[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by LiverpoolWalrus

This is a really good article on the state of pop music today.

Excerpt: "An astonishing amount of today’s popular music is written by two people: Lukasz Gottwald of the United States and Max Martin from Sweden, who are both responsible for dozens of songs in the top 100 charts. You can credit Max and Dr. Luke for most the hits of these stars:

Katy Perry, Britney Spears, Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, Jessie J., KE$HA, Miley Cyrus, Avril Lavigne, Maroon 5, Taio Cruz, Ellie Goulding, NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Ariana Grande, Justin Timberlake, Nick Minaj, Celine Dion, Bon Jovi, Usher, Adam Lambert, Justin Bieber, Domino, Pink, Pitbull, One Direction, Flo Rida, Paris Hilton, The Veronicas, R. Kelly, Zebrahead

With only two people writing much of what we hear, is it any wonder music sounds the same, using the same hooks, riffs and electric drum effects?"

Why Pop Music Is So Bad These Days ~ The Imaginative Conservative

My understanding is that it is to those two composers that we owe two things that are omnipresent in contemporary pop music:
1) repetitive riffs at the ends of lines that are SUNG (uh-uh-uh-u-uh-uh) instead of PLAYED. (This is why guitar, keyboard, horns aren’t often used as solo instruments in pop these days—their parts are being sung. This isn’t necessarily bad, but it is conspicuous once you are alerted to it.)
2) the use of minor scales closely associated with traditional music (and then pop music) from the Middle East, such as Turkey and Syria. (Again, this is not necessarily bad, but it is different.)