Is music getting worse?

[vortigen84]

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

I don't really like growls and blastbeats, but I do respect good musicianship. Real musicians playing real instruments, pushing themselves and not afraid to experiment because they know they'll never be taking a financial risk because they don't make much anyway to start with. I guess that's the different between commercial music and independent stuff.

 

[SQLservant]

Let's look at some of the Billboard #1 singles from the past.
1965 - "Wooly Bully" by Sam the Sham & The Pharaohs
1969 - "Sugar Sugar" by the Archies
1971 - "Joy to the World" by Three Dog Night
1980 - "Call Me" by Blondie
1983 - "Every Breath You Take" by the Police
1996 - "Macarena" by Los del Rio

Will you tell me that those songs were better than what comes out today? Look at the lyrics of those before you respond. Sure, there were classics in those days as well, but these were the most popular songs of the whole year they were released. It's a fallacy to assume that music was generally better in "the good old days," because back then, just like now, fluff still sold, and teenagers will listen to just about anything if enough people say it's cool.

I will now negate everything I have just said by saying that I feel that good music died when Nirvana released "Nevermind."

 

[PaxThroughX]

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

Hang on dude, so your sayin all teens like this crap out now? I dont. I hate it. I think its simply just learn four chords and your a star on disney channel, make that 5 and you got a record for top 40 hits. Its friggen messed up. I do also agree wif people that older music is better, bc bak then, tats wat musicans focused on. Ya i love metal, but i also love songs where the person can sing rlly good with good instrument sounds backing him up, lady gaga? wat the heck, thats nt singing! Madonna? why is she still around? justin bieber, ok i guess he can sing, but he ruined all hope for me to even be 1 percent to liking his music, it goes on n on. SO im that kid who has bands not many people know bc.... um.... mainstream sucks, like almost none of it is music. I opened minded when it comes to music, n im nt the 10 sec listener like most poeple, i listen to all of it. I jsut dont understand how people like it? its like someone says its popular so they listen to it, n just force them selfs to like it.

 

[PaxThroughX]

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

i c you know wat ur talking about with a faceless album on your avatar haha. High 5 dude.

 

[Girder of Loins]

In terms of mainstream music, here is my proof that music is getting worse. Note, there is a bit of cussing in it, but its funny.

How to play guitar like Lil Wayne - YouTube

In terms of people not kissing up to money-making industry hogs, music is getting better and better as musicians explore their instruments and stretch what is possible with new sounds and ideas. People like Mumford and Sons, August Burns Red, Deadmau5, (old)Skrillex, Hardstyle groups, Becoming the Archetype, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Boston, ACDC, Beatles(I don't like them), Bach, Rostropovich, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Louis Armstrong, et cetera. Those are the people that are taking music places(or took it places).

 

[paul becke]

Today the singer or singers seem to be wailing to a musical backing that's overpowering, as if they and their song were almost an after-thought. (That's when the girls' groups are not singing what sound like girls' junior-school, skipping chants.)

In the fifties and sixties, the music was moulded round the singer and his/her song.

 

[NiobiumTragedy]

Hang on dude, so your sayin all teens like this crap out now?

Not what I said at all.

I do also agree wif people that older music is better, bc bak then, tats wat musicans focused on.

Not exactly true. Musicians focus on music today, but it's become overall less complex. That is what is popular at the moment, so that is what they do. If we took a lot of the songs from the 70's and 80's and they were released today, many of them wouldn't be nearly as popular as they were in the era they were created. Bohemian Rhapsody for instance, if released now, would never have gotten the air play or popularity it received in the 70s which launched it into becoming legendary. Timing has a lot to do with this industry as well.

lady gaga? wat the heck, thats nt singing!

Actually, Gaga has an incredible voice and knows how to use it well. Plus, she is one of the only pop stars that actually sings live and doesn't mime. That gets a lot of respect points from me in an era that loves to lipsync it's pop stars.

SO im that kid who has bands not many people know bc.... um.... mainstream sucks, like almost none of it is music.

Mainstream is picky, but there are still a lot of good sounds coming from it.

I opened minded when it comes to music, n im nt the 10 sec listener like most poeple, i listen to all of it.

Except mainstream, right?

I jsut dont understand how people like it? its like someone says its popular so they listen to it, n just force them selfs to like it.

Because this is the way the industry works now. Because the RIAA has a habit of finding something that works and replicating it over and over and over, then shoving it down peoples throats. That is the reason that the internet is such a blessing to listeners and musicians alike.

 

[vortigen84]

Mainstream is picky, but there are still a lot of good sounds coming from it.

I for one find mainstream pop on the whole to be pretty bland.

So why on earth I like Kelly Clarkson of all people is a mystery to me. That's atypical of my tastes, I didn't care for the Idol shows, and I find her lyrics trite... but for some reason I just like her sound, and I think her voice is good:

Kelly Clarkson - Dark Side - YouTube

 

[NiobiumTragedy]

I for one find mainstream pop on the whole to be pretty bland.

So why on earth I like Kelly Clarkson of all people is a mystery to me. That's atypical of my tastes, I didn't care for the Idol shows, and I find her lyrics trite... but for some reason I just like her sound, and I think her voice is good:

People like it because it's simple and it's dancy. Lyrically, of course it's trite. She has like 3 different producers working on each song.

Musically... well lets just say myself and a few other producers and engineers got into a spat about this topic. One producer called out her producers on the song Fireworks because of the way the bass was done saying it was improper adding some of the effects and processing, however, there is no right or wrong in recording and thinking any different is very dangerous because it puts you in a boxed in mindset of how things should be done.

 

[Fenny the Fox]

L.a.r.v.a.e by Iceman

 

[LeoWyatt]

I for one find mainstream pop on the whole to be pretty bland.

So why on earth I like Kelly Clarkson of all people is a mystery to me. That's atypical of my tastes, I didn't care for the Idol shows, and I find her lyrics trite... but for some reason I just like her sound, and I think her voice is good:

Kelly Clarkson - Dark Side - YouTube

Kelly Clarkson is very mainstream pop! If she thinks that song (the one in the video) represents the beauty and awesomeness of dark music, she is foolish!

Awesome and real dark music:
Darkness - GRV Music - YouTube

 

[PaxThroughX]

Not what I said at all.


Not exactly true. Musicians focus on music today, but it's become overall less complex. That is what is popular at the moment, so that is what they do. If we took a lot of the songs from the 70's and 80's and they were released today, many of them wouldn't be nearly as popular as they were in the era they were created. Bohemian Rhapsody for instance, if released now, would never have gotten the air play or popularity it received in the 70s which launched it into becoming legendary. Timing has a lot to do with this industry as well.


Actually, Gaga has an incredible voice and knows how to use it well. Plus, she is one of the only pop stars that actually sings live and doesn't mime. That gets a lot of respect points from me in an era that loves to lipsync it's pop stars.


Mainstream is picky, but there are still a lot of good sounds coming from it.


Except mainstream, right?


Because this is the way the industry works now. Because the RIAA has a habit of finding something that works and replicating it over and over and over, then shoving it down peoples throats. That is the reason that the internet is such a blessing to listeners and musicians alike.

Well like i said, im open to any music, even mainstream. But I for one find it unintresting and just plain boring. I get the whole making money because of mainstream thing, but really, is that what music is about to people now? Dont you agree?

Yes I do agree with you that the internet is truly a blessings, thats where I found radio station I like to listen to daily.

 

[vortigen84]

Awesome and real dark music:
Darkness - GRV Music - YouTube

Nah, that's not dark music.

This is dark music:

Parliament Funkadelic - Give Up The Funk - Mothership Connection Houston 1976 - YouTube

 

[LeoWyatt]

Nah, that's not dark music.

This is dark music:

Parliament Funkadelic - Give Up The Funk - Mothership Connection Houston 1976 - YouTube

I meant emotionally dark.

 

[vortigen84]

I meant emotionally dark.

Oh. Silly me

Does this count?

Extol - The Death Sedative - YouTube

 

[Klesk]

I'm like you. I most of the music I listen to is from the 90's, and a considerable chunk of it is from the 70's. I don't believe music is getting worse at all. It really just depends on where you look. If you're comparing a classic rock station to todays typical rock station, you're going to have a negative outlook on todays music. You're literally comparing the best of the music back then to some of the more mediocre music of today. There's great music out there, you just have to look for it.

 

[Thunder Peel]

Listening to the new records from The Gaslight Anthem, Metric, The Killers, and Bloc Party confirm, at least to me, that there's plenty of amazing music out there.

 

[dukepayen]

[FONT=arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif]Music adapts to the people. Its made to suit what people want now days. They also experiment alot to see what people like. Its about keeping the new consumer interested and they do that by slightly changing it each time and after a while those changes become a new genre.[/FONT]

 

[OldTimesCruelty]

Here is one way in which music these days is worse that is actually quantifiable.

The Loudness War - YouTube

 

[LeoWyatt]

Here is one way in which music these days is worse that is actually quantifiable.

The Loudness War - YouTube

There are two solutions to this:
1. Download music in the FLAC format.
2. Remove the compression with audio editing software.