Who is to blame for this shyt?

Guru Randhawa in a still from the ‘Fine Shyt’ music video. PIC/YouTube

For me, looking for and listening to different kinds of music became a weekly activity in 2002-2006. I had just started my first job, and that meant that on the 1st of every month, I would run to Planet M and buy first, cassettes, and later, CDs. But there was no similar strain in the music that I heard. I was grooving to pop like Boyzone, alternative like Fiona Apple, rock like Collective Soul, and grunge like the band Hole. But now, if I listen to Olivia Dean, the streaming platform lines up more music by artists like Olivia Dean. It's all somewhat the same, and well, then you feel the same. And though Dean is a fine artist, she too got famous when her songs went viral on Reels. And that's fine with me. That's the world we live in.

But then, one day, you hear a song like Guru Randhawa's Fine Shyt. You don't even have a choice not to listen to it - it's everywhere on social media. And then, I ask why that song has even been released, and promoted, and that too with an atrocious misogynistic video?

Now, I want to blame someone for this point in time that we have reached, where a song like this sh't is being recorded. I want to ask who thought it was a good idea to create this song, and then use the hook like "fine shyt"? And I want you to tell me it's not the eventual fallout of this hook-first, Reel-first kind of world we have become, which has been amplified by streaming platforms and social media.

Somewhere in the last few years we became a society that listens to the songs on Instagram, 30 seconds at a time. We became a society that hears the same sort of songs, with music platforms like Spotify making up same-sounding playlists for you, so that you don't have to do the work. But the work is the fun part! Remember mix tapes?

Somewhere we became a society that judges a musician by their followers, and would never listen to a whole album before making up our mind about the artist. But what happened to the belief that sometimes, an artist grows on you? What happened to the notion that the whole album is like a narrative, a single strain of thought? Ever heard Maroon 5's Songs About Jane, or John Mayer's Room for Squares, or Fiona Apple's When the Pawn…

Now, on Spotify, a song stream is counted only after 30 seconds of listening. And a Pitchfork investigation into streaming-era pop found that songwriters and producers deliberately moved hooks forward and made intros shorter in response to the streaming environment and the risk of listeners skipping.

A song like Fine Shyt is the direct outcome of living in a world that has started treating music more like momentary entertainment, and less like an important, and non-negotiable part of bringing happiness and solace into your life. I feel like streaming, and the need for that viral hook (with a dance step attached), has spoiled the joy of listening to music forever. And, it has made sure the quality of music is the lowest we have ever seen it.

But I feel maybe it's not too late. I feel people are starved for good music. No wonder then that when the movie Michael released earlier this year, everyone was stunned, and awestruck by the music. Especially Gen Z, most of whom were hearing that music for the first time. No wonder

Billie Jean is still dominating the Spotify Global Charts.

So whoever thought Fine Shyt was fine sh't, please take a cue from the objections many have raised on the quality of the song. There isn't any quality. It's all sh't. Let's do better. For the rest of us, listen to MJ and cleanse your palate. You got this.

See you next week.

Ranting and raving about all that's trending on social media, Aastha Atray Banan is an author, creator, podcaster, and the Editor of your favourite weekend read, Sunday mid-day. She posts at @aasthaatray on Instagram.
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The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper.