Watch Now: Apple Live Streaming First Ever Apple Music Awards With Billie Eilish Performance

[lunarworks]

I don’t think she’s a superstar, not to say maybe she won’t be but she’s not going to sell out stadiums worldwide at the moment.
In the last 20 years I think it would be hard to argue Eminem isn’t the biggest superstar to appear.

There are no more superstars in the way that we recognise because there's no more monoculture. Our listening habits used to be dictated by radio and MTV, but the last 20 years have given people an unprecedented diversity in options and listening methods.
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Sorry Wolfie, of course people were going to laugh at her never having heard of Van Halen. If nothing else you’d think she would have heard the song Jump at some point.

Kids today not knowing who Van Halen is gives me hope that kids 20 years from now won't know who Nickelback is.

 

[TheDemogordon]

30 seconds reading the comments in this thread has told me more about MacRumors readers than the few years I've been following the website. It's ironic - people on this thread who claim she's irrelevant are really talking about themselves.

 

[Queen6]

Once again, an upcoming or popular artist gets mentioned on MacRumors, because Apple has interacted with them in some way, and legions of MR Forum denizens come out to diss said artist, and high-five each other for how great they all are at dissing people they've never met (with a side of how no music is good except for what they listened to in high school or college).

This is an artist, a young woman, who wears baggy clothes so that she can't be body-shamed by... people like you (because, isn't society neat these days?). But no matter, you find other ways to heap abuse.

Meanwhile, according to Wikipedia, "She has been nominated for six Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. She is the youngest artist ever to have been nominated for the Big Four Grammy Awards. ... Eilish broke the record for most simultaneously charting Hot 100 songs by a female artist, with 14 ... She is the first and, to date, only artist born in the 2000s to record a number-one single in the US. Eilish has eight gold and four platinum singles in the US."

She's been on world tours playing to large audiences of happy fans, been nominated for all those awards, been on the top of the music charts, and most of it before she her 18th birthday. What have you accomplished lately?

Well said a lot of what Apple does these days annoys. Personally I've been vocal and highly critical, Billie Eilish isn't an artist or genre I would typically be into. That said she is very clearly a very talented individual. I sincerely hope she avoids the money grabbers and maintains full control over her work, as all artists should...

Far too many happy to "knock" on others from the safety of their armchair with a beer, whilst achieving next to nothing IRL. Exactly "What have you accomplished lately?" best guess "square root of **** all"...

Q-6

 

[CarlJ]

(thumping bass)

*mumble mumble* bad guy

*mumble something something* tough guy

*indiscernible*

duh

*mumble* bad guy


... Winning

Go look out in the heavy metal end of the music field, and you'll find plenty of songs where you can hardly get any of the words on casual listen, but if you pay particular attention, or track the lyrics down and read them, they're quite interesting. Same thing going on here. If you don't make the effort to listen, that's on you, not on her.

 

[Cyberius11]

Go look out in the heavy metal end of the music field, and you'll find plenty of songs where you can hardly get any of the words on casual listen, but if you pay particular attention, or track the lyrics down and read them, they're quite interesting. Same thing going on here. If you don't make the effort to listen, that's on you, not on her.

I don’t listen to those, either. If you like her mumble rap, fine. I’m not going to take the time to listen to something that I *personally* find stupid. I’ll listen to the thousands of other artists where I don’t have to study their lyrics to even begin to understand them. If you want to listen to her, great. That’s the beauty of having a wide selection of music to listen to.

 

[HappyMBAowner]

Who did you have in mind? Aretha Franklin? The Moody Blues?

Why not? There was a time, a long long time ago, when awards were based on quality. Not on popularity or sales.

 

[markfc]

Quite like her music actually and that set is arty as ****.

Very nicely done and beautifully lit.

 

[CarlJ]

Sorry Wolfie, of course people were going to laugh at her never having heard of Van Halen. If nothing else you’d think she would have heard the song Jump at some point.

If you're at all interested, the interview in question (queued up to the relevant segment).

 

[DeepIn2U]

(thumping bass)

*mumble mumble* bad guy

*mumble something something* tough guy

*indiscernible*

duh

*mumble* bad guy


... Winning

Love that track ... maybe need AirPod Pro to hear the words clearly over the bass?

Fact is ... her and her brother are WELL rounded artists ... they've created all their music on their own, she CAN sing she has a uniqueness (tom-boyish maybe?) of her own vs every other woman in the industry and her brother plays more than 3 instruments all used. I think it's a good match.

ALSO: last time a VERY successful Brother and Sister group/duo occured was Donnie & Marie Osmond. How's THAT for a long cycle.

 

[dojoman]

MR readers are a bunch of whiners. Aren't you guys at least glad they're not giving award to Justin Bieber?

 

[CarlJ]

Kids today not knowing who Van Halen is gives me hope that kids 20 years from now won't know who Nickelback is.

This is my favorite thing I've read in a long time. You win the internet for today. Please try to have it back by midnight.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Genesis? Fleetwood Mac? Procol Harum?

although I know ALL of those artists ... many of them would not be known if FM Radio (heck even AM) was supplanted with Internet Radio in their era. no more elevator music, hallway music in stores or malls. Also there goes Solid Gold TV show of the early 80's as well. Many of these groups successes were PAID for by labels paying the radio DJ's to play on rotation ... these songs where NOT discovered by fans and purely shared initially - so success in today's era is earned.

Give credit where it's due at least she performs vs just rake in money from videos and crap.

Genesis ... I know as a group due to the individual successes of both Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins ... but ask me to name a song they made? (Land of Confusion or was that Phil on solo)? Fleetwood Mac ... i know of the group, never liked any of there songs although heard many on FM radio while my dad drove. I grew up on a neighboring street as the band members of Rush ... even went to the same High-School in 90 ... BUT the ONLY song i know is the one used in the opening of Transformers the animated movie released in 86/87.

Music happens in cycles ... be it big hair/makeup bands, duo's (Men / Woman: Simon & Garfunkel vs Hall & Oats, A Taste of Honey vs Heart) ... I'm VERY surprised many here don't know this nor mention it when complaining or comparing artists.
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There are no more superstars in the way that we recognise because there's no more monoculture. Our listening habits used to be dictated by radio and MTV, but the last 20 years have given people an unprecedented diversity in options and listening methods.
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Kids today not knowing who Van Halen is gives me hope that kids 20 years from now won't know who Nickelback is.

Well spoken! Beat me to my last post.

 

[CarlJ]

It's not you getting old, it's people's taste getting worse and worse

Of course, your parents could have said that about your musical taste.

 

[0920872]

The song is "over produced" with hard to discern lyrics. That's the point! I think her music is fantastic and she's not even 18 yet!

What's confusing about this is after listening to her top songs I do sense the decadent tone. But is it still decadent once it becomes extremely popular?

 

[Solomani]

What's confusing about this is after listening to her top songs I do sense the decadent tone. But is it still decadent once it becomes extremely popular?

Decadence can be popular.
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Of course, your parents could have said that about your musical taste.

My musical taste borders on Cinnabon + Pumpkin Spice Latte + shrimp ettoufle.

 

[retta283]

I thought that too, but I've been thinking more about it.

I remember when I was 14 (along time ago), loving Kate Bush, which was not really the "norm" at the time.
My 14 year old daughter, now, loves Billie Eilish, and there are certainly parallels in both their music.
Ocean Eyes being one.

You have to respect the music and the artists that play it no matter what style, if you don't then you are no music fan.

I was a huge Kate Bush fan back in the day too. I listened to a lot of stuff that was a bit "different" for example prog rock bands like Van der Graaf Generator. Everybody has different tastes.

I can listen to Spanish music written in the 16th century, British new wave heavy metal, or some pop that came out recently. I just like music. I will however admit there is not much that has come out this decade that I have enjoyed, but I attribute that partially to the fact I have not been seeking new music out like I was before. I never trash an artist for making stuff I can't enjoy. I might think it's terrible, but others see it differently. Same goes for just about anything.

 

[triptolemus]

MR readers are a bunch of whiners. Aren't you guys at least glad they're not giving award to Justin Bieber?

Please. Apple will be all over that predictable Bieber reboot, which is almost certainly coming.

 

[retta283]

Love that track ... maybe need AirPod Pro to hear the words clearly over the bass?

Fact is ... her and her brother are WELL rounded artists ... they've created all their music on their own, she CAN sing she has a uniqueness (tom-boyish maybe?) of her own vs every other woman in the industry and her brother plays more than 3 instruments all used. I think it's a good match.

ALSO: last time a VERY successful Brother and Sister group/duo occured was Donnie & Marie Osmond. How's THAT for a long cycle.

Mike and Sally Oldfield did stuff together. Unfortunately I don't remember how popular it was. Most just know Tubular Bells and the Exorcist theme which comes from it.

 

[amartinez1660]

Once again, an upcoming or popular artist gets mentioned on MacRumors, because Apple has interacted with them in some way, and legions of MR Forum denizens come out to diss said artist, and high-five each other for how great they all are at dissing people they've never met (with a side of how no music is good except for what they listened to in high school or college).

This is an artist, a young woman, who wears baggy clothes so that she can't be body-shamed by... people like you (because, isn't society neat these days?). But no matter, you find other ways to heap abuse. (Hell, one of the heavily upvoted comments here is someone fantasizing about her being beaten unconscious by a super macho guy, for the offense of making music they don't like - and apparently lots of people think that's a great idea.)

Meanwhile, according to Wikipedia, "She has been nominated for six Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. She is the youngest artist ever to have been nominated for the Big Four Grammy Awards. ... Eilish broke the record for most simultaneously charting Hot 100 songs by a female artist, with 14 ... She is the first and, to date, only artist born in the 2000s to record a number-one single in the US. Eilish has eight gold and four platinum singles in the US."

She's been on world tours playing to large audiences of happy fans, been nominated for all those awards, been on the top of the music charts (more songs in the top 100 at the same time than any other female artist in history), and did all of this before her 18th birthday. What have you accomplished lately?

What you write is truly important on a general society sense, but the problem is that it smells phoney. Make no mistake, this still has hints of a hairy hand moving pieces around... not saying she might not be talented or crappy at music, but it’s all too convenient, it is hitting a new flavor spot on: before it was Taylor Swift, before that Rihana, after all that Miley Cirus, throw in sprinkles of Ariana Grande here and there... basically like pushing a new product.
Somehow the artists chosen happen to never cater to the macrumors crowd, playing devil’s advocate why would that be? The music and artists picks are for the most part lackluster for me too. What have I accomplished to allow myself to say that? Nothing on the music side, but it’s not about me or fellow readers accomplishes, and no, it’s not that new music we rebel against it and new generations embrace it: what about all the underrated bands out there? When my dad showed me Rolling Stones, Metallica, Beatles I didn’t rebel, I loved it... when I showed him The Offspring he loved it. Random examples, Greta Van Fleet, Muse or The Hives which are more recent would make for a great family reunion on my side AND ALSO for great music awards.
The Stone Cold joke: I understand what you say, but it’s a joke, as if he was narrating a WWE match going down. You could tell the same one Stone Cold vs Tim Apple, or Ive.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Mike and Sally Oldfield did stuff together. Unfortunately I don't remember how popular it was. Most just know Tubular Bells and the Exorcist theme which comes from it.

wow! I’ve never heard of them but will check out their work this week. Thank you for sharing.

 

[cpnotebook80]

Billy Who?

 

[redbeard331]

I thought the same thing until I read the article and discovered she's not a dude .

Ha! I don’t follow any popular pop music awards shows or anything like that so I’m absolutely clueless about who she is or what kind of music she makes.

I would like to say though that some of the comments here are pretty ridiculous, I mean do we have to respect every “artist” out there? Is all music good? I don’t think any time period could say something like that, there’s always been good music being made, and some real garbage as well.

I think part of the reason a lot of people trash modern music is due to the fact that a lot of it IS trash. How many of today’s pop stars are self made out of pure musical talent? Or are they put out there based in their looks, by mammoth corporations, who employ teams of writers, who pull similar lyrics out of a cookie jar for every track? Then they play the song dozens of times a day, that was auto tuned because the people they choose can’t actually sing, and a lot of times can’t even play a musical instrument. The art of music seems to be a dying one, replaced by corporate drones who all sound alike. But don’t mention it or you will be accused of being “closed-minded”, “old”, and “out of touch”.

This is the way our society is now, and it’s not just with music. This girl might be talented or not, I don’t know, I don’t know what kind of music she is even known for. And no, I don’t care to find out, I don’t have to to satisfy someone who thinks today’s mumble rap is quality music, or that someone like Justin Bieber is on par with David Bowie.

I appreciate any musician who has talent, even if I don’t personally like their music, there’s a lot of old music I don’t personally like, nor listen to, yet I respect the talent for sure. I have found music I like from many decades, and many different kinds of music. Even stuff I never thought I’d end up liking. However, up until 3-4-5 years ago I always seemed to find good new music out there among the field of poo, since then I can’t think of anything, seems like it’s all gone downhill. You can say whatever you want but I really don’t care, in 10-20-30 years, if we’re all still alive, nobody will be blasting the vast majority of today’s pop music. Hell, does anyone even remember who the popular pop stars were just a few years ago? But you know what? Decades from now, people will still be listening to bands like Led Zeppelin and Metallica, and I’m not even a fan of Led Zeppelin, but, yea.

 

[aimson911]

Once again, an upcoming or popular artist gets mentioned on MacRumors, because Apple has interacted with them in some way, and legions of MR Forum denizens come out to diss said artist, and high-five each other for how great they all are at dissing people they've never met (with a side of how no music is good except for what they listened to in high school or college).

This is an artist, a young woman, who wears baggy clothes so that she can't be body-shamed by... people like you (because, isn't society neat these days?). But no matter, you find other ways to heap abuse. (Hell, one of the heavily upvoted comments here is someone fantasizing about her being beaten unconscious by a super macho guy, for the offense of making music they don't like - and apparently lots of people think that's a great idea.)

Meanwhile, according to Wikipedia, "She has been nominated for six Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist. She is the youngest artist ever to have been nominated for the Big Four Grammy Awards. ... Eilish broke the record for most simultaneously charting Hot 100 songs by a female artist, with 14 ... She is the first and, to date, only artist born in the 2000s to record a number-one single in the US. Eilish has eight gold and four platinum singles in the US."

She's been on world tours playing to large audiences of happy fans, been nominated for all those awards, been on the top of the music charts (more songs in the top 100 at the same time than any other female artist in history), and did all of this before her 18th birthday. What have you accomplished lately?

Yeah, interesting... Don't care. Can't force me to, or shame me for not caring. I don't care if she sold more albums than Led Zeppelin or The Beatles. The music is pretty terrible. I couldn't get through more than 1:38 of Bad Guys. When the Party's Over lasted about 15 seconds (EDIT: 48 seconds) before I had to shut it off. Derivative, plain, and unimaginative music. She can't sing at all. Lyrics aren't interesting. Beat is okay, but I assume they were written by somebody else? Most pop stars aren't very creative in general, but people love their music. No problem with that. Enjoy what you like. I'm not really the 'target demographics', so I can't complain about her or her fans. However, I can complain about people who try to shut down any negative reactions to her, as if only YOUR opinion matters.

 

[zanoii]

I don’t think she’s a superstar, not to say maybe she won’t be but she’s not going to sell out stadiums worldwide at the moment.
In the last 20 years I think it would be hard to argue Eminem isn’t the biggest superstar to appear.

When I was a teenager, music was the most important thing in my life. My ex's daughter is 15 and don't like popular music at all - except for Billie Eilish. She actually even bought a CD just to have a physical item, even though she has access to every bit of content on Spotify, Youtube etc.

That's what made me look this artist up and realize how incredibly popular she is with the younger audience. I'm 40, so I'm lost in terms of finding new music. There aren't record stores anymore and MTV stopped being relevant 15 years ago. My "Discover weekly" spotify playlist only play stuff I already know, plus the occasional Finnish (!) pop song, and the "New releases" playlist is filled with re-releases of stuff that got automatically removed from my playlists because Spotify's license for it got changed or whatever reason.

I think that most people in this thread - including me - overestimate our opinions' relevancy to Billie Eilish and her fans. They don't give a sh*t about Van halen (nor should they), Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Pink Floyd or whichever band we got hooked on and still consider the world's greatest. We are busy trying to get to see all of our idols once more before they die, while the kids are discovering their own music and it doesn't work like it used to. Just like when my generation sat in front of MTV for hours at a time, much to our parents' dismay.

I think that Billy Eilish will very well fill the largest stadiums in my part of the world whenever she decides to go on a world tour, and that there will be a lot of confused parents in the audience. In fact I checked the tour dates on her site and all of the UK concert next year are already sold out: https://www.billieeilish.com/

Oh and - I totally agree on Eminem even though he's seen his best days. I was always amused with how popular he is with middle-aged ladies.

Why not? There was a time, a long long time ago, when awards were based on quality. Not on popularity or sales.

There have always been awards for popularity. As for the quality argument - The main problem is who gets to decide what quality is. Clearly most teenagers and the average Macrumors reader disagrees on that particular point.

 

[0920872]

Decadence can be popular.
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Yeah, yeah. But if you make something ironically bad and people take up on it, the irony dissolves and you just end up with bad stuff.