So Why Does Music Today Suck?

[Kenny Gioia]

I seem to be in the minority here as I think there is a ton of great and horrible music coming out all the time. I don't just focus on what the media is pushing and say "all this music just sucks." The music I love is out there. I just have to look harder and look in the places that serve my needs.

I digress.

So Why Does Music Today Suck?

Who do you blame?



The reason I ask is that I blame you. That's right. You. Don't look behind you. You. The guy reading this. You are the market. At least part of it. You represent everything marketed. They want your money and they think you want this. Everybody seems to disagree. I can't find one person who likes Nickelback yet they sell tons of records.

[T_R_S]

Because a really great band takes years to develop and the shareholders don't have that kind of time to waste ...

[Sui_City]

I just think we've forgotten that true "art/genius/gems" are only meant to come along every so often.

There is some good stuff out there, but so much of the rest is just derivative shit.

T_R_S makes a good statement, the artists i am enjoying the most are in their 40s+. They've taken their time to develop.

Right now there is a (95% shit)/(5% good split).

Maybe it used to be (70% shit)/(30% good)?

Dunno.

so much of todays stuff is shit.

[henryrobinett]

I'll tell you exactly why music today sucks. EXACTLY. It's a precise and very exact thing.

Let me get back to you on it though . . .

[Kenny Gioia]

Originally Posted by T_R_S

Because a really great band takes years to develop and the shareholders don't have that kind of time to waste ...

Did they ever?

I don't remember reading stories about bands (before 1970) getting boat loads of cash before they showed some potential or actually accomplished something on their own.

During the 80's they threw money at hype and where did that get us?

All the stories of great bands I've read are about starving kids struggling to prove themselves with little or no support.

The great bands that took years to develop, did so at the expense of their own well being.

A true artist will keep going regardless of acceptance by finance. Even some bad ones do.

[FFTT]

The majority of the target audience for recorded music is still in their teens to early 20's.

I blame the industry and the way radio is controlled by specific business interests.

It's very difficult for the truly talented or innovative artist to tread water when
the fat cats of the industry force everything into a conforming business model.

[henryrobinett]

EVERYONE IS TO BLAME. Every single one at the party. No one gets out of this.

[superjc]

Because less people every year (thanks to government schools) know very much about the language of music? How many people even know what the term "woodshed" means? Combine that with the business model of "spend the least money/time on product development, yet hype it as the greatest thing ever" and what do you get? Exactly where we are now.

YouTube - Ashlee Simpson lip sync

[lord_bunny]

it doesn't. go write some good music

[Infernal Device]

I think there are many good bands out there. Just not on MTV or the radio.

Every time I have worked with a REALLY cool band, as soon as the "higher ups" waved the mighty dollar in front of them, they abandoned everything that made them cool in exchange for chasing the dream.

Listen to BearClaw, PJ Harvey, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Converge, Muse, etc etc.

Good stuff is out there.

Popular music has always sucked. Remember The Beatles? Rowdy party band until they got signed. The they turned into suits, haircuts and I wanna hold your hand.

2008 is just a different suit and haircut, same stuff.

[zboy2854]

If we're referring to music as exemplified by what's played on the radio, then that's one thing. But then again, what used to be called "mainstream" (i.e. top 40) is now really just another niche in and of itself, and should no longer be taken to be indicative of the state of music in general anymore.

With that in mind, music today does not suck at all. I've found more intriguing and interesting new artists in the past couple of years (and some older ones) than I ever did being fed by radio/MTV/mass media. So long story short, music doesn't suck any more or less than it did at any other time. The only thing that has changed is where you find the good stuff.

[jomo1234]

There is so much amazing music being created if you scratch the surface, but so much of that music isn't available at Wal Mart, so a lot of people don't even know it exists. At the easiest accessible levels of mass media, there are many factors at play, but ultimately I think that we have a created an environment in popular culture whereby having talent is no longer a prerequisite for the creation of art.

• Our obsession with looks has reached new highs (or lows). You're more likely to get a record by looking good in a bikini than you will having a great musical talent. If she were alive, do you think Cass Elliott would have gotten a deal on a major label in 2007?

• Music and arts programs in schools have been drastically cut, so children grow up with no sense of history, and therefore they have no basis to compare what they listen to, to what has come before them (how many 15 years olds do you know who have heard a Beethoven symphony or Miles Davis' 'Kinda Blue'?). We have created an entire generation of kids who have been so bombarded by media, that they have an almost insatiable need for stimuli. No wonder that the prescription of drugs like Ritalin have increased 4x over the past ten years.

• On the technological front, one of the by-products of the democratization of technology is that anyone with a few hundred dollars can go buy a drum machine or a software sequencer and they call themselves "musicians". Musical virtuosity has been essentially replaced by programming proficiency. "Why study piano for 20 years when a computer can play it for me?".

• Media companies are under constant pressure to sell sell sell. It's got to be bigger, louder, faster and flashier than the last one. I doubt that we will see a rollback to earlier times. It's a viscous cycle.

[BrianT]

Music doesn't suck today, any more than at any other time.

As soon as you start to think that way, you're heading down the road to being an Old Fart, no matter your age.

Don't give in to the Dark Side.

[theblue1]

So Why Does Music Today Suck?

Because the big cookie cutter is just plumb worn out?

[jomo1234]

Yes...in every era of music there is always the bad with the good, but I think the ratio is getting higher between the two.

Originally Posted by BrianT

Music doesn't suck today, any more than at any other time.

As soon as you start to think that way, you're heading down the road to being an Old Fart, no matter your age.

Don't give in to the Dark Side.

[DamnYankee]

Speaking as an investor, the answer came crystal clear to me when several years ago Warner Brothers dumped big name rock acts like Van Halen, Damn Yankees, Ted Nugent, among others.

There will never be another Beatles, so the safest way to return maximum profit is to target young artists who'll sign rediculous contracts favoring the music company. To me, the current formula seems to be:

1. young single females
2. rappers
3. Nirvana/Metallica clones

So the good ole days of the '50s, '60s, '70s artists who often wrote their own material, performed their own songs, and who strived hard to have their own signature sound is over. It's a rarity today.

That's my investor take (FWIW).

DY

Originally Posted by Produceher

I seem to be in the minority here as I think there is a ton of great and horrible music coming out all the time. I don't just focus on what the media is pushing and say "all this music just sucks." The music I love is out there. I just have to look harder and look in the places that serve my needs.

I digress.

So Why Does Music Today Suck?

Who do you blame?



The reason I ask is that I blame you. That's right. You. Don't look behind you. You. The guy reading this. You are the market. At least part of it. You represent everything marketed. They want your money and they think you want this. Everybody seems to disagree. I can't find one person who likes Nickelback yet they sell tons of records.

[DeathMonkey]

I agree, there's tons of great stuff out there for people to find. But as far as mainstream stuff goes...

[bitterness=on] [generalizations=large] [rant]

I have a theory - it's because we no longer value true emotions. Everyone wants everything to be this light, poppy fairy tale, where it all ends up happy at the end. They want the sappy, saccharine bullshit of Hallmark cards, not the actual dark turmoil of the soul.

Look at so called "emo". It's not real emotion, it's horsesh*t. It's High School whining about nothing that actually has to do with any sort of reality. It's one dimensional, just like most music out these days. There's no HEART - it is a simulacrum, a doppleganger of real artistry. It is the hotel lobby art, the kleenex box art of music. It's quirky production, big beats, melancholy chords, and people could care less what they artists are saying. I know a woman right now who's convinced that the utmost representation of her soul is a t.a.t.u. song.

It goes in cycles - look at the 90's. We made fun of the whole grunge/Lillith Fair movement, but we got some incredible songwriters who sang about real stuff - Sarah McLachlan, David Gray, Angie Aparo, Ani DFranco just to name a few. But people get tired of it, and certain sociopolitical forces are currently in favor of the status quo being a bunch of mindless consumers of drivel, so here we are.

Entire generations are entering adulthood with no sense of emotional reality. It's all fluff, self-entitlement, and expectations. So many of them have no relationship skills, no ability to form their own opinions, no ability to do anything but compete to see who can consume most conspicuously, be the biggest *****/asshole, and then bitch because life isn't what they make it seem on MTV and E!. Media coverage - and influence - is so pervasive, that it's much easier to force feed even those who try to escape. We have more TV about dysfunction than about any other subject. Why? Because everyone is dysfunctional, and it's better to VALIDATE and to look at ones self in the mirror and do the hard work to change. If it's good enough for New York and Brett Michaels, then I can be a ******bage, too.

Everything is one dimensional. Everything is an archetype, a stereotype, a genre, a style. All style, no substance.

Look around you. How many people wouldn't know a real emotion if it bit them on the ass? Or could handle it if it did? They want easy, they want cheap, they want NOW, and everything should be perfect all the time. And if it's not, they chuck it in the garbage, and move on. Life's complex issues are boiled down to a Toby Keith or My Chemical Romance song. How do I feel about the complex sociopolitical situation in the Middle East? Ask Lee motherf*cking Greenwood. What, communicate openly and honestly with my partner to resolve relationship issues? F*ck that, I'll dump his/her ass and fire up the AFI/HIM and post blogs on teh myspace, go get a new one when I go out dancing to the latest Three 6 Mafia joint.

It's all disposable, including the paltry connections we make with each other. Music reflects society. If all the music is blather, what does that reflect about the rest of it?

No one learns in a vacuum. If all you're fed is sh*t, all you will eat is sh*t. People HATE real emotions these days. They're scary, and hard, and they hurt, and it's far better to just keep the blinders on, avoid all that stuff, and float gently through this vaseline-lensed dream.

[/bitterness][/generalization][/rant]

(It's a grossly general, unfair rant, but you see the point I'm trying to make, yeah? Don't hack on me, it's been a rough year =) )

[jomo1234]

I think you expressed a good point about eating what you are fed. Sadly, most of the great music being made today is under the radar of the average listener who is too fixated on what is being broadcast on MTV and Entertainment Tonight.

I guess that has always been the case though. "The more things change, the......"

Originally Posted by DeathMonkey

[bitterness=on] [generalizations=large] [rant]

I have a theory - it's because we no longer value true emotions. Everyone wants everything to be this light, poppy fairy tale, where it all ends up happy at the end. They want the sappy, saccharine bullshit of Hallmark cards, not the actual dark turmoil of the soul.

Look at so called "emo". It's not real emotion, it's horsesh*t. It's High School whining about nothing that actually has to do with any sort of reality. It's one dimensional, just like most music out these days. There's no HEART - it is a simulacrum, a doppleganger of real artistry. It is the hotel lobby art, the kleenex box art of music. It's quirky production, big beats, melancholy chords, and people could care less what they artists are saying. I know a woman right now who's convinced that the utmost representation of her soul is a t.a.t.u. song.

It goes in cycles - look at the 90's. We made fun of the whole grunge/Lillith Fair movement, but we got some incredible songwriters who sang about real stuff - Sarah McLachlan, David Gray, Angie Aparo, Ani DFranco just to name a few. But people get tired of it, and certain sociopolitical forces are currently in favor of the status quo being a bunch of mindless consumers of drivel, so here we are.

Entire generations are entering adulthood with no sense of emotional reality. It's all fluff, self-entitlement, and expectations. So many of them have no relationship skills, no ability to form their own opinions, no ability to do anything but compete to see who can consume most conspicuously, be the biggest *****/asshole, and then bitch because life isn't what they make it seem on MTV and E!. Media coverage - and influence - is so pervasive, that it's much easier to force feed even those who try to escape. We have more TV about dysfunction than about any other subject. Why? Because everyone is dysfunctional, and it's better to VALIDATE and to look at ones self in the mirror and do the hard work to change. If it's good enough for New York and Brett Michaels, then I can be a ******bage, too.

Everything is one dimensional. Everything is an archetype, a stereotype, a genre, a style. All style, no substance.

Look around you. How many people wouldn't know a real emotion if it bit them on the ass? Or could handle it if it did? They want easy, they want cheap, they want NOW, and everything should be perfect all the time. And if it's not, they chuck it in the garbage, and move on. Life's complex issues are boiled down to a Toby Keith or My Chemical Romance song. How do I feel about the complex sociopolitical situation in the Middle East? Ask Lee motherf*cking Greenwood. What, communicate openly and honestly with my partner to resolve relationship issues? F*ck that, I'll dump his/her ass and fire up the AFI/HIM and post blogs on teh myspace, go get a new one when I go out dancing to the latest Three 6 Mafia joint.

It's all disposable, including the paltry connections we make with each other. Music reflects society. If all the music is blather, what does that reflect about the rest of it?

No one learns in a vacuum. If all you're fed is sh*t, all you will eat is sh*t. People HATE real emotions these days. They're scary, and hard, and they hurt, and it's far better to just keep the blinders on, avoid all that stuff, and float gently through this vaseline-lensed dream.

[/bitterness][/generalization][/rant]

(It's a grossly general, unfair rant, but you see the point I'm trying to make, yeah? Don't hack on me, it's been a rough year =) )

[Sounds Great]

DeathMonkey, that was spot on!

[Randall]

Originally Posted by Produceher

I seem to be in the minority here as I think there is a ton of great and horrible music coming out all the time. I don't just focus on what the media is pushing and say "all this music just sucks." The music I love is out there. I just have to look harder and look in the places that serve my needs.

I digress.

So Why Does Music Today Suck?

Who do you blame?



The reason I ask is that I blame you. That's right. You. Don't look behind you. You. The guy reading this. You are the market. At least part of it. You represent everything marketed. They want your money and they think you want this. Everybody seems to disagree. I can't find one person who likes Nickelback yet they sell tons of records.

Because musicians aren't the ones getting record deals...

[sleestack]

I actually saw a video on mtv last week and it was stocked to the brim with product placement. Red bull, etc...Really really sad that is. I hope whoever the artist was finds a way to redeem themselves in their heart.

[Nu-tra]

EXACTLY! Too many posers! Not enough real angst. Not enough brains.

[mdme_sadie]

You're getting old! :P

Seriously? It's just trends, right now we're back on an 80's kick, either you like it, or like me you hate it. I thought the 80's were a barren wasteland for music, the 90's brought life, musicality, real drummers, bassists and guitars back in a tight enough way, oh and melody and songwriting. But a worried part of me wonders if maybe it was the swansong for the pop recording industry, a sort of retrospective of the 50 years. Now we're stuck in a sick and twisted Demolition Man corporate advert dead music world....

...nah, can't be doing with believing that, may as well give up if that were the case. There's always been a fair ratio of shite, sometimes it's slightly lower, sometimes it's higher, sometimes a good sound is pushed upon the teens of the world, sometimes an uninspired one. When the marketeers decide to push music for hair salons then you just need to search deeper, the good music is still around, it's just not as fun because there are less people to share it with.

[chrispick]

Originally Posted by henryrobinett

EVERYONE IS TO BLAME. Every single one at the party. No one gets out of this.

True.

[zboy2854]

I agree it's about cycles. Right now we're seeing a cycle that will culminate with the death of the major labels as we know them. Which is fine. Just like a forest fire clears the way for newer, stronger trees to grow, there will be future companies and ventures that will take the place of the existing labels. We're already seeing it begin in many respects, with young companies coming up run by kids who are all about the music, and also understand that the future of selling music looks much different than the one the current majors would like to desperately cling to.

Rather than be depressed or anxious about the state of things today, I'm actually quite excited about all the possibilities that the future holds.

[ImJohn]

Originally Posted by Produceher

So Why Does Music Today Suck?

Who do you blame?

I blame all the intellegent and talanted musicians/writers/engineers/producers/promoters who spend more time on internet forums discussing what they, and others, should be doing instead of doing what they should be doing.


Yes, guilty as charged here . . . but it's much more pleasant and imeadiately fullfilling to discuss favorite subjects with more or less like minded individuals than to put your entire being into creation of your art, only to end up " . . banging your heart against some mad bugger's wall . . " trying to make a living with it.

[Kenny Gioia]

Originally Posted by superjc

Because less people every year (thanks to government schools) know very much about the language of music?

Quote: