Has popular culture stopped evolving over the past 20 years? (2010, shows, techno)

[blkgiraffe]

Technology is much more advanced now than it was in the 90s. Pop culture has definately evolved. I think some of you just hate the culture now and refuse to accept it.

[Lake County IN]

Originally Posted by blkgiraffe

Technology is much more advanced now than it was in the 90s. Pop culture has definately evolved. I think some of you just hate the culture now and refuse to accept it.

I disagree.

Can't stand '80s culture. Can totally see the huge difference between 1979 and 1989 and 1989 and 1999.

Can't really tell the difference between 1999 and 2009, except for the size of the cellphones.

[Craziaskowboi]

If you had to pinpoint one event that ultimately led to the stagnation of American pop culture, then I believe it'd be the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. That legislation basically deregulated the media in the United States, which is one of the main reasons why it's become the oligopoly that it is today. As various media companies have grown larger, they've exerted progressively more influence on the creative process, which is why much of pop culture seems to be so neatly packaged these days. It's almost as if the marketing has become more important than the product itself.

In my opinion, pop culture started to lose my interest by the end of the 1990's, and hasn't been very compelling to me since. I listen mostly to rock music on the radio, which somehow has been relegated to the fringe of the musical mainstream regardless of the specific subgenre. I don't watch much TV aside from sporting events or The Weather Channel. The only TV show I make time for is The Celebrity Apprentice. The only time I'm compelled to go to the movies anymore is whenever there's a movie that was filmed in Pittsburgh. (That's been happening more often in the last couple of years.) My general disinterest in pop culture is one of the main reasons why my primary form of entertainment has become internet message boards like this one.

[313Weather]

Corporatism, since all the huge mergers that too place in the 1990s.

1. It's cheaper to repeat things from the past (other than a quick paint job).

2. Creativity breeds liability, and Corporations want to avoid any type of liability.

[Lake County IN]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

If you had to pinpoint one event that ultimately led to the stagnation of American pop culture, then I believe it'd be the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. That legislation basically deregulated the media in the United States, which is one of the main reasons why it's become the oligopoly that it is today. As various media companies have grown larger, they've exerted progressively more influence on the creative process, which is why much of pop culture seems to be so neatly packaged these days. It's almost as if the marketing has become more important than the product itself.

In my opinion, pop culture started to lose my interest by the end of the 1990's, and hasn't been very compelling to me since. I listen mostly to rock music on the radio, which somehow has been relegated to the fringe of the musical mainstream regardless of the specific subgenre. I don't watch much TV aside from sporting events or The Weather Channel. The only TV show I make time for is The Celebrity Apprentice. The only time I'm compelled to go to the movies anymore is whenever there's a movie that was filmed in Pittsburgh. (That's been happening more often in the last couple of years.) My general disinterest in pop culture is one of the main reasons why my primary form of entertainment has become internet message boards like this one.

Best post of the thread!

[tablemtn]

Rappers often rap over upbeat, melodic tracks with a 130 bpm disco beat.

Okay... but that hardly represents a big musical shift from stuff that was already in existence 10 or even 15/20 years ago. It's just a modification of an existing genre.

Again, think of it this way - in 1967, there were "psychedelic rock" bands whose "sound" was pretty much unimaginable by the standards of 1957, and certainly by those of the 1940's.

It's not as though musicians in 1967 were making 40's big band music, except at a different tempo or with a more prominent french horn section...

[Enquiring Minds]

Yes pop culture does not evolve as quick as it used to.

I also notice this for stuff like TV shows, i'd say the networks such as NBC still keep coming out with stuff that was popular during the Seinfeld/Friends/Malcolm in the Middle era.

[banjomike]

Popular music often has prolonged times when there is little change and a lot of stagnation. I was born at a time when big band swing jazz was at it's highest, and it was the last music genre that was equally popular with young and old alike.

it's demise was due to changing economics more than the public growing tired of it. After World War II, it became increasingly difficult to front a very large band and keep it profitable, so most of the bands slowly faded away. But a few, such as Duke Ellington's, remained intact until the 70's and Duke's death.

Most of the time, the changes in pop music are gradual. Given enough time and calcification through repetitive imitation, something different always emerges. There are decades when pop music is very vital, and decades where it is mostly insignificant fluff, popular for only a passing moment.

As a musician who has played music that has mostly been off the popular radar for years, I've noticed a big return to roots music that's been happening over the past decade. So far, it hasn't resulted in any pop hits, but if it keeps gaining wider popularity, sooner or later something will emerge.

A lot of the old country, blues, bluegrass and folk music is like drinking strong whiskey rather than drinking soda pop. The visceral, raw content of the lyrics, and the half-barbarian yowl of the instrumentals require developing a taste for much of it, but once a listener is grabbed, they're hooked. i see young folks getting hooked all the time now.
Even the old popular stuff has a lot of rawness in it, and roots music has a way of being re-defined by every generation that comes to it.

[radd9er]

Originally Posted by Gnutella

If you had to pinpoint one event that ultimately led to the stagnation of American pop culture, then I believe it'd be the passage of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. That legislation basically deregulated the media in the United States, which is one of the main reasons why it's become the oligopoly that it is today. As various media companies have grown larger, they've exerted progressively more influence on the creative process, which is why much of pop culture seems to be so neatly packaged these days. It's almost as if the marketing has become more important than the product itself.

In my opinion, pop culture started to lose my interest by the end of the 1990's, and hasn't been very compelling to me since. I listen mostly to rock music on the radio, which somehow has been relegated to the fringe of the musical mainstream regardless of the specific subgenre. I don't watch much TV aside from sporting events or The Weather Channel. The only TV show I make time for is The Celebrity Apprentice. The only time I'm compelled to go to the movies anymore is whenever there's a movie that was filmed in Pittsburgh. (That's been happening more often in the last couple of years.) My general disinterest in pop culture is one of the main reasons why my primary form of entertainment has become internet message boards like this one.

I think you are on to something here, but I suspect that is was due to several factors happening simultaneously. Two more that come to mind are:

The gentrification of American cities, which dispersed that urban melting pots that had been the catalyst of previous cultural movements.

The internet, which removed some of the imperative to create new culture to begin with. I think that always being able to watch what other people are doing removes some of the impetus to connect with the people around you and do stuff yourself.

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

I think pop culture continues to devolve!



"I am Schmo and I approve this message".