Does Music Today Suck Now, Or Am I Finally 'Old'?

[WouldYouKindly]

It kind of does seem like a downward trend but it's so hard to eliminate bias. Remember disco? Now there's no one alive who would listen to it because it's overproduced drivel specifically made to be danced to. The second you leave the club it's gone from your head.

There will always be music made specifically to sell. That never really changes. Even if you take a look at the early Beatles songs, they are sappy, generic, love songs. Only after they got established did they show their willingness to experiment.

So what you do is plug all of your favorite bands into Pandora and see what they drag up. If you start feeling like you're in an echo chamber, only hearing music you already know, make a genre station.

 

[Gxas]

Even the worst of the worst (BrokenCYDE and The Medic Droid) have their merits, as few and far between as they may be, but listening to those bands, as well as listening to the "good stuff" is what helps me to appreciate music in all forms. I still appreciate stuff like Pink Floyd and Coheed and Cambria and Rush, but I also jam the new Taylor Swift song, "Shake it Off" at least once a day. Ke$ha's album, Warrior, has some of the most plays in my iTunes and on my iPod currently. In fact, because of this all, most of my friends come to me over anyone else for music recommendations (including those who are IN BANDS AND TOUR WITH THEM AND WORK IN THE INDUSTRY).

Oo love for the "Warrior" album, always nice to see. Though I wouldn't call "Warrior" your typical pop album like I would call "Shake It Off" your typical pop song.

I agree, though, I'd argue that most anyone who I'd be trying to sway would see it as exactly the same.

But yes, Warrior made my top 10 of 2013 list. I'm still getting blown away whenever I listen to it!

And, since you've the Gaga avatar. Your thoughts on ARTPOP?

 

[wAriot]

Pop music has always been mediocre.
That's the whole point, really. Pop just aims to the lowest common denominator, and you can't have any originality in there, just some slow progression over the years.

On the other hand, we are getting more and more new styles and genres with a whole new array of instruments, tones, rhythms, and a mix of all the old ones. Modern EDM, jazz-metal, 8/16-bit music, modern and electro-swing, synthetic orchestras... Everything (in my opinion) sounds better than ever before (and not only because of the improved equipment).

 

[Teoes]

There was a study a couple of years ago (some Spanish study, something to do with the Million Song Dataset) that compared songs from the last 50 years and put forward the argument that modern music is progressively getting louder and using a narrower variety of sounds than before. So yes, while you may be getting old, that music the youngsters are listening too really is too loud and all sounds the same.

The article I read originally on the matter is here and a teeny little more Googling has produced this, although I confess to not having properly read the second article when I should be in bed. Any flaws in this argument, eh, chalk it up to me being tired.

 

[Evonisia]

Snip this business, good sir.

Warrior was (very late) 2012.

Well I say it's not typical purely based on Kesha herself (who now goes without the dollar sign thankfully). She's a barrier to entry, you have to be able to tolerate that polarising voice. Still it's nice to see a pop album that actually has an identity rather than just being a bunch of songs plastered together under one title. As for ARTPOP, well I really liked it. It stands as a nice little counter point to Born This Way, with BTW having the more sincere lyrics but messy production and ARTPOP having the better production but occasional slip ups in the lyrics.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

There was no time in history where most music wasn't crap.

This right here. The good stuff from the past we still listen to was the cream of the crop. There's probably just as much shitty music from the Led Zepplin days lost to time as there is playing on the radio or on itunes right now.

In fact in the Led Zeppelin days that crappy pop music that is now forgotten was more popular in the charts than the classic rock from that era.
The first and second Led Zeppelin albums were released in 1969. Also released that year was the "Abbey Road" album by the Beatles, "Let it Bleed" by the Rolling Stones, and "David Bowie" by David Bowie.

The best selling single that topped the charts in 1969?

This:

Spoiler

 

[Nouw]

Yes you're 'finally' old OP. Lucky for you, it is the year 2014. Why don't you search for a music recommendation thread, there are tons on here and other forums with plenty of good suggestions that will probably fit your tastes. Or you could branch out and try a genre you haven't considered before, the modern hip-hop scene isn't too bad and it isn't hard to find the new underground stuff either.

You fuckin ol nigga. Nothin wrong with music today unless you lookin for tha bad stuff.

Or you don't look at all.

 

[Nouw]

There was a study a couple of years ago (some Spanish study, something to do with the Million Song Dataset) that compared songs from the last 50 years and put forward the argument that modern music is progressively getting louder and using a narrower variety of sounds than before. So yes, while you may be getting old, that music the youngsters are listening too really is too loud and all sounds the same.

The article I read originally on the matter is here and a teeny little more Googling has produced this, although I confess to not having properly read the second article when I should be in bed. Any flaws in this argument, eh, chalk it up to me being tired.

The noise war as described by some is indeed very real. This is more of a pop music problem than a 'modern music' issue though.

 

[Gxas]

Snip this business, good sir.

Warrior was (very late) 2012.

Well I say it's not typical purely based on Kesha herself (who now goes without the dollar sign thankfully). She's a barrier to entry, you have to be able to tolerate that polarising voice. Still it's nice to see a pop album that actually has an identity rather than just being a bunch of songs plastered together under one title. As for ARTPOP, well I really liked it. It stands as a nice little counter point to Born This Way, with BTW having the more sincere lyrics but messy production and ARTPOP having the better production but occasional slip ups in the lyrics.

A MISTYPE TO BE SURE! (I had to go back to when I posted it and I posted in January of 2013)

That is a wonderful way to word it! I like the album, well enough, but have always felt as though it was just lacking a bit. Still, ARTPOP gets more plays than any of her other albums for me.

 

[mysecondlife]

A lot of them are terrible. But if you dig through the pile of shit, you may just find some diamonds.

I thought Justin Timberlake's Suit&Tie is pretty good.

It took me Super Bowl half time show to realize that Bruno Mars is a really talented individual.

And hey, Get Lucky by Daft Punk is a really really fun song!

Also lately, I've been digging one or two of Lana del Rey's song.

To sum it up, it's a delightful surprise when a popular music actually turns out to be quite good.

 

[Vault101]

To sum it up, it's a delightful surprise when a popular music actually turns out to be quite good.

it also depends on how you define "popular" I'm sure a lot of people haven't heard of Banks just as a name drop yet her stuff (which is kinda pop I guess, at least in terms of "how its made") has been making the rounds on both ITunes and spotify

I tend to trawl those two for stuff I like which ranges from obscure to middle of the road

also the music industry itself has changed a lot in that it seems to be really fractured, we aren't listening to the same stuff

so to answer the OP I think yes but I don't care

 

[Vault101]

You can call it "being old" all you want. But seriously, open your mind. Broaden your horizons.
.

similar thing..I used to care...like get self conscious about the music I liked, you know how it is "no! not all rap is guns and ho's!"

and then I stopped giving a fuck...and it was wonderful

]Which is seriously wrong.
Beatles, Who, Led Zep, Miles Davis and many others were more or less mainstream once - when they just didn't dominate mainstream. We don't have their equal nowadays.
So, there was a time where mainstream was able to spot great music - the question is if the current dreadful situation is beause mainstream can't recognize great music anymore, or because there isn't any truly great being done. Odds are on the former, I think.

uggghhh what is it with people and classic rock? seriously....

Besides, is being "Old" bad? What are you seriously missing out on? What mathematically produced, auto-tuned, uncultured, boring garbage by a filthy spoiled pig are you really, really feeling that you are missing out on?

wow somone got up on the wrong side of the bed

[quote/]Who needs rock and roll, swing, grunge, or 00's dance[/quote]
you forgot rap
[quote/]when you have, Will Pharlell and Iggy Azalea or One Dire... pfft, hahaha...[/quote]
I'm just gonna say I really dig Fancy

[quote/]I couldn't even type that without physically laughing, which I am now communicating to you through text. Isn't technology amazing? Yes. Is modern music? No, oh God no. So really, what are you missing out on? If those teenagers and young adults now a days don't want to experience the good old days (read: seven years ago. It's a YouTube search away, kids!) then just let them fester in their garbage and regret it, knowing that they were the lowest common denominator that they are complaining about in the winter of their life?

Really, that's much more cruel and much more deliciously evil than taking away their shitty rave music. Let them suffer, but not until they need support and entertainment the most. Such gleeful schadenfreude.[/quote]

wow ....this is what arbitrary measures of superiority does to people ...it turns them into misanthropes

seriously its just a bit of music....

A MISTYPE TO BE SURE! (I had to go back to when I posted it and I posted in January of 2013)

That is a wonderful way to word it! I like the album, well enough, but have always felt as though it was just lacking a bit. Still, ARTPOP gets more plays than any of her other albums for me.

I really dig "do what u want with my body" from art-pop its that 80's vibe

that said I'm trying to branch out into more..."organic/rock" sounding songs, (lately its been dark-mood produced stuff with female vocals...like Banks who I mentioned above)

I've often found acoustic stuff to be generic and boring, rock to be the same and "indie" to be the same old "multilayerd nasaly voice" thing going on...that said theres still been good stuff and I have exceptions

in fact funny thing is the attitdudes above have actually given me an aversion to those kinds of music, like everytime "all along the watch tower" comes on in my playlist my gag reflex acts up

 

[Lilani]

by enlarge

You mean by and large? ;-)

Anyway, it's all down to tastes. Pop music has always been polarizing and trendy. I think there is way too much music and way too many artists around these days to say in general music is worse than it was in the past. For many things like food and personal style we're generally able to attribute differences in opinion to differences in taste without needing to tell somebody explicitly that they're wrong. I don't like coffee, but my boyfriend does, but I don't attribute that to the idea that coffee is inherently bad. I attribute that to the idea that I simply don't have a taste for coffee.

But for some reason when it comes to music someone doesn't like, many people are incapable of saying something just isn't in line with their tastes. It has to be BAD. The problem isn't that you don't like dubstep, it's that dubstep is BAD. It isn't that country music isn't your cup of tea, it's that country music SUCKS.

It's the same principle as me just not liking coffee. There are plenty of artisan coffees that people spend lots of time and effort coming up with the right blends and roasts with the most premium ingredients. The fact that I don't like the final product doesn't mean they didn't put in enough effort or the quality is bad, it's just that I happen to not like that sort of thing in general regardless of the quality.

Now, I may drink coffee in a few very controlled circumstances. For example, mocha or latte blends where there are so many other flavors going on that you really can't even taste the coffee anymore. And similarly, while I don't really like country in general, there are a few exceptions which have enough other different qualities that I'm willing to forgive the fact that it's still country. Same with rap, in general I don't like it but there are a few songs which I enjoy.

And everybody is like this to some extent. Even people who love coffee have their favorite blends and brews: some like it black, some will only take it with cream or sugar, some will only drink it if they have something to dip in it, some like to dilute it with water.

In short, having so much music nowadays and so many ways to talk about it has made everybody a music critic, and to them it appears as though there is LESS music in the world, and so they regard music with a sense of longing and dread because if any music is made that doesn't match their tastes it only serves as a blight to all of music in general in their eyes.

 

[lacktheknack]

Radio pop has always - ALWAYS - been dodgy.

Off-radio music, though? Nope, it's better than ever before. Look into genres you used to like on Bandcamp, you're guaranteed to find gold.

 

[lacktheknack]

uggghhh what is it with people and classic rock? seriously....


I have no idea. I can't stand a lot of it, and it's apparently the pinnacle of music? Ugh. No wonder I've gone electronic.

Besides, is being "Old" bad? What are you seriously missing out on? What mathematically produced, auto-tuned, uncultured, boring garbage by a filthy spoiled pig are you really, really feeling that you are missing out on?

wow somone got up on the wrong side of the bed

It just made me laugh. ALL music is mathematically produced, and the rest of it is just silly.

But, well, if he really thinks that Skrillex is "uncultured, boring and spoiled", then I don't really see why I should bother. It's also funny that it goes on with "let them suffer" when my fifteen-years-of-music-education raised-on-classical self is listening to the dubbiest of step and raviest of club jams without suffering at all.

 

[Vault101]

I have no idea. I can't stand a lot of it, and it's apparently the pinnacle of music? Ugh. No wonder I've gone electronic.

you are wrong

Wig Wham Bam- by sweet....like it up its a masterpiece

anyway me too

though as I've said above I've been wanting to branch into something more "organic" for a change


It just made me laugh. ALL music is mathematically produced, and the rest of it is just silly.

But, well, if he really thinks that Skrillex is "uncultured, boring and spoiled", then I don't really see why I should bother. It's also funny that it goes on with "let them suffer" when my fifteen-years-of-music-education raised-on-classical self is listening to the dubbiest of step and raviest of club jams without suffering at all. [/quote]
its just....so pathetic you know? that attitude

people would rather ***** and moan and complain and feel superior to others rather than just ENJOY stuff...

 

[SnarkyJ]

80s = good
90s = ok
now = suck.

Sums up my opinion although I will say a few of these crappy songs are actually catchy...

 

[lacktheknack]

its just....so pathetic you know? that attitude

people would rather ***** and moan and complain and feel superior to others rather than just ENJOY stuff...

Sharing music > fussing about music.

k, I demand a music swap.

<youtube=S2CXrvcsbMk>

Give me the best you got.

 

[Vault101]

[
Sharing music > fussing about music.
k, I demand a music swap.
Give me the best you got.

I'll listen to it when I get a chance

Spoiler: LE SUPERIOR MUZAK FROM LE SUPERIOR GENERATION

Spoiler: actual recommendation (been digging this one lately)

 

[Grottnikk]

90% of EVERYTHING is crap, not just music. The reason we remember older eras fondly is because when they play "classic hits" from those eras, it's only the good stuff they play. Go back and dig up your albums from back in the day and play the whole thing through from start to finish and you'll find that the B side probably sucked pretty bad. Each album will have one or two "hits" and that's it. Today's music is no different. It's no more (or less) formulaic than some of the stuff from 20 or 30 years ago.