Is america suffering a disease which affects the world's musical art?

Question

Am I getting old or is the pressure to conform stifling art. I'm just listening to Simon and Garfunkel's greatest hits, which is a very good album! In a more modern environment - Eminem is extremely talented for example so it's not all bad news. Am I on my own or do other people believe that modern artists are suffering increasingly effective oppression, which is being expressed by a lack of musical art in the commercial environment? Does commerce (and the bullshit no-knowledge young management) need to back off? What do you you guys think?

Answer 1

I think you are right on...today's music has no creativity, no imagination, no flare...I could go on...All new music sounds the same and there is not one new artist that I would pay money to see live or buy the album. BTW - I'm in my 20's and still think the 1990's and 2000's are crap for music...

Answer 2

First off, i just want to say that i am a musician who does have regualr gigs and the like, and am in my teens. Next i want to say this...i dont want to hear anything that is less that 15 years old unless its someone trying to be like that era or before. everything recent is all essintally the same. All the same chord structures, backbeats, rhythems, subject matter, lack of point or story or theme. Everything now has no true feeling except for the few underground and non mainstream groups that are (unfortantly) not popular enough to go big. As a DJ as well, i listen to way more music than for my own good, and even more unfortunaltly, most of it is the mainstream crap that is being produced now because that is what the brainwashed people that are stoned out of their minds at these functions listen to for some reason. At one point in time you got to listen to an album without all the flashly art work on the cover and little bookie thing inside, without the music video, and the only thing the musician had was that music and how it stood out. Duke ellington for example wrote hundreds that any music buff could name at least 70 from the first chords! Why? Because people still were creative and changed things up. All to often i sit in a rehersal and say to myself "havent i played this before? Wait...no...same song pretty much...just a different title." I say to musicans this.. Stop relying on your naked boobs and flashy videos and come back to the music. Risque? Fine, its always beenn there and always will, but does it need to suggest illegial activties? Do your shows need to be so compleatly overproduced that you forget your at a concert and not a fireworks show or a titty bar? either..just my 2 cents worth

Answer 3

I understand what you're getting at....and it's not because you are getting old- even though I'm a teenager, I like the classics and I think at least 80% of today's music sucks. Yeah, I'm kind of different from my classmates but I don't mind.

A lot of it has to do with record companies wanting to make a lot of money. If they find that a certain kind of music is popular right now, they will produce as many bands as possible that play that type of music (which is why all of them sound the same).

Another reason is that these artists are just doing what the record labels are telling them to do instead of staying true to themselves. It's hard to tell if a musician is talented nowadays because they are focusing more on catchiness than actual playing talent (I'm talkingabout artists that play instruments). Their main goal is to produce catchy music, which sells albums and makes them popular. I won't even touch on the kinds of music played on MTV (shudder).

I completely agree, which is why I like classic rock so much. I can't imagine someone like Jim Morrison ever letting anyone censor him. Pete Townshend was an incrediblesongwriter, and he wrote what HE wanted to, not what record companies wanted him to. I guess that's what this country needs, another musical revolution. I wasn't even alive during the last one but I love those bands. To be fair, The Who were british and british bands are usually better anyways (in my opinion).

Sadly, I do not see the future for music in this country getting better anytime soon.

Answer 4

Well, I would not say a disease but that they are making choices not based on demand but based on commerce. The realization that all is need is a good song for a one hit wonder band will generate more revenue then big names like Madonna, because those who know they like Madonna will buy Madonna, and those who don't, wont. while bands that just came out with one hit song could sell an increase in Cd's. but at the same time that song HAS to be good enough to influence the public to buy. It is a complected thing.

But my short answer is regardless to why, Music just is not what it used to be and I am only 24.

Answer 5

Eninem is a jerk. Plain and simple. So is Vanilla Ice, for that matter. Yuck!