From now on, every blog post will be accompanied by a video podcast. The podcast provides an introduction, whilst the blogpost explores the topic in greater detail. The podcast is in Dutch, but YouTube takes care for a translation on demand. If you like, you can also watch the podcast on your TV. Simply select YouTube and search for โkanaal expeditie muziekโ.
Every singer dreams of one day writing the song that will bring eternal fame. That rarely happens, and even โperfect songsโ remain on the shelf due to a lack of recognition. That wonโt happen to establish artists. Their record labels surrounded with professional teams who know exactly how to write and sell a smash hit. How? That was the subject of some older post, which you can read here.
Meanwhile, the search for the perfect song continues, and in this post Iโll venture a description of what such a song looks like. Of course, there is no such thing as โthe one and onlyโ perfect song. The listenerโs taste, mood and cultural background play a significant role in how songs are appreciated. The songโs intention (telling a story, making a statement) and the genre, which is intended to be either upbeat, reflective or sad, also has an influence. Yet, some songs are better constructed than others.
How the song ultimately sounds is the result of the way in which you, as a lyricist, composer or producer, turn a series of โvirtual controlsโ and fine-tune them in relation to one another. Iโll mention a few of these knobs:
– rhythm
– metre
– tempo
– volume
– timbre
– key
– chord progression
Youโll also need to consider:
– the structure of the song
– the arrangement
– and, of course, the theme
– the lyrics
– and finally the purpose of the song
The happiest song
Annaliese Micallef Grimaud has conducted research into the link between the settings of these โcontrolsโ and the resulting listening experience. Suppose you want to make your listeners happy. She found that this works best if you opt for a medium-fast tempo, a mix of short and longer notes, high volume, a major key, a high-pitched vocal with staccato articulation and clear tones. The conclusion was that Pharrellโs song โHappyโ is a serious contender for the title of โhappiest song everโ. Listen to it here:
To write the โperfect songโ, you need to have gained a great deal of experience. Much has been written on this subject, and Iโll give you a point-by-point summary of it. Whether a song is perfect usually only becomes apparent once it has maintained its popularity for years.
The key considerations when writing a (โperfectโ) song are: melody, harmony, rhythm & form, and lyrics. Iโll go through them and give an example of each.
Melody
Guidelines
– Predominantly small steps within the scale enhance the sense of familiarity
– One or two melodic โhooksโ (characteristic combinations of notes for the song).
– A recognisable build-up towards the chorus.
– Easy to hum along to, partly due to the repetition of combinations of notes.
– Absence of trendy stylistic devices. Here, recognisability comes at the expense of originality.
The almost Bach-like composition is accompanied by classical instrumentation featuring strings, harpsichord, horns and woodwinds, which perfectly complement the lyrics. Paul McCartney called the song the best love song ever written.
Harmony
Guidelines
– Familiar chords with no more than two surprising dissonances.
– A pleasant timbre.
– Captivating combinations of sounds achieved through restrained instrumentation.
– Occasional changes in key and time signature.
– Modulation (shifting up or down the scale).
To illustrate
โLet it beโ by the Beatles is carried by a unique and instantly recognisable combination of chords. After a short introduction, the melody gradually swells, but by then everyone can already sing along to the chorus. The simple lyrics constantly feature the mantra-like phrase โLet it beโ, with the emphasis on โLetโ and โbeโ. Lyrics and melody complement each other.
Rhythm and form
Points to note
– Surprising, appropriate, yet sparingly used changes in rhythm, tempo and style.
– Contrast between sections (verse and chorus).
– Melodic and lyrical โhookโ within 30 seconds.
– Dynamics: build-up to a climax.
– No longer than necessary.
By way of illustration
Aretha Franklinโs โSay A Little Prayerโ, much like โGod Only Knowsโ, elevates love to an almost religious sentiment. The lyrics draw on the daily life of a working woman and illustrate how thoughts of a loved one arise at every moment of the day. The gospel-inspired character of the song is carried by a clear melody. The โcall-and-responseโ vocals of the backing singers reinforce the contrast between verse and chorus. A few subtle changes in metre are also noticeable here.
Lyrics
Notes
– Simple lyrics with a deeper meaning (suggestive, not banal).
– A widely recognisable theme (love, fear, joy) with a personal touch.
– Singable: vowels on long notes, no tongue-twisters, stress patterns as in spoken language,
– Short phrases, no subordinate clauses or superfluous words.
– Strong โhook phraseโ (a phrase that recurs and sticks in the mind (โLet it beโฆโ).
– The style of singing emphasises the lyrics and the singerโs personal connection to the content.
– The lyrics and melody give the impression of having been created simultaneously and of naturally complementing one another.
By way of illustration
In โNe me quitte pasโ, Jacques Brel imbues simple lyrics with emotional depth. As a French-language chanson, the song is primarily literary; it feels more like theatre than song. But it is precisely then that it becomes clear how the melody perfectly supports the lyrics. Not a single word is superfluous, and the constant repetition of the โhook phraseโ (Ne me quitte pas) intensifies the emotion. The chorus is a climax; everyone knows it, but no one will sing along.
Setting existing lyrics to music rarely results in a perfect song, unless the musical accompaniment is subordinate to the lyrics. Ideally, the lyrics and music should give the impression of having been created together, although in practice both will have been carefully crafted over time. This also applies to the songโs structure and its instrumentation (sound palette).
The ambition of many songwriters, however, goes beyond writing a perfect song. They seek recognition as artists, following the example set in the 1960s by the Beatles, the Beach Boys and Bob Dylan, amongst others. In the next post, I will explore what the pursuit of โartโ adds to that of perfection.
โIn my days, they made much better music than nowadaysโ
From now on, every blog post will be accompanied by a video podcast. The podcast provides an introduction, whilst the blogpost explores the topic in greater detail. The podcast is in Dutch, but YouTube can translate it into English. If you like, you can also watch the podcast on your TV. Simply select YouTube and search for โkanaal expeditie muziekโ. You can also cast the podcast from your mobile device to your TV.
A blog post and a podcast without musical interludes quickly become boring. I therefore intersperse the text with songs currently favoured by my 14-year-old grandson. According to him, his choice is also representative of his classmatesโ preferences.
Listen โ to get in the mood (or not) โ to this recent track, a duet by the South Korean singer Rosรฉ and the American singer-songwriter Bruno Mars; both are representatives of todayโs popular music. The title โAPTโ refers to a Korean drinking game. The song reached the top of the charts in both countries and elsewhere too.
The generation effect
You often hear the remark โIn my day, they made much better music than nowadaysโ. Inquire octogenarians about their favourite popular music and youโll often hear the names of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and the Blue Diamonds. โYoungstersโ who have passed the age of seventy tend to prefer the Beatles or the Rolling Stones, bands that caused a sensation in the 1960s.
In this article, Iโll examine the assumption that we have a lasting preference for music from our teenage years. I also consider the extent to which popular music itself has changed over the past decades[1] . That could point to a conscious choice.
The second track on his list is โExpressoโ, sung and written by the American Sabrina Cartenter, her first top-ten hit in the US. It is about female self-confidence, which, incidentally, does not end so well in the accompanying video.
In the post-war period, six generations are often distinguished: Generation Alpha (born from 2015 onwards); Generation Z (born between 1995 and 2015); Generation Y or millennials (born between 1980 and 1995); Generation X (born between 1960 and 1980); baby boomers (born between 1945 and 1960) and the silent generation (born before 1945). The boundaries between these periods are fluid. Some authors have developed entire theories about the identity of each of these groups: the spirit of the times, prosperity, parenting style and expectations for the future; all play a role in this.
Now listen to โUndressedโ, sung by the American singer-songwriter Sombr. Nominated for โInternational Song of the Yearโ in the UK in 2026. The song is about a young man who, despite all the temptations, does not want to start a new relationship.
Musical preferences related to generations
The table below shows, for people belonging to the aforementioned (age) groups, the periods from which their favourite songs[2] originate. The figures indicate the percentage of favourite songs per period out of the total number of favourite songs.
For example, you can see that 39% of the favourite songs of those belonging to the โsilent generationโ come from the 1950s and earlier. Songs from the 1960s and later account rrfor 22% of all songs. 7% cannot be linked to a specific period.
Baby boomers have a lasting preference for music from the 1960s and 1970s. This means that, from the moment they passed the age of 30, both groups have listened to very few new songs. Of course, there are also differences within these groups: someone who was a fan of the Rolling Stones rather than the Beatles at the age of 18 is still (not) a fan at the age of 50.
The table shows that as age increases, so does the preference for music from oneโs โyounger yearsโ, roughly the period up to the age of 30. This phenomenon is known as โnostalgic loyaltyโ, the โgeneration effectโ or the โreminiscence bumpโ.
In identifying generation-specific preferences, I am treading on thin ice. After all, there are differences within each generation in terms of social class, education, cultural background, gender and, not least, personality. Factors that have influenced everyoneโs musical preferences. Of course, to understand the current preferences of a particular age group, one doesnโt need to go back to their younger years. Everyone is exposed to the changing musical landscape during successive periods. The existence of generation-specific preferences therefore rests on broad generalisations, which are no less valid.
I will now explore the musical preferences of the various age groups in more detail, focusing on the Netherlands.
But first, another musical interlude. It is โSailor Songโ by Gigi Perez, an American singer-songwriter. Yet another song that reached the top of the charts in many countries. It contains the line โI donโt believe in God / But I believe that youโre my saviourโ. Conservative Christian groups in the US asked her to remove this line. She refused, remarking that writing lyrics is not a democratic process.
Musical preferences of different age groups
Generation Alpha
The youngest generation likes simple music; childrenโs songs are still popular, especially if they have a modern arrangement, a lively tempo and rhythm, and do not come across as childish. The programme โKinderen voor kinderenโ seemed to manage this well.
Generation Z
Members of Generation Z do not usually have a strong preference for any particular style. Teenagers are still exploring, as evidenced by their extensive channel-hopping. The overview of preferences by age group illustrates their broad range of interests: the songs they listen to span a much longer period than is the case with other age groups. This period extends back to a time before they were even born.
Generation Z listens to hip-hop, dance and EDM (electronic dance music). Also popular are energetic, melodic, danceable pop songs that are easy to sing along to and are accompanied by appealing music videos. A wide range of songs are popular, occasionally including old classics such as Queenโs โBohemian Rhapsodyโ and the Eaglesโ โHotel Californiaโ. The slightly older members of the group (from around the age of 12) often fall for megastars such as Taylor Swift, Kendrick Lamar and Billie Eilish.
TikTok is a key source of information, but Nederland 2 (Top 2000) and Qmusic are more popular than is sometimes thought. This age group also accesses a lot of music via streaming. Playlists have replaced albums.
When choosing their favourite songs, Generation Z is attuned to whatโs popular within their own age group and often plays it safe by selecting songs that are already high up the charts.
You can also see this broad interest reflected in the songs my grandson has chosen. Alex Warren and Bruno Mars appeared twice on his โtop tenโ. But Olivia Dean, Sabrina Carpenter and Gigi Perez were also on the list. Indeed, they are predominantly upbeat and cheerful songs. Hip-hop is missing; according to him, itโs boring.
Here is Alex Warren with the song โOrdinaryโ. This was his breakthrough hit in 2025, immediately landing him at the top of the US charts, and the song was awarded the title โSong of the Yearโ. In the UK, the song broke the 70-year-old (!) record for the longest-running number one hit by a foreign male artist. This record was previously held by none other than Elvis Presley.
Generation Y (the โmillennialsโ)
The โearly yearsโ of this group span the period 1990โ2010. During this time, electronic dance music (EDM), hip-hop and R&B broke through, and attending festivals played an increasingly significant role. DJs such as Tiรซsto and Armin van Buuren were and remain popular. The members of this group experienced the rise of large-scale commercial pop and were open to it, with depth and quality playing an important role โ and that is still the case today. Artists such as Bruce Springsteen, Coldplay and Adele are highly regarded, as are singers like Anouk and Marco Borsato.
Generation X
The โearly yearsโ of this group spanned 1980โ2000. This group grew up with punk, rock, metal, new wave and grunge. Styles in which guitar music plays a dominant role and which are still appreciated. Internationally, artists such as Nirvana and U2 were popular. In the Netherlands, Doe Maar, Drukwerk and De Dijk were popular. These preferences still hold true.
Itโs time for another interlude. The song โGoldenโ, a hyper-energetic animation about young girls who want to become famous.
Baby boomers
This generation, together with the โsprightly old-timersโ of the โsilent generationโ, has the strongest nostalgic loyalty. Only their preferences differ.
Most baby boomers experienced the rise of โbeatโ culture. In their younger years (the 1960s and 1970s), they mainly listened to rock and pop on โHilversum 3โ (โTijd voor teenagersโ) and pirate radio stations. Favourites were, and still are, not only the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, but also other British bands and Dutch pop groups such as Golden Earring and Shocking Blue. Folk music and soul also held appeal. Youth culture was on the rise, but โ how well-behaved we were โ it remained limited to singing protest songs (โMr Presidentโ), long hair, left-wing political ideas and alternative clothing.
The Silent Generation
The โyounger yearsโ of this group fell in the 1940s and 1950s. Favourites were โcroonersโ such as Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Bing Crosby and, for the somewhat younger members of this group, rock โnโ roll too. Dancing โ foxtrot, waltz, jive, swing and โslowโ โ took place to the music of countless small orchestras. Big bands were also popular, such as the famous Ramblers. People were introduced to music via the radio, the gramophone and dance evenings. A โyouth cultureโ barely existed or was just emerging; music was part of family culture.
Listen now to the English singer Olivia Dean with the jazzy track โSo easy to fall in loveโ. Another global hit. It is a call to women to focus on finding out what they think of the other person on dates, rather than putting themselves on display.
To better understand the differences between generations, we must look not only at the music itself, but also at the way in which people of the same generation encountered it. For the โsilent generationโ, this was primarily within the confines of the family (โgathering round the radio and the record player, and later the TVโ) and at dance evenings. As a result, their musical โcanonโ is limited. Younger generations can encounter music in many more ways. Think of music channels, festivals and platforms such as Spotify. The result is that they are familiar with many more styles, regardless of which ones they prefer.
Changes in the musical offering
Is there anything to be said about changes in the music itself, which may influence the musical preferences of members of different generations?
Between 1955 and 2025, significant stylistic changes did indeed occur in pop music. I have already written extensively on this subject[3] . One can speak of the rise of, more or less in succession, โrock โnโ rollโ, โbeatโ, โpsychedelic rockโ (often overlapping with โart rockโ and โprog rockโ), โcountry rockโ, โhard rockโ and โmetalโ, โpunkโ, โnew waveโ and โgrungeโ, โsoulโ and โfunkโ, โdanceโ and โhip hopโ. No single style has disappeared, though the 21stcentury has seen a shift from rock and soul towards hip hop/rap, EDM (electronic dance music) and pop. The various styles have influenced one another, resulting in the current diverse range of popular music. Lists of โbest hits and albums of all timeโ, such as the Radio 2 Top 1000 and the Rolling Stone Top 500, prove this.
The following song was written and performed by the American Ravyn Lenae and, like all the other songs you could listen to, ranked highly in the charts, including those in the Netherlands. It is about the eternal tension between wanting to be independent yet still having a romantic relationship. She sings โOh no, I donโt need you, but I miss you, come hereโ.
More than ever before, every generation is confronted with a wide and accessible range of popular music. Moreover, contemporary music shares many similarities with music from earlier periods. The โreminiscence bumpโ โ the nostalgic preference of the surviving members of the โsilent generationโ and of baby boomers for music from their โyouthโ โ is unlikely to diminish significantly. Many baby boomers find it hard to let go of the time when they grew their hair long, went to concerts and built up a collection of LPs to listen to together. It is a pity that those for whom this is the case thereby shut themselves off from musical highlights from later periods. Moreover, they make conversations with their (grand)children about their musical preferences a lot more difficult[4]. I expect rather a broadening of the musical palette of Generations X, Y and Z.
Iโll conclude with โDie with a smileโ, a song written and performed by Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars. The song is about the need for love in times of uncertainty. The song was praised by critics for its vocals, instrumentation and the emotional depth of the lyrics. More than any other song in this episode, this ballad illustrates the blending of styles from past decades.
[1] In answering both questions, I draw on statistical analysis of data from Spotify.
[2] In this case, the songs they listen to via Spotify.
[3] In the series โHistory of rock after 1960โ, โFrench rock 1955โ2025โ and โProg rock 1965โ2025โ, I have discussed the differences in styles in detail. For this, see the overview of my blog posts: http://is.gd/QUT3Aa
[4] OpenAI has helped me to characterise the different generations and to revive memories of the music from my โyoungerโ years, which I fortunately do not categorically prefer over todayโs music.
Technology companies have been experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) in music production for decades, just as they create software that allows a computer to beat a chess grandmaster and work on self-driving cars. The principles are the same in all cases: The computer is feed with millions of examples and you let it discover patterns itself. Significant breakthroughs have been achieved in recent years. As a result, a track created predominantly using AI is, to the layman, indistinguishable from โrealโ music. Especially when combined with the use of deepfakes. Look and listen to the following track.
I donโt think this track sounds too bad. Itโs called โPeronuโ de la garรคโ. It was sung in Romanian by Lolita Cercel. But Lolita Cercel doesnโt exist: Her appearance and voice, the melody and the arrangement were generated using artificial intelligence. An exception? Of all the tracks uploaded daily to Deezer โ a streaming service โ 34% are now created entirely or partly using artificial intelligence, usually without listeners realising it. How does this work and where is it heading? Those are the questions Iโll answer in this post.
What can computers do when it comes to music production?
For years, computers have been able, for example, to isolate the vocal parts and instruments used in a piece of music and turn them into sheet music. It has also been possible for some time for them to โnotateโ a hummed melody, including suggestions for accompanying chords. In these cases, computers do not create anything โnewโ. This is why we refer to it as non-generative artificial intelligence.
Holly Hendorn has been producing music with computers for years. She mainly uses voices from professional singers and (amateur) choirs. She holds a PhD in โcomputer technology and musicโ and has designed many of the AI applications she uses herself. She also performs live. She produces sounds and the computer turns them into a piece of music. Here you can see one such performance.
Since the emergence of generative artificial intelligence, a computer has indeed been able to create something โnewโ. The scale on which this happens has increased enormously over the last few years. Moreover, affordable programs have come onto the market that produce a ready-made track within minutes. One of the first successful attempts to create compositions using AI dates to 2016. This was carried out by Sony Computer Science Laboratories Paris (Sony CSL Paris) with funding from the EU. The singer Benoรฎt Carrรฉ wrote the lyrics and the computer generated the melodies based on just 45 Beatles songs. Listen to โDaddyโs Carโ.
A year later, in 2017, Taryn Southern released the album โI am AIโ. She deployed various AI applications. She wrote the lyrics; the melodies; instrumentation and backing vocals were generated using AI under her direction. To generate the melody of the track you can now listen to, the computer was trained using piano sonatas from the19th century.
A lot has changed since 2017. With the software that has been available for several years now, a layperson can have the computer generate a complete piece of music, including lyrics, music and the singerโs imaginary face. By far the most widely used application is SUNO.
The big question is: how does this work?
To explain how this works, Iโll start by looking at how a composer or lyricist goes about it. Itโs likely that they listen to a lot of music and are skilled at recognising style, structure, word choice and โhooksโ (surprising fragments of text or combinations of sounds), and can use these creatively. If you ask this musician to write a song about some topic, thereโs a good chance that ideas for this song will come to mind within moments.
Artificial intelligence does the same, albeit based on millions of songs. To achieve this, the โsystemโ has processed the combinations of sounds, chords, arrangements and instruments found within them; it possesses an almost unlimited vocabulary and distils atmosphere, timbre and style based on increasingly refined classes of characteristics.
Iโm going to play a few examples. The first example is the fictional band โThe Velvet Sundownโ, which was streamed over a million times on Spotify in 2025. Youโll be listening to and watching the track โThe corner barโ.
After some time, Spotify also realised the deception and described the group The Velvet Sundown as โa synthetic music project, led by human creative direction, and composed, sung and visualised with the support of artificial intelligenceโ. Lawyers have no doubt spent a great deal of time deliberating over this wording. AI-generated music videos resemble other music videos in many respects. The key difference is that the โmusiciansโ are usually deepfakes, actors or both, and share the common trait of being unable to sing or play any instrument.
A second example is โWalk my walkโ, sung by a fictional singer called โBreaking Rustโ.
This singer gained 35,000 followers on Instagram. The lyrics, the music and the arrangement were all generated by SUNO.
Despite the impressive results of applying AI with virtually no human intervention, the term โartificial intelligenceโ is misplaced. What we are seeing is the ultra-fast processing of an enormous amount of diverse data, ranging from encyclopedias, websites, dictionaries, images, films and existing pieces of music. The quality of the result depends on the quantity of available data and its variety. Not to mention talented programmers and energy-guzzling data centers.
How is this data processed?
In data centers, millions of musical pieces are dissected down to their very core. Combinations of melodies and chords, rhyme structures and their meanings, artistsโ personal details and characteristics of their work are stored. Suppose you โmapโ this data and its relationships in a multidimensional figure; after processing a few hundred tracks, you will still hear certain patterns emerging. As more data is added, you hear nothing but noise, without the original data having been lost. This process is called diffusion.
You can put this massive database to work for you using simple textual commands, known as โpromptsโ. Such a prompt might, for example, read:
โFunky synthpop, downbeat with a driving, steady bassline, a characteristic 80s vibe, with alternating uplifting and resigned lyrics about relationships, sung as a duet with a backing choirโ
Using a โpromptโ and several pre-programmed criteria that pieces of music of a certain type must meet, the computer reverses the diffusion process. From the noise, increasingly distinct combinations of text and sound emerge. The result can be different every time.
In the following video, music critic and lecturer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and vlogger Rick Beato demonstrates how he produced a track himself, using AI, for the listeners of his podcast:
What are peopleโs views on AI-produced music?
Over time, various views have emerged regarding the nature of music in general.
1. Music is the result of a feeling โ whether authentic or not โ that the creator wishes to express. In the entertainment industry, this is primarily โgood feelingโ. To the extent that listeners recognise this, they may feel connected to it. Most songs fall into this category.
2. Music is an objectification of the creatorโs lived experience and contains essential knowledge of reality, or as Langer puts it: โMusic is lived experience that presents the morphology of felt lifeโ.
In the first description, the emphasis is on expression; in the second, on representation. In the first view, music is a means of evoking a mood. In the second view, music helps to answer the question of the meaning of events unfolding in the world.
From each of these perspectives, one can view AI-generated music differently.
If music is primarily a means of evoking feelings (expression), then many listeners feel that how it is created does not matter that much. Others are deceived; they had already been looking for the opportunity to attend a live concert by their as it turns out non-existent idol.
The second perspective revolves around the experience of what is happening in the world and the singerโs view of it. Listeners may or may not identify with this. This is โin principleโ inconceivable with music generated by artificial intelligence. โIn principleโ, because a fascinating grey area is emerging, within which humans and machines collaborate.
Telisha Jones is an interesting case. She signed a $3 million contract to write lyrics for the (fictional) singer Xania Monet. The song she wrote, โHow was I supposed to know?โ, is the first AI-generated track to reach the Billboard radio charts. In just a few months, more than 3 million people have listened to it on Spotify. Share them here:
Telisha Jones says she wrote the lyrics based on her own experiences. She uses SUNO to generate the vocals and melody, the arrangement and the instrumentation. In a television interview, Jones said she wants people to know that there is a real person behind Xania and that the lyrics express that personโs emotions. She remained vague about that personโs identity; my impression is that it is herself. Listen to excerpts from an interview with Telisha Jones on CBS.
Whether Telisha Jonesโs story is true is not that important. The key question is whether it is possible for composers and lyricists to โcollaborateโ with AI to create innovative and high-quality music. I was referring to a fascinating grey area. As far as Iโm concerned, the creation of fictional performers who cannot play an instrument or sing themselves falls outside that area. Musicians who have SUNO provide lyrics or melodies which are complementary to own work are inside the area, provided there is no doubt about who contributed what.
Can AI-generated music be art?
Purists do not even consider this question because they believe that, in the case of AI, one cannot speak of music. They reserve the elegant German term โOhrenkitzlungโ for AI-generated sounds. I have no objection to the term โmusicโ, particularly if there is at least an equal contribution from human and machine to its creation. This also determines whether one can potentially speak of art. But what is art?
The most concise description is that art concerns creative expressions by people, which demonstrate craftsmanship. It is often added that this requires recognition from either expert art critics and/or the public. Furthermore, this judgement must have sufficiently stood the test of time. In a few yearsโ time, it may turn out that Telisha Jonesโs texts possess an exceptional poetic quality. They could then be considered a form of art.
Essentially, art is about the connection between something people have in their minds and the unique and skillful way in which they depict it, whether or not using technical aids. Many authors of โpromptsโ devise, at most, a few characteristics of the piece of music that SUNO or whatever other application is to create. They have not the slightest idea beforehand of how this will sound. That changes as soon as there is an interactive process between human and machine. We saw this, among others, with Holly Hendorn. She used software she had partly designed herself for this purpose. Her productions most closely resemble a co-production between human and machine and, thanks to her craftsmanship and consistent artistic achievements, have the potential to be called art.
I asked ChatGPT to draw up a step-by-step plan for this kind of co-production. You can download it here
You can now watch and listen to Johnny Keeley, a performing musician and lyricist. At one point, he decided to have one of his lyrics set to music using SUNO. In the end, he fell for one of the versions created and used that for his own performance.
Whether Telisha Jones is within the grey area is, in my view, questionable. In the case of Johnny Keeley, I would answer this question in the affirmative.
What does AI-generated music mean for copyright?
According to the European Union Intellectual Property Office, copyright protection requires an original work that reflects the creatorโs personality. The US Copyright Office also states that it will not grant copyright to โworks that lack human authorship.โ
Streaming services such as Spotify and Deezer intend to label music created using AI in the future. Deezer is already excluding such tracks from the playlists it compiles.
The question is whether such a a black-and-white judgement is desirable. Consider Johnny Keeley. To be able to make a reliable and fair judgement on the degree of authenticity of songs, it is necessary to know the extent of AIโs role in its creation. This is for the benefit of bodies that must assess copyright claims, but also for listeners in general. For them, a star-rating system might be useful, possibly for lyrics, music and performance separately.
As such a system is lacking, selling music created with a substantial contribution from AI remains a risky business. It can result in claims of infringement of copyright, the right of publicity and misleading representation. Moreover, there are already several ongoing legal cases involving artists who believe that producers such as SUNO have wrongfully used their copyright-protected work as training material for computers. Following one such case, SUNO reached a settlement of 500 million (!) dollars with the Warner Music Group, thereby both purchasing the rights of the authors and indemnifying SUNO users against legal action.
What are the potential consequences of the rise of AI-generated music for the music industry?
The rise of AI-generated music will have consequences for the music industry, music producers and musicians. Many users of streaming services or listeners to radio stations will judge music based on how it sounds rather than on how it was created. The music industry will therefore, due to the low costs involved, promote music largely produced by AI. I donโt see that as a problem, if they provide clear information about it and there are dedicated playlists and charts for this type of music.
Fortunately, there will still be people who want to hear and see their idols. The Taylor Swifts, Bruce Springsteens and Coldplays of this world will continue to fill stadiums. Singer-songwriters will retain a devoted audience too, and the same applies to everyone in between, depending on their authenticity and quality.
However, a lot will change in the back-office. Songs will increasingly be co-productions of human and machine, in terms of lyrics, melody and arrangement. This will increase production efficiency and may also lead to better quality. As for albums and streamed music, you will often hear an artistโs voice whilst all the arrangements and accompaniment are produced using AI.
If you want to build a career in music?
Go for it. Set yourself apart through your craftsmanship as a songwriter, singer or musician โ preferably all three. Show how good you are during live performances. Secondly, familiarise yourself with AI and be open about how you used it. Remember that โThe added value lies not in what AI creates, but in how humans use itโ, a quote taken verbatim from Chat GPT.
To write this article, I drew on the rapidly growing body of publications in Medium, The Riff, Music for Thought, The Guardian and the Dutch, English and French versions of Wikipedia. Chat GPT helped me to gather and compare different forms of music generation using AI.
Not all music for chilling out falls under the heading of trip hop. In that swnse, the term โambientโ suits better. Its emphasis is more on the creation of an atmosphere than on message, melody or rhythm. Ambient has a calming effect or brings you in a contemplative mood. Pioneers of this style include Jean-Michel Jarre, Brian Eno, Vangelis, Mike Oldfield and the band Kraftwerk.
Listen here to โOxygeneโ, a composition by Jean-Michel Jarre from 1975
Brian Eno is credited with putting โambientโ on the map in 1978 with the album Ambient 1: Music for Airports[1]. For him, ambient is a style that remains exciting and unpredictable even as background music. Ambient music aims to create peace and a space for reflection and meditation. You can listen to it in various ways, ranging from ignorance to becoming captivated. Listen to this album here.
Variants
Ambient has several variants, which I shall briefly outline:
New age
โNew ageโ refers to forms of โambientโ that are explicitly composed to support meditation and relaxation exercises. Consequently, this music has a repetitive dynamic and texture and avoids rapid changes in tempo, rhythm and timbre. Compositions are minimalist in design and instrumental rather than vocal. Common instruments include piano, strings and flute, often emulated by a synthesizer. It is mainly used in alternative medicine, yoga and meditation.
Drone
โDroneโ is a minimalist form of โambientโ music in which the emphasis is on the use of sustained sounds, notes or clusters of notes, known as drones. This form of music typically features long compositions with relatively little harmonic variation. La Monte Young, one of the pioneers in the 1960s, defined โdroneโ as โthe sustained tone branch of minimalismโ. Listen here to a composition by La Monte Young from 1960.
Speace
โSpaceโ is a โvariant of โambientโ that creates a celestriall timbre. This style is mainly used as background music, particularly in films, but also for conscious listening, relaxation, contemplation and inspisoms ration. The style is experienced as soothing and peaceful.
Ambient technoย
โAmbient technoโ, โintelligent dance musicโ or โarmchair ambientโ border on electronic dance music (EDM), which was popular around the turn of the century. Some tracks were less suited to dancing and much more to daydreaming at home or unwinding. This type of music came from artists such as Boards of Canada with the track โMusic is Mathโ, and Secede Outran, which you can listen to below:
Recent examples
Spotify and YouTube playlists with names such as Chilled Folk, Chill Hits, Evening Chill, Chilled R&B, Indie Chillout, Chill Hop, Lo-fi Hip Hop and Chill Tracks still have millions of followers today. Due to their enduring popularity, at the start of the21th century various artists ventured into the realm of ambient and trip-hop, with the two genres being blended. Think of artists and groups such as Bjรถrk, Bowery Electric, Everything but the Girl, Anomie Belle, Alpha and Lamb. Some of these are discussed below. You can listen here to โRhubarbโ by Aphex Twin from the album *Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2* (1994)
Bjรถrk
Bjรถrk is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer and actress. Her vocal range spans three octaves. She has developed an eclectic musical style, incorporating elements of electronica, pop, dance, trip-hop, jazz and avant-garde. The development of her style has been influenced by composers such as Arnold Schรถnberg, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Philip Glass and Sun Ra, as well as groups like Kraftwerk and singers such as Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush. She was inspired by the music scene in London, where she lived for a time. That scene was partly defined in the 1990s by the trip-hop of Tricky, Portishead and Massive Attack.
Bjรถrkโs album Debut (1993) is one of the first albums to introduce electronic music, and in particular โdanceโ, to mainstream pop. Critics regard her albums Post (1995) and Homogenic (1997) as highlights of trip hop. You can listen to โVenus as a Boyโ from the latter album here.
Elsiane
Elsiane is a band with strong trip-hop influences, which released its first album, Hybrid, in 2007. The group creates a warm, hypnotic atmosphere, comparable to the sounds of Massive Attack and Portishead in the 1990s. Listen to the title track of the eponymous album here.
Lana Del Rey
Lana Del Rey is the stage name of Elisabeth (โLizzyโ) Grant (born 1985), under which she released her first songs. She made her own music videos, thereby drawing attention to herself. Many of her songs are melancholic and draw on 1950s America. Her style is classified as โalternative popโ and, certainly at the start of her career, she was influenced by psychedelic rock, hip hop and trip hop. This influence is clear on her debut album, Born to Die (2012). It topped the charts in eleven countries, including Australia, France, Germany and the United Kingdom, and sold 3.4 million copies. The album remained on the US Billboard 200 for 520 weeks.
The sound, themes and production of Born to Die had a major influence on popular music. In 2019, The Washington Post named Del Rey one of the โfive people who have helped shape the culture of the past decadeโ. Al Horner of Red Bull described Born to Die as โ[a] blueprint for a new musical worldโ. Like other artists discussed here, she has charted a new course alongside the ubiquitous electronic dance music (EDM).
Anomie Belle
Finally, Iโd like to mention Anomie Belle, an American multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and composer. You can hear her here in the track Sleeping Pattern.
Film music
Many films make use of โambient musicโ, in all its forms. Examples include Blade Runner (1982), Dune (1984), Titanic (1997), The Passion of the Christ (2004), Chernobyl (2019) and Dune Part 2 (2021). Here you can listen to โBeginnings are such delicate timesโ from the Dune: Part Two Soundtrack (2021).
The group Massive Attack has also written soundtracks for films, such as Danny the Dog (2005) and Bullet Boy (2005). Three more followed in 2007, namely for the films In Prison My Whole Life, Battle in Seattle and Trouble in the Water. The instrumental track Herculaneum from the film Gomorra won the award for best song in Italy. Watch and listen to the track Babel from this film, recorded during the Melt Festival in 2010.
Neoclassicism
Of a completely different nature, but worth mentioning in this context, is a movement that harks back to 19thย and early 20thย century romantic music. Rather than referring to it as neo-romanticism, this movement is called neoclassicism. The most prominent contemporary representative – with millions of downloads – is Ludovico Einaudi. His compositions are popular, both as background music and for listening to, presumably due to their simplicity: Almost all Einaudiโs compositions are based on the first, fourth and fifth chords. That is why they sound so similar. Listen here to one or more of his compositions on his albumย 10 pieces by Ludovico Einaudi
One composer who can truly lay claim to the term โneoclassicalโ is Erik Satie, a French composer from the early 20thcentury. He used Dada-inspired harmonic and formal experiments to create an early form of ambient music which he called โmusique d’ameublementโ. His aim was to create a suitable atmosphere for specific activities, such as a dinner party, without drawing attention to the musician. Thanks to the variation in rhythm and timbre, his compositions lend themselves also to attentive listening, whether at home or in the concert hall. You can listen to his Gymnopรฉdie No. 1 here
[1] This music was trialled in airports for a while. Staff were largely negative about it. They found the composition sombre and associated it with death and mourning
This and the next blogpost are about music for chilling outโ. In this instalment, youโll look at and listen to โtrip hopโ. The next instalment will cover genres often grouped under the heading โambientโ.
Trip hop
Like hip hop, trip hop is largely produced electronically and features a (subtle) beat. The timbre (tone) has a more psychedelic feel, with an emphasis on atmosphere. Musical influences come mainly from pop, jazz, funk and reggae. The music is primarily intended for listening.
Below are the five groups and artists who defined the contours of trip hop: Massive Attack, UNCLE, Tricky, Portishead and Morcheeba.
They are all rooted in Bristol. This city is regarded as the epicentre of trip hop. This is likely due in part to the thriving Jamaican music culture there, which produces much more laid-back music than that from the inner-city slums of American cities.
Massive Attack
This group, formed in 1988, released her debut album Blue Lines in 1991, widely regarded as the first album of the โtrip hopโ genre. The bandโs line-up has varied over the years, centring on Robert โ3Dโ Del Naja and Grant โDaddy โGโ Marshall. Thanks to this group, trip hop secured a place on the European charts. The single โUnfinished Sympathyโ became a hit across Europe, including reaching number one on the Dutch Top 40. Watch the video here.
The third album, Mezzanine (1998), reached number one in the UK and remains the groupโs biggest commercial success to date. The album was particularly praised for its heavier sound and atmospheric style. The singles โAngelโ and โTeardropsโ also fared well. According to critics, the album ranks among the best records ever made in the UK. The follow-up album, 100th Window (2003), was particularly successful outside the UK. One of the tracks features Sinรฉad OโConnor. Listen to the track โEverywhenโ here.Heligoland (2010) was also a success, featuring a large number of renowned guest musicians.
In July 2020, Massive Attack released a politically charged audiovisual EP entitled Eutopia, named after Thomas Moreโs 16century book. This EP was created during a period of global lockdown. It is a collection of three music videos, on which three influential academics collaborated. The footage was created by Robert Del Naja, amongst others, and designed using generative algorithms by AI art pioneer Mario Klingemann.
Each of the three videos focuses on a political issue: The first part deals with global systemic change required to tackle the climate crisis (with the collaboration of Christiana Figueres, co-author of the Paris Climate Agreement). The commentary in the second part is provided by the founder of the principle of a universal basic income, Professor Guy Standing. For the third part, it is Professor Gabriel Zuchman, an advocate for tackling tax havens. Each video ends with a quote from Thomas Moreโs Utopia. Watch and listen here to one of Massive Attackโs contributions, the track โAntistarโ, performed live here at Pinkpop (2003)
Tricky
Tricky is the stage name of Adrian Thaws, a former member of Massive Attack. His debut album, Maxinquaye (1995), was well received. On this album, he collaborated with singer Martina Topley-Bird, a partnership that has continued since then. His work is known for its dark, layered musical style that blends genres, including hip hop, alternative rock and reggae. Over the course of his career, he has collaborated with a wide range of artists, including Terry Hall, Bjรถrk, Alanis Morissette, Grace Jones and PJ Harvey. From this album, you can listen to โAftermathโ. He has an almost whispering voice with which he delivers abstract lyrics.
He later released two more albums: Nearly God (1996), featuring Bjรถrk, and Knowle West Boy (2008), which refers to his troubled and criminal youth in the deprived neighbourhood of the same name. Tricky has also gained a certain fame as an actor in various films, including Luc Bessonโs The Fifth Element (1997).
UNKLE
Like Massive Attack, UNKLE consists of a small core group (currently just James Lavelle), who calls upon renowned guest artists for each new album. The first โs album, Psyence Fiction (1998), featured, amongst others: Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Mark Hollis (Talk Talk), Mike D (Beastie Boys), Newsted (Metallica) and Richard Ashcroft (The Verve). Reviews of this album were mixed. You can listen to two tracks here: Rabbit in Your Headlights and Be There.
The second and third albums โ Never, Never, Land (2003) and War Stories (2007) โ were also produced using this formula. You can listen to โChemistryโ from the latter album here.
The album War Stories inspired several artists to create works of art. These have been on display since March 2008 in the exhibition War Paint, with contributions from Robert Del Naja, Warren du Preez, Nick Thornton Jones, Will Bankhead and Ben Drury, amongst others.
New albums include Where did the night fall (2010) and The road, part 1 (2016), which features the single Cowboys or Indians, amongst others. This album was also accompanied by an exhibition of artworks at the Lazarider Gallery in London.
Portishead
This band consists of Beth Gibbons (vocals), Geoff Barrow (various instruments, production) and Adrian Utley (guitar). The groupโs debut album is Dummy (1994), which was released alongside a short film made by the group, To Kill a Dead Man. The album received rave reviews and sold well. Melody Maker described it as โmusique noire for a movie not yet madeโ. The album spawned three singles. You can listen to one of them, โGlory Boxโ, here. The following year, the band won the Mercury Music Prize for the best album of that year in the UK.
The second album, Portishead (1997),makes greater use of live instrumentation and relies less on sampling. Three singles, โAll Mineโ, โOverโ and โ Only You โ, were released, the first of which reached the Top 10 in the UK. Listen here to a live performance at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City. The band is accompanied for this occasion by a full orchestra.
The band members would reportedly spend the years following this album on solo projects; over a decade later, the third album was released, aptly named Third (2008). The albumโs release was accompanied by an extensive tour. You can listen to and watch Magic Doors here
Morcheeba
The band was formed in the mid-1990s by singer Skye Edwards and brothers Paul and Ross Godfrey. Their music is a mix of trip hop, rock and folk rock, styles that reflect the band membersโ backgrounds. Over the years, they have released ten studio albums, two of which reached the UK top ten. Their debut album, Who Can You Trust (1996), set the tone for later albums, not least because of Edwardsโ soulful voice. Listen to the track โMoog Islandโ here.
On the following album, *Big Calm* (1998), โfolkโ elements push the trip-hop character somewhat into the background. It is, however, one of the bandโs most popular albums. You can watch and listen to a live recording of the track *The Sea* here.
The fourth album, โCharangoโ (2002), was also a great success, with the band returning to their โrootsโ in the eyes of their fans. For the fifth album, โThe Antidoteโ (2006), a replacement had to be found for Edwards, due to growing personal and artistic differences between her and the Godfrey brothers. After several unsuccessful attempts, no fewer than five different vocalists were used on Dive Deep (2008). Eventually, Edwards returned to the band. At the same time, Paul Godfrey left, tired of constant touring. Edwards and the remaining brother, Ross, continued under the name Skye & Ross, which is also the title of their new album (2014). Here you can watch and listen to an acoustic version of the song Light of Gold.
The following albums are being released again under the name Morcheeba. From *Blaze Away* (2018), you can watch and listen to *Never Undo* (2021) here, filmed during a live performance at the Rock Palast. From the tenth album *Black & Blue* (2021), you can watch and listen to a live recording of the track *Sounds of Blue* below:
Finally, Iโd like to mention the recently released eleventh album, Call for Love (2025). You can listen to the previously released single, We Live and Die.
Due to its slow tempo and relaxed nature, trip hop belongs to a broader genre that is not electronic in the first place and is also more varied in terms of rhythm and sound. In the next post, Iโd like to introduce you to artists and groups for whom โtrip hopโ is too narrow a term and for whom the term โambientโ is more appropriate.
Few (top) hits have become as popular and played by as many singers, vocalists, choirs and orchestras as Viva la Vida, or ‘Long live life’. The song is on the fourth album released by Coldplay, which was called Viva la vida or death and all his friends (2008). The then already popular band had been around for quite some time. In 1996, singer Chris Martin and drummer Jonny Buckland had met during an induction week at University College London. Students Will Champion and Guy Berryman joined the duo and Starfish, a band that mainly performed in pubs, was born. They soon changed the name to Coldplay when a friendly band of that name ceased to exist. The band still exists in this formation.
To introduce the song, here is the ‘official’ music video.
This video gives a better idea of the song than a recording in one of the gigantic stadiums where Coldplay usually performs and where the vocals of the audience dominate Chris Martin’s voice. To have an idea of that, watch a snippet of Coldplay’s performance at Pinkpop in 2011.
According to singer Chris Martin, the song Viva la Vida came about by accident. He could not fall asleep and had just taken a couple of sleeping pills when the words ‘I used to rule the world’ along with a matching tune shot through his head. He expelled the emerging sleep, picked up his guitar and formed an idea of the rest of the song, which he later finished together with his bandmates.
The lyrics are all optimism about the possibility of overcoming adversity, as well as authoritarian rulers. The title of the song and the album as well were inspired by the words on a painting by the Spanish artist Frida Kahlo (pictured above), who herself had endured several setbacks and illnesses, but had always kept her faith in better times. Hereis a link to the lyrics
The song is written from the perspective of an authoritarian monarch who has lost his power and now ‘sweeps the streets he once owned’ and complains that he once had the key, but the gates now remain closed to him. The reference to the fact that the gates to heaven will also remain closed is a childhood trauma of singer Chris Martin who, as a ‘naughty boy’, was often promised eternal damnation’. He says he is fascinated by the (delusional) idea that in heaven there is some kind of court analysing people’s lives. On the positive side, at least, there is no place there for the ‘I character’ from the song.
As an interlude, listen and watch the version by a large choir and orchestra conducted by Cicero Alves. The choir’s presentation is infectious.
The instrumentation of Coldplay’s song deviates from the usual piano and guitars. The intro consists of violins, that also carry the rest of the song, along with an electric piano and bass guitar. Otherwise, there are only the sustained thump of a bass drum, the sound of a timpani and a church bell.
The song’s popularity was not limited to the music world. In the 2008-2009 season, the song was played in Hamburger SV’s stadium after every goal. Unfortunately for the club, it could never say ‘we used to rule the world’. That same season, the song became the anthem of FC Barcelona and that club was more successful than ever.
Finally, look at a flash mob in which the youth symphony orchestra Amici Della Musica Allumiere from the Italian city of Trento played the stars from heaven.
Is Vida la Vida can Coldplay plagiarism?
It’s not all gold that shines. After Viva la Vida reached the top of the charts, Coldplay faced several charges of plagiarism. Was the song, the melody in particular, all Coldplay’s? When the song became a hit, there were at least four accusations of plagiarism.
The first came from US singer Cat Stevens. The song ‘Foreigner Suite’ features two passages that are suspiciously simi lar to passages in Viva la Viva. The video below compares the allegedly similar parts.
The second accusation came from an unknown American band Creaky Boards. Coldplay allegedly used part of the melody of ‘The Songs I Didn’t Write’ in Viva la Vida as the melody of their song. A song in which the singer is expressing his jealousy of all those nice songs he didn’t write. You only must listen to the first minute. The chorus is clearly different. By the way, it is quite a nice song.
The third song is ‘Love again’ by Carly Rae Jelsen from 2005. The accusation is the intro and the chorus. I believe the similarity is only on a few bars, so here the chance of coincidence is very high.
The fourth indictment came from guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani in his instrumental song’ ‘If i could fly’:
The video below shows the deliberate clips from ‘Viva la Vida’ and ‘If I could fly’ in sequence.
This appears to be the most serious charge for plagiarism. In Joe Satriani’s case, there was a very real chance that a judge would have confirmed plagiarism. Musicologists who have examined both pieces of music find that there is a high degree of similarity. The chord progression, tempo and rhythm are almost identical. A minute comparison of the score shows that both songs have so many similarities that coincidence is out of question.
Yet this does not necessarily mean that Chris Martin deliberately copied the tune. The story is that the phrase ‘I used to rule the world’ along with a matching tune came to his mind at night. At night, our brain works in full force and countless memories can emerge from the subconscious, tunes once heard included.
In 2009, the two parties reached an out-of-court settlement. The content of the settlement was an undisclosed financial agreement resolving the copyright dispute, without an admission of copying by Coldplay and any public disclosure of the exact monetary or contractual terms.
Chris Martin has always dismissed accusations of plagiarism. He says they these accusations inspire him to make even better songs. Deliberate use of โsamplesโ often results from appreciation and is explicitly announced.
Between this and the former episode of my blog is a bigger gap than usual.ย ย The reason is that my wive and I moved to another house in another town. With a lot of pleasure, we have refurbished the house house. Without any doubt, it will stimulate me to provide you with lots of new posts.
Back to the music, this time a rather brief episode.
Music has several proven effects on human beings. Music that you like is reducing stress and makes you happier. This because of the production of a drug by your brain called dopamine. Music stimulates the functioning of the brain and therefore play a role in combating memory loss.
It is a very good idea for schools to engage children actively with music and for music to be final exam subject in secondary education. This is the case, among others, at the Marianum, a broad comprehensive school in Groenlo, the Netherlands.
Listen, by way of introduction, the school choir’s interpretation of Adiemus, a song whose words have no meaning. The choir consists of students from the upper classes, many of whom have music as their final exams.
What does musical education look like in secondary school? In junior high, pupils develop several musical skills, with singing and playing a musical instrument having an important role. But they also write their own songs. In addition, there is general music theory and music history.
Students who choose music as their final exam spend about two-thirds of the time working towards one or more performances (the final exam concert). If they already play an instrument, this is useful, it is not necessary. In the theory section, students prepare for the final central written exam, which includes mastering musical notation, analyzing musical pieces and studying the diversity in music also in relation to (sub)cultures.
In the years 2120, 2012, 2014 and 2017, professional recordings of the final exam presentations were made at the Marianum under the MarianumLIVE banner. These were distributed on YouTube and have since been viewed more than 5 million times.
In this exploration, I show a choral number and an individual performance from the years 2012, 2014 and 2017. The video above dates from 2012. Here is an individual performance from the same year, in this case two students singing the song ‘Je veux’, which was very popular that year. It was sung by singer ZAZ (Isabelle Geffroy). It is an example of ‘gypsie jazz’, the only movement within jazz that had its origins in Europe.
Below, I highlight the year 2014. That year, choir and soloists sang Faurรฉ’s Requiem among others. From this follows the song Libera me. The piano is played by Dennis Valenduuk, a former student of the school.
You can now watch the song ‘I put a spell on you’ This song dates from 1956 and has been sung by Nina Simone, Brian Ferry and the Alan Price group, among others. Rolling Stone Magazin ranked this song 318de among the 500 best songs of all time. This song exhibits almost heartbreaking vocals and impressive guitar playing at (almost) professional level.
Moving into 2017. You can first watch and listen to two soloists, singing together Steely Dan’s 1972 song ‘Do it again’. It’s about a schmuck who keeps falling back into the old sins of violence, drugs and the wrong women and always comes up short. The soloists therefore sing resignedly ‘do it again….’ Note the tight ‘funky’ playing and the solo by the ‘cool’ drummer.
Below, you can listen to Toto’s ‘Africa’ version by year group 2017 of the Marianum.
Although this is a performance for choir and soloists, many elements have been adopted from Toto’s performance, for example the marimbas at the beginning.
And then 2017 was over and the great promoter and stimulator of music at school Frits Maters retired. From then on, there are no more videos of musical presentations by the graduating students, as far as these concerts could go on in corona time. No videos, but there are photos.
MarianumLIVE is not the only way the school manifests itself musically. In the years when there was no MarinumnLIVE, students organised Students on Stage, outside the curriculum, but also of high quality. In 2018, a group of students and teachers organised Passion. They also resumed the tradition of the Music Cafรฉ, in which mainly bands of students performed and a choral work was sung.
You can watch a large number of videos from the years 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2017 via this link. You will also be introduced to four former students who have become professional musicians.
In my previous post, I traced the development from gospel, through soul to funk. The step from soul and funk to disco is not a big one. I think of The Supremes (here a medley of their best-known songs), but also Chaka Kahn’s “I’ am every woman” and Chic’s “Le Freak“. The difference between funk and disco is even harder to pinpoint. Just look and listen to “Kung Fu Fighting” by Berry White.
Possibly also look at The Hues company (“Rock the boat“), George McGrae (“Rock your baby“) and KC and the Sunshine Band (“That’s the Way I Like It” and “Shake Your Booty“). I think funk seamlessly transitioned into disco, but at the same time some artists became attracted to jazz, like Candy Dulfer. With disco, you don’t stay in your seat; with jazz, you (usually) do.
Disco, like funk, is meant to be dance music. Disco was played in clubs such as the Copacabana in New York or sometimes at illegal rave parties. Almost always to the music of a live band. Dancing was mainly a form of individual expression, stimulated by the music, the light installation and the excessive use of drugs. During the 1970s, a range of disco dance styles developed, such as โpenguin”, โboogaloo”,โ watergate” and “robot”.
This recording of MFSB “The Sound of Philadelphia”reveil some disco dancers showing their skills (up to minute 2.45).
Discos had a tolerant atmosphere with few restrictions and where people felt at home regardless of skin color and sexual orientation. Movies like ‘Saturday night fever’ and ‘Thank God it is Friday’ contributed to the popularity of disco in the 1970s and 1980s.
A classic song that became a disco hit is ‘I will survive’ by Gloria Raynor; ‘Queen of disco’. You can watch and listen to thatsong now.
Dorona Alberti sang the song during a performance by Andrรฉ Rieu in Maastricht. A feat of technical prowess, but it might be laid on too thickly. I am therefore more attracted to Gloria Gaynor’s version anyway.
Slowly, uneasiness against disco culture, which was blamed for superficiality, consumerism and escapism, grew among a section of young people who were particularly attracted to ‘rougher’ rock music. An anti-disco demonstration (“Disco demolition night”) during the intermission of a baseball game on 12 July 1979 inadvertently became a platform for homophobia, sexism and racism. Disco was already past its peak in the US and Europe by then, but continued to develop elsewhere in the world, from the Middle East to India. However, several established artists continued making disco music unabated, such as Kool and the Gang, Donna Summer, the Jacksons, and Gloria Gaynor also survived.
In the following Years, others took over and essentially the style is still popular today, but the character of disco and, for that matter, of almost all popular types of music changed profoundly from the 1980s onwards and this was partly due to the rise of EDM, electronic dance music.
The first step was to provide disco songs with an all-electronic accompaniment. The classic example is 1977’s Donna Summer’s “I feel love”, produced by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte. Here is a recording where you first see Donna in the studio and then experience a performance in a disco (almost 9 minutes)
Electronic dance music (EDM)
What are we talking about? Here is an excerpt from Jesse Saunders’ song “On and on” from Chicago in 1984, the very first recording of ‘house music’ put on a record. The influence of disco is still unmistakable.
Electronic dance music, of which house, techno and trance are the main forms, is produced with dedicated equipment, where any sound – including of musical instruments and voices – can be produced using software. This can be done ‘live’ by DJs or in a studio, in both cases, sometimes in combination with vocals and musical instruments.
The most prominent feature of electronic dance music in general and house in particular, especially in the beginning, was the bass drum, on every beat and other percussion sound on beats 2 and 4 of each bar, lasting about ยฝ second. In addition, heavy bass tones can be heard on all the whole and half beats.
Parties (‘raves’) take place in discotheques or illegal venues, but can also be massive in character, lasting a whole week-end like ‘Tomorrowland’ (200,000 – 300,000 visitors). Here, not only (hundreds of) DJs perform, but also entire orchestras, there are light shows and fireworks. Get an impression of this overwhelming spectacle by watching (parts of) the Tomorrowland 2023 ‘aftermovie’ (lasts 23 minutes in total).
In many ways, ‘dance’ culture matched that of disco. Dancing was a form of free expression, although it also used elements from countless existing styles, waacking, voguing, capoeira, jazz dance, Lindy Hop et cetera. Here, too, there is generally a broad tolerance of diversity and the lyrics – if any – exude a spirit of freedom and equality. Use of all forms of drugs is widespread.
The number of styles of EDM is vast. Between 1985 and 2000, house, electro, trance and Eurodance dominated. Nowadays, we mostly know mixed forms, with elements of ‘progressive house’ and trance playing the main role.
House
You can look at some examples here. The first is a ‘roof top’ house party. What you hear is predominantly deep house with a hint of afrohouse. The makers partly fall back on the ‘soulful’ nature of disco.
The music you hear is quite melodic.ย ย The next example is acid house, coming from Chicago, and it sounds more ‘heavy’. Let me add a few examples: Deep house: Larry Heard (‘mr. Fingers’) “Mistery of love“, Acid house: Brian Dougans : “Stakker Humanoid“. Hip house: Tyree Cooper (“Turn up the bass“). Jungle house: Omni Trio: “Renegade snares” and progressive house: Above and Beyond (“500“), Deadmau5 (“Strobe“) and Gat Decor: “Passion“.
Progressive house is itself another umbrella term, but a common feature is that it gave another ‘boost’ to house as dance music. Progressive house has common ground with trance. Both take time to build up the song, and the tracks often last an hour or more to do so.
Techno
Techno originated in Detroit and then gained a foothold mainly in Berlin and a few cities in England. Synthpop, like Giorgio Moroderโs and Pete Bellotteโs song “I feel love”, sung by Donna Summer in 1977 was an inspiration. This song has full electronic accompaniment (see above). Techno sounds more transparent than house; but of course, the DJ can turn up the bass as much as he/she likes. A classic: Derrick May’s “String of life” (1987), which you can hear here.
Trance is symphonic EDM, usually long tracks, sometimes using classical music. There are repeating melodic patterns, and a climax is built up which then culminates in a ‘drop’. It is the specialty of leading Dutch DJs like as Ferry Corsten, Armin Van Buuren and Tiรซsto. The latter was in the limelight in 2004 because he and hundreds of live musicians provided the music for the athletes’ entry at the 2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Athens. Gardian magazine called this performance one of the 50 most important events in dance music. The entire ceremony lasted 3 1/2 hours. Scroll through it. You can see the entry of the Dutch team, among others, here.
Eurodance incorporates elements of disco, rap, techno and house. Eurodance has rich melodies; partly complemented by rap and features a solid bass. You can watch Dr Alban’s “It’s my life” here
At the turn of the century, EDM producers occasionally made songs that were not suitable as ‘dance music’, instead, they were for home use to dream away or kick off. This music was called intelligent dance music, armchair techno or ambient techno. Here are two examples: Secede “Outran” and Boards of Canada “Music is math“.
From 2000 onwards, we see the variety of styles increasing, which is why dance is increasingly referred to in short. The use of electronics still takes a dominant role, but more large-scale “rave parties” also feature live singing and sometimes entire orchestras contribute. The recording below is from “Sandstorm”. A ‘rave party’ with a symphony orchestra, DJ and lightshow.
From the beginning of the 21ste century, there has been a particular reappraisal of the melodic component of EDM, or as is often said, ‘disco is back, but in a different way’. It is also more often bands again providing the accompaniment, usually supplemented by electronics.
According to music critics, the reason for disco’s continued popularity is its social nature. Tom Ewing: “Disco was a music of mutual attraction: cruising, flirtation, negotiation.” By contrast, electronic styles like house emphasised the personal transcendent experience.
Here is a series of examples of dance after 2000. The rhythmic character obviously remains and you can experience for yourself how the balance between ‘rhythm’ and melody moves more in the latter direction and the songs more closely resemble the disco style of yesteryear. The songs combine strong beats with uncomplicated melodies. In fact, you can no longer categorise 21ste century ‘danceable’ music. As an example, let me hear Kylie Minogue’s song “Magic” from her album, tellingly titled ‘Disco’ from 2020.
Even beyond 2020, we can note successful disco numbers Doja Cat’s “Say So“, Lady Gaga’s “Stupid Love“, Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now“, BTS – hailing from South Korea – “Dynamite”
You can also see the influence of electronica more widely than in disco, namely in pop music in general. This was already true in the last decades of the 20steย century for groups like ‘Japan’ and ‘Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’ and later ‘Depeche Mode’, ‘Eurythmics’, ‘Duran Duran’ and ‘Spandau Ballet’. Madonna’s 1998 album “Ray of Light” is full of ESD elements.
I am looking for the origins of popular music. So far, I focused on the US. The reason is the unique fusion of styles with African and with European roots. Of the former, worksongs and spirituals, boogiewoogie, ragtime and rhythm & blues have already been covered. Regarding the styles with European roots, I paid attention to country & western. A lot of new variations have developed from these roots. From rhythm & blues and influenced by country & western, rock & roll emerged. Worksongs and spirituals laid the foundation for gospels, soul and then funk. From here, a line can again be drawn to disco and dance, but that will be done in the next exploration.
Spirituals and gospels
Many African slaves adopted Christianity over successive generations. Some songs (worksongs) they sang while working had therefore taken on biblical content. By singing about the hardships of the Jewish people, they could also express their own misery. Songs like these are called spirituals. They were handed down from generation to generation.
Worksongs and spirituals were considered cultural heritage after the abolition of slavery in 1867. In my exploration of worksongs, I have shown how new popular songs emerged from spirituals but also how they influenced the performing arts, ranging from choral singing, symphonies, operas and musicals.
Spirituals have additionally given impetus to ‘gospels’, religious songs. The name ‘gospel’ is believed to have been first used in 1874. Listen to the Mississippi Mass Choir sing “When I rose this morning” here
Gospels were sung in concert halls as well as during church services. Famous are the Golden Gate Quartet (“Go down Moses“). Think also of Mahalia Jackson (“Precious Lord, Take my hand“). Elvis Presley also recorded several albums with gospels. Another example is Little Richard (“Silent Night“). A more recent and ‘contemporary’ rendition is “Open my heart” by Yolanda Adams.
Soul
The term ‘soul’ refers to gospel-like secular music and has been used since the 1960s. You wonโt note significant difference with gospel songs. Soul plays a role in the movement for equal civil rights and has ‘boosted’ the self-confidence of the black community. The sound of soul is inextricably linked to Ray Charles. Here he sings “Georgia on my mind”
The most important soul singer was undoubtedly Aretha Franklin (“Respect” and “Do Right Woman, Do Right Man“). Here she sings “I Never loved a man (The way that I love you)” at the White House in the presence of President Obama.
Several local genres emerged during the 1960s. The most influential was the Motown style from Detroit (Motown was a record company). The songs were both rhythmic and melodic. The latter was enhanced by the addition of violins, brass and choruses.
The motown style laid the foundations for disco, which I will go into later. You can already hear and see this in “Taste of bitter love” by Gladys Knight & The Pips, which you can listen to and watch here
By comparison, a recording by Booker T & the MGs (“Melting pot“) is an instrumental song just like the famous “Green onions“. You can immediately hear that this song is a lot sultrier. This is typical of the Memphis style. The Hammond organ comes strongly to the fore here. All the big cities had their own variant like this; I won’t go into that.
There are also several white soul artists in the UK and in the US – ‘blue-eyed’ soul acts. In the 1960s, these mostly adopted the sound of Motown.
Joss Stone is a serious candidate to succeed Aretha Franklin as ‘Queen of soul’. Here you can see Josh in “Here comes the rain again”, together with guitarist Dave Stewart in a particularly expressive ‘soul’ performance.
As the years progressed, soul blended with other genres, each of which, moreover, evolved. But the spirit of soul remains: expressive ‘narrative’ vocals, brass instruments and tight rhythm.
Funk
Several soul artists developed their style during the 1960s towards funk, even more rhythmic than soul and especially danceable. The powerful and complex rhythmic figures (‘grooves’) are more important than the chords and melody. These figures are initiated by the bass guitar and the drums and other percussion instruments. Because it is dance music, the songs tend to be long. Here, drummers, horns and guitarists were given plenty of room to improvise. The term ‘funk’ refers to the smell of a dancing crowd.
Of great significance for the development of funk was with James Brown. From him comes the accentuation of the first beat of each bar, the ‘downbeat’, where in other styles the second and fourth beats are accentuated, the ‘backbeat’. You can hear “Cold sweat” by James Brown & The Famous Flames” (1969) here. The rhythm characteristic of funk is easily recognisable and you can also enjoy James Brown’s famous dance moves.
In the 1970s, funk reached maturity. Let me mention a few artists, which many will remember: Earth, Wind & Fire (“September“), Sly & the Family Stone (“Thank you“), Isley Brothers (“Its your thing“), Chaka Khan – the Queen of funk – (“I’ am every woman“) and Chic (“Le Freak“).
Of course, we should not leave out Candy Dulfer and her band “Funky Stuff”. Here, she plays and sings “The neighbourhood”.
Recently I explored theย worksongsย sung byย slaves in the US. The 1864 ‘Emancipation Act’ freed all slaves and opened the way for further development of the music of African-Americans. You have already been introduced to the first expressions of thisย boogiewoogieย andย ragtime. From the worksongs, a singing style gradually developed that was called ‘blues’ around 1920. Banjo and guitar were often used for accompaniment. The blues, like the worksongs, expressed the feeling of discontent that the inferior position of the African-American population entailed but also sang about relationship problems and natural disasters. The term ‘blues’ stems from seafaring: if a captain or officer died during the voyage, a blue flag was hoisted or a blue band was painted around the ship.
The first blues
In the 1920s, blues was first published as sheet music and the first gramophone records appeared. The blues remained music by black people for black people. That was taken care of by the emerging music industry, which spoke of ‘race music’. Music for and by whites was marketed as ‘country music’, although the two styles did not initially differ much.
The first blues record appeared in 1912, the ‘Dallas Blues’. W.C. Handy’s’ Saint Louis Blues’ (1914) is still played today. Here, the composer himself plays his ‘Dallas Blues’ on the trumpet.
Handy contributed to the popularisation of the blues through his orchestral arrangements, which also saw blues played in theatres and policy by choir and orchestra. You can see this here in a 1929 video in which Bessie Smith, one of the first female blues performers, also sings the Saint Louis blues.
Blues as a music style
I pause to consider a few characteristics of the ‘blues’ as a musical style. Blues musicians use a five-tone (‘pentatonic’) scale, unlike ‘western music’, which usually uses a seven-tone major or minor scale. Starting from the C major scale, the pentatonic scale consists of these five notes: C, D, E, G and A, i.e. without the F and the B. This scale is found all over the world, including, for example, in Celtic and Scottish music and in many children’s songs, Negro spirituals and hymns. Here, for example, the first bars of Amazing Grace.
Instead of the omitted notes, blues musicians often add a lowered E (E-flat) and/or lowered B (B-flat) in the C major scale. These are called the ‘blue notes’. Anyone with a keyboard instrument at hand should try playing a C-major chord (C – E – G) and fiddle around with the lowered E and B. This immediately sounds ‘bluesy’. In the minor scale, the raised F (F-sharp) is usually the blues tone. You then get: C, E-flat, F, F-sharp, G, B-flat. In the following video you can learn in two minutes to play a simple solo on the piano in the C minor scale.
Besides the use of the pentatonic scale, most blues are distinguished by their structure, consisting of three stanzas of four (four-quarter) measures each. The first four bars posit a statement, in the second group it is repeated (‘call and response’) and in the last four bars an explanation follows. Here, by way of illustration, three lines from Blind Lemon Jefferson’s 1927 ‘Rising high water blues’.
Backwater rising, Southern peoples can’t make no time I said, backwater rising, Southern peoples can’t make no time And I can’t get no hearing from that Memphis girl of mine
Furthermore, in blues you often hear a ‘walking bass’, a series of successive notes played in a driving manner up and down. What is also common are sliding notes, the ‘sliding effect’ on the guitar. On the piano, you achieve this effect – as the video illustrated – by using a fast-leading stroke.
The rise of urban blues
The blues in the product of the southern states and the Mississippi area (‘Delta blues’) and had numerous regional variations. Both at the time of growing prosperity (1920s) and recession (1930s), many African-Americans moved to the northern states and Chicago became the new centre of the ‘urban blues’. This was somewhat rawer in nature. Big bands also made their appearance, such as the bands of Count Basie (‘One o’clock jump’) and Jimmy Rushin (‘I left my baby’) Big names from the 1930s include Charley Patton and Robert Johnson. Here is a recording of ‘Sweet home Chicago’, sung by Robert Johnson (1937), a song that would be covered many more times.
Electric guitars had now become commonplace, so they were often referred to as ‘electric blues’. In the 1940s, there was a boom in new blues songs. In Chicago, Willy Dixon was constantly writing songs for artists who caused a furore there, such as Muddy Waters (‘I can’t be satisfied’, ‘Rollin’and tumbling’ and ‘Hoochie Coochie man’) and Howlin’ Wolf (‘Wang Dang Doodle’ and ‘Back door man’).
Here is a recording of Muddy Waters’ ‘Im your hoochie coochie man (1971)
Rhythm and blues
Over the years, the Chicago sound became more rhythmic and the tempo of the melodies became faster and wind instrument support played an increasingly important role. The term ‘rhythm and blues’ made its appearance. Also because the music industry wanted to get rid of the term ‘race music’. As the years progressed, ‘rhythm and blues’ became an umbrella term for music originating from the African-American population, even though the number of white artists as well as fans increased rapidly.
Older people among us still experienced plenty of the stars of the post-war period. Besides Muddy Waters, one can think of John Lee Hooker (‘Boogie Chillen’, ‘Dimples’ and ‘Boom Boom’), the ‘king of blues’ B.B. King (‘The Thrill is gone), Louis Jordan with his band ‘Tympany Five (‘You Ain’t My Baby’, ‘Saturday Night Fish Fry“.
Here, ‘the king of the blues’ plays ‘Sweet little angel’ with Jeff, Beck, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy and Albert Collings in 1993. The diversity of players alone is a sign of the blending of styles and ethnicities that has taken place in recent decades.
From the 1950s, many more can be mentioned Little Richard Penniman (‘Tutti Frutti’, ‘Long tall Sally’), Ruth Brown (‘Teardrops from my eyes’, (Mama) he treats your daughter mean’, Fats Domino (‘Aint that a shame’), Ray Charles (‘I got a woman’) and Chubby Checker (‘The twist’). These songs also show the great influence that rhythm and blues, alongside boogiewoogie, had on rock and roll, think Elvis Presley.
Here, late 1993 and older Ruth Brown sings ‘Mama, he treats your daughter mean’ along with Bonnie Raitt. You can see the original version from the 1950s by a still-young Ruth Brown here.
It is almost impossible to make a choice here, which is why there is a link behind most of the names. I end up choosing guitar virtuoso Stevie Ray Vaughan and his lifelong band Double Trouble with the classic blues ‘Texas Flood’. He is considered as one of the most influential musicians in the history of blues and one of the best guitarists of all time despite his short life (1954 – 1990). He had a lifetime of problems with alcohol, love and drugs, which he had overcome by 1986. He then had four healthy years left to benefit from his fame until he was killed in a helicopter crash in 1990.
During the development of the blues, there has been cross-fertilisation between (rhythm and) blues and other genres.ย ย Initially, these were the (negro) spirituals and gospel songs and, from the 1920s, old-style jazz: ‘Dixieland’ in New Orleans and later in swinging dance orchestras, such as Count Basie and his band. After the war, this was mainly rock ‘n roll.ย In the 1980s, the term ‘R&B’ was further expanded to include hip-hop, having already been used for soul, funk and even disco. These styles will be discussed later.ย
One of the most important people who has kept the memory of the blues alive and secured its future is Jools Holland, who, together with his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, has been performing at many venues for decades and has kept viewers glued to the tube in his weekly programme ‘Later’. In and the annual ‘Hootenanny’, where he ushers in the New Year with the audience. Here he and his orchestra accompany Ruby Turner in ‘Roll out of this hole’ (2010 – 2011)
Afterword: Recently released is the album The Barnestormers, an international super formation on which Jools Holland plays and sings contemporary rhythm and blues/rockabilly/rock – whatever you name it – together with Jimmy Barnes, Slim Jim Phantom, Chris Cheney and Kevin Shirley.ย ย Hereย you listen to the song ‘Johnny’s Gone’ from this album, accompanied by a fast-paced cartoons
Music: Listen, Look and Enjoy 