I hear a lot of songs (popular or otherwise) that have the same 4 or 8 bar loops throughout the entire song, and the only parts of the composition that changes are the components that are layered within the song (percussion, arps, leads, countermelodies, you name it). When it comes production or composing in any way, everyone tends to say the same thing: get out of that loop. There are so many articles/videos that tell us how to get out of it but don't give a good reason as to why other than your song will be boring. But considering the amount of songs out there in the world that have stuck with their loop that are successful, is that a good enough reason to get out of it?

My question here is why do most people agree that we should get out of the loop when it's clear that a song, with enough elements to switch it up, can still do well if we stuck with it? Is it a matter of what we think the non-producers/musicians want to hear? Does genre dictate whether we should stay in a loop or not? (I ask this particular question because I listen to a lot of hip hop-influenced music, so I wonder if that has something to do with it).

I'm honestly curious and would like to know what you guys think about this.

This is actually something I've struggled with in the past and to me the reason why one should get out of the loop is because too much repetition just makes an arrangement boring IMO.

To me interesting arrangements demands a certain degree of symmetry but too much can certainly make things feel dragged out. I've noticed this not just in other peoples songs but in my own songs as well. Loop based music tends put too much emphasis on symmetry or repetition which is why personally I'm a much bigger of a fan of the "loops with variation approach".

Certainly different music genres have much more emphasis on loops/repetition and whether you think that's right for your music is a decision which you have to decide for yourself.

For me, making house music, loops are essential I guess. I don't hear people say get out of that loop, but where I do hear this comment is on my drums. My drums seem to be repetitive in certain parts. At least in the main verse of the song. The last comment I got was, the drums seem a little repetitive but the other part of the song really carries the track.