kaiserwilhelm:

I take this seriously as well. But blatantly ripping yourself off and throwing some different lyrics on it, helps NO ONE.

This is a clear example of laziness. It’s clearly the same song. Clearly. I don’t think the other writers you listed, have plagiarized themselves, have they? And if they have, I’d like to hear an example.

Should we expect more from the industry? Hell yes.

The reason why the music industry is in THIS place, is due to numerous factors. The 1997 Telecommunications Act of 1997 allowed for companies to own MORE radio stations and media outlets, then it had previously, which opened the floodgates for Clear Channel to saturate the markets with the opposite of diversity.

Did you know that some pop hits were started by single DJ’s? They played songs they liked and took chances. Thanks to the 1997 legislation, we won’t be having any of that anytime soon. Or at least not nearly to the degree that it once was.

Then Napster happened and the guys in charge saw it as a threat. They failed to capitalize on the new distribution model and haven’t come close to a viable solution.

As a result, a steady decline in CD sales has seen the record companies taking less….and less chances with artists. Top 40 through the late 90’s saw a lot of diversity and risks. No more. They could give a rat’s ass about career artists. They want the explosive hit single, because that’s all they can count on.

So should we expect more from Pop music? Yes. I want more risk taking. I want artists to have a chance if they sound different. I like the fact that I saw R.E.M., The Divynyls & The Fresh Prince in the Top 40 around the same time in the 90’s.

I want the big guys to stop crying like babies about their old model and embrace new solutions like Spotify or rdio.com.

More people are buying more music than ever before? What numbers are you referring to? Just this year, it was reported that music sales were LOWER than when soundscan started in the early 90’s. Do you realize how hard it is for a TOP TEN artist to sell 5 million albums nowadays?In the 90’s, it happened ALL the time.

Ok, this is getting off topic.

The fact that the producer wrote the song, had a hit and then redid the lyrics and released it with a different artist (and had a hit) is what I have a HUGE problem with.

It shows a lack of integrity. Regardless if it has happened in the past, it doesn’t make it any better the second time around. In fact, it shows a lack of respect for the listener to do it …..again!

I expect more. I refuse to settle what’s ‘given’ to me.

jnomics:

kaiserwilhelm:

Music Industry Fail. Produced by the same guy. Shocking. No wonder no one is buying music anymore.

Let’s reconsider that statement. I agree that there is a lack of songwriter/producer diversification in pop music.  The writer/producer in question, Dr. Luke,  has written a string of huge hits in the last couple years, but this cycle is not uncommon in pop music.  Before Luke it was Ryan Tedder with; One Republic, Apologize;  Leona Lewis, Bleeding Love; Beyonce,  Halo; Kelly Clarkson, Already Gone; the latter two of which had the same problem as California Girls and Tik Tok.  Then in the 90s there was Max Martin, the 80s saw guys like Desmond Child and Mutt Lange do their thing, and going further back you had the Brill Building and the Motown writing regime.

NOTE: I’m painting with broad strokes here.  There are many more examples of producers/writers who dominated the pop charts for various periods.  Moreover, writers like Max Martin and Mutt Lange are still writing and producing very successful material. 

Yes. A diversified pop genre might be more interesting or even better for our culture, but let’s not pretend like this is anything new.  The appearance of lower sales has to do with an industry that’s distribution networks are in a state of flux.  If you look at the numbers, you see that more music is being purchased now than ever in the history of recorded music.  Diminishing profits for labels have everything to do with market disequilibriums in terms of production inputs and technologies, not material.

I don’t mean to bite anyone’s head off, but for some crazy reason, I take the business of music seriously.  Probably still wishing to be a rockstar like when I was 16.  But I also think our popular culture is important and that we should try to accurately understand how and why it is evolving in particular directions.  Where large media firms are concerned, the cultural ebbs and flows seem to have more to do with economic pulls than with artistry. But, truth be told, I like where pop music is.  I think it’s fun, irreverent, and certainly takes my mind off life’s daily stresses.  Should we really be asking for or expecting more?

JNOMICS 

First of all, thanks for writing such a well considered response.  Genuine debate is always much appreciated.  I too agree that radio in the 90s was much more interesting than it is now, though I enjoy satellite radio and Net-based services like Pandora and Last.fm very much. A few follow-up points:

• I agree that it’s better to avoid blatant plagiarizing of one’s own work, though there is nothing legally wrong with doing so.  And yes, many other artists have blatantly plagiarized themselves and others; off the top of my head, some examples include Ryan Tedder, Halo and Already Gone; Timbaland (he cops his own stuff quite a bit) My Love and The Way I Are;  Better Than Ezra Juicy vs. Nikka Costa Everyboy Got Their Somethin; Coldplay Viva La Vida vs. Joe Satriani, NSYNC It’s Gonna Be Me, Bye Bye Bye, and Just Don’t Tell Me That (various writers); Max Martin is pretty notorious for it too (take a listen to his work for Kelly Clarkson, Pink and Avril Lavigne); not to mention the famous plagiarism charges against the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin.  But yes, it would be nice to expect and get more from the writers.
• The Telecommunications Act of 1997 did permanently alter the landscape of the radio business and this is a concern, especially in terms of monopolistic and antitrust worries.  But be clear, those radio DJs you referred to, while they might have had a bit more autonomy prior to the Act, were often guilty of taking payments from labels to play material (payola).  Moreover, some acts have still been broken nationally via regional radio interest, especially in the rock realm.  Examples include, Train - Meet Virginia, Maroon 5 - Harder to Breathe, and Fuel - Shimmer; all acts which first gained national exposure via regional rock radio.  Any diminishing of this practice, I think, has a lot more to do with changes in how people listen to and find new music via the Internet than with the business of pop radio. 
• As to the point I made earlier about sales, let me clarify.  More people are absolutely buying more music, it’s just that the funds being spent are distributed across a broader array of artists, genres, media companies, and price points. (TikTok has sold 5 million + units to date and California Girls has moved over 2.5 million + units to date) More music is bought for less given the advent of digital distribution and the opportunity of consumers to purchase songs individually or as part of a full album.  Before this technological development the market was disproportionately representing consumer’s interests.  People bought albums because that was the sole option, even if they only wanted one, two, or three songs off the record.  The new model gives consumers a much fairer buying experience and much more accurately represents popular interest in various artists and genres. Labels and media companies are now adjusting accordingly. And as I have long believed, the diminishing profits of record labels has much more to do with extraordinary costs associated with maintaining the physical distribution networks that CDs require, than with piracy or the Internet. Also, keep in mind that industry produced numbers often don’t include what independent labels and artists are contributing to the marketplace.
• Lastly, I couldn’t agree with you more about the lack of respect that major media firms seem to have for the listener.  It’s disappointing because when they do take chances and support substantive, skilled artists (some of which are the writers we’ve mentioned in these posts) - like R.E.M, U2, Radiohead, Lady Gaga, John Mayer, Kanye West, Jay-Z, fill in the list to suit your personal taste - the results enrich our popular, creative culture and give us something to dream about.  I suppose my perspective is two-toned, one as a lover of artistry and one as a lover of markets,business and economics. But I do enjoy the debate.  Thanks again for the great response.

JNOMICS