Why is 'mid' music so successful?
Is basic more profitable?
“Everything in Starbucks falls into the category of “mid.” So does everything in an airport. It’s a brilliant, precise word for a world full of mild disappointments, where the corner bakery that used to do some things well and other things poorly has been reliably replaced by yet another Le Pain Quotidien.”
— Stephen Marche in his article for the New York Times
My biggest worry about AI music is that we’ll prefer it because it is, by definition, the least common denominator.
Or that enough people will. In time.
Consider for a moment the new single, feelslikeimfallinginlove, from Coldplay. They have adopted a Gen Z style when titling their song (all lowercase, no spaces) and combined it with the shallowest dreamscape (and plausibly AI-generated lyrics):
“I know that I was born to kill Any angel on my windowsill But it's so dark inside I throw the windows wide I know, la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la I know, la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la Still I don't let go And fields of flowers grow Oh, it feels like I'm fallin' in love Maybe for the first time Baby, it's my mind you blow It feels like I'm fallin' in love You're throwin' me a lifeline This is for a lifetime, I know”
It’s not bad. It just is.
It’s a corporate anthem. An evolution of the post-modern dental office.
Truthfully, this song may be the most representative music of what it feels like to be alive right now!
And I don’t mean to drag Coldplay. I really did enjoy their music when I was a kid. A Rush of Blood to the Head moved me when I was first playing music and changed the style of guitar I liked somewhat. Fix You remains one of my favorite songs. It deserves the 1.5 billion streams it has on Spotify.
What I’m sad about is the inexorable march towards the certain. The sure thing. Coldplay was never a band of too much risk, but there was some. Now, an embrace of beige.
But look around you. Everywhere, beige.
Surrounded by Oversimplification
Flip around Zillow and see the recently flipped houses. Stroll down a car-centric street. Meet a “sad, beige child” influencer. Or look down at the soda you’re drinking.
Here’s Pepsi over time:
Or consider the interiors of restaurants. McDonalds before and after:
In other words:
Maximalism as a Response
Look around at street fashion. It’s angry. It’s loud. It’s fun again.
We’re individually yelling back at the blah.
Let’s bring back a colorful life. Let’s rediscover hope.
Musical Freedom
I think we, as artists, are ultimately headed to a freer space. There’s less money than ever in music. So how do we respond? By chasing the beige? By embracing the middle. Maybe. That might make money for now. But beige happens to be what AI is best at.
Or should we respond by making what we love? Streams and metrics be damned. Just make. Freely and often. Divisive and dangerous music. Maximalist and minimalist. Confusing and comforting. Something worth crying to. Or falling in love to. Something worth really, deeply listening to. A soundtrack to the world we want to inhabit instead of the one we do.
When that has happened in musical history, magic usually follows.
Or at least I hope so.