Audiophiles Should Love Pop Music

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Music, more than gear, drives this hobby
 I am finding this article to be difficult to write.  I have started several times, and erased it - gets too preachy, ponderous, pedantic, detailed.  And all I really want to say is that "if you want high end audio to be mainstream, you had better make sure you have mainstream pop music in suitable resolution"

Don't believe me?  Try this little experiment:

Put yourself in the shoes of someone who is under 30, and the music that us old farts would call "contemporary pop"

A small sample of them would be:

Fun.
Lorde
Bastille
Pharrell
One Direction 
Pitbull
Mumford and Sons
Katy Perry
Jason Derulo
Ellie Goulding
Eminem 
Arcade Fire
Florence and the Machine
Ceelo Green
Christina Aguleira
Beyonce
Zedd
... etc.

In this thought experiment, your parents listen to music you don't really "like" or "get." That would be some Classic Rock, Jazz, some Blues, some Classical.  Even of the stuff they have that you find enjoyable you generally don't seek it out when you are listening, since it is mostly "oldies."  (Led Zeppelin main albums are around 40 years old now.  I know when I was in High School I never listened to 40 year old music, at least I didn't seek it out.)
If you like the music on this list
Audiophiles have failed you

OK ... now that you have the mindset, look for some good music that you like (anything "top 40" in the last 5 or so years), and then try to find it in a "high resolution" digital file.  And by "high resolution," I mean 24bit and 88.2-192kHz sample rate.

Here are a several stores that sell High Rez music to help out, that may just represent most online sales in the US:

HD Tracks
Super HiRez
iTrax
ProStudioMasters
Blue Coast Records

Looks a bit like a desert for a pop music lover, huh?

If you notice, the few titles that were on the pop charts in the last 5 years are all at CD levels (16bit/44.1kHz) or the same sample rate but more bit depth (24bit/44.1kHz), the so called "iTunes Master."  In the above list of current pop stars, I'd estimate less than 25% have anything represented in the above stores, too.  (Though all of them have CD's available)
Imagine how much bigger the smile would be
if she could have her music with the realism that only
high rez delivers?

The crux of the matter, is whether you think we're awash in options, or starving for them, really is dependant upon what music you like.

If your musical "core" is pre 1990, there is a wealth of music at higher resolution than CD, so it is understandable if we feel that the "high resolution revolution is upon us." Anyone under 30, though, sees a bunch of high resolution "old people music."  And while some of it may be enjoyable to them (our kids love Queen, Elton John, David Bowie and The Beatles) it's not what they listen to day-to-day, and not what they seek out.

So, it doesn't matter that the gear is here today, and affordable enough for someone with that priority to build a modest system that gives you that "real presence" feeling.  If the only music that gives you your money's worth is stuff your parents and grandparents listen to ... then why would you make it a priority?  I know I wouldn't.

But this isn't a hopeless situation, there has been a lot of press (and confusion) about Neil Young's project, Pono.  He's said he's going to try to make high resolution available to the masses, and while I think the typical audiophile has scratched their head since they have high resolution music they love today, they haven't yet realized that their kids do not, which makes the whole matter a niche in a niche that may just be getting close to it's best by date.

And, yes, there is also the vinyl resurgence.  And younger audio fans are embracing it like mad (though much of the pop stuff is cut from the 24/44.1 files they rip to MP3 so won't have the delicate nuance that a full analog master or high resolution digital master might have) - I think this shows there is at least a desire for good sound, that if we can make the right sort of music available in high resolution, regardless of format, there will be a large niche ready to embrace it.

And we're very glad that a few are trying to plug a big gaping hole in the genres on offer!  And while it promises to bring the power of a live performance to more people, and put many of today's younger folks on a lifelong path of musical enrichment, it might just also broaden the horizons of those of us that feed on a steady diet of music that's 30 years old or older.  We feel you will find most recent pop music is pretty good and realize why it's popular.

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