Is Owl City objectively good music?

Cafe Society
21

Wow, issues much? I suspect it is more to do with the post processing doing all the heavy lifting to get his sound than his outright talent that most people have the issues with.

Is Owl City objectively good, no, because music is subjective and as such, makes it impossible to say with any certainty that “this is good, that is not”. Granted, there is music that MOST people find “good”, but there are also people that hate Mozart, or Appalachian folk music, or Zulu drum music, etc. If you like it, that should be enough.

22

Yeah…no.

I don’t know Owl City’s work too well. What I’ve heard is not unpleasant–well crafted, nicely orchestrated–but a little too twee for my tastes. The lyrics of that Firefly song do grate on me, though.

23

Don’t know if you just made this up, but it made me giggle out loud.
Your man still sucks, though :wink:

24

Yup, sticking by my original assessment. He’s cute. His music is cute, and he’s easy to listen to. But not a genius, sorry. shrugs To each his own - I used to think that the music of The Verve Pipe was genius.

25

What does “objectively good” music mean anyway? There’s music I like and music I don’t like. Some of the music I like is also liked by a lot of other people. Some is not liked by many other people. Yet I wouldn’t call any of it “objectively good”. It’s all subjective.

26

I had no idea about any of this, but I had to find out about this potentially “objectively good” music. So I youtubed this video. He mentions 10,000,000 fireflies several times, so…actually, that doesn’t make sense either, 'cause that’s 10,000,000 bugs, not 10,000,000 hugs. Whatever.

As for objectively “good.” No. As has been said, there’s really no such thing. But this, just, no. You could say maybe that something is objectively “competently made,” as in it does have a decent melody (as far as Western preferences in musical scales, at least, and now we’re in weeds in terms of “objective” again) and the production works as a song, something like that. But style is such a subjective preference; obviously this guy produces his music in a certain style, and other people have preferred styles they like to listen to, and for a lot of people this ain’t it. Count me in with the group “scorning” it as childish, “twee,” heavily processed (autotuned, specifically with that quality where you’re meant to notice it) – you use the more perjorative “girly” or “gay” to discount these opinions, but you can’t do that. That style is simply not that group of people’s preference, and since style is so integral to a piece of music, it simply cannot be objectively “good.” I might say, “this is bad.” But then David Bowie, or Built to Spill, or Goatwhore, or whoever decides for some reason to cover one of these songs…maybe I’ll like that version, even though it’s the same song! And you might hate it! All these opinions are valid.

I used to have pretty a pretty rigid opinion on what music was “good,” and what was “real” music. That softened up a lot as I got older, though I still admit to a bias against formulaic works performed by pretty faces who don’t even write their own stuff, but again that’s my personal benchmark for respectability, other have their own perspective.

27

For what it’s worth, I was in junior high school when I came to the realization that “I don’t like this” ≠ “these guys suck”. Music (or any art) is never purely subjective or objective. Perhaps it’s just because I was (and still am) a musician myself. Even at such a tender age, I realized that there are plenty of remarkably talented, skilled musicians who make kinds of music I just don’t like. Pink Floyd, for example. Do I like Pink Floyd? No. I find their music both boring and depressing. Do they suck? No. They’re a band of outstanding musicians. Subjectively, I don’t like them. Objectively, I recognize their talent and skill.

To the OP, I’ll say I’m only familiar with the Owl City “Lightning Bugs” song (is that even the title? I don’t know). I enjoy the song and the video.

On a related note, may I share LIGHTS? (Okay, I’m gonna anyway.) I actually “discovered” her before Owl City, and I only heard of Owl City because LIGHTS collaborated with him at some point.

LIGHTS is a young Canadian woman, a synth-pop artist. I first found her when she only had one album. I was impressed with her first three videos, which formed a “trilogy” of sorts. Not only is everything you hear “all her” - all of the music and all of the vocals were done by her (other songs have some guitar work, and that’s also her), but the videos were also done all on her dime. She created everything you see, from the set design, to building the sets, and even to drawing the comic seen in the videos, and creating the hand-drawn animation. I’ll admit her voice is a little annoying, but I can overlook that because I like some other artists with annoying voices, and I love her lyrics. Her parents were/are Evangelical Christian missionaries, so at least her first album has a bit of a Christian bent to the lyrics, though I would not classify her has a “Christian” singer (i.e. she’s not preaching). Here is that “trilogy” of videos:

Saviour

Drive My Soul

February Air

(Allegedly, that’s her dad in the spacesuit.)

From the same album, a more professionally-produced video:

Ice

I love “Ice” because, just reading the lyrics, it seems to be a song addressed to an unemotional lover. But, seeing the video, it turns out to be more of the singer addressing her own dark side.

Anyway, here it is a few years later, and I’ve just come across a more recent video. It would seem that she ate those virtual cheeseburgers I sent her. She looks like a full-grown woman now :smiley:

Up We Go

28

There’s no such thing as objectively good music. But if there were…still no.

29

The world-famous Ponch8 Music Rating System is absolutely the most objective measure of music that I know of :slight_smile: , and only two Owl City songs are rated in the system. “Always a Good Time” gets a so-so rating, and “Fireflies” gets a poor rating. So, the answer to the OP’s question is no.

30

Never saw the original Fireflies video by Owl City actually, but I like this version by Sam Tsui and Kurt Hugo Schneider (no autotune as far as I know).
Simple but happy song :).

Also watch the Micheal Jackson medley if you’re there.

31

I prefer Mike Tompkins’ version:

32

That’s cool you like Lights. I’ve known of her since 2008, and met her at most of her shows that I’ve been to. She’s a nice girl and incredibly talented.

33

He sounds like the lead singer of Postal Service/Death Cab for Cutie. I would say “Fireflies” was a unique song in 2009, surprised it actually hit #1 on the charts, never seemed to get much radio airplay. But it was a breath of fresh air. I like the song, also his duet with Carly Rae Jepsen.

So yes I give him positive points.

34

She does seem to be a sweetheart. And, yes, I think she’s incredibly talented!