If Brian was 19 or 20 in 2014

[Amy B.]

Suppose Brian Wilson was young today. What kind of music do you think he would be working on, and would it be popular? (I'm talking young, ambitious, energetic Brian.)

[puni puni]

he'd be a dentist.

[Niko]

or a professional photographer

[TimeToGetAlone]

If it was remotely similar to today's top 40, I wouldn't want to hear it.  Maybe his talent would still show through, but a tasteful use of talent is rare in modern commercial music as far as I'm concerned.  Based on the sound which he in part influenced, he'd probably fare best in the indie rock/pop scene.

[Nicko1234]

Well as The Beach Boys started out by phoning in and voting for Surfin, I guess the modern equivalent would be American Idol or X Factor or one of those pieces of bilge. Their voices would probably be manipulated to sound identical and to take all of the character away from them.

[Pacific Coast]

Brian would never be a success in today's music business.
The parallel would be Justin Bieber or Miley Cyrus.
If he was recording his own songs in Garageband and uploading them on Youtube, he'd have a few followers from among his High School buddies and probably a couple hundred views. Some snarky comments on Twitter.
"The Beach Boys" equivalent in today's music is perhaps "One Direction" and they are a made-for-TV creation. It's quite unlikely that a family would gather 'round the piano and sing harmonies together----Dennis would be on Ritalin, Carl would be playing video games, and Mike would be a wanna-be white rapper.

[♩♬🐸 Billy C ♯♫♩🐇]

He'd be Bruno Mars minus the charisma

[Blue2013]

If he had the same tastes, his music would appeal to arty types. I don't understand why some people here seem to think that all modern music = Bieber.

[alf wiedersehen]

Who's to say he would even be the same person nowadays.

His entire family dynamic would probably be completely different. A less strained relationship with his father, a different sort of relationship with his brothers (like someone mentioned earlier, new technologies and such). That motivation to please his father (which is assumed) probably wouldn't have been the same and he wouldn't have had the same drive. The harmony with his brothers probably wouldn't have really formed at all, either. No one really wants to do that sort of thing anymore.

I don't think he would have landed a recording contract like he did, without any real craze to cash in on. He'd probably just be another guy out there struggling to get noticed.
He might not have even discovered the Four Freshman and Chuck Berry - and where would he be without those early influences?

He could be the guy delivering your pizza. 

[chrs_mrgn]

Well there are so many factors that could go into this. Considering he would be young now then we would have no Beach Boys ever.
Which means popular music today would most likely be a lot different as many bands have been directly inspired by the beach boys and Brian.

But I think he would probably make some 'indie' music
Meaning he would try to be experimental with sounds and try to make music as organically as possible.
But who knows? Was he ever the type to try to make 'hits' just to have a hit?

Whatever it would be would definitely have 'pop sensibility' but could definitely be experimental
He did love to mess around in the studio.

These are some songs that I could imagine him taking part in.

Let me know what you all think.

http://youtu.be/7jgmgE-QDzA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2nA9gsZDmQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUwfnTdzQSU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyaDTiXH3R4

http://youtu.be/OHTSxw6zN1E

http://youtu.be/tjecYugTbIQ

[shelter]

I think that if Brian would be a young, ambitious musician today, he could be successful, but not in the same way as he was in the 1960s. Image is so important nowadays and I'm not sure if a shy, goofy, introverted kind of guy like Brian could have been a mainstream pop star in 2014. But no doubt he would still be successful in some way, either as a well-respected indie cult figure, or as a songwriter/producer/studio vocalist working behind the scenes.

[Seaside Woman]

If he had the same tunes to create the production values would be different but I'm sure the appeal  and success would still be there.

[Pretty Funky]

He'd be raising hell with Justin Beiber!

[Fro]

He'd be working on indie hipster music.

[Cabinessenceking]

They were too ugly and shy to succeed in the modern pop industry in a comparable commerical way as they did in the 60's. Top lists today are dominated by sexual imagery.

[Amy B.]

I think it's a good point someone made that he might never have started harmonizing with his brothers. Instead of gathering around the piano, Dennis would be off with his friends or constantly texting, and Carl would be in his room playing video games. Brian probably never would have heard the Four Freshmen, which means his music might have taken a different direction. Maybe he wouldn't have even been into harmonies so much. I wonder who in today's music scene would influence him. I still think he would have gotten into music, though. Maybe he would have gathered his friends and formed a band, or maybe he would have started tinkering with music software and posting stuff on YouTube.

I don't think he would have been famous, except he might have had a cult following online, and maybe he would have made it into Paste or some magazine like that.

[Amy B.]

They were too ugly and shy to succeed in the modern pop industry in a comparable commerical way as they did in the 60's. Top lists today are dominated by sexual imagery.

But there are still singer-songwriters out there who are more about the music.  They're just not as well known.

[Watch a Cave]

I think Brian would be successful in any era.  I mean the man lived and breathed music from a young age.  A prodigy with music bursting from every pore in his body.. 

I'm not a religious guy, but I almost feel like people such as Brian or Mozart were preordained to create music for the world to enjoy.  It is a rare gift.

[rab2591]

I'm not a religious guy, but I almost feel like people such as Brian or Mozart were preordained to create music for the world to enjoy.  It is a rare gift.

I feel the same way...especially about the Beach Boys. The stars were too well aligned for that to be a random accident.

[the captain]

This is an interesting question mostly because it has so many different approaches.

1) Do we assume a musical personality is who he is, with outside factors as relatively minor influences? In other words, Brian loves vocal harmony and basically takes the body of work we know but in a modern context.

2) Do we assume the person's personality is the key, but musical personality is more heavily influenced by outside factors? So, for example, he is still an introverted kid but instead of grabbing somewhat passe vocal harmony groups as his prime influence, he latches onto something that is similarly passe now?

3) Do we expand the exercise, knowing what we think of as Brian is actually a combination of Brian and his family and friends? Murry's influence is suddenly Nickelback or Maroon 5 or whatever might be lame and popular with some suburban parents; Dennis's extramusical Californian influence isn't surfing, but [whatever rebellious kids in suburban California do]; Carl isn't learning rock 'n' roll guitar with David Marks, but rather making beats or something? If that's the case, it's Brian's gift of synthesizing disparate elements that is key, and the result is something wholly unique.

I think the latter is the most realistic approach, but also we'd have to take into account that certain extramusical aspects are so different that the Brian we know wouldn't exist in the same way. The odds that Murry would have behaved the same way are lower because that sort of abusive father is less accepted: abuse is more likely to be reported and the situation changed. Mental health care is better, and Brian may well have gotten diagnosed and treated more professionally, earlier. With more entertainment options, the odds of the family gathering around an instrument and singing are far lower (as someone else said earlier). And so on.

Further, the music that has happened between the actual Brian Wilson's career and now is hugely influenced by the actual Brian Wilson, so having removed him from it means that we have no idea what his musical surroundings would even resemble. Key elements of pop we take for granted would no doubt have developed differently.

So the most realistic answer is: if Brian Wilson were 19 or 20 now, he wouldn't be recognizable as Brian Wilson.

[Pacific Coast]

If he had the same tastes, his music would appeal to arty types. I don't understand why some people here seem to think that all modern music = Bieber.

I don't think all modern music = Bieber, but he's representative of the contemporary successful 19-year-old pop star. Of course, there are indie artists--in abundance--but they are not superstars, by a long shot. As talented as they may be in crafting melodies, they do not have the ear of a generation, and they will be forgotten quickly.

The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson as a musical phenomenon were born out of a special circumstance that does not exist today.

[chrs_mrgn]

If he had the same tastes, his music would appeal to arty types. I don't understand why some people here seem to think that all modern music = Bieber.

I don't think all modern music = Bieber, but he's representative of the contemporary successful 19-year-old pop star. Of course, there are indie artists--in abundance--but they are not superstars, by a long shot. As talented as they may be in crafting melodies, they do not have the ear of a generation, and they will be forgotten quickly.

The Beach Boys and Brian Wilson as a musical phenomenon were born out of a special circumstance that does not exist today.

Yeah and one of those circumstances happened to be inability for the masses to have access to information / content like people do today.

People are able to find a lot of different artists that they like so they don't necessarily have to put all their eggs in one basket.

[bluesno1fann]

I think if Brian was 19 or 20 in 2014, I think he'd by trying out for Baseball, working on that Curveball 

Considering the most likely different circumstances brought on by living in an different era, I highly doubt Brian would have got the same influences musically and he likely wouldn't have had the same type of upbringing he and his brothers had to endure from Murry. So I just don't see the Wilson Brothers turning to music in 2014

[Letsgoawayforawhile]

I could see him making music like this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_-cUdmdWgU

[metal flake paint]

Brian sure wouldn't be one of those "phony singing for money" artists.