Steven Wilson on the Trap of Chasing Modern Pop

In this short but incisive reflection, Steven Wilson puts his finger on one of the central tensions in contemporary pop music. The pressure to align with whatever is currently successful has become overwhelming, however the irony is that the industry itself is always moving faster than the artist. By the time a sound has filtered down, been copied, and been released, it is already yesterday’s idea.

Wilson points out how the streaming era has reshaped songwriting itself. The demand for an instant vocal hook has pushed aside many of the structural elements that once defined popular music. Intros are deemed unnecessary, guitar solos are quietly removed, middle eights are abandoned, and even the idea of verse and chorus can be sacrificed entirely in favour of a single hook that runs uninterrupted from start to finish.

What makes Wilson’s observation particularly balanced is that he does not dismiss this approach outright. He acknowledges that there is something genuinely compelling about a song that gets straight to the point and delivers its impact immediately. The issue is not the format, but the mindset behind it. When artists feel compelled to follow trends rather than instincts, creativity becomes reactive rather than expressive.

At its heart, Wilson’s critique is less about modern pop sounding a certain way, and more about the danger of confusing success with imitation. The most enduring music has rarely come from chasing what already exists. It comes from artists trusting their own voice, even when that voice does not neatly fit the current algorithm.