I’m a fan of Rick Beato, but that doesn’t mean that I agree with every decision or opinion he has. In modern times, YouTube comment threads are often populated by fanboys who think the channel host can do no wrong. How stupid is that?
One example from years ago was Beato’s decision to go with a “Hackintosh” because at that point “Macs were too expensive.” The guy with the almost million dollar studio talking about how 6 grand for a monster computer, the most important gear in your modern studio, is too expensive. C’mon, man. The Hacintosh idea is great for nerds who value money more than their time, because every update can potentially bring down the house of cards. You don’t want to base your million dollar studio on that.
Rick is now using Macs again, which makes sense, since the M series computers are pretty great.
Anyway, I think Rick is the best music interviewer in the world right now. So there’s that.
I enjoy his “every so often” look at the current Top 10, but there’s an interesting pattern. One of the things that Rick values the most is originality. He sort of glosses over great songs done in an 80s style because “it’s been done before” and seems to value artists who “break new musical ground” the most.
I’m not going to say he’s wrong, because that would be foolish. But to me, I like a song or I don’t. Originality is important, but I like originality in chord progressions and melody. I don’t care about genre. I think “breaking new ground” is fool’s gold, because unless you’re going atonal death metal polka, I feel like every inch of ground has already been broken. “Breaking new ground” is usually just a fresh coat of paint on an older concept.
Furthermore, every modern artist now has to compete with the entire recorded history of music. In the past, you were competing with someone’s collection of 80 records and 25 tapes. But now, we see someone stick an 80s pop hit into a TV show, and it shows up in the Top 10 for several weeks. People listen to a much, much wider range of music than ever before.
I think that Rick, along with many others in the music business, are waiting for the next big musical movement (like grunge) that is possibly never going to come, because everyone is listening to everything. Genres got huge in the past because either radio or Mtv shoved them down our throats. These days there’s no 800 pound gorilla. Women who commute to work listen to pop radio stations and hear new stuff. Men sometimes do that, but are more likely to listen to classic rock or podcasts. And teenagers are no longer glued to their radio or to Mtv.
There WILL be some new trends and they will be popular, until the next time a TV show digs up an old classic, which will then shoot to number 1.
I’m not saying my opinion is better than his. But I do think he may be waiting for something that will never come. That aside, I do agree with almost all of his other opinions on modern pop, and he is one of my favorite YouTubers.
I can disagree with him on some things and still love his channel. Hard to imagine in 2024, but there it is.