There is a ton of new music out there that sucks, BUT it is amazing how easy it is to get your music heard compared to past decades. I think the decentralization of music distribution that has occured in the last few years is a good thing. Hell, I have friends getting thier self produced music on iTunes. With podcasting, internet radio, website distribution, p2p, the opportunties are endless. Having said that, there has been a definite decline in overall musicianship. Programs like Grarageband allow anyone to cut and paste some electronic crap. In the end, I am not sure that the music is worse these days or if its just that, because there are so many more opportunties for people to get their "music" heard, that we are flooded with more and more crappy content.

I don't believe you can just look at calendar years and determine a decade, because many different trends can come within a decade and overlap others. I would break down music like this:

1954-1957 - The birth of rock 'n roll:
This is the beginnings of Rock 'N Roll with Bill Haley, doo-wop, Elvis, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Louis, etc. Kids loved this music, but their parents either thought this was devil's music or a passing fad.

1958-1963 - The mainstreaming of early rock 'n roll:
Once the mainstream realized Elvis and his ilk were not going away antime soon, the record companies started their own mainstream doo-wop groups, but it was watered down and more mellow (Pat Boone, Sam Cooke, The Marvelletes, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons).

1964-1969 - The British Invasion, Motown and the rock explosion:
When people talk about the 1960's, they refer to this era of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the classic Motown artists (The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye), the Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, etc. This is when rock 'n roll truly gean to grow and experiment, culminating with "Sgt. Pepper's" and Woodstock.

1970-1976 - Progressive rock and the birth of hard rock/metal:
After the breakup of the Beatles and the deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison, rock 'n roll retreated for a bit, but then thundered out with a heavier and more progressive sound. Witness the rise of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Jethro Tull.

1977-1983 - Disco, punk and new wave
After the heavy sound of the prog rock era, most music fans either wanted something simpler or more fun. The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, and the Clash provided biting musical commentary in 2 to 3 minute bursts, yet most people wanted the fun aspects of disco and new wave. This ultimately culminated in Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

1984-1991 - The MTV era, electro-pop, hair metal and the dawn of hip-hop:
This was the era where music videos began to upstage recorded sounds for recognition of artists, and looks became nearly as important for an artist's image as his vocal or musical abilities. Also, music became more electronically driven, with synthesizers and drum machines often replacing drummers and horn sections in bands. In addition, hair metal grew when pop songs were given a hard rock and metal edge. This was also when hip-hop first became prominent and threatened to upstage R&B.

1992-1996 - Grunge, gangsta rap and alternative music:
This is the age of Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, 2Pac, Dr. Dre, and Biggie Smalls. While there were some pop artists who managed to become huge during this period (Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, Celine Dion), pop music definitely took a back seat to the harsher sounds of grunge and heavy beats of gangsta rap. As quickly as it exploded onto the public consciousness, it flamed out with the deaths of Kurt Cobain, Eazy-E, 2Pac and Biggie Smalls.

1997-2001: Boy bands, TRL, Napster and the re-emergence of pop:
Just as the harsher alternative era was flaming out of the mainstream, the Spice Girls and Hanson emerged with happy upbeat songs for a new generation of music listeners. Then came a wave of music aimed at these younger fans, most of it by artists who were the same age. This was the era of the Backstreet Boys, 'Nsync, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Destiny's Child, and Alicia Keys. In addition, hip-hop became all about money, parties, club-hoppin' and bling bling, and it was personified by P. Diddy and Jay-Z. Eminem was around to shock people with harsh lyrics, but unlike his predecessors, it was either meant as a prank or turned introspective. Also, the new wave of punk bands (Blink 182, Sum 41, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte, Avril Lavigne) aimed more for the pop charts than rebelling at the world like their predecessors.

The other major development of this period was the rise of P2P applications like Napster, which allowed people to download music they wanted to listen to at any time. This was especially big for artists who mainly released their music as singles, but bad for album artists.

2002-present: Crunk across America:
One of the most persistent sounds present in music today is southern pop, R&B and hip-hop. Most of the big artists currently occupying the pop charts today come from Atlanta, where they have created their own distinct sound.

Agreed.So far,this decade SUCKS! The previous decade sucked as well.The 90s is when I stopped listening to the radio altogether.

intha916 said:

Mathmatically speaking, you're right. But what about musically?

missfee said:

...without question!!!
[Edited 7/16/05 20:19pm]

VoicesCarry said:

(Original) melody died with gangsta rap's rise, I think.

DavidEye said:

I don't believe you can just look at calendar years and determine a decade, because many different trends can come within a decade and overlap others. I would break down music like this:

1954-1957 - The birth of rock 'n roll:
This is the beginnings of Rock 'N Roll with Bill Haley, doo-wop, Elvis, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Louis, etc. Kids loved this music, but their parents either thought this was devil's music or a passing fad.

1958-1963 - The mainstreaming of early rock 'n roll:
Once the mainstream realized Elvis and his ilk were not going away antime soon, the record companies started their own mainstream doo-wop groups, but it was watered down and more mellow (Pat Boone, Sam Cooke, The Marvelletes, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons).

1964-1969 - The British Invasion, Motown and the rock explosion:
When people talk about the 1960's, they refer to this era of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, the classic Motown artists (The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Supremes, Marvin Gaye), the Beach Boys, Jimi Hendrix, etc. This is when rock 'n roll truly gean to grow and experiment, culminating with "Sgt. Pepper's" and Woodstock.

1970-1976 - Progressive rock and the birth of hard rock/metal:
After the breakup of the Beatles and the deaths of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison, rock 'n roll retreated for a bit, but then thundered out with a heavier and more progressive sound. Witness the rise of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and Jethro Tull.

1977-1983 - Disco, punk and new wave
After the heavy sound of the prog rock era, most music fans either wanted something simpler or more fun. The Ramones, the Sex Pistols, and the Clash provided biting musical commentary in 2 to 3 minute bursts, yet most people wanted the fun aspects of disco and new wave. This ultimately culminated in Michael Jackson's "Thriller."

1984-1991 - The MTV era, electro-pop, hair metal and the dawn of hip-hop:
This was the era where music videos began to upstage recorded sounds for recognition of artists, and looks became nearly as important for an artist's image as his vocal or musical abilities. Also, music became more electronically driven, with synthesizers and drum machines often replacing drummers and horn sections in bands. In addition, hair metal grew when pop songs were given a hard rock and metal edge. This was also when hip-hop first became prominent and threatened to upstage R&B.

1992-1996 - Grunge, gangsta rap and alternative music:
This is the age of Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, 2Pac, Dr. Dre, and Biggie Smalls. While there were some pop artists who managed to become huge during this period (Mariah Carey, Boyz II Men, Celine Dion), pop music definitely took a back seat to the harsher sounds of grunge and heavy beats of gangsta rap. As quickly as it exploded onto the public consciousness, it flamed out with the deaths of Kurt Cobain, Eazy-E, 2Pac and Biggie Smalls.

1997-2001: Boy bands, TRL, Napster and the re-emergence of pop:
Just as the harsher alternative era was flaming out of the mainstream, the Spice Girls and Hanson emerged with happy upbeat songs for a new generation of music listeners. Then came a wave of music aimed at these younger fans, most of it by artists who were the same age. This was the era of the Backstreet Boys, 'Nsync, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Destiny's Child, and Alicia Keys. In addition, hip-hop became all about money, parties, club-hoppin' and bling bling, and it was personified by P. Diddy and Jay-Z. Eminem was around to shock people with harsh lyrics, but unlike his predecessors, it was either meant as a prank or turned introspective. Also, the new wave of punk bands (Blink 182, Sum 41, Simple Plan, Good Charlotte, Avril Lavigne) aimed more for the pop charts than rebelling at the world like their predecessors.

The other major development of this period was the rise of P2P applications like Napster, which allowed people to download music they wanted to listen to at any time. This was especially big for artists who mainly released their music as singles, but bad for album artists.

2002-present: Crunk across America:
One of the most persistent sounds present in music today is southern pop, R&B and hip-hop. Most of the big artists currently occupying the pop charts today come from Atlanta, where they have created their own distinct sound.

Very true - mostly due to all the gangster rap shit, r&b crap like Ciara, Kellis, JLo. Pop crap such as Britney, The Simpson sisters, Gwens solo shit. I'm sure I've left out many things that would fall under the subject of "pure crap", but you get my drift.

theAudience said:

Right on.

I can't blame the current decade for being so awful though. Hell, look what they had to influence them in the previous decade, the 1990s.....THE most DEAD music in the modern day era. Hell, that's all today's artist know....pure shit.

it's really foolish to say "ANY" era of music sucks, especially as we are still living it, aot you sound like old folk from the seventies who were saying "They just don't make music like Sinatra any more" and that Hendrix's, the beatles, Janis Joplin were all talentless and made alot of noise.
open your minds and be open to new music.

True...this entire thread sounds like my mom. She was complaining to me about rap during the Run DMC/Beastie Boys era. So what if she grew up on the Beatles. They didn't mean anything to me. Prince probably won't mean anything to kids growing up now. That doesn't mean music these days sucks. And for the record, sucky boy bands have always been around. So has music that sucks. The fact that more of it is around is because ther are more people in general around and more ways for you to hear the crappy music.

twink69 said:

pkidwell said:

That doesn't mean music these days sucks. And for the record, sucky boy bands have always been around. So has music that sucks. The fact that more of it is around is because ther are more people in general around and more ways for you to hear the crappy music.

This is the decade that brought us "Vespertine" by Bjork, one the best solo albums by any female/singer song writer of any era. so for that reason the noughties is saved!

it's really foolish to say "ANY" era of music sucks, especially as we are still living it, aot you sound like old folk from the seventies who were saying "They just don't make music like Sinatra any more" and that Hendrix's, the beatles, Janis Joplin were all talentless and made alot of noise.
open your minds and be open to new music.

I first started bitching about current music the summer after I graduated high school in 1985 and I was only 17 back then.

intha916 said:

Mathmatically speaking, you're right. But what about musically?