>>54626528Like anon said depends on what genre you like. The mainstream songs are poppy because...pop music is intentionally designed to be safe and catchy. But there are a lot of great vocaloid songs in many other genres and musicians who actually experiment a lot with what they do.
I posted Kikuo earlier, he's probably my favorite example of a musician who really has crafted his own unique style and experiments with different niche instruments and sounds in all his music. Vocaloid is better understood as an instrument rather than a genre, and that instrument can be used in a variety of ways. I find his horror themed songs utilize Miku's robotic tones very well for an uncanny feeling.
https://youtu.be/I15sK7dNMOM?si=D7_LrPgw5D7EAMeShttps://youtu.be/gWPF1vBtP8Y?si=GU2PVYEieqxGdvzeAnd this one isn't actually Miku, it's Qi Xuan, but I love how he used traditional Indonesian instruments in it to really lean into the song's core concept of cyclical reincarnation and endless suffering. To me, it's a masterpiece at conveying the feeling of being born, dying, and all the chaos in between just from music alone. A lot of thought obviously went behind this song, and it's far from what I'd consider generic jpop at all. I doubt it even appeals to most demographics, it's very much acquired taste but there's real passion and soul behind it.
https://youtu.be/8aS1DiEKAsI?si=v2o3EbX9MtvyLNEG 