Regardless of how good a song may be, overexposure on the radio can slowly make the song unbearable to listen to. Radio station DJ's do not seem to notice that their repetition of "E.T." makes me want to punch Katy Perry in the face or that I find "King of Anything" to be an incredibly annoying song (something about her "oh-ohs"; I hate it), they just want to keep their playlist manageable. When a song is overplayed, it might get that artist the fame which they have been longing for, but it could just as easily make that artist, or their music, far too annoying and common to enjoy any longer.
Avril Lavigne is a victim of her own fame, and now she appears to be nonexistent in the world of popular music. First, "Complicated" was played on repeat (is there a word which means 'more repetitive than repeat'? Use it in reference to this song) and, though it began as a good song, those opening "uh-huh's" were soon answered by my switching the station. The same thing happened when she 'came back' a few years ago with pink hair and "Girlfriend". Words cannot express how much I despise this song; it's awful, in so, so many ways and can only be fun on Just Dance. This overplaying of her music (and the fact that her newest album was kind of really annoying) effectively ended her popularity in the mainstream US.
"Love Song" was (slightly) killed in this same way. It's a great song, Sara Bareilles makes fantastic music (the best artists always come out of UCLA), but the song has been so overplayed on the radio that you can play the piano part by ear, without having to purchase the song. The song is great, but it's also tiring and old now; overplaying a song can hurt its chances at greatness.
Owl City was good at one time; I overplayed "Hello Seattle" when it first came out (it's not bad if you are the one, personally, playing it on repeat) and when iTunes offered "Fireflies" as a 'single of the week' all I could think is "this is a great song for June". Fast forward six months and every radio station is playing it non-stop and every one who never knew about the band is claiming to be their biggest fan. It's exhausting, exciting, and slightly disheartening all at once, and always seems to end with this 'fresh new band' falling into obscurity (until they do a collaboration with, yet another, pop singer from Canada. Nickelback, Bieber, and Lavigne weren't bad enough, so I guess our radio stations will have to accept Jepsen now).
Of course, this same sort of thing happened to Fun. when "We Are Young" was released and Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros when "Home" became so popular (except that Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros have kept more of their original fan base because they are too cool to be simply drafted into the mainstream [and because Fun. is more accepting of fame and recognition] as they just want to be the barefoot kids who sing about love.
On the other hand, M83 has always been amazing, but they did not start to become really popular until their song "Midnight City" was featured in a slew of commercials last year. They continue to be awesome though because they are just far enough from a mainstream sound that they can get popular enough to generate enough revenue to continue their musical careers, without having to change their sound or image to do so.
The same thing happened to The Weepies when everyone got so excited about "Be My Thrill" two years ago and it was added to every retail store's playlist. The song is good, but not the best song by The Weepies (that would be "World Spins Madly On," "Gotta Have You" or "Wish I Could Forget"), but it did allow The Weepies to expand their fan base and to get some airplay so that they could afford to continue their musical careers.
I'm hoping this same courtesy, of overplaying a great song on the radio, is extended to The Weeknd. Trilogy was released on iTunes this past week and, while he is amazing in every way, he is not as well known as he should be. Before this album release, the only way you could get his music was by looking up his online "mix tapes" like you had to do for Wiz Khalifa before he got famous. Listen for "Twenty Eight" or "Wicked Games" on the radio, because he's great and is going to be greater.
Overexposure to a song does, however, have its benefits. Flo Rida had not come out with an album in a year, yet he put out "Club Can't Handle Me" and it successfully carried his name over that three year gap between album releases, as it gave him only a few months between that great(ly annoying) success and his first single from his album Wild Ones; if your name does not fall off the headlines or the radio playlists, you never have to worry about making a comeback. Currently, you can hear "Whistle" on the radio, again, and again, and inappropriately again.
"Ass Back Home" may have been overplayed the past year, but it does not matter because Gym Class Heroes is amazing. I would love to see New Medicine live, seeing The Fray or Michael Franti again would be amazing, and I will not rest until I can see Coldplay live, but I would give them all up to see Gym Class Heroes or Travie McCoy perform; they're great. I listened to "The Fighter" on repeat for a week before surgery and now it's my go to song when I need some inspiration. They are so very underrated; The Papercut Chronicles II is a masterpiece with not one bad song. I got slightly off track, but "Ass Back Home" is awesome and so is the band, so just sing along when it comes on the radio in a few hours.
"Coming Home" is the best autobiographical song out there (if you did not already love Sean Combs, this song will make you appreciate him so much more. Research him though; writing a paper about him only makes him an amazing artist) and is the most successful single released from Diddy- Dirty Money's Last Train to Paris. The piano intro, Grey's soft voice, and the violins which chime in just a second before he begins his piece makes the song that much better. It is an amazing song that was put together perfectly and can be overplayed without actually being 'overplayed'.
To close with a classic, "Drops Of Jupiter" will never get old. Say what you want about Train, but the fact remains that they are amazing because they have stayed on top of the charts for over ten years, came from San Francisco (I have yet to find a city which I am more enamored with), and Pat Monahan writes amazing songs (see "Drops Of Jupiter" and click here). It's one of the songs that, when it comes on the radio, everyone just sings along, a little subconsciously, because you just know these lyrics; they're ingrained somewhere in the back of your mind. It's a great song stemming from great intentions and will always show up somewhere on the radio, so just enjoy it when it does.
- E
