When Audio Becomes an Obsession

 

Music takes up a good part of our lives since it is conceived as a form of entertainment which you can enjoy on the go. With the advent of portable devices that are able to play music anywhere, music has become more accessible and easily available. Gone are the days when one can only access music through radiotapes which were bulky and heavy.

People now listen to music through their mobile phones, which is always available to them wherever they go. Using earphones, there is no interference between us and the music, enabling a whole new listening experience. Every note, every instrument and every subtle detail in music is now discernible by listeners.

Such an experience has created a new phenomenon called “audiophly”. People who claim to enjoy only the best-sounding music call themselves audiophils. They are known to tell all the characteristics of good-sounding music, and to them any crack at the sound would take away the joy of listening.

Audiophils yearn for the ultimate music experience that money can buy. Thus, they are always on the lookout for technology that has the potential to enhance this experience. To them, people should steer clear of the sound equipment that is technologically inferior-it steals from the joy of music.

Making the most of the listening experience, it might be a good idea to pick the right equipment. However, spending way more than you can afford to pursue that dream is not sensible. We can still have fun listening to music while setting our expectations according to our budget.

Songs In Different Tongues

 There is a widespread belief that a language must sound cool if one wants to make beautiful songs in that language. In fact, such a notion is flawed since languages that are known to be notoriously ugly and rough on the ears can produce songs that are loved by millions. German is one of them.

The German language is wrongfully assumed to sound inattractive to the listener, hinting that it can be an unpleasent experience being exposed to German. The existence of the metal band Rammstein solely disproves that. They have created an entire array of some of the best metal songs in their genre. Having been followed by millions of listeners, Rammstein has gathered a diverse fanbase from all nationalities, not just native German speakers. Most of his songs are sung by these fans from the heart, irrelavant of the language’s accoustical character.

Another example to challenge it would be the Turkish language. Turkish is also falsely associated with those languages that sound ugly. Yet, the Turks posit that Turkish is one of the most melodic languages that is perfectly suitable for songmaking. Thousands of Turkish songs are produced every year in Turkey, and songs from previous decades are still listened to widely. The language is so compatible that every music genre that exists today can be found in Turkish music.

Thus, languages and how well they sound to an untrained ear can be misleading. Languages that sound harsh to one can be music to the other. And languages that are thought to be not musical can come up with songs that are listened to by masses of people.

Old But Gold: It Is Not Fun Anymore

 

Why is it that we still listen to songs but do not get overly excited about them? Why don’t we have half the joy when we play video games compared to the outset of the video game era? Tools of entertainment have mounted up greatly, yet the joy we get from experiencing them has not evolved enough. In fact, people miss those days when the industry was taking its first few baby steps.

In the 1980s and 1990s, technology was not as advanced as it is today. We used primitive recording devices, which were limited in supply and hard to access. If we had a newly released cassette tape of our favorite music band, we would listen to it for days without a break. We had enormous joy listening to these relics of technology. However, we now have CDs and DVDs, which can hold hundreds of songs each. We can listen to music on our phones, wherever we are. We have too many options to choose from, whereas we used to have a limited supply back in the old days. This makes us avid consumers who do not experience the entertainment but consume it once and never go back again, which saps the potential joy we were to get.

Entertainment has gone so far that each production is seen as something to consume. It has been so monetized that people do not seek joy from a single product of art but instead want to swallow the whole package without tasting. Games, music, and movies no longer serve as treats for people. They are now regular activities to pass the time.

K-pop Hype

 

K-pop Artists

It all started with "Gangnam-Style", a Korean song listened to billions of times on Youtube, breaking all the records for most watched music clips of all time. Korean Pop, or K-Pop, created its own genre of music, gathering an avalanche of fans from all around the world quickly. This new genre combines dancing with singing, boasting catchy words and fast tunes.

Korean culture has been attracting a lot of attention for the last two decades. Surprisingly, Korean films were the first to reach the rest of the world. These movies introduced the Korean culture to the audience, helping people get a glimpse of how interesting and diverse the Korean culture is. Then came the Korean TV shows, love stories that have managed to get millions of viewers to glue their eyes to the TV screens.

When they first became acquainted with Korean music, young people enjoyed it almost instantly. They embraced the music right away, impressed by the way they danced and sang. K-pop groups have been followed so heavily that their way of dressing became fashionable among fans. In the eyes of their fan base, K-pop has been a cult, and the artists have been idols.

K-pop’s rise has proven that the next generation wants a change from the mainstream entertainment that has been put forward by the West. They want alternatives to what's been around lately. It appears they have found that in K-pop, and they intend to keep it as a lifelong expedition. The torch that has been kindled by the K-pop stars does not seem to vanish for quite some time from now.