why is today's popular music so rubbish?

[Eddi]

I'm 46.

I remember the music of the 90s being mostly stuff like Celine Dion, Billy Ray Cyrus and Right Said Fred. There was definitely good music as well, but most of it was awful.

I agree

There was a lot of crap but also a lot that was outstanding

But I think that if you want to hear good stuff in today's age you have to actively seek it more than in the past

 

[Revoltingest]

I'm an exception to that. I hated the music of my era but loved the music my parents played. And still do.

I prefer eras from Tin Pan Alley thru The Beatles.

 

[ChristineM]

I prefer eras from Tin Pan Alley thru The Beatles.

Just after the Beatles for me. Image me age 14 (ish) trundling around the fields in dads tractor blaring out BTO, Hendrix, Blue Oyster Cult, Jethro Tull, the Groundhogs, Arthur Brown, Hawkwind etc. Those were the days.

 

[Revoltingest]

Just after the Beatles for me. Image me age 14 (ish) trundling around the fields in dads tractor blaring out BTO, Hendrix, Blue Oyster Cult, Jethro Tull, the Groundhogs, Arthur Brown, Hawkwind etc. Those were the days.

I didn't listen to The Beatles til after they were done.
For your listening pleasure...

 

[Firenze]

I stopped listening to ‘popular’ music when they started telling my daughters they were ‘******* and hoes’ - and happily long before the airwaves became drenched with ‘wet *** *****’.

Now I seek out artists who actually tell an interesting story - and fyi - Pandora is really good for that.

Martin Sexton
Dave Alvin
Ray Lamontagne
Bruce Cockburn

Nothing better than a guy and his guitar, imo.

 

[Secret Chief]

Just after the Beatles for me. Image me age 14 (ish) trundling around the fields in dads tractor blaring out BTO, Hendrix, Blue Oyster Cult, Jethro Tull, the Groundhogs, Arthur Brown, Hawkwind etc. Those were the days.

Saw Hawkwind at Manchester. Got stoned just by sitting there!

 

[Shaul]

Music has been going downhill since Peter Schickele died.

 

[Revoltingest]

Music has been going downhill since Peter Schickele died.

He was no Victor Borge.

 

[Sand Dancer]

I remember an interview by Wolfman Jack who essentially said that music is actually being made by corporations using formulas based on likes and dislikes where the music is built around those formulas with the intention of creating revenue for both the artists, if you want to call such people artists, and the organizations wanting the profit in the music industry.

Like gaming, people don't take chances with music anymore and goes with whatever is proven and everybody falls suit which is why all music everywhere sounds the same and essentially soulless.

For heaven's sake, nothing is real anymore!

 

[Sand Dancer]

Music has been going downhill since Peter Schickele died.

He just died a month ago. (I had to look him up.)

 

[Alien826]

I agree that there tends to be good stuff among the garbage that we remember, but where is it now? I (experimentally) listened to a couple of tracks by Taylor Swift who's the current rave, and they failed to impress. Where are the modern Elvis, Beatles, Elton John, to name a few of many?

I suspect they exist, but somehow don't get recognized. I've listened to people on YouTube that were great, but mainly self published.

One possibility is that the "greats" of the past actually had to have talent, not just the ability to make a loud noise.

There's always Classical music, thankfully.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

It's not like it used to be

True. There was a time when popular music was stunning and often glorious. They called it opera.

 

[☆Dreamwind☆]

It's the same as it used to be, it's us who change.

Every generation tends to think the music (and general culture) of their youth was the best, and especially compared to that of the following ones. I think a lot of that is to do with selective memory. You only recall the best of the kind of music you enjoyed when you were younger and not all the mediocre and rubbish that was around too. If you're listening to general pop music today, you're getting the good and bad together.

Fashion plays a major role too. Loads of people will subconsciously follow the crowd (even the hipsters who like to think they don't) and the music industry have long recognised that so put out a lot of the same style of music to try to get on the current bandwagons. Again, we only remember the best examples from the past and not all of the second-rate copies, but hear all of it with current music.

Well you're not 16-25 any more so why would you expect it to still appeal to you? Your life will be different, your emotions will be different, your brain will be different. I'm sure that if you could hear the music of your youth, but without the associated memories and emotions, you wouldn't think much of it today.

It's also worth noting that you didn't say how old you now are or which generation of music you're comparing to, but I'm confident my point will apply regardless.

Because music can still be enjoyable no matter what age demographic it's aimed at.

 

[Stevicus]

I remember an interview by Wolfman Jack who essentially said that music is actually being made by corporations using formulas based on likes and dislikes where the music is built around those formulas with the intention of creating revenue for both the artists, if you want to call such people artists, and the organizations wanting the profit in the music industry.

Like gaming, people don't take chances with music anymore and goes with whatever is proven and everybody falls suit which is why all music everywhere sounds the same and essentially soulless.

Just like Frank Zappa wrote in "Joe's Garage":


And if I am not wrong, you will soon be dancin' to

The white zone is for loading and unloading only
If you gotta load or unload go to the white zone

 

[PureX]

The professional producers have gotten very good it. They’ve cracked the pop music “formula”. That’s why it all sounds the same. It all has the same pace, the same noise levels, the same general themes, most of it is being written by the same half dozen professional song writers And produced by the same half dozen producers. Most of the singers are just singers. Professional performers, like dancing monkeys. They have great technical skills but no creativity. So all their performances lok just like all the other dancing monkey’s performances.

Also, keep in mind that if anyone actually does manage to create something new and interesting it will be played and copied to death within a matter of weeks, until we’re all sick of it, too. The real reason music is so boring is greed. It’s all about making the big money, and greed poisons everything and everyone it touches. And turns everything to crap.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I remember an interview by Wolfman Jack who essentially said that music is actually being made by corporations using formulas based on likes and dislikes where the music is built around those formulas with the intention of creating revenue for both the artists, if you want to call such people artists, and the organizations wanting the profit in the music industry.

Like gaming, people don't take chances with music anymore and goes with whatever is proven and everybody falls suit which is why all music everywhere sounds the same and essentially soulless.

Yes, exactly. It's about streams and social media now. Streams are counted by Billboard on the charts, which is a rather stupid way of going about it because just because I listen to a song on Spotify or YouTube, that does not mean I like it. Popularity is seen as determining quality, as we see at the Grammys now. Before, you actually had to pay for a record, cassette or CD and that was what counted on the charts. Most people wouldn't go and buy CDs (or whatever other physical media) blind - you were interested on some level or already liked it at least a bit. Now you just have a subscription to a streaming service, allowing access to their libraries.

Also, most of our pop stars and even young actors are corporate creations that started out as kids either with Disney or Nickelodeon. It just easier to create singers and acts these days than to do talent scouting and nurturing artists. They sure as hell don't want them to have much freedom, either.

I mostly listen to alternative or underground music for a reason. I do love pop music but this ain't it, most of it. (I think the the Weeknd is very good, though, and more deserving of being the biggest pop star on the planet than Swift.)

 

[PureX]

I think we’ve also been trained to accept this boring crap, and like it. They not only know how to make pop music, they know how to generate phony enthusiasm for it.

 

[Shaul]

He just died a month ago. (I had to look him up.)

I know. I posted a thread about his passing.

 

[Saint Frankenstein]

I stopped listening to ‘popular’ music when they started telling my daughters they were ‘bishes and hoes’ - and happily long before the airwaves became drenched with ‘wet a$$ pousy’.

Yeah, the misogynistic pornification of pop culture is really disgusting. The music awards shows are basically just softcore porn to a large extent. I literally sit watching in horror and amazement at how trashy they are. They are literally just acting out sex acts on the stage or it's giant butts in your face. It makes Madonna's infamous Like a Virgin performance look modest (honestly, she looked more foolish than sexy there, rolling around the stage and panting, but whatever). Lol.

 

[Stevicus]

One thing I remember my dad telling me is that, when he was a kid, people would listen to music and just enjoy it, without necessarily making more of a thing of it than that. He didn't recall any kind of rival cliques based on what genre of music they listened to.

Looking back at my own school years, it did seem kind of weird how some people were really dedicated to the genre of music they listened to, including their manner of dress and style. And there would be a certain measure of scorn among genre fans. I had some friends who liked heavy metal, but they had no love for disco. In fact, a lot of people hated disco. I was afraid to admit that there were some disco songs I actually liked.