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OK babyboomers, how many of you are like me and thinks todays chart topping music really sucks compared to our generations

myownmind 7 May 21
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0

The problem is, commercial radio hasn't been any good since the 70's. It somehow manages to get worse every single year. Every time you think that the bar can't possibly go any lower, it does.

You have to work a little harder these days to find actual talented recording artists. Fortunately, with the internet it's a whole lot easier than it was back in the 80's and 90's when the record companies could shove any empty, soulless garbage they wanted down your throat and the only way around it was college radio, word of mouth and going out to small clubs to catch touring acts.

There's still great music out there to be found. Meaningful music that touches the mind and soul, played by skilled, gifted and imaginative musicians. It just takes an online connection and a little bit of effort to find it.

And please make the effort to seek out these artists and lend your support by going to see them live and buying their merchandise. Recording artists make very little money off of their recorded music, so while buying their records is nice, the only way to really support them is through concert attendance and merchandise sales.

Ah, the late 60's and early 70's when FM was good.

8

This is three worst it's ever been. And the funny thing is, the younger generation doesn't even know it. They eat that shit up.

5

Reminded me of John Entwhistle, said "(rock) music is like farts, everyone else's stinks worse than your own"

5

George Gershwin,Cole Porter,Rogers & Hart,Irving Berlin,Jerome Kern,Harold Arlen to name a few.These great talents produced fantastic music . I definitely agree with you that todays music sucks.

5

I’m sure just about everyone with any taste, but lemme burst your bubble for a second daddio: baby boomers are the reason the music industry became shit so don’t whine to us millenials ? I want things to go back to the way they were before y’all ruined it. (In general, not you personally. You’re cool). But when the hippies sold out and became yuppies in the 80s that’s when the media companies all combined into an oligopoly of 3-4 companies. Clearchannel started buying up and programming every radio station in existence with the same crap, and they figured out they could fire anyone in the business with passion and run the record industry like a chain of car dealerships. There’s still just as much great music by geniuses now as there ever was, but it’s harder to find because they can’t get paid and you’re never going to hear most of it on the radio thanks to the way business is done now. No artist development deals or patience from the suits, they’ll just use ya up n spit you out if you try to sign with a major label as a young talent these days. If you want to find better music listen to independent labels n public radio stations. Ask the hipsters where the funks at ?

When you're right, you're right.

@KKGator what can I say I went to school to try to work in the recording industry and all I wound up learning was how fucked up it is ?‍♂️

@myownmind just noticed you’re from murfreesboro, what a coincidence! That’s where I was when I was studying this (at MTSU) lol. You do have a great local music scene out there though, check out some shows around the university! And look for the Wooten Bros when they play in Nashville. Used to be a bar called 3rd n Lynsley but they changed it to something named after their brother Rudy who passed. Funkiest house band you’ll ever see.

God I fucking hate Clear Channel. I hate Clear Channel with every single breath that I breath. I will hate Clear Channel with my last breath on this Earth. And if there is indeed a hell, may Clear Channel go there as soon as possible so that the airwaves are open once again to replenish the waste land of raw sewage and fetid garbage they have created.

@Wurlitzer That'll do it!!!

@Wurlitzer, @webbew1 As a point of reference, I did a lot of reading about the Payola Scandal of the 50s when I was in my teens. I listened to a lot of FM radio out of NYC, like A LOT. The DJs had more autonomy on the FM stations that were playing album tracks and newer music, i.e. Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, when they were still relatively unknown (it was the 70s). Later (the 80s), I tried getting a job at a radio station in a larger market (in Texas). I really believed I could be a DJ based on my love and knowledge of music and the amazing amount of material to choose from. I found out that Payola was alive and well, only now they were calling them "playlists" and they were paying for them as a matter of course. Killed my love of radio right then and there. Being a DJ wasn't about the music anymore. Another dream shot to hell.

@KKGator yeah that radio landscape in 70s NYC must have been fascinating while it lasted. Disco, Funk, Punk and proto stages of hip hop all starting at once. I think that was the last great nexus of innovation in American music before the whole thing went to hell. I’m sure the business side of things were never perfect but they sure let a lot more raw unfiltered talent through before MTV and the image obsession.

You are right in saying that there is lot of great music out there but it is not some great conspiracy that stops you hearing it. It is us as in we. In the past we paid for our music.now we just download it for free

@273kelvin that’s a significant part of the problem yes but there is also a major problem with the recording industry itself that kept decent new artists from getting paid before Napster ever came about. Read Steve Albini’s essay called the problem with music I think it was if you want to understand what happens to a new band when they get signed.
[thebaffler.com]

When radio came out they freaked out the same way as they did over the Internet wondering how artists would get paid. Turns out commerce will find a way to make money either way, the suits just won’t necessarily pass it on to artists if they don’t have to.

@Wurlitzer Other than gigs when was the last time you paid for music? How much of your disposable income per month do you spend on music? I came of age in the 70s Do you realize how much it was the genre then and how much happened. Bear this in mind. There was only 7 years between Woodstock and the 1st Sex Pistols album. Now bands go 7 years between albums and theyre established bands. The music today is crap because its free. You get what you pay for.

@273kelvin I disagree with that premise. People didnt consciously say im gonna make a lesser product because people are already stealing it. Well metallica maybe but everyone else didnt. And the amount of great music hasnt significantly declined; youre just less likely to hear about anything in the mainstream other than the lowest common denominator because broad mass appeal is what the industry is selecting for. They used to take the profits from huge pop stars and use it to develop new talent so they could afford to patiently foster some growth but that has stopped entirely. The way the money is made has shifted but ad revenue and a few key legacy artists are still making money for the business, while none of it is reinvested in talent and most artists are more screwed than ever. Theyre expected to get by with fractions of cents from spotify. Youtube apple and spotify get both subscription or per song fees and ad revenue with a pitiful fraction of any of it being seen by the artist. I stopped paying for music from major labels because the artist sees a laughable portion to begin with and I don't care to support a company that royally fucks its talent. Id rather give the band my money personally when they come through town because thats the only way theyre gonna see much of it anyways.

@Wurlitzer A mountains height is directly proportional to the size of its base. If the only things that sell well enough to make any real money are the likes of Ned Sherrin. Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift or x-factor crap etc. They will be no room for the likes of Ry Cooder or the Clash.
BTW if your looking for a good radio station, may I recommend "Radio Paradise." Totally listener supported, no adds and the only things you can buy off them are t-shirts and the music they play.

4

Every generation thinks that. Given that, though, a lot of the music from "our generation" sucked too, but I'm a musician (as in a couple of degrees and a professional player) and tend to be a lot more picky about what I consider to be quality music. It brings to mind Sturgeon's Law: 90% of everything is crap.

4

Much of today's music is shit.

I noticed this at an amusement park recently. The music was crude, repetitive, thump-thump-thump and most crucially devoid of melody.

I have friends, younger than myself who prefer music from the 60s, 70s and 80s.

Many music stars today can't sing without batteries (Katy Perry etc) and much of what we hear is the product of computers and over production.

Now I sound like an old fogey. I'll start ordering some retirement home brochures.

4

In the 80s music went from being a creative art form to an industry. Original talent doesn't fit in.

4

Awhellyeah!

Where's the bloody SOUL to it? In my day it was all 'bang bang bang', you couldn't hear yourself think.... And that's exactly the way I liked it.

Music should get INTO you. MOVE you. Now it's mostly become bland and processed. We had Stilton and Cheddar and Camembert, the kids now have Cheezestrings.

4

GenXer here, and I think music declined after the 80s. Sure a lot of 80s stuff was slick and synthy, but it still had some kind of musicianship to it, and a kind of emotion that Reagan and Thatcher era Cold War politics was pretty much directly responsible for, a kind of perfect storm of economic optimism and political pessimism, the last gasps of the U.S.com/Soviet space programmes and the beginnings of the information age that will never be recreated. It frothed with energy and ideas and anger. I miss it, especially now.

I'll tell you why... After the 80s (or at least after the early 90s indie boom) music got wrestled back from the hands of the kids and into the clutches of the red-tied, knuckle-shuffling, corporate knobbers. And they turned it into something they could sell to people who couldn't be arsed to find it out for themselves.

There was a lot of good music in the 90's.

4

I enjoy a lot of different types of music. There are things I like today and things from other decades...but other decades had some pretty awful music too. MacArthur Park? Tiptoe through the tulips?

Someone. Left a cake out. In the rain. And. I don't think that I can take it.

@CallMeDave

Just because somebody left a cake out in the rain is no reason to go on singing about it for 25 freaking minutes.

  • Some Rolling Stone columnist from back in the 80's writing about the worst songs from the previous decade.

@webbew1 ???

Musically it is very complex. Loads of jazz chords and several time signature changes. Not 3 chords and the truth

4

No, I couldn't disagree more. I used to think like that and then I started to open myself up to other genres and style and I have found great pleasure in finding a whole new world of music that is out there. Of course this may not work for everyone.

3

For me there are only 2 types of music. Good and bad, in every genre and time period.

3

Since Edison invented recorded sound music has got cheaper and more transitory. Before him you had to listen live to Beethovens 5th now you can listen for free whist jogging. Each new technological innovation has lessened the depth of music. The reason why it is crap now is because we dont pay for it. In the 60s-70`s an album would cost you all your spare cash. You played that sucker out. Now we just youtube and flick to another track. The Beatles stopped gigging in 66. No new band could do that now. They would starve.

3

So true ! I discovered (for myself) rock 'n roll in 1956 at age 8. My father listened to Mantovani and such, my mother listened to a "pop" AM station (ex. - "How Much is That Doggie in the Window" , so lame. The nearby supermarket had records at the end of an aisle by the checkout stations. First I bought Presley 45s, then some other artists. When the Beatles hit "gold" in '64 there was a huge improvement and I started buying LPs . Prior to that the rock music scene had deteriorated to the "song of the week", cleancut only vocalists, and the "new dance" of the week. After a few weeks the record companies "threw away" these vocalists for some new fresh faces. The era from the Beatles "intro" to the end of the 60s was my favorite, particularly the "British Invasion" Pretty good through the 70s, the "hair band" era of the 80s was rather boring but some good music existed. The Rap scene came about, little of any merit, though I liked ToneLoc's "Funky Cold Medina", "Wild Thing", and a few early Eminem tunes. The 90s brought on the "Grunge Scene" and I found a number of bands to my liking. Very little worthwhile music since, I sure don't watch any "music award" TV shows. Fortunately, where I live their is a strong local music scene, with many good rock "cover" bands in the bars. Weekends find me catching the best of them, listening, watching the musicians perform, and "dancing my ass off" !

FYI " How much is that doggie in the window" is on the Caverns wall of fame. Although she hated it.

3

Ha ha ha... This remaind me a T-shirt I saw sometime in one of my bar excursions.... "Country + Rap = Crap" ...... I thought it was pretty funny

3

Yes, the highly produced megahits leave me cold but I find many, many indie bands that bring a lot of talent and passion to their music. Spotify has helped me discover artists that would never get attention from the corporate labels. The current streaming music model is really changing the music creation game.

2

Oh, just music of the times - leave the kids alone!!

Bah! ?

Hey Teachers, leave them kids alone, all n all it's just another brick in the wall.

2

It had all been done by the 80's. That is why there is no 90's oldies stations. I don't hear any music, country or pop, that will have any legs down the road. There is a finite number of ways to put chords together.

2

Most older geezers like us think that about our own high school and college day music...it's almost a cliche.

But, although I love music from my youth, I also like current popular US music, ethnic music, pop music from around the world, classic, jazz, bluegrass, 1930s-40s music, etc.
Maybe it's because I have streaming music in any genre I wish on accuradio.com, and usually have it playing when I'm online.

2

Absolutely!!!!

2

Definitely if you mean what you'll hear on the radio.
But the web has opened up opportunity we never had. There's good original music out there, just turn the radio off.

2

Tail-end boomer here - born 1955 - and a musician.
I think there's as much crap as there ever was along with a lot of really good music most never hear. If your listening to radio, or the big name online "stations" you're never going to hear it.
I think too there's an adversity to sampled, looped, one person and a bunch of computer hardware as opposed to a real band. But even there there are loads of progressive bands out there, but you have to look for it rather than judge from the shit pushed by standard outlets - you're only hearing what we called bubblegum.
all that said - there'll never be another Jimi Hendrix.

I mean....remember the Archies ? 1910 Fruitgum Company ? The Fucking Lemonpipers ? Good stuff....
? ?

1

I refuse to listen to it.It is horrid

granny Level 6 June 23, 2018

Pathetic crap. I like to dance. Music back in the day was timeless. This shot now is pointless.

today 'music' is mostly a product of water tortuous, brain numbing perfection spewed by machines ad nauseam. Real music comes from real living( sometimes non, thanks to Edison) people to resonate with real living people.

1

Todays music is pathetic crap that will not live on . I describe it as disposable noise.

1

There are some really good film music being composed these days. Most of it can 'stand on it's own' without the actual film.

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