Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'd really love to find great modern music but it's just not there. When I scan the radio dial or the music sites all I find is the same prepackaged, garish, industrial junk music - a vast toxic waste dump of unoriginal blandness. And the worst thing is they're copying each other so you have garbage on top of garbage.
I think this thread is a good place to put this, as this lament is a common one. It's been suggested that you have to search for music that interests you nowadays, it's only that it takes more of a time investment in finding it yourself. Still, it has never been easier to access new content.
I believe the musical void began in the early-2000s, if I'm being technical. I'm a rock/alternative guy, so some of the nu metal that was coming out was alright, but it never seemed to reach the same greatness that the grunge scene did. To be sure, a lot of blokes who loved '80s hair bands hated the fact that grunge killed their entire scene. There is even a line in the movie "The Wrestler" where this concept is touched on by the main character. I won't link to the video here because there's strong language, but if you search The Wrestler: 80th vs 90th in YouTube you will see the clip. I also remember and old VH1 special about hair bands where it said that the sold out, 50,000-person(?) arenas went empty almost overnight when grunge got big.
After nu metal it was nothing but rap, emo bands and rock that was just a bit too indie for me. This was for most of the decade. I hated it. I lamented. I wrote things like you wrote. Then a few things happened in succession over about a year and a half:
1) Music Channel (not MTV): One day a new music TV channel was being broadcast and I said, "Okay, let's see what the kids are up to with their music." I hadn't been focused on listening to new stuff for so long because it was so terrible. So I decided to listen for a couple of nights. What I found was that I liked the sounds I was hearing. I'd say this was about 2009-2011, somewhere in there.
2) Smartphone Music Apps: I got a smartphone that had the TuneIn app, so I found new stuff that way. It also has a bunch of other radio station apps. TuneIn was my gateway to Pandora (see point #4).
3) New People: I was introduced to new people who had different styles of music that they would play at get-togethers. It was stuff I hadn't heard before, but it was good enough for me to ask, "What is this?" You're not going to instantly like every song you hear for the first time; sometimes you have to hear it a few times. In this instance, new people can even be posters on City-Data.
4) In Streaming Music I Trust: Any similar streaming service will do, but I will focus on Pandora, because that's what I use. Pandora will allow you to input every artist, or track, that you listed in your opening post. Then, it will play random songs from these artists and a ton of related material that fits the style/sound/artist/etc. You will be able to thumbs up or thumbs down each track. Over time, this builds a complex algorithm of your musical tastes so that it can bring you even more content that the algorithm thinks you might like. I honed in on a sound that I liked and added bands, tracks, and genres that appealed to me.
5) YouTube: I make a habit to do random searches in YouTube every so often. Search for known artists that you like. Then, click on as many of the unrelated suggested videos as you can and listen to some new stuff. If you don't like it, you can click on the next video. These random searches have led me to finding new talent. Many of these undiscovered artists give their tracks away for free, so that's a plus as well.
I cannot begin to tell you how many new tracks and/or artists I have found through points four and five alone. None of my new music has come from terrestrial radio. I am continually adding more. To be intentionally redundant, it definitely is a time investment and a lot of work to find all of this on your own, but I can't remember the last time I needed to listen to terrestrial radio.
*I have no affiliation with Pandora, TuneIn, or any other service.
I believe it's much more of a psychological and sentimental issue than you can grasp.
Unfortunately, music has to evolve.
The instrumentation and vocals and delivery are different these days than when you were young. That's why you don't like it. Music can't be just be playing carbon copies of Living on a Prayer for 30 years in a row. It doesn't work like that.
It's the same way with most types of music. Jazz has evolved a lot too. These days, none of the jazz guys play things straight. Most have an eccentric voice to add to it, and most guys play outside the box or fuse swing with another style. I really prefer straight guys like Oscar Peterson and Paul Desmond. That's what I first laid ears on and it's what I learned to love.
OTOH, blues music almost never changes. The format is raw, unprocessed and pure. I-IV-V. But it doesn't really evolve either.
I would equate to movie remakes. The first one that you see will usually be the best one.
It's not really about musical quality in a songwriting or performance sense. Almost nobody prefers classical music and that is superior music in both those senses.
Please share some modern day musical geniuses and timeless classics of today in your youthful brilliance.
.
Youthful brilliance!!!!!! Thanks I needed a good laugh, I personally do not/will not listen to some of the latest "artists". Of course over the years some of the wiser adults have looked down on Elvis,The Beatles and Micheal Jackson. Each generation to it's own.
Please share some modern day musical geniuses and timeless classics of today in your youthful brilliance.
Here's my list:
1. F***ing You Tonight by R Kelly. Truly touching, heartwarming and such a catchy tune. I know I'm humming it on the way to work everyday.
2. And of course everyone knows Kanye West is a musical genius; he said so himself.
Fill in the rest:
3. The Black Keys - Little Black Submarines
4. AWOLNATION - Sail
5. Vampire Weekend - Diane Young
6. Daft Punk - Get Lucky
7. fun. - We are Young
8. Mumford and sons - The Cave
9. Macklemore - Can't Hold Us
10.Adele - Rolling in the Deep
OK, OP, If you think he is completely forgettable listen to this one. I gave you an example, but apparently you must be spoon fed. As others have said there are unknowns that are fantastic musicians. And Africa, the Philippines and other places is bursting with talented folks you will never here on a top 40 station. There are some new country acts that are as good as any of the old stuff too. People that play just as a hobby. You can dismiss everyone presented here as bland and without much, but that's not seeing it as it really is. Years ago on top 40 radio there were some bland acts as well, I still think Neil Young is one of the worst singers on the planet, as is Joe Cocker, Bryan Adams and Tom Petty. There are those that never made it that could outplay and sing them back then too. And Madonna, don't get me started on that thing. And way back when not everyone ya heard was the best of the best. There were soul singers from the 60's that never became anything though very good. Lynn Williams is one that comes to mind. Its always been luck and who ya know, more so back then even with record execs holding all the power to be heard.
Then there are those that are just doing covers, They are young and maybe they will not be on the radio but they have talent and are good at what they do.
This kid covers the Loner by Gary Moore. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_z6DG6B7xc
This gal does the song Payphone by Maroon5. I really like the cover of this song. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWKUEyWPd88
Whether you think these two country tunes are bland and nothing also, I think they are as good as any from the years ago. They both have a positive message too.
You won't hear Adrian von Ziegler either, he plays everything himself, no words, but about everything from pirate, viking, celtic music to emotional and soft calming songs. You can find him on Youtube and he has real cd's or itunes links. He's a wonderful musician. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2SURjzRU08
So the question is: When did music fall off a cliff and how did we get to the sorry state we have today? My guess is musicians figured out they don't really need to work too hard or have much talent, or write intelligent lyrics or come up with an original melody. You can make a fortune just by being loud and flashy and stupid people will buy just about anything you run up the flagpole just to be au currant.
Without getting too political here, I think the beginning of the end was when popular media entered the "Conglomerate Age", and damn near everything became a subsidiary of the Big 4 media powers.
Personally, I thinkmusic peaked in the 70's, and didn't start getting truly bad until the 21st century.
It's funny how people are, I see some lamenting for the 80's, they felt that was the time of the best music. Of course that was the time they were young and though they may really see it as a good time in music, and there were some great acts from that time, part of it is also their looking back, maybe to a better time when they were younger had dreams and not in the adult world. Baby Boomers do exactly that same thing. It's pretty natural really. That's not to say that those times didn't produce some great lasting music, but sentiment plays a part of it too.
No doubt there are still excellent young musicians about that have much skill and talent. But a fraction will ever be mega stars. What is the most irritating to me are the number of nasal toned white girls, there are so many that sound exactly alike. Pink for instance can produce some ghastly sounds and yet has been very successful. Some may like her, but I can't stand her voice. Are there others singing in the shower, in small clubs or on YT that are better, of course there are. I do like one of her songs, "Who Knew" but it's because of the lyrics not her singing. I really like some of the bands from the early 2000's too. Breaking Benjamin was an excellent band, as was Cold. H is Orange is another I like. Not all of it this century is crap, just much ya hear on the radio tends to be that way. I don't listen to the radio anymore, I'm surprised people still do.
The current state of popular music is in a word: appalling. A few more words: bland, boring, mindless, uncreative, uninspired, unimaginative, derivative, repetitive. Think of the great composer/musicians of the past, Johnny Mercer, Jerome Kern, George & Ira Gershwin, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Rogers/Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Hank Williams, Chuck Berry, Brian Holland – Lamont Dozier – Edward Holland (great Motown composers), Jr., Lennon/McCartney, Jagger/Richards, Bob Dylan, Carol King, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Elton John, Paul Simon, Pete Seeger, Bob Marley, etc, etc, etc. From the 20s to the 50s you had the great jazz explosion. From the 50s to the 70s you had another explosion of musical creativity: the "British Invasion", Folk, Motown, Reggae, countless high quality rock & roll bands.
What do we have today? A musical wasteland. Interchangeable loud, talent-free "artists" like Justin Beiber, Beyonce, Bruno Mars, Miley Cyrus, etc, etc, etc, and of course endless obnoxious, vulgar, one note, no talent rap "artists" who would never stoop to actually learning to play a musical instrument. How many times can you repackage YO YO YO, F F F, N N N?
So the question is: When did music fall off a cliff and how did we get to the sorry state we have today? My guess is musicians figured out they don't really need to work too hard or have much talent, or write intelligent lyrics or come up with an original melody. You can make a fortune just by being loud and flashy and stupid people will buy just about anything you run up the flagpole just to be au currant.
You've assessed the state of popular music to a T. Where you lose me is the spot in your question where you guess that "musicians figured out they don't need to work hard". The reason mainstream music isn't listenable any more isn't because musicians gave up, it's because the industry has changed. Let's call the era of modern american music to be the 40's-now. In the beginning music promotors and record labels sought out talent. They would do this by attending live performances. Since not every had a radio or record player, live performances were (and imo still are) the most "true" way to critique a musical act. Acts that 1. Packed houses 2. had the attention of the audience and 3. had a positive and lasting impact on the scout for the record company. That approach of finding talent slowly morphed over time and has become the industry we know today. You see now "musical artists" that are signed to major labels and are played on the radio and heavily pimped in the media are just business enterprises systematically created (like a business would be) they calculate the possible risks and profit and create equations to indefinitely make money. This approach was introduced early one with acts such as the Monkeys, the partridge family, and Pat Boone, but the real artists would always shine through and radio stations (when they were still a form of free speech and artistic expression)would play all types of music from every imaginable artists. NOW the entire music industry is in bed together from every corner (radio stations, record companies, ticket companies, festivals, music venues, and record stores) making breaking into the mainstream music industry next to impossible. There are however plenty of real musicians and artists left. And even with the system set up to specifically ignore these actual artists some do break through (such as My Morning Jacket, Ray Lamontagne, and The Wood Brothers).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Youthful brilliance!!!!!! 
I personally do not/will not listen to some of the latest "artists". Of course over the years some of the wiser adults have looked down on Elvis,The Beatles and Micheal Jackson. Each generation to it's own.
