Whaaaaaaaat? You mean that Britney wasn't singing live while jumping around the stage under hot lights for an hour and a bit without being able to hear your voice at all? Scandal!

I can barely talk after doing that sort of exercise, never mind sing. You can bemoan that her stage shows are more about dancing and spectacle than the music, but I think that says more about her fans expectations than her ability as a singer.

Autotune annoys me because it's indicative of an obsession with the voice. My favorite pop artist at the moment, Sia, happens to be a great singer, but I think I like her music not just because of the way her voice cracks but also because I know that she penned the lyrics and melody. If I found out she autotuned parts of her album I don't really think I'd care.

this story is so old it voted for bob dole. i suspect in 10 years RT will have finally heard of melodyne.

Bob Dole, Bob Dole Bob Dole Bob Dole Bob Dole, Bob Dole.


BOB DOLE!!!

What is even more sad...is the people who defend it....or don't give a shit.

To be fair, the ruble is tanking.
*controversy

Adding video to channels (Controversy) - requested by MrFisk.

Also, to be fair, when someone doesn't have a loop back of their voice, and there's tons of sound so they can't hear themselves directly, it's like a deaf person singing. Britney IS singing. This would not be accurately described as lip-sync as in the Milli Vanilli crap. This is definitely "overdubbing" with the second track being edited out. Also, as she knows her voice isn't actually being amplified, she's not really trying. This isn't an Autotuned performance either.

What really blew my mind was finding out Lil' John can actually sing. Sing REALLY well actually. He uses Autotune as an art device, bizzarely.

*quality

Boosting this quality contribution up in the Hot Listing - declared quality by Zawash.

Also to be fair that's a bunch of bullshit...the technology exists to overcome all of those issues. You really can't count it as she IS singing if no one can hear it and what they can hear is a pre-recorded track...one that was most likely auto-tuned so even THAT isn't a live pre-recording.

I just don't get the logic of the fans and the defenders....you like the music you "hear" on the radio...you like the music you "hear" on your CDs or MP3s. When you are paying top dollar to "hear" and now "see" that music performed live why is it OK to let the "live music" slide and be sacrificed for a dog and pony show that doesn't have anything to do with the music you were drawn to in the first place?

While I do get your point, I think perhaps you miss the point that a real live singing/playing concert is different from a 'pop star concert' (although I do think they should be billed as 'pop star performances', not 'concerts').
If I go to the opera, I am expecting to hear people sing live while performing a play.
If I go to a 'concert', I expect to see a singer or band singing or playing live, but not doing much else (old Van Halen and GWAR being the exceptions).
If I go to a pop star performance, I usually expect to see flashing lights, smoke, sparks, special effects, stunts, and crazy dancing while you hear a track of the performer.
It's not possible to do the stage performance AND sing competently at the same time. If I expect to see dancing, I should not expect the dancer to also sing live, that's not realistic to me.

Whole thing gets a giant "meh" from me. Pop music is fake? Wow, we only found that out 50 years ago with the Monkees.

If you want real music, there's plenty out there, it's just not in the charts.

I found it really disappointing that Bob Mould autotuned on a recent album. A buddy of mine said I should give it a chance because it's really good, but there's so much other music out there, I think I'll pass (at least for now). I guess he's trying to embrace the new...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ0ZEpJRpAE

In a similar vein, I recently found The Orwells online and thought they were really good. Decided to invest in a ticket when they came around and oh my are they awful live.

yawn, pop music is poop music

In contrast http://videosift.com/video/Suzanne-Vega-live-Luka-and-Toms-Diner-Feb-2014

I guess that is maybe the difference between 50 years ago and today. Yes The Monkees were not a band that came together organically...the members were chosen just as they would cast members of a TV show. BUT they were all musicians and singers and they were embarrassed that people thought they were fake and could not even play their instruments. While true they did not play on the first couple of albums (not because they weren't capable but because the studio didn't want them to) they DID play at their live performances and they fought the studio that hired them so that they eventually could also play on their albums.

It was important to them that the fans knew when they came to see a LIVE show that they would actually see and hear them singing and performing the songs live.

That doesn't seem to be of concern to today's pop stars.

Yeah, when I wrote that I did think it was slightly unfair to the Monkees, but they were just the earliest example I could think of.

My point still stands that "pop" music has always been about image and manipulation over music.

I disagree...I don't think it has "always" been this way. But I do think it has been this way since the MTV generation. I think before music videos the worse you would have with a pop star would be them singing live over pre-recorded music...but the singer still sang live.

I go to a lot of concerts and honestly I'm not going to see any of these acts even if they did perform live. I just don't get why their fans put up with it/don't care.

When you raise people up to be gods, they must become infallible. Hence autotune. Look at retouching for big stars in bluray or 4k rez to ensure every minute imperfection is covered up... The audience demands infallibility. You do a full dance routine, you're likely to be huffing and puffing by the end of it. I doubt even the fittest of "pop stars" could manage that. It's understandable that even long term stars who have real talent have gotten lazy.

Then there are just manufactured twats who can't sing worth shit but look the part. Nothing new there, can't believe people fall for it...

Live music is where it's at, give me a cover band belting out Wildflower by the Cult in a pub any day, or the recording of Faith No More at Brixton. They are real performances, they have stuff ups (Patton bungling one of the last verses of War Pigs for example) and that doesn't matter a lick because you're getting The Real Thing (/grin).

The first thing I thought after watching this was, where can I listen to music that hasn't been altered?

I think Later with Jools Holland is a good start. Just been watching Paloma Faith - great stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XA7JxUgqRUk


With the expectations set now for mainstream pop stars to sound perfect during live performances, is there a chance of going back? In reality, do everyday pop star fans want to hear Madonna and Britney's imperfections?

I just watched DV8 Physical Theatre's filmed performance of John. Part of the National Theatre of London's series shown in movie theaters around the world.

Spoken word paired with dance.

The only dancer/actor who lost his breath was the baby of the troupe, looked like he was in his early 20's. The older actors were phenomenal in their ability to do the most intricate physical moves while speaking. Nary a huff or puff to be heard.

I only mention this to urge one and all to go see this show. It is fricking awesome.