I thought this was a good article so I wanted to share:

The way Top 40 radio has evolved over the past few decades is clear, and for people who live for pop music, it's not for the better. It seems musicians at the top of the charts are putting less effort into making their work.

Back in the ‘80s, when the world was screaming for Michael Jackson and Madonna, album releases were much bigger pop culture events. People celebrated the releases and the music.

Now, albums are rushed and quickly forgotten. It's proven with Rihanna, who will be releasing her sixth album in six years this fall. The King of Pop had only six solo albums total before his death, where the "Material Girl" is currently working on her twelfth album, even though her career spans the last four decades.

When speaking about Rihanna, producer L.A. Reid told Rolling Stone that her last album "Loud" was compiled without much help from Rihanna herself. Reid gathered 27 songwriters and 32 producers and told them to "get to work." They came up with more than 200 songs and Rihanna picked 11 of them for the release.

Reid's plan worked, because the album gave three No. 1 singles ("Only Girl (In The World)," "What's My Name (featuring Drake)" and "S&M"). But, there's little room for artistic fulfillment when recording albums in this manner.

One of the leading pop stars in the world today, Lady Gaga, is another prime example of the way music is rushed. After releasing "Born This Way" in May, the fifth single is already cycling on the radio. I'm not sure what she's trying to achieve with cramming her music down people's throats.


Pop music used to be filled with plenty of concept albums as well. Janet Jackson's "Rhythm Nation 1814" was about uniting the world by highlighting their differences with protest songs. It could be said it was the "Born This Way" of the ‘80s, but unlike Gaga, Jackson's eight singles from "Rhythm Nation" were released in the span of one-and-a-half years.


Now, not many concept albums happen, and the ones that do don't have the same effect. An exception could include Green Day's "American Idiot," which was adapted into a Broadway musical.

Music is rushed with collaborations too. Years ago, musicians would meet in the studio to talk about ideas. Now, snippets are just sent through email. Snoop Dogg and Katy Perry not needing to meet each other for "California Gurls" may offer a cool sound, but chemistry is missing.

Along with the album's contents and concepts, the art is almost pointless. When it's so easy to download music onto portable devices, there's no need to dive into album art.

Stevie Nicks from Fleetwood Mac spoke about this in Rolling Stone magazine.

"I miss buying an album and lying on the floor for three days and going over it with a magnifying glass." Nicks said.

But do you ever wonder that over exposure could be her downfall? even non-fans think that, it's a valid question, no shade intended.

hey came up with more than 200 songs and Rihanna picked 11 of them for the release.

Originally posted by Rated R To be honest I don't really care. People today want stuff ASAP and don't like to wait. Those who keep pumping out albums are on top and those who take long breaks seriously risk losing fans and public interest. Case in point: Christina. She went away for a while and nobody really cared when she came back because she didn't maintain people's interest or stay on the radio. I'm glad Rihanna keeps pushing out albums because I love her music so I'm never going to complain about new music from her

I concur with everything you said (minus the Paris Hilton remark) but I didn't know 'LOUD' was recorded on a tour bus.

But I think Gaga is an exception here because she actually is very hands on with the creating process, to writing, producing & composing. The singles have been rushed this era but even with that said I still think she's an exception in this case.

Originally posted by for lovers This is a good article. All pop stars are rushing their albums because the competition (to my memory) has never been fiercer. Never has there been such a craving to out-do another artist with their outfits or their performances (just look at this year's ****ing VMA red carpet). And now people want to release as many albums and as many singles as possible, (Rihanna, Gaga, Beyoncé). I'm not gonna lie, I've never been a fan of J-Lo but when On The Floor came out I was expecting a good album similar to the single... then I'm Into You came and I was expecting an AMAZING album. Little did I know, miss J-Lo rushed the **** out of the album as it was a pain to my ears, and only a few songs were actually good (funnily enough, those few songs were the singles that she's released from the album). I feel like Rihanna's music is getting increasingly boring because she's just farting out albums every year. Loud was recorded on a TOUR BUS, for **** sake. God knows what Talk That Talk will sound like. Hell, Paris Hilton's album is better than most of the shite that's released today. I'm so bored of it.

Originally posted by for lovers Hell, Paris Hilton's album is better than most of the shite that's released today. I'm so bored of it.

Originally posted by i spit on haters But do you ever wonder that over exposure could be her downfall? even non-fans think that, it's a valid question, no shade intended.

Oh, okay.

In my opinion, Lady Gaga puts forth this image of "depth," but her lyricism is
shallow, repetitive, and most of the time nonsensical, especially on "Born This Way."



...Vin

Originally posted by RihRihGirrrl Its been six years and she' still at the top of the charts, If overexposure hasn't caught up to her now then there's no reason to think that it will anytime soon. Rihanna may pop albums every year but her level of promotion is no where Gaga, Beyonce and Katy's. Heck she has a #1 song at the moment and she has yet to do ANY promo for it not to mention her new album is dropping in less than a month and she hasn't even mentioned the album anywhere outside of twitter/facebook