Of all possible musical styles and genres, it is sad to say many of them would fall under the 'instrumental' category. This category is one accepted mostly by mainstream music listeners and often has a negative connotation. Plainly put, an instrumental piece is one without singing or vocals, dismissing anything without lyrics as something to pass by or put your own words to. It's strange, then, that we would consider the music of Mozart, Beethoven, or Bach as, "Classical Music," when a similar piece today would be considered an, "instrumental," in the mainstream.
It's a shame we feel like we can't relate to or enjoy a piece if there aren't vocals. The idea that we need words to a song to put emotion behind it is dismissive of the power music can have on its own. A song can make you feel sad without a vocalist telling you to feel sad; the tempo, tone, and style can tell an entire story on its own. That isn't to say vocals are therefore dull or stupid, in fact, they are very powerful instruments, which is why they are used so often in the first place.
The main issue isn't that singing is bad, or even that it is overused, but that it is the only way we'd consider a piece to be "music." This shallowness is apparent if you listen to top 40 radio, or any modern pop song for that matter. The only time you'll hear an "instrumental" piece is if you're on a classical or jazz station. You'd be hard-pressed to find a pop song without lyrics in the past century, radio or not.
In the past, you would often find instrumental versions of a pop song on the "B side" of an album. This practice has fallen out of the norm as we switched from vinyl to digital, and standard album length became 40 minutes to an hour. I think the practice should come back in favor, if not to give alternate versions of songs, but to recognize our modern-day producers. In the past decade, we've come into a new age of digital production and music-making, and with it a new generation of producers.
I don't expect pop music to just change suddenly to songs without vocals, and I don't necessarily think it should either. Moreso, I think listeners should be more aware of how dismissive they can be towards a song without lyrics. You don't have to like what I like, but discovering how much more there is to the music world can only add to your enjoyment of it. Next time you're listening to a song you like, try to see who produced it, and you might find yourself with a new favorite artist.
