To wonder why the 90s music was so childish?

[magicalkitty]

I just pondering.

I was a 90s kid, and remember the charts were full of various bands that made music that appealed to kids. S Club 7, Steps, Bewitched, even the Spice Girls to an extent, to name a few. As a child I loved this music, but it's quite surprising now, as an adult, to remember how popular these songs were, as adults would have been buying it. The bands, their music videos, their image, was usually aimed at kids too, not adults. I feel I have grown out of this music now and can't understand why adults would like it, except for nostalgia reasons.

These days the number 1s are more often than not more 'adult' songs, and music aimed at kids doesn't really chart well. What has changed?

OK Computer 🤣🤣

I reported the AI but nobody cares 🫤

The OP raises an interesting point, and everyone reminding her of the cool, adult bands they liked at the time is missing it.

She hasn't said that kiddie music was the only popular style back then, or that dance music, rock music, Britpop or "whatever you liked" didn't exist. She's saying that, compared to now, kiddie music had a prominence in the charts and popular culture which it doesn't have now.

I think it's much more about the way music is distributed, consumed and sold. Record sales (inc. CDs, cassettes etc) peaked in 1999. Today, record sales make up a tiny percentage of total music revenues. (Chart here from the US, but trends very similar in the UK: https://www.statista.com/chart/17244/us-music-revenue-by-format/ )

So, the real answer is more about the percentage of kids buying singles, the role of Saturday morning kids TV, the beginning of fragmentation of media channels, the early internet etc etc. That's a more interesting discussion to have than dozens of people saying "what about Radiohead?"

Nice

If was fine to be a child back then, of course there were other bands and artists that appealed to others, but childrens entertainment was viable whereas now teens and even younger children are just seen as small adults in regard to a lot of pop culture and its sad. I remember when my DS started reception another child was bullied for having a paw patrol lunch box, they're only 4 or 5 ffs- but no that's uncool even at that age. The 90s were a great time to be a child imo, although appreciate there were a lot of other issues in society.

Plus - since the 90s is like insanely cool right now - you get to relive any bands you might have missed and look like you're really "with it".

The 90s was a bit of a mixed era for music. Yes, there was the britpop/indie rock stuff like Nirvana, Oasis and Radiohead but it was also the era when 'manufactured' pop went through a big revival with groups like Take That, Boyzone and the Spice Girls that were aimed at a younger, mainly female audience.

Both types of music sat side by side but by the end of the decade it was the 'manufactured' stuff that became dominant which is perhaps the era you are remembering. This lead on to a new generation of 'publicly manufactured' stuff like Pop Stars and The X Factor.

Prodigy was not childish! The Foos?! Nirvana?! And spice girls singing about 2 becoming 1 was hardly childish?! :)

The 90s was the first decade where female vocalists started to dominate the charts whether as solo acts, as girl bands or mixed group bands with female leadse were male equivalents too such as Five, A1, North & South etc but they were not as popular in the time of girl power.

I think in the 9ps because the music industry was previously male dominated it hadn’t been sexualised yet so the female artists aren’t dressed in sexualised ways and their lyrics about love etc seem quite tame by todays standards because there was no expectation to put in innuendos and try and reference sex all the time. Once female artists became popular though the music industry obviously then realised that they could sexualise all these female acts to make them appeal to a wider audience (eg: men) and so later girl bands like The Sugababes, Girls Aloud etc which came about at end of 90s/ early 00s all have more raunchy videos and are dressed more sexily etc. I don’t think that trend has really changed, because little girls will always be into popular music whatever it is so there’s no need to cater to them specifically now the industry has realised that it can sell sex alongside music to reel in a wider audience.

You’re talking about the late 90s early 00s era really OP and I agree with you, pop music did go through a childish phase. I was playing s club 7 in the car today and my kids were loving it and I was thinking there aren’t bands/songs like that anymore tailored that age group, unless I just don’t know about them.

My 90s music was rock, indie and brit pop which I still enjoy

We're you very young in the nineties? Nineties music was so much better than that asinine pop!

Now it’s the useless George Ezra and women hating rappers

I remember ‘what’s she going to do with a chimney on her head’

I remember ‘what’s she going to do with a chimney on her head’

Massively late response, but the lyrics were 'what's she gonna look like with a chimney on her?'

The 'chimney' being slang for a black eye. 😂

@BeautifulWar well finally it makes sense thank you

The chronically offended are out in force, totally missing the point as usual 🙄

I think it's an interesting point, OP. Funnily enough myself and DH were having a similar conversation a few days ago. My primary aged DC listen mostly to "our" music (things that we liked as teens and young adults, plus things that our parents played to us, and a smattering of new stuff), they also like current songs from movies and TV shows and as they are getting older they are being introduced to more mainstream current music at dance classes and by friend's older siblings etc. But there isn't really anything that seems to be really aimed at young kids specifically like there was in the 90s. Like you say, no equivalent to Bewitched, S Club 7. It seems a shame to me because so much of what's in the charts just isn't appropriate for young DC and I know my kids would love to follow a band like S Club, learn the dances and watch all the interviews like kids in the 90s did.

I think it's probably largely down to the way we consume media nowadays. Everything is streamed. Kids aren't watching so much live TV and the shows like SMTV or Live and Kicking don't exist anymore.

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