Why is all of today's popular music so awful? Any Idea's?

Question

I am 27 years old, my musicial tastes range from The Beatles to Pantera, from Ottis Reading to Tiger Army, and so on...Tell me why the newly produced music is so terrible, it all sounds the same with this generic pop rock crap...All this emo junk that is ever so trendy with the same talent-less Brit-pop bull****, that is written by thirty people for one person to sing, what ever happened to singer/songwriters? Huh? I am not trying to offend anyone by this, but the music I like to listen to is becoming non-existent.

Answer 1

Hi,

I think the answer lies not in the type of popular music that is in vogue right now, but in YOU (and me!).

You, to the teenagers of today are 'old' (I can't imagine what I am, at 63!) yout musical appreciation lies in the music you heard and enjoyed while you were growing up and especially through your teenage years.

Today's music is 'pop' music because more people are listening to it than listen to and buy other types. This was certainly true in my teenage years, when my parents hated the 'new' rock and roll that invaded the charts at the time that I loved (and still do) When I had children and they grew up they listened to their own brand of 'rubbish' and I chose not to like it. (in fact, 'Jilted John'-record and artist-in around 1976, was responsible for me withdrawing from the 'pop field, the 'punk' era and executing a retreat into 'old' music for many years)

I still enjoy many types of music and now can appreciate the few modern songs that impress on me the quality of the artist and the merit of the song...yes there are some!)

You, I feel, are now at the 'hate all that rap' (should be spelled with a capital 'C', I know) it's not music, theres no melody, I can't understand what they're shouting about and so on...yes, I do it too.

But popular music is just that...popular. The people who enjoy the music are buying (or downloading) the music and giving the artists the rewards that our favourites had in years gone by.

You will still find music around of the styles you enjoy, you just won't find it in the charts. Continue to supprt the artists and bands that play the types of music you like and they'll be around for years. There are still plenty of 1960's style bands, Tribute bands and so on.

There IS room for all kinds of music (I support some that are not popular) and, eventually sanity will prevail and a more acceptable style (for us) will emerge, or re-emerge and becone 'popular' once more.

Until then carry on listening to those you enjoy and ignore the types you don't.

Live in harmony, friend,

BobSpain

Answer 2

Because Freddie Mercury is dead.
No, seriously, I agree with you. I'm 15 so I never had the chance to live in a time when music was good. Today's music is crap. It's all synthesised. Singers don't write their own music. It's a sad sad situation.
I think it's because kids nowadays go for the "pretty-ness" than the music. Have you noticed how today's "artists" are all good-looking? That is the reason why the Rolling Stones wouldn't be big in today's world. 'Cause they're ugly. That's why they wouldn't be popular. actually, that goes for many of the good ol' bands and singer/songwriters. They aren't "pretty" enough for today's world. People care more about the look than the music. That's the problem.

Answer 3

What is easier, writing a really great rock song or some generic, piece of pop crap?
Which is easier, going on American Idol and winning some lame competition or going out into the world and working hard?
Which is easier, getting by on your looks and connections, or getting by on your talent?
Today, we have everything handed to us, it is easy to get by by using others, snd no one wants to work anymore, they just do what is easy rather than working for something to make it meaningful.
The decline in music has been steady for the past few years, but I think that the musicians (if you can even call them that) of today are not at full fault, the decline in society's taste in music has been another factor. Why people like this junk is beyond me, but if just a few people like it, then it spreads like wildfire, because no one is into being an INDIVIDUAL anymore, they just want to go along with whatever everyone else does, because it is easier.
Of course, I would love to go back in time and listen to Bob Dylan, Hendrix, The Doors, The Beatles, and many other people with real talent (who wouldn't), but I can't so I just have to deal with it and pretend it isn't there.


P.S. Its Otis Redding ,not Ottis Reading

Answer 4

Today it's about the Looks, Fashion and how to tie all that into a pop artist's career ...equals Money !! ..I also believe all the best melodies and words and arrangements been used up already .....but listen hard enough there's still a few Gems peeping through.

...and take today's Country music .....betcha 99% of the country artist's have never worked a hard day on a farm in their life ....it's like if Bill Gates cut a single singing the blues being down and out .....phoney !

The Biggest blame for today's sorry music also can be rested on MTV

Answer 5

It does all come down to money. Before, having a pretty face was helpful in gaining fame, but musicians generally were listened to, not looked at (ie. records, radio, etc.). With the advent of music videos and the proliferation of music paraphernalia (t-shirts, posters, dvds), an artist's physical appearance began to become more and more critically important to sales revenue.

In my opinion, popular music today is dominated by talentless pretty faces for this reason. With today's technology, it doesn't matter if you aren't actually a musician, you can create a large fan base through publicity and lots of photo-ops. Meanwhile, 30 songwriters will be writing the songs that you'll "sing," and it doesn't matter how awful your voice is because the studio effects will clean everything up and you can lip-sync through your concerts. It's depressing, isn't it? :(

Answer 6

It may be because of the fact that agents and managers now know that they can make a hell of a lot of money from producing these (dare i call them) "bands". I mean nowadays an artist/band who plays that terrible music sounding like a robot with an auto tuner is not just a band anymore in this present day. They are a fashion statement or marketer, they advertise products, they do all other sort of things just to stay famous or popular! In my eyes, they should take a leaf out of the Stones, NIN, Red hot chili peppers, The Who, Rancid and The beatles :D :D

Answer 7

i think that it's probably a sociological thing. We (Society) spend so much effort pampering and protecting children these days that the results are spineless spoiled brats without any sense of self or culpability. Since pop-culture trends are established by these children which veer unprepared into adulthood, abhorrent fads such as emo, Pokemon, and American Idol saturate the main-stream. The good news in all of this is that rebellion forms/will form from this and credible good things will come. Ya just gotta be patient.
In support of this hypothesis: remember how BAD music got in the 80's? Then along came the 90's. The social climate changed and birthed excellent bands like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pantera, etc. i'll put bands like Tool and System of a Down against Motley Crue and the like any damn day. My point is: be patient. Good things gotta be on the horizon. And if you're a parent, teach your children with love and discipline. They MUST learn from us, and fashioning little spoiled brats who've never known discipline will most assuredly hurt them more than us.

Answer 8

I kind of know what you mean as I was feeling the same way listening to a lot of today's popular music, but you've just got to dig deeper to find music that you enjoy. There are definitely artists that are putting out music you'll love (based on a very wide scope of music from your examples you gave), but you just have to find them and a lot of them aren't being played on radio so much. I don't know where you live, but your local music scene probably has some offerings of local musicians who are trying to be heard and are often really worth hearing. I also started checking out who was popular in the UK, Australia, NZ, Japan, and such and started researching a wider scope of musicians myself and have found a lot of lesser-known but very inspired musicians.

As for singer/songwriters, no doubt. It's a lot more impressive to listen to one person and their guitar playing a song they wrote that is good than to a full band backing someone singing music that was handed to them to sing.

Answer 9

MONEY!!!!

the more useless artists that get pumped into the mainstream the more money the record labels can sit back and count, I'm sure of this.

all the emo-punk sounds the same and all the pop diva's (none of which have much singing talent) use basically the same back tracks to their awful regurgitated nonsense.

i don't understand what has happened to honest talent and the die hard attitude of genuine muso's..? they've sold out and we can only wonder if the money is really Worth it?

Answer 10

Check out some college radio stations if you want something different. They tend to feature artists that get ignored by the mainstream. There are still some good singer/songwriters out there. You just have to seek them out.