Why do people complain about "how bad music is today"?

[An Unknown Pony. 370]

Well,Because Music Today are mainly Songs that are about love or in the Pop Music Genre,or whatever,Most of the new songs are featured in alot of radios,so some people get tired of listening to it sometimes,There are still good music now but its rare(in my opinion)

Music from today is really not my cup of tea.

[Hidey 2,836]

I don't think it's bad, I think all popular music is bad.

 

 

Hipster cred. 

 

 

Actually most of the rock acts are really good, but dance music and rap overshadows it now. Which is disappointing, it seems degenerate to me . 

[Mouse 302]

Much of the problem I have with mainstream music today in general is that it absolutely sucks compared to some of the more "obscure" stuff. Call me a hipster or whatever, but hear me out. Most popular radio hits you hear today are incredibly shallow lyrically and overall very uninspiring, but it sells because it is catchy like a virus that lodges itself into your head. If people would listen to music a bit more deeply, then they'd realize what's good and whats generic drivel... Unfortunately, people want instant gratification in their music without having to think to hard about the meaning. But hey, that's whats popular to most, so what am I to say?

 

As for how this compares to the popular music back in the 70's through 90's I couldn't really say anything factual, because I wasn't old enough during this time period. But without a doubt I've heard some really bad stuff from that time period, but the marks of memorable music like Led Zeppelin, Nirvana and Pink Floyd don't seem very apparent in any of the popular songs around today. Most can agree something like Stairway to Heaven or Let it Be are mainstream but classics, and there hasn't been much on the radio that I can see becoming a legendary classic that's actually good. It seems pretty much all of the good music in the last 10 years or so has been relatively underground, whereas back in the day only some of it was. The increase of music being used as a cash cow must have something to  do with it. But hey, I wasn't around at the time, so what can I say. 

[Andaasonsan 3,205]

Well,Because Music Today are mainly Songs that are about love or in the Pop Music Genre,or whatever

That same sentence can be applied to every decade for as long as it's been possible to buy recorded songs.

Edited December 14, 2014 by Andaasonsan

[Discordian 6,015]

Well,Because Music Today are mainly Songs that are about love or in the Pop Music Genre,or whatever,Most of the new songs are featured in alot of radios,so some people get tired of listening to it sometimes,There are still good music now but its rare(in my opinion)

Music from today is really not my cup of tea.

I actually think it's more rare to find bad music but people either don't know how to find new music or are too lazy to look. There's a plethora of music genres out there and at least thousands of artists in each one. That's not even going into subgenres for variety's sake.

 

Good, modern music is not rare in the slightest.

[Hidey 2,836]

Most popular radio hits you hear today are incredibly shallow lyrically and overall very uninspiring

 

This for me is the biggest problem.

 

I'm of the opinion that whatever was "mainstream" at least 20 years back was generally good, at times great. That's not true anymore, as far as I'm concerned. It's all repetitive and uninteresting. 

 

It's not that this hasn't happened before, it just seems to be lingering on... it's lasting longer than it ever had before. We do have great music now, but it's not fully in the "mainstream" 

[Discordian 6,015]

This for me is the biggest problem.

 

I'm of the opinion that whatever was "mainstream" at least 20 years back was generally good, at times great. That's not true anymore, as far as I'm concerned. It's all repetitive and uninteresting. 

 

It's not that this hasn't happened before, it just seems to be lingering on... it's lasting longer than it ever had before. We do have great music now, but it's not fully in the "mainstream"

Mainstream is just another word for land of the morons.

[Hidey 2,836]

Mainstream is just another word for land of the morons.

 who are the morons exactly?

 

bad artists seem to be the most popular. There's so many people who buy into it... is that the fault of the bad artists or the people who make them popular?

[VanillaChip 71]

Mainstream is just another word for land of the morons.

Mainstream doesn't equal bad, Nine Inch Nails is mainstream and I obsess over them.

[Andaasonsan 3,205]

 

I'm of the opinion that whatever was "mainstream" at least 20 years back was generally good, at times great

Let's go back exactly 20 years and check out the top 3 hits of 1994

 

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFD9lW9PGM4

 

How about 30 years

 

http://video.naij.com/view=6qgucczw&ref=search_redirect&autoplay=1

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x228cf_michael-jackson-paul-mccartney-say_music

 

 

40 years

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Yrd6caXygw

 

 

Edit: I keep messing the links up

Edited December 14, 2014 by Andaasonsan

[Hidey 2,836]

Let's go back exactly 20 years and check out the top 3 hits of 1994

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wasn't clear enough, I didn't mean to imply all songs in the mainstream from 20 years back were great. What I meant to say is, there were good/great songs which I just don't see now, with the exception of a select few groups. Music was sung without autotune, real instruments were still being used, better lyrics, etc. 

All this in a very general way, of course.

 

Also, simply editing your post and inserting more songs either you or I wouldn't deem to be very good doesn't make a stronger point in the slightest. I could answer each of your songs with one of my own from the same period of time. The same, as far as I'm concerned, I could not do for the past 15 years. 

 

With the exception of a few groups. My belief is, the general quality of music in the mainstream has declined.  

Edited December 14, 2014 by Pink

[CC_Maud_Pie 6,431]

In my opinion, 95% of today's mainstream hits are focused on romance, sex, and partying and almost no signs of songs about the world, everyday struggles, or anything meaningful. During the early to mid-2000s, there were bands like Green Day making anti-Iraq war songs. Many old-school hip -hop was more about living in a certain part in America and why it's good/bad, political, and about everyday struggles, especially songs like "The Message" by Grandmaster Flash while most of today's popular hip-hop is the same as other mainstream pop songs in terms of what it's about. Also in the late 60's/70's, there were anti-Vietnam War songs. Another thing that gets me about today's music is that artists use auto tune and some even came from crappy singing contest shows like American Idol and the X Factor. One thing I like about today's music is indie rock/pop getting recognized more but that's my opinion.

Edited December 14, 2014 by CC_FlutterMaud

[VanillaChip 71]

Honestly, there was a lot of garbage in the 80's. And you had boy bands pop out in the 90's.  Actually 80% of what I listen to is post 1990 to modern day stuff. Mainly underground stuff but not exclusively.

[Andaasonsan 3,205]

 

Also, simply editing your post and inserting more songs either you or I wouldn't deem to be very good doesn't make a stronger point in the slightest. I could answer each of your songs with one of my own from the same period of time. The same, as far as I'm concerned, I could not do for the past 15 years. 

You don't get it. I'm not choosing songs. those are the top three songs for those years.(1994, 1984, 1974)

 

Oh, and let's see how well the songs you hand-picked did.

 

Pearl Jam "Better Man" reached #13 on the charts at it's peak.

 

Weezer "Say It Ain't So" was #57.

Edited December 14, 2014 by Andaasonsan

[Snow Frostflame 3,568]

warning this is just my opinion

 

I think its bad because all I hear in modern day music is sex, drugs, and crime three things I hate....... or when they rip off classic songs because you know they can't come up with anything good themselves and no I'm not going to just lash out at Rap and Hip Hop....... every form of modern music has its flaws only very few songs are actually decent.

 

this is why the only third party songs I listen to is classical, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and early 21st century because the people of those times knew how to make good songs

[VanillaChip 71]

I think you guys should stop worrying about what era a song is from.

[Andaasonsan 3,205]

Anyway, I love me some alterna rock, so I'm going to go listen to some songs that are shit because they are mainstream songs that came out in the last 5 years:

 

[VanillaChip 71]

Well so far I think the 10's has been a really good decade, better than the 80's by a good amount.

[Andaasonsan 3,205]

Well so far I think the 10's has been a really good decade, better than the 80's by a good amount.

The 10s have been a great decade for music. It's just everyone focuses on Ke$ha and Justin Beiber and ignores all the awesome stuff.

[Castle Bleck 19,361]

Bruno Mars is another promising new-guy.

[Envy 6,163]

Well so far I think the 10's has been a really good decade, better than the 80's by a good amount.

 

Pretty much anything is better than the 80s.

 

Lol. I mean... I actually like music from the last decade, just not really the stuff that plays on the radio. I hate to sound like one of those people who hates on it just because its mainstream, it's just that the pop they play on the radio these days does absolutely nothing for me. It's just so... hollow.

 

But I like plenty of music made in the last ten years otherwise.

[lomk 20,663]

I think the thing about it is that it's too different from what we grew up listening to. I love pretty much all the music from the 1950s through the 1990s. I'm pretty sure all the people who grew up with the folk, country, and jazz music that was around in the 1930s and 1940s ( hated that new thing called rock n' roll that came about in the 1950s. And I'd bet that all the people who grew up with rock n' roll in the 1950s and 1960s hated that metal thing that rose in the 1970s and 1980s. And today the people who grew up with the music from the 1980s and 1990s are having a rough time adjusting to the pop sound of today.

 

Personally, I think popular music today is lyrically awful. It's all about the same thing. I won't look down on you if today's music is your preference. And it's only the popular music that I don't like. There are a few gems in popular music. And there is a lot of modern indie music out there that is pretty good too. You've just got to look for it :3

[Sceethe 704]

The problem i see isn´t really about the actual quality of the music, but more about how the music industry basically "designs" their stars to not be sucessful through their music, but through marketing them as some popstar- icons or beauty idols.

it´s not about the music anymore,but more about who can get the most amount of attention and controversy in the least amount of time.

 

I´m not saying that the earlier days were better, especially with new platforms like youtube, soundcloud and all that good stuff rising.

the internet has changed some things for the better, lesser know artists or music genres that simply aren´t as mainsteam( and thus could not survive without the internet)

are getting at least some attention.

 

It´s just this strange feel of injustice that i get when i hear  everyone talk about these popular music artists, while there are actually good ones out there that just don´t meet the criteria for the mainstream music industry.

 

But hey, maybe it is just my taste.Maybe the world wants these pop idols, constantly singing about how crazy their last party was and singers rubbing their crotch on stage, where it seems to be more about the bodies of stars than the music itself.

[Scrubbed user 3,416]

Used to, if you consistently produce "bad" music, you would get dropped from your record label.  

 

Nowadays, it seemingly doesn't matter if your talented or not. If you have a marketable face, you will be put in the spotlight and "The Sheep" will think "This artist is in this ad, they must be popular." So they will mindlessly buy into it and not think about if they are any good or not.

 

So, a lot of terrible music is popular because of the media.

Edited December 14, 2014 by xX_1nd1g0w33d_Xx

[Hansel 1,512]

I think what people are talking about when they say that "today's music sucks" is mainstream music and music that's in the charts.

When you look at old magazines, chart listings, and what was generally very popular from the 70's and 80's, you see incredible talents like Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Queen, David Bowie, Depeche Mode, Gary Numan, Rainbow, Prince, Ultravox, etc.

Many of the bands and artists who made it big during the 70's and 80's literally revolutionised music and were very much deserving of all the attention they received. Those were decades when not only new genres were created, but completely new ways of creating and producing music all together were pioneered, and unlike today, they were often pioneered by artists who were in the mainstream 

 

Whilst there are still many incredible bands and artists in many of today's genres (even pop), very few of them seem to get recognised by the mainstream compared to what I find to be standard to downright awful acts. Putting that together with how corrupt the music industry is today, and with shows like The X Factor, I can understand why people say that "today's music sucks". 

 

 

Not to sound like a snooty arse, but for me, it's actually a little frustrating sometimes to see bands and artists who not only play easy-to-listen, catchy pop music, but incredibly well produced, well written, meaningful, interesting, and heartfelt easy-to-listen pop music get so much less recognition than Nicki Minaj or One direction.

Edited December 14, 2014 by Hansel