The Piano Vs The Computer in Modern Popular Music?

So I recently loaded up Spotify (Free music listening software for those less computer savvy :P) and on the opening page there are some album art covers of artists you may be interested in. Anyways it dawned on me that all of the musicians listed had no real musical training.

It got me thinking. In todays society do you reckon that more and more people are not starting or sustaining instrument lessons instead using thier knowledge of software such as Logic or Cubase to create music in a digital domain instead? and is the piano still used as much as it was in the early 20th century or even the 70's/80s with such performers as Elton John and Billy Joel?

Long question i know but just would be interested to find out what other peoples perspective is on the matter :D

thanks in advance

That is definitely an interesting topic to raise.

From my background, ALL of the musician/composers I know have formal training in music. I go to the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School (website www.vcass.vic.edu.au) where all of the students in the music department had to audition to get a place. So as you can see, I don't really know any composer who doesn't play an instrument or uses Cubase etc. to create music. Even composers such as myself and a pianist in my class use pencil and manuscript paper rather than a notation software to write music.

Just out of curiosity, where do you get your sources for your statement on saying that more and more people are not getting proper music tuition and are relying on computers?

On your other point, I think that the piano is as popular as it was in the early 20th century. There a still lots of solo repertoire being written and I think (from watching chamber operas and listening to 20th and 21st century chamber music) that the piano is getting a bigger reputation as an chamber ensemble instrument than it had previously been. I doubt the piano will become obsolete anytime soon!

It comes down to two things: 1) The Medium of the music being composed, and 2) the preference of workflow and/or work environment.

Certain types of music are designed to be composed on certain platforms because those platforms are designed for said types of music. For example: Garage Band does really well for rock-like and popular music, but it would be very difficult to write a symphony on there. Conversely, it would be difficult to write a popular song with paper alone since so much of the music is decided audibly and through experimentation. Notation-based workflows can only go so far too. If you need to compose for a film and make a convincing, realistic recording of the work, a DAW is much more suited to that than, say, Sibelius.

As for musical training, the quality of their work will show it.

great responses! I agree wholeheartedly!

What is "real" musical training?

Thanks all for your replies, gave me a lot to think about. Having re-read my original post I have realised I ommited the fact that I was looking at popular music not genres such as chamber music also by "real" music training I meant more of a formal training such as attending a conservatoire or obtaining a degree in music (poor wording on my part). My original post was in no way a statement and is definitely a question so any and all replies are appreciated. Thanks

I think that there's no way to become a great musician if you can't pick up an instrument and play something. People who write music but don't know how to read music, I don't understand. There's a lot of learning that is involved in that. The computer is great for practicing something like ear training or something, but to use it to learn music is not the way to go.