although not winning standard - noticeable that the crowd were singing along. Either way had a lot to overcome given most of Europe fairly reasonably thinks we're arseholes.
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,879

    Pop songwriting.

    Who do you think writes the billboard topping hits for Rhianna, Katy Perry etc?
    Clue: middle aged Swedes.
    There a lot more to the music industry and even the pop music industry than just the penning of pop songs.

    Got any sources for your claim?
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    Ah more Stevo homework.

    There’s a clue in your own link. Google “Scandinavian pop song writing business” and you’ll get plenty of relevant hits.

    https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2015 ... c-factory/
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,879
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    There a lot more to the music industry and even the pop music industry than just the penning of pop songs.
    You missed an important bit.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 29,844
    Stevo 666 wrote:
    You missed an important bit.

    Something I posted above about taking Eurovision too seriously.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,879
    rjsterry wrote:

    Something I posted above about taking Eurovision too seriously.
    Nobody can take the Eurovision too seriously, but then again I don't think Rick can pass up an opportunity to do the UK down :wink:
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 29,844
    Has he hit a nerve? You seem never to be able to let one of his comments pass with out trying to rebut it.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,879
    rjsterry wrote:
    Has he hit a nerve? You seem never to be able to let one of his comments pass with out trying to rebut it.
    No, some people just need pulling up on this sort of thing and some people do it more than others. Now stop being such a Liberal and taking offence on behalf of others :wink:
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • rjsterry
    rjsterry Posts: 29,844
    Offended? No, just seeing if you'll bite ;) It obviously bothers you a bit or you wouldn't feel the need to put people right. And nothing wrong with that.
    1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
    Pinnacle Monzonite

    Part of the anti-growth coalition
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    I have a passing interest in who writes the songs of all the big pop songs; it’s a much smaller number of people than you first think.

    When people complain pop all sounds the same it’s usually because they’re in fact being written by the same bunch of people.

    U.K. is a huge music exporter, but, relative to Sweden (and given Sweden’s size vs the U.K.) the U.K. is less influential in mainstream pop. It has much broader influence m, and has an enormous back catalogue which is wonderfully profitable fwiw.

    Sweden are the kings of pop writing, really they are.
  • Stevo_666
    Stevo_666 Posts: 61,879
    I have a passing interest in who writes the songs of all the big pop songs; it’s a much smaller number of people than you first think.

    When people complain pop all sounds the same it’s usually because they’re in fact being written by the same bunch of people.

    U.K. is a huge music exporter, but, relative to Sweden (and given Sweden’s size vs the U.K.) the U.K. is less influential in mainstream pop. It has much broader influence m, and has an enormous back catalogue which is wonderfully profitable fwiw.

    Sweden are the kings of pop writing, really they are.
    I don't dispute that point - I'm looking at it in the wider sense of the music industry - a sector where I think it's fair to say that we are a world leader. Just maybe not in the part about writing catchy tunes.
    "I spent most of my money on birds, booze and fast cars: the rest of it I just squandered." [George Best]
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,660
    https://pudding.cool/2018/05/similarity/

    Tangentially related; someone's gone to the effort of using an algo to work out if pop songs are indeed sounding more and more alike.

    There's a decent bit on who's producing the hits.
    rom 2010-2014, the top ten producers (by number of hits) wrote about 40% of songs that achieved #1 - #5 ranking on the Billboard Hot 100. In the late-80s, the top ten producers were credited with half as many hits, about 19%.
    In other words, more songs have been produced by fewer and fewer topline songwriters, who oversee the combinations of all the separately created sounds. Take a less personal production process and execute that process by a shrinking number of people and everything starts to sound more or less the same.

    Uptown funk was written by, wait for it, 10 people.

    Crazy.
  • ballysmate
    ballysmate Posts: 16,017
    https://pudding.cool/2018/05/similarity/

    Tangentially related; someone's gone to the effort of using an algo to work out if pop songs are indeed sounding more and more alike.

    There's a decent bit on who's producing the hits.

    Uptown funk was written by, wait for it, 10 people.

    Crazy.

    Or depending on your musical tastes, 10 people admitted responsibility.
  • mrfpb
    mrfpb Posts: 4,569
    Wasn't there a period in the late 80s when Stock, Aiken and Waterman were responsible for 25% of UK top 40 hits? Of course more people were buying albums by the Smiths or U2 so the singles chart is not always the best barometer of overall taste or success. These days singer/songwriters like Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith or Adele are responsible for one or two juggernaut albums per year. I'd put them 8n the pop category rather than rock
  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    A contributing factor to mainland Europe countries always winning is that you can't vote for the same country from which you're 'phoning your vote. You're all bright in here (I haven't seen Coopster contribute yet) so you can figure out what advantage - say - Austria has over the UK when it comes to voting.

    And yes - when you've figured it out - people really do go to such length.
    Ben

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  • morstar
    morstar Posts: 6,190
    Search for '4 Chord Song' on Youtube by Axis of Awesome.
    It will give a startling insight into how formulaic pop music is. It is remarkably catchy, but that's kinda the point.
  • Matthewfalle
    Matthewfalle Posts: 17,380
    Ben6899 wrote:
    A contributing factor to mainland Europe countries always winning is that Britain isn’t that great and their entries are normally really rubbish

    Ftfy
    Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am

    De Sisti wrote:
    This is one of the silliest threads I've come across. :lol:

    Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour :D
    smithy21 wrote:

    He's right you know.

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