Comments on: The Sound of Corporate Beige

By: Tim Hall

Tim Hall — Mon, 30 May 2016 15:47:44 +0000

That’s the heart of the problem; this corporate beige drives everything else out of the marketplace. Having something on the background in the office is one thing, making bands like that big live draws at the expense of something far better but less bland is another.

By: Synthetase

Synthetase — Mon, 30 May 2016 15:18:22 +0000

I don’t think there’s necessarily anything wrong with inoffensive background music. In fact, I often find it helpful while performing certain tasks as listening to more demanding stuff makes me stop what I’m doing too often to listen. I think it’s problematic when it’s being marketed as something deep and culturally relevant, though. I have a friend who felt very alienated by music when he was a kid because all of the stuff we were told was the pinnacle of our cultural output had no effect on him. Then he discovered extreme metal in his teens and it all kind of came together for him.

By: ObjectiveReality

ObjectiveReality — Sun, 29 May 2016 21:57:45 +0000

“Inoffensive” is exactly what commercial radio wants, though, as their business model is all about being on in the background for the longest possible period of time to give their advertisers maximum exposure.

By: Tim Hall

Tim Hall — Sun, 29 May 2016 11:15:24 +0000

“Inoffensive” is precisely the problem with it. It doesn’t work as anything more that background music.

By: Synthetase

Synthetase — Sun, 29 May 2016 11:02:59 +0000

It sounds like a mixture of Matchbox20 and U2. Matchbox2? U20? Eh. I don’t mind this sort of music. It’s not really my thing, but it’s pretty inoffensive. My issue with songs like this has always been length. Why does this song need to be four and a half minutes long? Are there any additional insights imparted in the extra two minutes that you couldn’t have covered in the first two and a half? If you want longer songs, why not make some natty instrumental stuff or write more verses? Do you really need to repeat the chorus five hundred times?