Link: Is Music getting worse?

[Slowpoke Catracho]

My Dad was a professional musician and I dabble. I play Banjo and I actually picked up my daughters acoustic guitar over Christmas break and started doing a little finger picking. So, I'm a little bit more than a casual music fan. I came across this video of Rick Beato talking about how "Music has progressively gotten worse." What are your thoughts?

 

[NationalTitles18]

I think he has a strong point about top 40 music, if it's even still called that.

 

[Tideflyer]

I personally think music has gotten progressively worse since the ‘60’s, but I’m an older guy, so…… After SOME of the 80’s music, that was about it for me.

 

[mdb-tpet]

Why Are We So Nostalgic for Music We Loved as Teenagers?

As I plod through my 20s, I’ve noticed a strange phenomenon: The music I loved as a teenager means more to me than ever—but with each passing year, the...

slate.com

All people, as we age, anchor our musical tastes to our formative early to teenage years music. But, yes, there's a lot of crap out there. AI or not.

 

[Elefantman]

The shame is that true music talent is not being developed. A successful artist today needs a computer science degree.

 

[Padreruf]

YES...much of which passes for music today is pure junk.

 

[Ratal]

New, mainstream, music is written for teen to mid-twenties. I have always said that people are supposed to outgrow top 40 type music. My wife is having a hard time accepting that she doesn't like as much new music anymore.

We have 1 teen that loves top 40. One that mostly listens to 80s/90's music. The last one basically listens to Korean music or 8-bit music.

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

The shame is that true music talent is not being developed. A successful artist today needs a computer science degree.

True!

 

[DzynKingRTR]

Yes

 

[Isaiah 63:1]

You also have these two factors (as I understand them, anyway):

• One person writes a substantial percentage of very successful pop music
• A sizeable chunk of the rest is written not by the artists, but by factories on Sunset Boulevard employing teams to write albums as a Monday to Friday job (and that's about how long it takes to go from concept kickoff to completion of the track list).

I'd love to know what @crimsonaudio has to say about this...

 

[Tideflyer]

Why Are We So Nostalgic for Music We Loved as Teenagers?

As I plod through my 20s, I’ve noticed a strange phenomenon: The music I loved as a teenager means more to me than ever—but with each passing year, the...

slate.com

All people, as we age, anchor our musical tastes to our formative early to teenage years music. But, yes, there's a lot of crap out there. AI or not.

That’s probably because for many there are so many fond memories associated with those years. If my senior year in high school wasn’t the best year of my life, it’s in the top 2 or 3! All I did was play ball, hunt and fish with my buddies, and date my cheerleader girlfriend.
There is a line in an old Statler Brothers song that goes, “ Things get complicated when you get past 18…..” No truer words were ever spoken !

 

[bamaga]

New, mainstream, music is written for teen to mid-twenties. I have always said that people are supposed to outgrow top 40 type music. My wife is having a hard time accepting that she doesn't like as much new music anymore.

We have 1 teen that loves top 40. One that mostly listens to 80s/90's music. The last one basically listens to Korean music or 8-bit music.

The K-pop thing gets me. I know it’s upbeat, but.i don’t know.

 

[bamaga]

That’s probably because for many there are so many fond memories associated with those years. If my senior year in high school wasn’t the best year of my life, it’s in the top 2 or 3! All I did was play ball, hunt and fish with my buddies, and date my cheerleader girlfriend.
There is a line in an old Statler Brothers song that goes, “ Things get complicated when you get past 18…..” No truer words were ever spoken !

I didn’t have a bad HS life, but I wouldn’t say those years were close to top 5 . Fun, yes, but not best. Not trying to downplay, but You need to live a little more .

 

[Tideflyer]

I didn’t have a bad HS life, but I wouldn’t say those years were close to top 5 . Fun, yes, but not best. Not trying to downplay, but You need to live a little more .

Well…..thanks for your life advice. Since I’m 77, I’m in the twilight of my life. If by something I posted you’ve come to the conclusion that I’ve lived an incomplete or unfulfilled life, well, please rest assured that that’s far from the case. Oh, and I’m sorry if your teenage years weren’t, apparently, significant or particularly happy ones (? ).

 

[Toddrn]

Yes.

 

[Ratal]

The K-pop thing gets me. I know it’s upbeat, but.i don’t know.

It just feels so cartoonish.

 

[crimsonaudio]

The shame is that true music talent is not being developed. A successful artist today needs a computer science degree.

YES...much of which passes for music today is pure junk.

LOL

 

[crimsonaudio]

You also have these two factors (as I understand them, anyway):

• One person writes a substantial percentage of very successful pop music
• A sizeable chunk of the rest is written not by the artists, but by factories on Sunset Boulevard employing teams to write albums as a Monday to Friday job (and that's about how long it takes to go from concept kickoff to completion of the track list).

I'd love to know what @crimsonaudio has to say about this...

Pop music is largely written by committee now, very few modern pop artists actually write their own music.

While it's become a bit extreme, it's not really new in the pop world. Pop music has always been essentially written to be catchy but disposable. It's fast food, not fine cuisine.

 

[Bamaro]

I wonder about this sometimes. I personally think some of the music of the 60's and 70's was the best. Good ole rock & roll. Hard rock, southern rock, progressive rock, soul, blues etc. (We also had bubble gum and pop music). But then I wonder if its just 'a learning experience'. I wonder if I were younger today if I could be into Taylor Swift, Hip Hop/Rap, pop? 🤷‍♂️

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

Pop music is largely written by committee now, very few modern pop artists actually write their own music.

While it's become a bit extreme, it's not really new in the pop world. Pop music has always been essentially written to be catchy but disposable. It's fast food, not fine cuisine.

True. Even in classic Country music there were not hardly any "singer/songwriters" with the biggest being songwriting factories being Acuff/Rose in the old days. I think mostly we should say has AI, interpolation, auto-tune, etc..... diminished the musicianship and quality.

* When I say "Classic Country" I mean what is now classified as "Americana" and not the Country/Southern Rock that took off in the 80s.