Poll: Do you think we'll ever run out of melodies for a new song?
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Yes
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Yes & No.
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It depends on the way you write music.
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MUSIC - No more melodies!
#1
Think about your favorite song artist for a minute. Gather every song that you love to listen to, and ask yourself what they all have in common. In case you may not know what that is... it's that they have all sampled their music before. Do you know why that is? It's because they hear a famous piece from another famous composer or unknown composer, and would like to use it.

Sometimes, people create samples, not knowing that they've just copied another song; then they turn around and get sued. Do you realize how much talent you would need to create a song or even a unique melody that's far different from the greats? A lot of talent and training to excel to those levels.

But, my question is, do you think we'll ever run out of melodies, or are there various techniques that we can use at our disposal to reshape the way we think about writing a song? This can be from chord progressions, melody patterns, etc. Even though there are only 12 keys on the keyboard, people have been able to interpret the significant meaning behind those keys, over time.


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#2
I think that we will run out of music that sounds completely original and pleasant to listen to. It may have happened already. Some songs already sound really similar because of the same chord progression. A rather amusing example of this is Stairway to Gilligan's Island.

But there will always be ways to remix certain songs, or change it up slightly. It's personally why I like songs from the 50s and 60s; less of it sounds similar to songs before it (and it's before the autotune industry).
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#3
(23rd June 2022, 8:44 AM)Mystery Wrote: I think that we will run out of music that sounds completely original and pleasant to listen to. It may have happened already. Some songs already sound really similar because of the same chord progression. A rather amusing example of this is Stairway to Gilligan's Island.

But there will always be ways to remix certain songs, or change it up slightly. It's personally why I like songs from the 50s and 60s; less of it sounds similar to songs before it (and it's before the autotune industry).

I'll agree that the 50s and 60s have more original music than today's music. Also, let's not forget that it was a time period where they would use complete songs, instead of sampled versions of songs, like today's music. Do you think a person could get away with using a melody that's been created by an unknown artist? If they get sued, it'd be pretty difficult to prove it in court.
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#4
these guys went ahead and generated all (legally distinguishable) permutations of melodies and fixed them to a physical medium, granting them copyright over them, and then they released them into the public domain (well, with a public domain equivalent license).

the need for something like this is just a small part of why I think the current state of copyright law is BEYOND cringe. it is the most cringy cringe set of laws written down in the books. not only does it last an ungodly amount of time, the line between infringement and homage is blurred, and those with enough money can squash anyone who dares oppose their monopoly. not only has it stifled culture and preservation, its powers have been bloated to such an extent that it can be used as a tool of censorship and even restrict your rights (see the DMCA's anti-circumvention clauses, DRM or DIgital Restrictions Management in general, etc.)

but yes as for melodies, there's only so many ways you can arrange a melody, but music can be further distinguished by instrumentation, rhythm, pitch, tempo, etc. will we run out of melodies? probably, but I think you can still vary up music in a lot of different ways.
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#5
(23rd June 2022, 8:55 AM)Different Wrote: I'll agree that the 50s and 60s have more original music than today's music. Also, let's not forget that it was a time period where they would use complete songs, instead of sampled versions of songs, like today's music. Do you think a person could get away with using a melody that's been created by an unknown artist? If they get sued, it'd be pretty difficult to prove it in court.

I absolutely do, because it's already happened before.

Here's an example:

Take a Dive, produced in 1999: https://youtu.be/Z7drHJ71rIw?t=17

I Gotta Feeling, produced in 2009: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSD4vsh1zDA

The person who created Take a Dive, Bryan Pringle, sued The Black Eyed Peas for infringing on his song, but he lost the case because he didn't have "enough proof".

Want to know the really screwed up part? Bryan Pringle was ordered to pay THEM a sum of a million dollars for the court costs.

It just shows that the justice system has failed us on many occasions, but that's a topic for another day.
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#6
(23rd June 2022, 10:20 AM)Northadox Wrote: these guys went ahead and generated all (legally distinguishable) permutations of melodies and fixed them to a physical medium, granting them copyright over them, and then they released them into the public domain (well, with a public domain equivalent license).

the need for something like this is just a small part of why I think the current state of copyright law is BEYOND cringe. it is the most cringy cringe set of laws written down in the books. not only does it last an ungodly amount of time, the line between infringement and homage is blurred, and those with enough money can squash anyone who dares oppose their monopoly. not only has it stifled culture and preservation, its powers have been bloated to such an extent that it can be used as a tool of censorship and even restrict your rights (see the DMCA's anti-circumvention clauses, DRM or DIgital Restrictions Management in general, etc.)

but yes as for melodies, there's only so many ways you can arrange a melody, but music can be further distinguished by instrumentation, rhythm, pitch, tempo, etc. will we run out of melodies? probably, but I think you can still vary up music in a lot of different ways.

This was really interesting to listen, too. In a way, I can understand why they went ahead and mathematically generated every possible melody that's ever been written. Their goal seems to be to prevent people from stumbling upon a lawsuit for accidentally copying someone's song. On the other hand, I can understand your point of view as well. Especially the way the copyright laws are setup in the music industry.

All those court fees that you have to pay, just to sue someone, regardless of whether you win or not, is outrageous and preposterous. Also yes, I agree. There are definitely different ways you can arrange music by instrumentation, rhythm, pitch, tempo, etc. As a music composer, my biggest fear is getting sued by an unknown artist for something that's very similar to theirs.

(23rd June 2022, 10:45 AM)Mystery Wrote: I absolutely do, because it's already happened before.

Here's an example:

Take a Dive, produced in 1999: https://youtu.be/Z7drHJ71rIw?t=17

I Gotta Feeling, produced in 2009: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSD4vsh1zDA

The person who created Take a Dive, Bryan Pringle, sued The Black Eyed Peas for infringing on his song, but he lost the case because he didn't have "enough proof".

Want to know the really screwed up part? Bryan Pringle was ordered to pay THEM a sum of a million dollars for the court costs.

It just shows that the justice system has failed us on many occasions, but that's a topic for another day.

I can certainly see where the song has some similarities. Like the chord progressions for instance. But if the rhythm and instrumentation is different, then that's another story. Also, yeah that is really screwed up. Those court cases don't play around, period. That's what THIS guy was just talking about.
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#7
Reminds me of this
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#8
If you limit yourself to 4/4 and the 12 notes of the harmonic style of 18th century European musicians (which represents the vast majority of everything mainstream in the past 60 years probably)... then yes you can effectively run out of ''original'' melodies, minus some very slight variations

Otherwise, the world of music is FAR more greater than that. We have barely scrapped the tip of the iceberg.
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#9
if to be an melody but not to an harmony but to see if there is more is an other queckston
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