This was an excerpt from a book from 2005 about the band INXS, but its explanation on the state of music and what happend is DEAD ON IT!



"the grunge fervor of the mid 90's, which drove record companies searching for the next Nirvana or Pearl Jam to sign too many less-than-able bands, set off an onslaught of crap. A downturn in the global economy,plus the corporate consolidation of the music (and all other media) industries devoured what little soul was left in the music business. At the dawn of the milennium, rock, traditionally an album-oriented genre, took a back seat to teen pop and hip-hop, two styles defined by singles. It makes sense that as the industry had less to spend, they eschewed rock bands who might not come into their own until the third or fourth albums in favor of prepackaged bootylicious babes and rap superstars who might justify their investment with but one top 40 hit. The only rock music that thrived during this climate was the pop-punk of bands like Blink 182 (and their countless imitators), who combine a surbaban Amercian hand me down carbon copy of the Sex Pistols, with production as slick as Nsync and content as sophisticated as Avril Lavigne. It is a sign of the times in America that such pop punk is as digestible and acceptably rebellious as Jessica Simpson.


This point was more aimed at rock but you can apply it to any genre.