Repetitiveness: Why is it always a bad thing?

I don't see how pointing out something is pretty repetitive is an invalid criticism. Granted I listen to some fairly repetitive music myself but I'd argue about the effect of the repetition (to what end it goes) rather than the repetition in and of itself. It's not any different from "artist x is too technical/minimalist/spastic/random/etc." for me.

edited 3rd Dec '14 9:00:03 PM by StillbirthMachine

Actually, that's kinda what I was (trying) to say- it's a musical element that can be used well or not... It's a valid criticism to make when the repetitious element is used poorly.

I do feel that Metalheads are not the best group to single out for complaining about repetition, and a lot of Metal haters claim that Metal itself is too repetitive (though they tend to focus on other things more, since a lot of the worst criticism of Heavy Metal comes from Moral Guardian types and older people who didn't grow up with it being around... )

Basically, I don't hear too many Metalheads go on about stuff being too repetitive unless they're justified in doing so.

The thing is, oftentimes EDM isn't repetitive, it's just that listener isn't listening or doesn't care to listen. Pop-EDM that they play on the radio? Yeah, that has repetitive beats at times, but shit, it's derived from club music meant for dancing, of course it's gonna be like that.

But less mainstream EDM often isn't like that. Yes, producers do often use the same rift for a very long time, but most songs introduce subtle variations on that rift thanks to the technology used to make it: pitching up and down, fading it into the background, introducing new melodies on top of it, slowing it down or speeding it up, playing it with different synths/instruments, etc. EDM often uses a backing beat and plays new melodies on top of it, and there's ones that don't anyway. People pay too much attention to the backbeat but not the stuff going on top of it. Shit, that's what I like about EDM: the emphasis on innovating on a riff by switching it up and layering different melodies on top of it.

By the way, there is an EDM genre defined by it's common lack of repetition where melodies are intentionally chaotic and messy to a sometimes extreme level where picking out the rhythm is often hard at first and the instruments fly in and out at seemingly random times. It's even pretty popular in certain groups so it's not like it's niche!

It's called Dubstep.

Then everyone bitched because "EWW IT'S JUST CHAOTIC NOISE AND NOT MUSIC" (they said that about Metal too, you know) even though the messiness compared to other EDM genres is why us Dubstep fans like it and wubs in the first place (though the genre has progressed now and there are melodic/chilled dubstep songs which go light on the wubs and craziness).

Sorry for the rant, but I'm tired of hearing people always criticize EDM for being "repetitive".

edited 3rd Dec '14 8:49:44 PM by Frostav

I dunno, I've heard plenty of Dubstep tracks I'd call repetitive (though these are by lesser-known artists you can find on Sounccloud). But there is something to be said about guys like Excision and Zomboy.