Is music getting worse?

[vortigen84]

Is music in general getting worse, or is it just rose-tinted nostalgia and age that makes it seem that way? Do people lose interest in new music as they get older, or does the fascination that music holds on teens wear off with age? I find it interesting that the music industry seems geared up towards teens and the youth market.

I find that a lot of stuff I listen to is from the 90s, which is funnily enough when I was growing up. I guess if you're older it might be the 80s or 70s; my mother is still pretty much stuck in 1972 as far as musical taste is concerned. I can appreciate this because a lot of good music came out around the late 60s/early 70s. Found the 2000s a bit of a disappointment; had a few gems but overall I thought it was bleh. For example if I had to choose indie / alt rock from the 90s vs the 2000s, it's no contest.

 

[NiobiumTragedy]

Music has gotten lazier.

Overall, there are two major issues with the music industry at the moment where music production is concerned.

1. Musicians aren't taking their time to learn their instruments very well and because of this, the music is bland. Add the fact that minimal effort goes into song creation these days and you have the current mess. A few chords and you have a song seems to be the recipe these days.

2. Cheap recording has been a blessing and a curse. You can own your own studio and produce very professional sounding songs for a fraction of the cost that it was about 12 years ago. While there may be a couple great artists that come out of the wood works, it takes a lot of sifting through crap to find them. It also doesn't help that these artists lack a real producer to direct their music in a better direction.

There is one simple truth though: rock is dead. It's become so bland that people simply aren't buying it. The new hotness is electronic music.

And of course terrible pop music is still something we can't seem to get rid of.

 

[Willing Spirit]

Found the 2000s a bit of a disappointment; had a few gems but overall I thought it was bleh. For example if I had to choose indie / alt rock from the 90s vs the 2000s, it's no contest.

My experience is similar. The 00's was a difficult time for me in music. There was still some music of interest, but the overall trends in rock were getting very stale.

For me, my core music years are the 80's & 90's, though I also love earlier bands and some more recent material. One quality that I like to hear in rock music, is to clearly hear the drum and percussion parts, and to clearly hear the different instrumentation. But so much of today's rock doesn't allow for that. Quite often the music has a very muddled sound, where the drums and base parts are buried in a wall of sound, everything meshed together like fruit coctail. Though there are some different factors for this muddy rock sound, a lot of it is due to the trend of overly loud mastering.

 

[Thunder Peel]

1. Popular music: yes.
2. Indie and lesser known music: no.

 

[HotRhymez]

No. I will never understand people who say "All modern music sucks" because that is such a stupid broad statement..there is a ton of music released every year and I think there is something for everyone. I mean if you really can't find any good modern music maybe you just aren't looking hard enough..

Yeah there was good music in the 70's, 80's, and 90's but there was bad music too. I just think its dumb to generalize and say everything after a certain year sucks.

 

[pitseleh]

2012 has had some pretty good mainstream music. Best it's been since around '99.

 

[LeoWyatt]

Yes, music is becoming much worse. It's becoming too commercial and abandoning artistry and talent.

 

[Perhaps Today]

For me the majority of music after 1991 or 1992 is blah. To me it was just lacking something. Only once in awhile does something come along that I consider worthwhile. My favorite music decades were the 70's and 80's.

 

[Nextstep]

Yes it's becoming worse with the lyrics! It's getting more nonsense and nothing but sex, bitterness, hatred, and so much dirty language.

 

[The Theory]

I think that part of it is that music tends to play such a crucial role in our teenage years that whatever it is we favored then becomes our gold standard by which we judge music which comes along.

However, through the natural change of society, musical aesthetic goes through change. Probably a part of it is generations finding their own voices in the creative landscape. While it isn't bad to become cemented into preferring the music one prefers and to consider what younger generations listen to "trash", that doesn't mean that the demographic for that music isn't being musically served.

It's probably not kosher to reference South Park on this forum, but I'm going to do it anyway. I recently watched an episode where a mother forbids her son to listen to the music his friends liked (a not-so-subtle reference to Dubstep) because she thought it sounded terrible and wasn't music. When his parents tried to force their music on him, he didn't connect with it at all.

Yet, aside from aesthetic, there is a real reason why people make blanket statements like "Is music getting worse?". It boils down to the industry.

I'm not quite music-history-literate enough to make a great argument, but the music industry today is not about putting out music--it is about making money. And as with many businesses, they've taken a low-risk route where they think songcraft can be a formula that can be utilized to crank out hits. This wouldn't work if the majority of the public cared, but instead most people never question what they hear on the radio.

And those who do seek out better music.

 

[BrookieJ]

It's definitely getting worse with all the negativity put into a child's brain. I love old school music

 

[iamauthentic]

Q: is mainstream music getting worse?
A: yes!

(mainstream being the key word)

 

[Fenny the Fox]

I would say it depends. Mainstream music has both talented bands/musicians/songwriters, and talentless hacks. Just like more underground music and lesser known scenes. Just as was the case at all points in time, and it all depends on the music you like and choose to listen to search for.

 

[wholigan11]

Is music in general getting worse, or is it just rose-tinted nostalgia and age that makes it seem that way? Do people lose interest in new music as they get older, or does the fascination that music holds on teens wear off with age?

I think it could be both depending on who you are.

I'm only 21, but I have no interest in this rap and hip-hop and whatever that kids my age listen to. I also think it's gotten more annoying because I can some hip-hop that came out 10+ years ago.

 

[TheyCallMeDave]

Is music in general getting worse, or is it just rose-tinted nostalgia and age that makes it seem that way? Do people lose interest in new music as they get older, or does the fascination that music holds on teens wear off with age? I find it interesting that the music industry seems geared up towards teens and the youth market.

I find that a lot of stuff I listen to is from the 90s, which is funnily enough when I was growing up. I guess if you're older it might be the 80s or 70s; my mother is still pretty much stuck in 1972 as far as musical taste is concerned. I can appreciate this because a lot of good music came out around the late 60s/early 70s. Found the 2000s a bit of a disappointment; had a few gems but overall I thought it was bleh. For example if I had to choose indie / alt rock from the 90s vs the 2000s, it's no contest.

I find in general, that todays secular music is more annoying than not . I am in my 50's now , a long time Christian, and find most secular music a promotion of disdain toward women, sexual immorality, and filled with a very harsh sound from instruments to the point it is hurtful to listen to ! Repitious galore and without much depth !

I guess i miss the Oldie music of the 60-70's which i can relate to more .
....fun songs with a likable beat and innocent lyrics for the most part.

I think im unreachable when it comes to the Rap music and heavy rock music of today ... and find most Christian Contemporary music the same way with the exception of a few. Im more suitable to reflective Christian songs like : Open the eyes of my heart Lord , or, I Believe from the 1990's . Or Maranatha Music from the 80's .

On the secular front, i think its been quite awhile since theres been Artists like Lennon and McCartney . Guess im stuck in a time warp ! lol....

Thoughts ?????

 

[NiobiumTragedy]

I find in general, that todays secular music is more annoying than not . I am in my 50's now , a long time Christian, and find most secular music a promotion of disdain toward women, sexual immorality, and filled with a very harsh sound from instruments to the point it is hurtful to listen to ! Repitious galore and without much depth !

I guess i miss the Oldie music of the 60-70's which i can relate to more .
....fun songs with a likable beat and innocent lyrics for the most part.

I think im unreachable when it comes to the Rap music and heavy rock music of today ... and find most Christian Contemporary music the same way with the exception of a few. Im more suitable to reflective Christian songs like : Open the eyes of my heart Lord , or, I Believe from the 1990's . Or Maranatha Music from the 80's .

On the secular front, i think its been quite awhile since theres been Artists like Lennon and McCartney . Guess im stuck in a time warp ! lol....

Thoughts ?????

It's a generational thing that most people fall subject to... they don't like modern music because it's not the music of their eras.

The problem is that if music remained the same, it would become boring and stale, so it has to evolve. Unfortunately, it sometimes evolves into what I call "crap" which is what most pop music was from 00-10. However, it's getting better as more EDM elements are brought into the genre.

There is some hope though. If you like the old Queen/Beetles sounding 70's protest stuff, you may like something like MUSE: Muse United States of Eurasia - YouTube

 

[vortigen84]

I think that part of it is that music tends to play such a crucial role in our teenage years that whatever it is we favored then becomes our gold standard by which we judge music which comes along.

However, through the natural change of society, musical aesthetic goes through change. Probably a part of it is generations finding their own voices in the creative landscape. While it isn't bad to become cemented into preferring the music one prefers and to consider what younger generations listen to "trash", that doesn't mean that the demographic for that music isn't being musically served.

It's probably not kosher to reference South Park on this forum, but I'm going to do it anyway. I recently watched an episode where a mother forbids her son to listen to the music his friends liked (a not-so-subtle reference to Dubstep) because she thought it sounded terrible and wasn't music. When his parents tried to force their music on him, he didn't connect with it at all.

Yet, aside from aesthetic, there is a real reason why people make blanket statements like "Is music getting worse?". It boils down to the industry.

I'm not quite music-history-literate enough to make a great argument, but the music industry today is not about putting out music--it is about making money. And as with many businesses, they've taken a low-risk route where they think songcraft can be a formula that can be utilized to crank out hits. This wouldn't work if the majority of the public cared, but instead most people never question what they hear on the radio.

And those who do seek out better music.

I agree with the money part. Same as with Hollywood, going reboot crazy.

I wonder if culture has just run out of ideas? Or whether technological development has anything to do with it. For example, through the 60s-80s there was so many new gadgets and FX and new studio technology coming out for musicians to take advantage of, and I think that is reflected in music, for example multitracking with progrock in the 70s and synthpop in the 80s.

We're stuck in an artistic rut, I think. Not enough experimentation, plus musicians these days are expected to be more than just musicians, they're also to be dancers, models, actors, etc.

Or perhaps it's just that we're so spoiled for choice that nothing seems new any more.

 

[NiobiumTragedy]

I agree with the money part. Same as with Hollywood, going reboot crazy.

I wonder if culture has just run out of ideas? Or whether technological development has anything to do with it. For example, through the 60s-80s there was so many new gadgets and FX and new studio technology coming out for musicians to take advantage of, and I think that is reflected in music, for example multitracking with progrock in the 70s and synthpop in the 80s.

There are lots of new gadgets being made these days. Look at electronic music and how it's evolved over the past 10 years. The bigger problem is that people can actively mimic a lot easier because making music has gotten so cheap to do.

Certainly you remember the times when a band would come out and a group of friends would get together and play music that was either covers or had the exact same sound. The issue is that where in the 70's, 80's and 90's there was no way to really have others hear you unless they performed in your town for a group of friends, they are now able to record themselves and toss it on the internet and get exposure to masses.

It also doesn't help that the RIAA has this "we want you to sound like XXX artist" mentality which floods the radio stations with music that all sounds exactly the same in mainstream music.

We're stuck in an artistic rut, I think. Not enough experimentation, plus musicians these days are expected to be more than just musicians, they're also to be dancers, models, actors, etc.

Or perhaps it's just that we're so spoiled for choice that nothing seems new any more.

I think you hit the nail on the head with the latter comment. There are many artists out there who are experimental and artistic, but the problem is that there is so much of it these days that it's not really all that original and in all honestly, when people tell me they are trying to be artistic and original, I always think of some arrogant, stuck up person who caters to the "intelligent audiophiles" while wearing a beret and I want to slap them.

 

[The Theory]

Quite honestly, music needs more arrogant, stuck up people.

 

[Skavau]

Nah. Metal music is incredible. New stuff continues to be pumped out all the time.