Thinking outside the box.

[charlie2]

I question whether a modern song should be seen as so different than a vintage song. Does it really matter that much?
Or a modern melody vs a vintage melody? Why not both?

Would young people collapse and die if they heard a vintage melody? I know plenty that love them.

A melody is a melody and all audiences need to be open enough to accept both types. That would give people more options in their musical choices.

[AlanHall]

A melody is a melody and all audiences need to be open enough to accept both types.

Both types? Is that current pop and everything else?

As tastes change, the style/production/beat/harmonies - and yes, melodic line - all change as they are pushed by the innovators who can get a market share and influence the listener. When the listing asks for pop, it's the intent of Taxi to get current-sounding pop; not last year's or last decades, or even classic Lehrner and Lowe tunes.

I've followed the Taxi TV shows about songwriting enough to know there's a lot of detail and nuance in melody that I wasn't even aware of when I joined.. and still a lot to learn. The A&R folks with the highly-tuned ears sense all this right away. I'm not even close to internalizing the nuance, but I understand what I should be listening for. And that's just the melody, for starters.

[charlie2]

Yes.
All genres should loosen their underwear and widen their spectrums. Stop being so rigid.

It all comes down to what sounds good. That should be what it's all about.

Those songs sound pretty good and could've come out of the 80s. Maybe they were listening to music back then and got ideas and inspiration from that music.
That's the way great art is created. By basing it on previous art.

As for taste changing and people demanding their style only. Well...let's ask ourselves...is the dog wagging the tail...or the tail wagging the dog? Peoples taste develop as music is fed to them. The media, tv, movies etc determine that.
As a songwriter I need to create the best sounding music for people and I wish that rigid genres didnt hold me back.

[AlanHall]

They say "what's old is new again" so there are always elements of past great music that can be re-worked into something new. I acknowledge that

As a classically-trained musician (most of it didn't stick!) I learned over and over that the really great composers of the modern era - I'll pick two names out of the hat: Igor Stravinsky and Leonard Bernstein - were musical chameleons and could write in any existing style. More than that, they could take any style and bend it to their will, make it personal and identifiable as their creation. To make a modern song that has retro/classic elements without it sounding dated or stale requires absolute mastery of all the genres being bent. A lot more work than a cookie-cutter soundalike of a current hit. If you 'have it in you' then great; more power to ya! Just ignore modern pop conventions at your peril...

[cosmicdolphin]

It all comes down to what sounds good. That should be what it's all about.

I hate to break it to you but it not only has to sound great it's got to sound like what they want.

Generally what they want is contemporary and not dated sounding material. They want stuff that sounds like now. Unless it's a specific request for something that is retro of course

Does it matter that much ? Erm yes.

Why would someone spend all that time and money only to put dated sounding music into their new TV show ? These shows have audiences in certain demographics. They're just not going to use music that's outside of that and risk their ratings dropping. It's not a battle you can win.

If you want to change the musical landscape and bring back the good old days then go ahead and be an artist instead and plough your own furrow, nobody's stopping you

Music Licensing is not art, it's a service industry. If you can't supply what the customer wants then it's likely not for you.

Alan makes some great points which I'd echo.

Mark

[charlie2]

Bring back the good days? Lol. Those days were horrible. I want to go into better future days.

He said
"Music Licensing is not art, it's a service industry"

Yes a service industry but if you cant find art or creativeness in what you're doing; we're in bad shape.

Anyway..Are those songs on that reply dated?

I dont think so. They could be used today. In fact I think they are used today.

Dont confuse "dated" with good "musical aspects" that were used in the past. They're two completely different things.

melody and harmony and the time spend to cultivate them were musical aspects from the past. Does that mean every song that has melody and harmony are dated?
Music hits from the past are things to learn from. Not to make your songs dated; but to make them sound better.

If I were to design a car and decide to reinvent the wheel, it would be dumb.
I have to accept the fact that the wheel from the past is something I need to built on. Not reinvent.

[cosmicdolphin]

Anyway..Are those songs on that reply dated?

No. But I'm guessing you didn't write them ?

You asked whether a vintage song should be seen as so different from a modern song . Folk usually ask this sort of thing after a return/feedback for sounding dated.

[ResonantTone]

Mark is right that this is a service-based industry.

I think most people that do sync licensing successfully would say it is still very much possible to enjoy the artistic and creative aspect. You just have to realize that it is a different kind of art and that you can’t just let creativity run in any direction you feel like at the moment. There are clear boundaries that usually can’t be broken.

Something else to consider.. let’s say you have some awesome way of “making what was old new again”. The only way your going to earn it a spot in the sync licensing world is if you establish yourself with a publisher first that knows your competent at giving them exactly what they ask for. If they know you’ve mastered that, then you’ve got a much better chance of pushing boundaries in a believable and convincing way in my opinion.

Andrew

[cassmcentee]

Find a way to do it all!

Here is Gershwin being paid to play/punch a piano roll of a current hit
This was his job at that time!
I'm sure it was somewhat tedious for him and his creative energy...
https://youtu.be/YAFy08bq7TY

And here is what he did when left to his own device...
https://youtu.be/8mON3dBJiYo

Which one fed he and his family? #1
Which one is the most popular now? #2

[charlie2]

Also thinking. I know arrangements are dated but could a melody be dated?

if you did a melody in a different arrangement wouldnt it take on that era?

Maybe we're confusing arrangements with melodies, which are only a series of notes