Not making a complaint, just an observation, and one that other members have shared or commented on such as;

Have I been completely blind to pop struggling to qualify? It still seems as varied as when I joined

It is not a sudden change, but certainly a gradual one, that BJSC is now interpretted by many as being niche, alternative or experimental. Whilst there is nothing wrong with that, and trends do change all the time, it would be nice to see the return of some long-standing former pop nations who have stepped away from the competition in recent years such as, but not limited to;

#00274E

Aquafina

Arcodesia

Bhangra

Chestoria

Daehun

D'yermak'er

Florina

Flynnonda

Freidland

Holland-Oats

Ingermanlandia

Kingdom of Horanius

Kylienips

Land of Jack

Maple Ridge

Mulgracia

N-Lazone

N DNTN

Numayania

Oslol

Quintessa

Pupok

Ramrynia

Republic of Adonia

Scherzland

Sergeistan

St. Burbia

Tartford

The Actual Republic of Bellamia

Varakë

Vülkyria

Yobnedorica

It would be lovely if some of these well established nations could return one day knowing their their unique blends of pop were appreciated amidst a very alt-leaning audience. Because of the sheer drop off in recent times, the pop nations that remain are struggling to get any points at all and we need to do all we can to help out this dwindling genre to remain a core part of what BJSC is and always has been. ;)

[*]République d'Áskorza:

[*]Lotunia:

[*]Aesthetica:

[*]Hendinia:

[*]Cheiron:

[*]New Lexico:

[*]Lookylion:

[*]Pestolia:

[*]Zanmatony:

[*]Greenfroze:

[*]Cor Lupus:

[*]Altyr Muunilinst:

 

I think pop is doing fine x (of the pop songs that DNQed the only one that was really surprising was Charlotte Sands)

from my observations, I don't think pop is struggling for a long time. Yes results in BJSC 170 and 171 may prove otherwise but winners were predominantly pop last year.

 

what i think is struggling atm is the pop that is rather more alt-leaning or "modern" as in catering to a younger generation. it hurts because i want them to do well but it is unfortunately stuck in a middle ground for bjsc voters. hope this year things change we can get to hear more of these and them doing well x

I think pop is doing fine x (of the pop songs that DNQed the only one that was really surprising was Charlotte Sands)

 

 

Ok Bre,

 

I wouldn't really categorize Honki Ponki in the same pop group as Belinda Carlisle/Drew Sycamore pop, but each to their own.

 

Personally when I think of pop, I think of pure pop, not alt-pop (Cor Lupus, Pestolia or even Greenfroze in this case).

If I'm honest I've been at the point of considering ducking out for a while now. I feel like I have zero finger on the pulse of what is popular :lol: and constantly NQing and flopping kind of reduces investment in the game as a whole. I do feel like the contest has changed & people's tastes have evolved (but that's life in terms of change etc. and the music landscape is on a constant evolution)

As someone who is still relatively new to the competition, here's how I see it.

 

I came in expecting a heavy load of female led pop songs (basing this on my many years on the forum and seeing this as the dominant force in the Buzzjack Multi-Chart). I didn't see that (not necessarily a bad thing), but I think what I have seen is a large number of instrumental/experimental songs getting points over other songs (whether they be pop or another genre).

 

I personally don't like instrumental pieces (that often), songs with very few lyrics, or songs heavy on the experimental. I think it's great that people have found like-minded people in BJSC for this, but it has often left me wondering why people would vote one song over another (e.g. in BJSC 171, I really need someone to tell me how a song with the same word repeated over and over is better than Karmageddon)

I know we have our genre blocs, but pop is one wide-ranging genre, and I wouldn't put it up against 'alt' as what people seem to mean when they say that is anything that isn't dance-pop, pop-rock or EDM. Which are almost always the three most common styles of song in BJSC, as they are more generally. Which also means they're the easiest to get tired of, and these days it tends to take a special sort for me to vote for them. Just like, more generally, and this is unique to pop as a 'genre' (or well, anything sonically associated with a time period but for simplicity let's just say pop), it's very easy for pop of a sound that was popular some years ago to sound dated, and anyone stuck on those sorts of styles and sending pop will also likely not get much traction here because it sounds dated.

 

I mean, away from there being pop winners last year, which there were and the still very decent numbers of pop songs in this month's final, which there are, I'm just here for music that I enjoy regardless of what genre it comes from, by all means, I'd be happy to see those nations return, but I don't want them back as part of some grand 'pop vs. alt' battle. Genres evolve, people's tastes evolve, people who are in this to discover new music I would hope to have the philosophy of being open to all sorts of music, and sooner or later some bubblegum pop song will storm to victory just as it always has occasionally and always will.

Interesting how people define songs. From the songs in my semi listed above (I've only heard one song in SF2), I wouldnt consider these pop:

 

[*]Cheiron: Haute & Freddy - Scantily Clad (Indie)

[*]Pestolia: Şenay - Honki Ponki (I don't know what I'd classify this as!)

[*]Greenfroze: Just Garbage - Spaghetti (Dance)

I always think that regardless of the entries/genres we each tend to send more often than not, ultimately most of us are pop lovers and will vote for strong pop that we enjoy. And we won't just vote for 10 songs of the same genre/style we are sending that particular month.

 

I'm not a 'pop nation', more somewhere in the middle ground and I maybe send it one or two times a year, but in my semi vote I had five pop entries this time. Other months I will favour dance or alternative stuff. I'm sure a lot of other countries are in a similar boat.

I also definitely no longer have any idea what might be a good BJSC entry! Or maybe it's that nothing that I come across would make one :lol: I'm not saying this as a pity me just as an observation but I feel like pretty much all the genres I like don't score and the things that do score big, nowadays especially - less so 4-5 years ago - are things I've never heard of or come across outside of the contest

I specifically cut down the list I posted there to songs that I thought would be uncontroversial to call pop and people are still arguing with me so maybe the problem here is people just being too restrictive with what they consider to be pop songs ddd.

 

'Scantily Clad' literally sounds like a Chappell Roan song!! And I don't know what other genre you could possibly call 'Honki Ponki' (maybe disco I guess but that's still closer to pop than to anything alternative), I can see why it might not be to the tastes of the typical BJSC pop voter but that doesn't make it not a pop song x

I also definitely no longer have any idea what might be a good BJSC entry! Or maybe it's that nothing that I come across would make one :lol: I'm not saying this as a pity me just as an observation but I feel like pretty much all the genres I like don't score and the things that do score big, nowadays especially - less so 4-5 years ago - are things I've never heard of or come across outside of the contest

 

 

I also never have an idea of what would make a good entry.

I specifically cut down the list I posted there to songs that I thought would be uncontroversial to call pop and people are still arguing with me so maybe the problem here is people just being too restrictive with what they consider to be pop songs ddd.

 

'Scantily Clad' literally sounds like a Chappell Roan song!! And I don't know what other genre you could possibly call 'Honki Ponki' (maybe disco I guess but that's still closer to pop than to anything alternative), I can see why it might not be to the tastes of the typical BJSC pop voter but that doesn't make it not a pop song x

 

A protest song :kink:

Interesting how people define songs. From the songs in my semi listed above (I've only heard one song in SF2), I wouldnt consider these pop:

 

[*]Cheiron: Haute & Freddy - Scantily Clad (Indie)

[*]Pestolia: Şenay - Honki Ponki (I don't know what I'd classify this as!)

[*]Greenfroze: Just Garbage - Spaghetti (Dance)

 

See I'd go even wider than Bré (and it seems he's in agreement with me :kink: ) and include Eastovka, Taahino, Kluminican Republic, Bronzil and probably a couple of others.

 

I guess the point of it is that if you're a fan of dance-pop exclusively (I refuse to call it 'pure-pop' because that isn't a thing x) and you like no other styles of music then the indie-pop, electronic pop, pop music in the style of other regions of the world etc. would be generally closest to your tastes beyond that and most likely to hit you if you're feeling adventurous, and they're still pop as they're still designed to appeal to a relatively wide audience.

It feels to me like we’ve still had a fair amount of pop doing well over the past couple of years? And I still seem to find myself listening to a fair amount of pop songs each contest so I’m not sure I see it.

 

Also, most of those countries in the list were pretty varied in their tastes and choices of entries, there’s very few I would have said that were ‘pure pop’ and quite a lot there that I think would have been voting for the same songs as other people have been

 

 

I would be curious (the stat nerd in me esp) to see to what extent we have blocs at all any more! esp with membership shifting so much

I also definitely no longer have any idea what might be a good BJSC entry! Or maybe it's that nothing that I come across would make one :lol: I'm not saying this as a pity me just as an observation but I feel like pretty much all the genres I like don't score and the things that do score big, nowadays especially - less so 4-5 years ago - are things I've never heard of or come across outside of the contest

 

 

I also never have an idea of what would make a good entry.

 

My only recommendation for people who aren't feeling inspired is to go listen to a bit of discovery music however you like to do that, through algorithms, review sites, recommendations, whatever, listen with an open mind, find something you're excited about, and send it. No need to overthink it or worry about what genre it's coming from. If it's something different to what you've sent before, doesn't matter. If you can get into it, likely other people will.

Of last year's winners, I would class 5/10 as 'pure pop', 2 as slightly alternative leaning pop and 3 as more indie/experimental in nature. I really don't think that's a bad balance and shows that we have a diverse memberbase in terms of genres.

 

It's amusing to me that N DNTN and #00274E are listed as pop nations up there when I've taken part long enough to remember them arriving initially sparked the 'indie is taking over' discourse :lol:

Sub genres exist for a reason though.

 

Pure pop for me it's really just 100% pop, and I definitely can notice one when I hear it, however, what I think it's 100% pop it doesn't mean the same for the others and that's fine.

 

 

 

 

It's amusing to me that N DNTN and #00274E are listed as pop nations up there when I've taken part long enough to remember them arriving initially sparked the 'indie is taking over' discourse :lol:

I remember when N DNTN won with Doss, but that wasn't "pure pop" of course, but they have sent a varied selection before, which did include some pop stuff.