There’s a mythos now that surrounds the name “Adele.” With two of the best-selling albums of the century, 33-year-old Adele Adkins has created standards as often as she has defied them, living a life split between A-list fame and airtight privacy. Taking four and six-year breaks between her most recent albums, she has chosen to make her music around her life, not her life around music, a rarity in musicians of her caliber. Following the stratospheric commercial success of 2015’s 25, she’s back with another album of soul-pop that chronicles her recent divorce from the father of her nine-year-old son.

Inspired by the works of Al Green and Marvin Gaye, 30 sees Adele return to familiar sonic territory with retro soul and blues production, but she also steps enough outside of her past works to create both familiarity and excitement. The much-hyped electronic experimentation is of course quite light on “Oh My God,” and would generally be unremarkable for any other act not under Adele’s microscope. The truly rewarding experimental work is shown on “My Little Love,” a thoroughly conceptualized track that reveals intimate recordings of the star. She talks honestly to her young son about her emotions with a mother’s touch, before crumbling on a voicemail to a friend about the truly overwhelming nature of her emotions. Voice notes in music are nothing new, but the prominence of them here is unlike other tracks in the category, and certainly on an Adele album. While a track like this could border on simply feeling more like an interlude than a song, the excellent editing and sampling from the producer (prior collaborator and hitmaker) Greg Kurstin make this a new artistic highlight for Adele as she incorporates both old and new musical forms.

Further in the tracklist, the production grows even more warm and lush, with some lucky songs reaching 21’s truly classic level. “Hold On” ascends to ’20th Century Fox presents’-level grandeur with its full choral backing, as does the defeatist album closer “Love Is A Game.” Not every track can be a knockout as that album showed, however: “Can I Get It” is hardly offensive, but steps too close to Ed Sheeran‘s terminal case of hit seeking. The much-hyped “To Be Loved” is by miles the most passionate performance on the album, but as a vocal fanatic might anticipate, Adele’s voice borders nerve-wrackingly, perilously close to failing. In sacrificing any concern about technical proficiency, Adele makes sure her audiences feel every emotion as intensely as she does. But one still has to wonder what else she could be capable of if there was more pedagogical discipline.

In Adele’s well-chaptered and chronicled life, ’30’ seems like the right bookend for her moment. Her 20s were somewhat self-righteous, heart wrenching accounts of her lover’s faults and her subsequent scorn. But through marriage, motherhood, and divorce, there’s the unmistakable realization that she “self-inflicts that pain.” There’s a real reckoning of Adele’s humanity here, as she reaps the consequences of her life choices both mundane and extraordinary. And almost impossibly so, 30 feels inoculated from her superstardom, like it’s an album for few rather than many.

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It’s hard to remember now, but Taylor Swift wasn’t quite a pop star in 2012. Sure, the Country-Pop crossover success of “You Belong With Me” and “Love Story” will be studied for decades to come, but following 2010’s Speak Now, the public saw Swift as the Country starlet. The Pop landscape was shifting dramatically in the early 2010s, with four on the floor dance-pop flooding Top 40 radio courtesy of new pop acts like Lady Gaga and Kesha. Swift meanwhile was clutching her guitar strap and keyboard, an acoustic instrument in a dizzying world of neon electropop. While it wasn’t impossible to predict after ‘Speak Now,’ it would’ve been hard to imagine then that Swift would later go on to release the best-selling synthpop record of the decade. Not until at least October 9th, 2012, when she released “I Knew You Were Trouble” at the apex of the dubstep craze.

Red was an eclectic but somehow miraculously well-bound album. There’s the stadium-pop percussion of the opening track “State of Grace,” the earliest inklings of Bon Iver-Esque folk on “All Too Well,” and of course, the aforementioned dubstep tinged “I Knew You Were Trouble.” While the album is still widely accepted as a Country album – the Grammy committee included – Swift shed the bluegrass sounds that she had kept clutched to her chest for the better half of a decade. There isn’t a single song that colors neatly within the Country genre. It’s no more a Country album than a Pop one, yet it’s still impossible to ignore those roots. While many musicians experience growing pains in their transitions from one artistic identity to another, Taylor Swift sat comfortably in the middle, the sounds of early adulthood melding around her rather than reaching out for them.

Swift has since described the ‘Red’ album as her only true breakup record, and the time from recording to release as a “sad one.” Now, at 31 going on 32, with emotional abrasions healed, so too is the devastation that made the original so compelling. One would assume that the improvements in recording and production technology would make electronic tracks like “I Knew You Were Trouble” sound even more earth-shattering. Yet, it’s clear from its latest recording that it wasn’t the subversion of genre expectations that made that track undeniable in 2012, but Swift’s wounded battle cry. In a new decade, her delivery is now so metallic and pristine that it sounds like she’s never even been scratched. With much of the praise for her previous rerecorded album, Fearless (Taylor’s Version), being centered on Swift’s improved vocal performances, she may have leaned too far in on polishing her sound that she crossed to the point of sanitizing it.

As any devout Swiftie will tell you, the real focus of the album is “All Too Well,” the explosive oratory that has pulled her fans and critics alike in like a black hole. The first-ever release of its mythical, original 10-minute rendition is a testament to her absurd narrative prowess. While there are some clunky lyrical additions to the 2012 release – “Some actress asking me what happened, you / That’s what happened, you” – there are plenty of welcome stanzas as well:

“He’s gonna say it’s love; you never called it what it was / ‘Til we were dead and gone and buried / Check the pulse and come back swearing it’s the same / After three months in the grave / And then you wondered where it went to as I reached for you / But all I felt was shame, and you held my lifeless frame.“

What makes these new lyrics both devastating and remarkable is the added context of Swift’s discography. While she is highly regarded for keeping her heart on her sleeve, she often softens her sharpest emotions with immersive imagery and saccharine prose, but not here. There’s seemingly no consideration that a wider audience might read this aching letter to a former lover – it’s Swift at her most raw and vulnerable.

The other major selling point for these new recordings are the previously unreleased ‘From The Vault’ tracks, which like the Fearless additions, can’t hold a candle to those on the original tracklist – even with A-List contributions from Phoebe Bridgers and Chris Stapleton. “Nothing New” reveals a time capsule view of Swift’s experience as a young woman in the industry, as she became more established than exciting. The Phoebe Bridgers contribution is fitting, though fans have been quick to point out that another pop singer-songwriter might’ve been more on the nose. “I Bet You Think About Me” with Chris Stapleton is a paltry offering compared to the other duets on the project. “Message In A Bottle,” the rumored Pop radio single, is an optimistic and straightforward synthpop track that would’ve had difficulty fitting in on the original tracklist. While the standard edition is unfortunately forced to retain its duds – “Stay Stay Stay” and “The Lucky One” – Swift seemingly made the right calls the first time around.

While it was difficult to imagine the musical route that Swift would take before ‘Red,’ immediately afterward, it was clear to many that she would become who she is today – one of, if not the defining singers and songwriters of the century. While Swift has plenty of albums that could be considered her legacy record – look no further than her three stellar Album Of the Year winners – the retrospective reception of the original recording and now the fresh look at the new one make ‘Red’ in its holistic history a strong contender for the title.

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Vocal Fach: Mezzo-Soprano (3 Octaves, 1 note)

Vocal Rating: Vocalist

Longest Note: 28 seconds^[2]No Light, No Light (Live)

Analysis: An instantly recognizable, ethereal, and dynamic voice. Since debuting in the late 2000s/early 2010s, Florence Welch’s band Florence + the Machine has gone on to be one of the most prolific and influential acts of the last decade, headlining music festivals across the globe and inspiring a generation of musicians. While this has a large part to do with their reigniting of the Baroque Pop genre, a large part of the band’s appeal lies in Welch’s expressive and explosive vocal performances both live and in the studio. A classically trained vocalist,^[3]Florence Welch reflects on the human being behind the Machine Welch has incredible vocal stamina, musical phrasing, and dynamic range, and incorporates all of these elements to move her audiences.

While she has been labeled as a contralto by journalists, she would better be described as a Mezzo-Soprano. Her voice is relatively bright, but not as youthful and bright as a true soprano and certainly not as androgynous or dark as a true contralto. Her tessitura sits above the contralto range as well, truly blossoming from C5 – E5, squarely within the range expected of a mezzo-soprano. Her lower register is also the weakest part of her voice, losing body by G#3 and sound by Eb3, further pushing against the contralto label.

One of her defining stylistic traits as a vocalist is her flipping between the chest and head voice. This technique is based on “yodel” type sound, which helps to create her idiosyncratic sound. Her other major defining trait as a vocalist is her vibrato (sometimes labeled as a tremolo): it’s a fast, non-oscillatory sound that has raised some questions about its health, especially after her vocal injury in 2012.^[4]Florence Welch Talks Vocal Injury, Performs on ‘Good Morning America’ Because Welch doesn’t seem to struggle with implementing the technique throughout her range, it’s likely not causing much, if any harm to her voice, but the auxiliary techniques might not be the best practice.

While she drops breath support as she becomes more expressive – as one would reasonably expect – she has demonstrated very strong breath support by holding notes for nearly thirty (30) seconds. Even these longest notes never waver in pitch in live or recorded situations. While questions have again been raised about how sustainable her large sound in the upper register is, she wouldn’t be able to create that sound without some level of pedagogical knowledge and technique, i.e., her breath support.

Her lower register is the weakest part of her voice, but strength and warmth are gained as she ascends past her first bridge around A3.^[5]Sam Johnson, Vocal Analysis of Florence + The Machine “Cosmic Love” Welch sounds comfortable in this range and doesn’t shy away from using it, but her voice truly blossoms as she approaches the fifth octave. The sound produced in her upper chest voice is clear, metallic, and powerful; her ability to sing above her pseudo-orchestral backing, is also notable.^[6]Vocal Coach Reacts to Florence Welch Best Live Vocals Her head voice is full and semi-operatic, maintaining an ethereal quality, although at times it sounds disconnected from the rest of her voice.^[7]Supra, Note 5.

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Autumn is a bittersweet time for many – cool days and nights are a welcome relief from the heat of the summer, and the holidays are right around the corner, but the days are waning shorter and the nights are growing longer. It’s a time of transition, one that requires us to stop and think about what we want from the rest of the year. Maybe it’s love? A new job? To figure out what the fuck you want and who the fuck you are? Whatever questions you need to answer, you need the right soundtrack to get those pensive juices flowing.

Introducing our Girls & Gays Autumn playlist, featuring melancholic, midtempo tracks from a myriad of artists. While the core sound is decidedly Indie – brought to you by Bon Iver, The National, and Maggie Rogers – there are also appearances from Teflon pop acts like Taylor Swift and Troye Sivan, as well as true rock acts like The Smiths and Queens of the Stone Age. While this is a playlist for the Girls & Gays, there’s something here that even the straights could derive enjoyment from.

Click the link below to save the playlist to your Spotify library, and don’t forget to follow The Pop Smarts on Spotify!

For Fans Of: Maggie Rogers, Florence + the Machine, Sufjan Stevens

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Longest Note: 16 Seconds

Vocal Fach: Light-Lyric Soprano (4 Octaves, 1 note, and a semitone)

Vocal Rating: Vocalist

Analysis: One of the most admired vocalists of their generation, Demi Lovato has developed a reputation within the music industry for being a powerhouse vocalist. Their emotional song material, combined with an expansive and powerful chest voice has become a pivotal part of their artistry. They can belt up to Bb5, a rare feat for pop vocalists (and even professionally trained sopranos). Pair this with access to the whistle register, a surprising lower register, and impressive musical versatility, Lovato is one of the most impressive vocalists in their echelon of the industry today.

Although their lower register is where they are least comfortable and is the weakest part of their range, it has shown the ability to phonate fairly well down to C#3, although true support dissolves well before that point. While they generally place these lower notes well enough to comfortably achieve them, the sound generated isn’t a truly “supported” one.^[1]The tone and timbre of their voice noticeably shifts around G3-A3, an indication that the sound isn’t sitting on the breath. Regardless, Lovato’s ease here has tricked some into thinking that they’re a mezzo-soprano, and this sort of lower extension that has even briefly reached the second octave is an accomplishment for a soprano. Their middle voice often finds their natural, brighter, true soprano timbre, although they attempt to darken this sound by holding down their larynx. This also “cools” their voice somewhat, from its warmer tendencies (“Two Pieces”).

Where Lovato is most impressive but also the most inconsistent is when belting above C5. Though this part of their voice has been developing a healthier mix over time and generally sounds easy in the studio. While they are known to bring perhaps too much of their chest voice into these passages, through practice and coaching, this has begun to be less of a technical issue. After facing a vocal rough patch in 2014, they began vocal coaching which allowed them to blend their chest and head voice more effectively. Though they could still afford to lighten their sound even more,^[2]For more about how Lovato approaches higher passages with too much chest: Sam Johnson, 5 Unrealistically Hard Vocals this is also a stylistic choice, as Lovato is a known fan of chesty vocalists like Christiana Aguilera and Kelly Clarkson. The sound here at its best is a bigger, heavier sound than other sopranos in Pop can muster, with Lovato demonstrating technical knowledge and practice by opening their mouth wide and keeping their tongue flat and pressed against their molars. These passages are demanding for any vocalist and can create fatigue when repeated extensively, which is the culprit behind some of this inconsistency.

While Lovato pulls too much chest voice into their sound, another technical issue is the forcing of air into their sound. This, subjectively, sounds like they have been taught (like too many) that support is using as much air as possible – when it’s actually the opposite. Breath support is holding air in your lungs back and using as little as possible to sustain your sound for as long as possible. This fundamental understanding may otherwise change how they approach their singing.

Lovato has been enamored with melisma since beginning their career, often singing circular, roulade style runs as opposed to straightforward ascending or descending forms (“Dancing With the Devil” [Live]), another influence of Aguilera. Lovato’s voice is naturally not very agile, as larger, heavier voices have trouble moving through their range, but Lovato is determined to execute them.^[3]Light-lyric sopranos aren’t “large” or “heavy” voice types, but Lovato’s stylistic choice to sing with a darker, heavier sound creates the same problem that true … Continue reading

Lovato’s head voice and whistle register are underutilized, but Lovato has displayed some impressive vocals here. The whistle register is still a largely untapped frontier for Lovato, but as demonstrated in “Wildfire,” is piercing with a rolling vibrato. The falsetto and head voice still sound disconnected, but their stylistic choices with it to create intimacy increases the emotional vulnerability of their songs.

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A few weeks ago marked the launch of our new curated playlist, simply titled Pop Smarts. Stay on top of the best releases in Pop by checking one single playlist! Every month, we’ll be updating this playlist with 40 of the best releases across the Pop spectrum, from mainstream hitters like Megan Thee Stallion and Ariana Grande to acclaimed Indie releases from stars like Yves Tumor, MUNA, and more. Gracing this month’s playlist cover is Lil Nas X, the chronically online superstar who released his first full-length album this past month.

Read about some of the selections below:

Lil Nas X – “That’s What I Want”

“That’s What I Want” sees Lil Nas X tackle Top 40 pop head-on – with his biggest chorus to date. While he has written pop tracks before that may have been too large for him to carry, his stepping up to the plate as a songwriter and singer here adds another layer to his already impressive versatility.

Del Water Gap – “Better Than I Know Myself”

The return of Adele was somewhat standard fare – a piano ballad with modest instrumental support, relying on Adele’s timbre and lyricism to tell the love story. It’s another instance of Adele shining in her simplicity, with a track so pristine that any changes would have diluted it.

Yebba – “Boomerang (Live)”

Yebba is quickly emerging as a premier vocalist in the pop music industry, garnering adoration from powerhouses like Jojo and Demi Lovato, and for good reason. While her voice is surely the star of the show here, the groovy backing from instrumentalists of her absurd caliber makes for three minutes of true musical euphoria. 

And these certified bangers are just the start! Be sure to give the playlist a like and follow our official Spotify account by clicking below!

Follow our official Spotify profile by clicking here.

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Adele is an artist without the need for an introduction. With just three albums in her discography – the fourth coming out next month – she is one of the best selling and most-streamed artists of all time, boasting coveted records like the highest first-week sales for an album and single in multiple territories. But that commercial success has come as a bit of a mystery to the music industry: her emergence was in counterpoint to the contemporary pop landscape. She wasn’t a spectacle like Pop so often demands, nor was she selling sex, and her bluesy piano ballads stood shockingly firm against the EDM/dance music craze of the early 2010s. But the analysis on her success and marketing techniques thus far has been chiefly surface level, praising her for accepting opportunities only afforded to those at the top of the entertainment industry and praising her for being “real.” Yes, her landmark ’30’ projections were “”cool,”” but not “smart” per se. If every artist had the budgets, we can all be sure they’d have been slapping projections onto buildings a long time ago.

Adele’s appeal lies in her uniform simplicity, which has (at least) three distinct identifying features: stripped instrumentation, bare, guttural vocal performances, and universally relatable lyrics. These three work in tandem to establish Adele’s broad, seemingly universal appeal. They also culminate in some interesting phenomena. Unlike Adele’s biggest inspiration, Beyoncé, she doesn’t have a significant “stan” community presence. While Adele certainly has a massive “fanbase” that helps her shatter commercial records every hour of the day, but for intents and purposes here, that’s different than a “stanbase:” a fervent, sentient, chronically online (and perhaps a tad delusional) group of fans. This isn’t a dig – it simply bolsters the assumption that her appeal is significantly broader than the online stan community, which teens and twenty-somethings dominate. It also strikes against the belief that one needs a consistently well-fed and rabid fanbase to sell records.

Her instrumentation and arranging go back to an era of musical uniformity: roots, soul, and jazz music.^[1]At the beginning of her career, she even was considered a Jazz artist. Her songs, more often than not, include bright and bluesy piano accompaniment, standard percussion, and occasional orchestral flourishes. While there is some rumbling of potential electronic elements on 30, one should expect that her core sound will remain devoid of dissonance or distortion, qualities that typically alienate the public.

The second key component of Adele’s success is her voice and how she chooses to use it. To say that she sings expressively would be an understatement – there is not a single note that she doesn’t incorporate into a phrase and not a single musical line where she doesn’t squeeze every drop of emotion out of it. She coos and growls, riffs, and runs around her melodies in a way that barely hovers above a conversation and rarely reaches a scowl. While she’s not a perfect vocalist, she’s at very least an above-average one, a goldilocks level of prowess that fools her audience into thinking that they could do what she does. She doesn’t need notes off of the staff to impress her listeners, and that adds another layer to her reliability.

Though surely unintentional, Adele’s lyricism also plays to a wide array of human experiences by choosing widely relatable messages: feeling faultless because you were “just a child” when you committed a transgression or feeling that if you can’t have one lover, you can find another just like them. As Dani Blum wrote for Pitchfork this week:^[2]Review: Adele, 21

Adele’s writing is allusive. She sings in generalities — hearts melting, last goodbyes, pleas to forgive unnamed sins. 21 asks for your participation. You’re meant to summon your mottled heartbreak to fill in some of the blanks, and tap into the sorrow and rage and remorse that quakes through these songs.

Dani Blum, Pitchfork

All of this is to say that Adele’s marketability is centered on her simplicity. While most artists are told to find their niche to build a fanbase, Adele’s simplicity generates wide cross-demographic appeal. Her emergence beautifully coincided with a counter-cultural movement that wanted a return to previous musical standards in the age of Lady Gaga and over-the-top pop. For other artists, recreating Adele’s marketing playbook would be a difficult if not impossible feat.

The post Marketing Adele: What Makes Her Successful? appeared first on The Pop Smarts.

Lamenting at his own self-professed “Funeral,” James Blake wallows: “I would livе in the leaves that crunch undеr your feet / I wanna be heard if I can’t be seen.” Across his fifth studio release, the songwriting is consistently effortless: the lyrics and production never work harder than they need to deliver their emotional blows. His baritone vocals are also stronger than ever, inching closer and closer to operatic-like clarity on “Say What You Will.” His voice – balanced equally between his breathy, metallic falsetto and his heavy bass – often garners more attention than the production skills that made him a star in the first place.

Like with most ambient records, there is a degree of monotony that seeps in, but Blake’s decision to opt for more conventional pop songwriting actually helps to sustain interest rather than dissolve it. Even when paired up with a superstar like SZA, Blake remains confident that he is center stage in his own performance.

The post Album Review: James Blake ‘Friends That Break Your Heart’ appeared first on The Pop Smarts.

Voice Fach: Lyric Mezzo-Soprano (3 octaves)

Vocal Rating: Singer

Analysis: One of the defining vocalists of her generation, Adele has developed a reputation for being an exemplary musician and emoter. Her musical phrasing is second to none, and is undeniably one of the strongest factors in her ability to resonate with millions across the globe (and drive her absurd commercial success). Concurrently, however, Adele has suffered from a series of vocal issues as the result of suboptimal vocal technique, resulting in a controversial reputation of her as a singer.^[2]Stars like Adele keep losing their voices because they’re singing wrong: Voice coaches A diplomatic assessment of her vocals would lead most to conclude that while she is a masterful artist and communicator, she is not a vocal technician,^[3]“‘I don’t have lessons, I probably don’t have a great technique,’ she recently told Zane Lowe. ‘Sometimes I feel like I’m singing from my throat and not from my … Continue reading something aspiring singers should keep in mind when looking to her for inspiration.

Adele’s voice is known for having a dark, rich, and raspy tone. Her singing style sounds almost conversational at times, as she allows some air to creep into the sound, increasing the intimacy of her already expressive music. As a trained blues singer, she lavishes her phrases with small ornamentations: grace notes, trills, growls, and imperceptible flips from her chest to head voice, but doesn’t rely too heavily on these techniques to impress. These stylistic choices are perhaps most impressive in the verses of her songs, drawing listeners in before pushing her voice for power in the chorus.^[4] Ex. “All I Ask,” “Rolling In The Deep.”

While Adele has been erroneously identified as a contralto because of the chesty placement of her low notes, Adele’s voice lacks the androgynous character that one would expect of a true contralto. Her lower register is also not as strong or boisterous as one would need it to be, but again, her placement creates somewhat of a sonic allusion through its “low” feeling.^[5]Songs From A Suitcase: Singing Teacher Reacts All I Ask – Adele She is instead a lyric mezzo-soprano, squarely demonstrating the “womanly” and “lachrymose” qualities of the fach.^[6]Is Adele actually a good singer?

Her middle range is perhaps where her voice truly shines in simplicity: her warm and womanly timbre, combined with the natural weight of her voice and her impressive musical phrasing is never short of captivating. Her head voice is often employed with an airy, ethereal timbre, again increasing the intimacy between her and the listener. Her ability to balance her chest and head voice via half-voice is consistent live and in-studio,^[7]Ex. “Someone Like You,” “All I ask.” and is one of her more impressive technical feats.

The bulk of her vocal problems stem from the demanding nature of her (self-written) repertoire, which relies heavily on chesty notes around tenor C. She pushes these notes from the chest around A4 and above, rather than relying more on the muscles in her back and abdomen, which adds tension to her voice and increases the risk of complications.^[8]Supra note 5, 6:30. Even without hearing her, she often places her hand over her chest while singing, a sign that she feels tension around her sternum as the result of a shallow breath. Adele also “attacks” these notes with a guttural “huff” of air that pushes the vocal cords together, which over extended periods of time can cause ruptures.^[9]Supra note 5, 8:45.These various compensations for a lack of strong breath support also results in live performances being notably pitchy, with her notes often straying significantly from the center of the pitch. While these flaws might not deteriorate other voices, because of a rigorous touring schedule, these flaws are all magnified.

Overall, Adele is almost the zeitgeist of the modern pop vocalist: one with some technical training, but values individuality and musical expression over technical perfection. The resulting music may be more fulfilling for the artist as they can focus more on their emotions rather than putting energy towards their technical footing, but also causes difficulty in consistently replicating those results live. Regardless, Adele will surely go down as one of the most important singers of the century, and one can’t afford to overlook her impact on generations of vocalists.

The post Vocal Range and Voice Profile: Adele (Updated 2021) appeared first on The Pop Smarts.

While it’s hard to say with complete certainty, it does seem that the average vocal talent of top industry talent has been decreasing over the last several years and decades. Artists such as Taylor Swift, Post Malone, and Selena Gomez, have come under fire for subpar live performances – or for just not being able to sing at all. Recording artists in the 20th century had to rely on only their bodies to give pitch-perfect performances. Why is that not the case today?

Reason #1: Sex Appeal Is Paramount

Yes, vocal ability matters, but in the digital age, visuals can be just as important as sound in the experience of modern music. In Pop music even more so than other genres, sex appeal plays a critical role in the success of an artist. From music videos, to live performances, brand partnerships, and marketing materials, the artist’s face and body are often the first things that the public perceives, even before the music. For musicians who reach the apex of the industry, they reach that height because of some degree of sex appeal. Even if they don’t have a lot of it, there truly is someone for everybody. One can surmise that an artist like Rihanna was made viable primarily because of her sex appeal, with the vocal talent being refined after the fact.^[1]This performance doesn’t demonstrate above-average vocal talent, yet took place roughly around the time she was discovered. Of course, Rihanna has improved dramatically since this performance.

In the west, sex appeal is typically associated with lean and skinny body types, which isn’t necessarily conducive to having strong core muscles and diaphragm. The way breath support works is by using the diaphragm to hold back air, not push it forward. For people with more weight on their chest and stormach, their diaphragm, core, and back muscles have to work harder to do that and are stronger than people who have less weight on their torso.^[2]Read more about how the voice works through the Complete Vocal Institute. Therefore, skinnier people often have weaker breath support and weaker voices.

Reason #2: Defunding of the Arts

Since the late 20th century, arts and music education in schools has been slashed in favor of other programs, resulting in weaker instruction and curricula. Before then, students in public schools were often receiving coaching from professionals in these fields for hours a week, allowing them to reach – or get close to – the 10,000-hour mark it takes to master a skill.^[3]From the classic piece of literature: Outliers. With weaker training at the crucial adolescent age, there simply aren’t as many vocalists of the same caliber as there were in years past, because of the new financial barrier to good education.

Reason #3: The Democratization of Music Technology

It’s an open secret now that the rapid acceleration of music technology has allowed vocalists of varying levels of talent to sound at least tolerable. It’s not just the nebulous “auto-tune,” but also software like Melodyne, a personal favorite of Billie Eilish producer Finneas, as he put it:

This technology allows producers to transpose recordings seamlessly into different keys, and as well as alter the tonal qualities of one’s voice in post-production. Now more than ever singers can sound like trained vocalists in the studio, which creates expectations that they may fail to meet in live settings.

Not only this but with music production technology like Garageband widely available to so much of the public, the bar for entry into the music industry is also lower than ever before, allowing merely average vocalists to find an audience and create entirely new (bedroom) genres (which may not be a bad thing!).

Reason #4: The Public Wants a Piece

A fourth potential cause that is worth considering is that the public may want to hear singers that are more in line with their own personal abilities. Singing along to a Mariah Carey track may sound like fun until you pop a blood vessel in your neck. While there are still pop stars today that are far more capable vocalists than the average American (looking at you, Ariana Grande), we may be seeing some fatigue from extraordinary vocalists, resulting in more average, replicable, but attractive ones rising to the top. Most would likely agree that singing along to a song is more fun than just listening to it, and that’s accomplished better with a song that has a melody on the staff rather than above it.

This could also explain why pop music tends to prefer lighter and brighter vocal types, like light sopranos and tenors over more dramatic and darker voices as they are more common.

While these reasons may help to explain why singers today might not be up to par with those of the past, this shouldn’t be seen as an excuse to delegitimize anyone’s art or performance. Many pop stars today have different strengths than those of the past, such as songwriting or dancing, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Most people aren’t born with or get to harness great vocal talent, and those with it shouldn’t be the only ones allowed to sing pop music. If it is easier for them to sound like professionals with less work so that they can focus on other aspects of their art, who cares? Just enjoy the performance like the rest of the public.

The post Why Can’t Pop Stars Sing? appeared first on The Pop Smarts.