Thoughts on a pop music ban for one season?

[surimi]

The only ban I would support is on voiceovers/spoken word...

On second thoughts, movie voiceovers would do for me. Because I can imagine very nice programs to songs like 'Mea Culpa' or 'Return to Innocence' by Enigma, or Vanessa Mae's 'Destiny', which use spoken words throughout. :luv17:

 

[Mathman]

Why would I want to ban classics such as Gershvin & Beatles?

The Beatles present an interesting example. The best Beatles release EVAH was "She loves me, yeah, yeah, yeah," backed by "I wanna hold your hand." :banana:

It was all down hill from there.

 

[Rissa]

Are time & effort spent on piecing together a medley really worth it? Why not spend time finding one good piece of music instead

Because all non-pop programs are set to continous pieces of good music...

Oh wait. 99% of them are medleys or cut up and rearanged to fit the program.

 

[LRK]

I was with a group of friends once and someone mentioned that she'd just read David Copperfield. Another one then asked "What? That magician dude has written a book?"

:roll9: took a while to get me back onto my chair

Oh, dear...

(Dickens is my favourite author - though my favourite Dickens is neither "David Copperfield" nor "A Chrismas Carol".)

 

[Mathman]

^ Say it's Nicholas Nickleby!

 

[Interspectator]

Tale of Two Cities! Ladybird book version.

 

[Pamigena]

Dickens, the improved version for cultural enrichment

 

[Mathman]

Dickens, the improved version for cultural enrichment

If you let that channel play, it shows one Lilith after another.

 

[cl2]

The argument in favor of modern popular music usually asserts that this is the way to attract a younger audience to the sport and to increase its overall popularity. I think this is more wishful thinking than statistical fact.

I see a contradiction here and I agree with Mathman:

How do you explain the empty seats if classical music has been used less and less for years now?

I only just started reading this thread, so I haven't read how the discussion has evolved, but I'll jump in with a conjecture why allowing popular music in competitions can't be counted on to improve the attendance nor increase the fan base. Simply put, no one attends competitions for the music! If younger audiences want to listen to their favorite music, they go to a concert, not a skating competition. Going to a skating competition is the worst way to ensure one gets to hear one's favorite music, especially when music tastes are so diverse!

I further posit that for new audiences, it's a shock to hear familiar pieces of music, but see unfamiliar visuals, to the point that it becomes a turn-off. I know this personally, because much as I like Mao's skating, I dislike her interpretation of Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto, because having known and loved Rach 2 for the better part of my life, her choreography didn't meld with my own conception of the music. Fortunately, I was already a skating fan, but for new audiences the strategy of attracting them with familiar music could backfire.

The fact is that people watch skating for the skating, and that's what needs to be promoted in order to attract new audiences.

Having said that, I completely support having less music restrictions than more, because the music diversity is a benefit to the skaters, each of whom have different musical sensibilities.

 

[LRK]

^ Say it's Nicholas Nickleby!

I'm very fond of it, 'tis true - but actually it's a tie between "Bleak House"/"Little Dorrit"/"Our Mutual Friend".

 

[LRK]

Dickens, the improved version for cultural enrichment

:shocked:

Shame on you, Frasier - shame! I'm disappointed in you...

:sad46:

 

[Ares]

The only ban I would support is on voiceovers/spoken word...

It's like chalk screeching on a blackboard. Annoying.

 

[karne]

Jack...! Jack...!

 

[Rissa]

I only just started reading this thread, so I haven't read how the discussion has evolved, but I'll jump in with a conjecture why allowing popular music in competitions can't be counted on to improve the attendance nor increase the fan base. Simply put, no one attends competitions for the music! If younger audiences want to listen to their favorite music, they go to a concert, not a skating competition. Going to a skating competition is the worst way to ensure one gets to hear one's favorite music, especially when music tastes are so diverse!

I further posit that for new audiences, it's a shock to hear familiar pieces of music, but see unfamiliar visuals, to the point that it becomes a turn-off. I know this personally, because much as I like Mao's skating, I dislike her interpretation of Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto, because having known and loved Rach 2 for the better part of my life, her choreography didn't meld with my own conception of the music. Fortunately, I was already a skating fan, but for new audiences the strategy of attracting them with familiar music could backfire.

The fact is that people watch skating for the skating, and that's what needs to be promoted in order to attract new audiences.

Having said that, I completely support having less music restrictions than more, because the music diversity is a benefit to the skaters, each of whom have different musical sensibilities.

I think you're wrong. Why does the OP fantasise about banning the pop music? Because she hates it to the point of having to watch programs on mute. And now tell me, watching the programs on mute, how fast it'd stop being just about skating. Music is an integral part of figure skating, the programs that stay in most people's heads head are the ones that are do great job of expressing the music.

So by allowing to use popular music in their original form there is a higher chance of catching a casual or young person's attention. It's not even about hearing a favorite song, but about yhe music style they are familiar with. Average person who's not intereted in classical music, especially young one, will be more interested in a good performance to Ed Sheeran or Jennifer Lopez than to Chopin. And those whose attention gets caught might stay for good, for Chopin and Les Mis and soundtracks (very few people actively dislike classical and instrumental music, except for opera singing) as long as the music style they actuvely like is a part of it. I believe that diversity is one of the keys to making figure skating more interesting. If we went back to 2011 offerings (which as a fairly new fan I only watched a week ago and found myself bored to the point of fastforwarding many programs) I'd be outta here myself.

tl;dr version: music is extremely important in figure skating

 

[Crossover]

My latest impressions on pop music used in figure skating by decade.

Pop music in 2010s: heard enough
Pop music in 2000s: outdated
Pop music in 1990s: nostalgic
Pop music in 1980s: what a disco party with horrible music cuts but at the same time cool and refreshing

The current use of POP music sounding so repetitive and boring can be refreshing to the younger generation after 30-40 years pass.

 

[Mathman]

tl;dr version: music is extremely important in figure skating

But thank you for the longer version. :yes:

My latest impressions on pop music used in figure skating by decade.

Pop music in 2010s: heard enough
Pop music in 2000s: outdated
Pop music in 1990s: nostalgic
Pop music in 1980s: what a disco party with horrible music cuts but at the same time cool and refreshing

Pop music in the 1960s. Motown!!! R-E-S-P-E-C-T!

 

[Crossover]

Pop music in the 1960s. Motown!!! R-E-S-P-E-C-T!

A major huddle for me to watch such old era performances is a not so good video quality (but always grateful to YouTube uploaders), but Motown music in figure skating can look refreshing as well.

 

[Tutto]

I took the "ban" to mean something like, "wouldn't it be be lovely if we could catch a break from this deluge of vacuous pop music for a season?"

Would you mind awfully if I just delete my OP and replace it with your elegant line as it is precisely what I meant only so much nicer?

The Beatles present an interesting example. The best Beatles release EVAH was "She loves me, yeah, yeah, yeah," backed by "I wanna hold your hand." :banana:

It was all down hill from there.

Ha ha you got me there But in fairness, classical composers didn't produce solely masterpieces there were some misses too

 

[Tutto]

Because all non-pop programs are set to continous pieces of good music...

Oh wait. 99% of them are medleys or cut up and rearanged to fit the program.

Fair point. On side note most classical pieces are longer than 2.5 or 4 min so cutting up is inevitable

 

[Tutto]

So by allowing to use popular music in their original form there is a higher chance of catching a casual or young person's attention. It's not even about hearing a favorite song, but about yhe music style they are familiar with. Average person who's not intereted in classical music, especially young one, will be more interested in a good performance to Ed Sheeran or Jennifer Lopez than to Chopin. And those whose attention gets caught might stay for good, for Chopin and Les Mis and soundtracks (very few people actively dislike classical and instrumental music, except for opera singing) as long as the music style they actuvely like is a part of it. I believe that diversity is one of the keys to making figure skating more interesting. If we went back to 2011 offerings (which as a fairly new fan I only watched a week ago and found myself bored to the point of fastforwarding many programs) I'd be outta here myself.

tl;dr version: music is extremely important in figure skating

I appreciate the point you are making but in reality despite pop music so widely used in fs now, young people still find it dull and boring please see the quote below. It is hard to compete with the antics of the likes of Miley Cyrus I think. So the young audience will still think FS not entertaining enough and older viewers like myself will be annoyed to see the image of traditional FS disappearing.

I believe the empty seats are due to the fact that there is a lot less drama in the sport. Harding/Kerrigan drama drew in huge ratings and set up a huge audience for the sport. North America is a large consumer market; with the popularity of American ice princesses, there was always a lot more money involved in the sport. Plus attracting a younger audience means that there will be more viewers between the 18-49 age group; this age group is the most popular amongst advertisers which can bring in higher ratings, higher advertising dollars, sponsor dollars, attention to skaters etc.

These days within my age group, most of my friends understand very little about the sport. Some have seen Gracie Gold skate to "Let It Go" or "Shake It Off" but unless they are Korean, then they have no vested interest in the sport. Quite a few of my classmates saw Tessa and Scott perform live at a summer show they were doing for 2 weeks and all of them lamented how boring and unexciting they found the performances (this hurt my feelings as I saw the same show and loved it). I think younger audiences crave a little more excitement and creativity and less the traditional image that figure skating has represented well. I've spent ages trying to get some of my friends to watch the sport with me and most don't really care as they can't relate to the music, the story and/or some believe that the sport is rooted in traditional gender roles, archetypes etc.

I only just started reading this thread, so I haven't read how the discussion has evolved, but I'll jump in with a conjecture why allowing popular music in competitions can't be counted on to improve the attendance nor increase the fan base. Simply put, no one attends competitions for the music! If younger audiences want to listen to their favorite music, they go to a concert, not a skating competition. Going to a skating competition is the worst way to ensure one gets to hear one's favorite music, especially when music tastes are so diverse!

I further posit that for new audiences, it's a shock to hear familiar pieces of music, but see unfamiliar visuals, to the point that it becomes a turn-off. I know this personally, because much as I like Mao's skating, I dislike her interpretation of Rachmaninoff's 2nd Piano Concerto, because having known and loved Rach 2 for the better part of my life, her choreography didn't meld with my own conception of the music. Fortunately, I was already a skating fan, but for new audiences the strategy of attracting them with familiar music could backfire.

The fact is that people watch skating for the skating, and that's what needs to be promoted in order to attract new audiences.

Having said that, I completely support having less music restrictions than more, because the music diversity is a benefit to the skaters, each of whom have different musical sensibilities.

I thought about it a lot and came to the conclusion that popularity of the sport in a particular country directly correlated to champions produced by this country and pretty much nothing else. I have been trying in vain to involve my Irish friends into watching FS for ages but all I hear is this: well we used to watch FS when there were Torvill & Dean and then we kinda lost interest.
And then we have Japan, China, Russia, and lately Spain