I agree. For me, rock music died in the 90's...maybe even early-mid 2000's. I cannot stand how top 40 pop seems to rule most things these days. I pray each day for bands I grew up listening to don't sell out and fold. It's good to see rock trying to make a come back though.
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Mainstream Music Stinks!
- Thread starter Glenn Johnson
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I would argue that mainstream top 40 music doesn’t suck. It takes a considerable amount of talent to write and or perform a hit song. Because you don’t care for something doesn’t mean it sucks. I don’t care for a lot of it either, but that would be equally true for me of mainstream pop music over the decades previous.
Bruno is extremely talented, was performing while in diapers I think. I don’t hear much about him anymore, but he’s a good example of a pop artist who gets pushed that really is worth the listen. Lady Gaga is another. She is a beautiful artist worthy of what she earned. A relatively obscure Australian artist is Kimbra. She was over produced, molded into a pop-trash sound. Her, live at Sing Sing, is an excellent example of pop music before over-production. She’s awesome, but her over polished album is boring.
It may be that the artists are just as good as ever, but it’s the engineers that are hacks, turning art into science aimed at psychological trickery.
I find some new stuff that I really like,but a lot of what i do like is not mainstream as in on the radio or TV.
Keep searching ,there's some good stuff out there.
Keep searching ,there's some good stuff out there.
I oNLy liSTeN tO lED zEPpeLIn aND nIRvaNA!!!1! I waS boRN iN tHE wRONg gEneRATIoN!!1!1! rOCk iS sUPeRioR tO pOP!!!1!1!
Seriously though, this horse is deader than John Adams....
Seriously though, this horse is deader than John Adams....
They have been saying this for a few hundred years now.
Zappa noted that the average "classical concert" is comprised of dead composers and was eerily similar to FM rock being made up of bands not even together, much less alive.
My uneducated observation says that new music, follows new formats, and some of it wil be good and some will suck.
Just like it has forever.
Listen to independent radio stations, they still have free reign to play what they wish. Most pop radio is one of maybe hundreds of stations owned by large corporations and programed by mostly one person, they all have the same playlist. They are more concerned with selling advertising than the music content.
The whole concept of "top 40" radio was misconceived by a salesman at a lunch counter ,He surmised that people only wanted to listen to the selections on the juke box. which was about 40 at the time.
The whole concept of "top 40" radio was misconceived by a salesman at a lunch counter ,He surmised that people only wanted to listen to the selections on the juke box. which was about 40 at the time.
Give it 30 or 40 years - todays kids'll be nostalgically reminiscing about the great culture of the 2010's. 
There's some pretty interesting stuff coming out of Europe currently (Opeth just released an album today that I'm buying), not to mention bands here in the states. Mainstream pop has never really been that good. More exceptions than actual quality. It's not just the new stuff (I'm looking at you Jimmy Buffet!).
I think the largest issue with modern music is fewer people are learning how to play and don't understand music and what makes it good. Another large part is the age group of the people actually spending the money on it. It would be like spending all day cooking a 5 course meal for your 5 year old that only eats mac and cheese.
I think the largest issue with modern music is fewer people are learning how to play and don't understand music and what makes it good. Another large part is the age group of the people actually spending the money on it. It would be like spending all day cooking a 5 course meal for your 5 year old that only eats mac and cheese.
Ohh boy, you really come out swinging, huh.
This topic of discussion arises every few months.
All I can say is, enjoy what you like. Leave well enough alone that which you do not. Accept that others have different tastes than your own.
Good luck
The mainstream media is a commercial enterprise and as such has less interest in the quality of the product than the amount of it sold. (The volume sales principle.) By targeting a specific audience and catering to them you can maximize profit. Many consumers of mainstream popular music are young, so the incentive is to keep the songs light, simple and carefree. It was the same decades ago. When the audience leaves the bubblegum music for rock, then psychedelic, then whatever type of music speaks to them individually, it's a sign that they are growing. Once you have to pay rent/mortgage, utilities, etc. there is less disposable income to be spent on music. That's why kids are targeted (and their tender ears haven't yet matured enough to withstand the intricacies of polytonal 7/8 progressive rock). Quality music is still available, but you have to step up your search habits a bit to find it. Happy hunting, Y'all! 
At least in the 50s, DJs had some control over the playlist. Then the business evolved and stations had program managers. Now the airwaves have been pretty much deregulated and one person might be programming for a corporation which owns hundreds of stations. It’s not a situation that encourages originality.
I am from the classic rock era, but don’t listen to it, because it mostly sucks. Not as bad as current mainstream pop though, this crap is worse by an order of magnitude. Not everything is relative.
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