Rock and Pop: Proof that not all modern music sucks, using math?

So, to start, how do we accurately judge "good" and "bad" in terms of music? We can't use sound as a basis - that's too subjective. Different people enjoy different things, so to use that method, we could never agree.

No, to determine between "good" and "bad", we'll have to use skill. And, by that, I mean the overall level of skill portrayed by the band as a whole - that is, the sum of the parts, and not each individual member. Otherwise, we can't accurately say if a band is good or bad.

Songwriting is a skill. Anyone who disagrees has never attempted to write a song. Songwriting actually encompasses a lot of skills: You have to have lyrical flair - the ability to write a form of poetry that doesn't follow a standard beat or pattern. You have to be able to come up with a melody and beat that goes with those lyrics. Lyrics without music are nothing. To come up with a melody you need at least a basic understanding of music theory - keys, scales, how notes fit together, and what notes to use and when.

Now, that's just songwriting. Let's move into the more technical aspects of the music. The guitarist needs to be able to play the melody that the lyricist wrote. If the lyricist has not written a melody, only lyrics, then the guitarist also needs to be able to take the lyrics, isolate a beat, and then write music to it. That's not a simple task. The guitar and the vocals need to blend well in order for that music to be successful.

Next comes the bass. Now, the bass is more simplistic than the guitar, but it is vital, along with your drums, to keep the beat. The bass should play complimentary to the guitar. Once again, this requires a working understanding of music theory. Or, at the very least, a good ear for music. The bassist not only needs to be able to do all this, but also needs to be able to keep in time with the guitar, because the bassist falling out of time can ruin the song.

The drummer has to be able to keep the beat, and keep the percussion section interesting. A 4/4 snare beat would get really boring really quickly. No, the drummer needs to be able to focus on doing 2+ separate things, usually at varying intervals, all while keeping in time with the rest of the band. If the drummer falls off-beat, it's very noticable.

The band then, in turn, needs to be so well-practised together that they can confidently play a live gig without any significant screw-ups. This means learning to know each other's strengths and weaknesses, and getting to know each other as musicians as well as people.

As well, just being able to play the instrument is a skill. Musicians need to be competent enough to play their instruments, or they're doomed to fail.

There are millions of bands in the world. Most of them write their own music. A good songwriter is expensive, they're credited and paid mechanical royalties, and they're really not worth the expense if you're not particularly well-known.

I would say that, mathematically, less than 5% of the existing bands in the world make enough money to support paying songwriters to write music for them, and less than 25% of those actually do. I am pulling these figures out of thin air; I suspect my estimates are higher than reality, though. Anyway.

This means that roughly 1.25% of bands in existance get their material from an outside source.

Now, we've already established that being able to write a decent song takes a lot of skill. On top of that, you need a band sufficiently skilled in playing their instruments to produce this music. It needs to sound good if the band is to have any number of fans at all.

By this logic, 98.75% of bands out there have skill. If bands with skill are "Good bands", this means that 98.75% of bands in existance are good bands.

The simple fact of the matter is, to argue even that *most* of today's music sucks, you'd need to be able to accurately state that at least 51% of bands are too unskilled to be considered a good band. And that's just not going to happen.

Who said you never use math after high school?

So, to turn this into a viable question: What are your thoughts? Agree? Disagree? Why?