Having just watched the last of the Pop On Trial episodes on BBC 4 in which each decade from the 50's onwards was put on trial to see which was the most influencial in pop music, it got me wondering was the 2000's will be remembered for....and I couldn't think of anything!! To briefly recap, the episdoes listed the following as key elements/happenings in pop from each decade:-

1950's: The birth of pop music, rock'n'roll, rhythm & blues

1960's: Birth of soul, Motown, the British invasion, psychedelic music

1970's: Funk, disco, prog, punk, reggae

1980's: MTV, the global megastar, hip hop, indie, dance/house music

1990's: Grunge, Brit-pop, manufactured bands


I think I've probably missed a few points and key movements from the list, and the programs definately had a UK slant on things as to what was happening in pop music. The program declared the 70's as the most influential in pop (not my choice, certainly). But what the hell has the 2000's given us??? As we move to the end of the decade, whilst there has been some good music, I can't think of one new genre, one key movement or ground-breaking happening in popular music!!!

Any ideas??

absolutely nothing

Emo.

But it seems like a lot of artists have just been inspired by the past. They take elements ad styles from the past and create a new version of it. For example, look at all these groups that sound like Post-Punk/New Wave throwbacks like Franz Ferdinand, Bloc Party, The Rapture, The Dead 60's, etc. Or look at Amy Wino trying to bring back the 60's Motown sound. Or better yet, look at Spank Rock trying to revive the 80's Miami booty bass sound. So I guess you can say we live in an era of nostalgic-thinking acts.

Nu-metal:

SoulAlive said:

Hagdonna released AL which is her best album in the last 15 years...

Crunk music

SHITTY music.
Just like the 90s

FuNkeNsteiN said:

Im witcha Brotha...

The death of the music industry.

The return of MOZ!

Some fair points....but actual new genres of music?? New movements?? I can't recall anything of note, unless we are now counting crap reality TV driven pop!

Has the musical well been emptied?

DaveT said:

I think this decade was a time of crisis.

MikeMatronik said:

the 80's called it wants its hair back

Shapeshifter said:

YUP !

Pop tarts and lip syncing
Shit hop

Ring Tones

FuNkeNsteiN said:

DaveT said:

The REBIRTH of the 80's Internet music becoming more popular, ringtone music

paisleypark4 said:

I can get onboard with the rebirth of the 80s, but that's more of a rediscovering of a previous genre....and I think its more a case of the internet as a whole becoming more popular, not just the music.

DaveT said:

I corrected you in bold.

2000's: dirty south hip-hop (Crunk, Chopped & Screwed), Disney-pop, American Idol driven-pop, pop-driven country

MikeMatronik said:

That was the later half of the 90's.

In all seriousness, I think the 2000s will be remembered as a decade that made a big change in music because of all the music copyright infringement that's been going on because of file sharing, CD burning and what not. Even so far the 2000s have made a big impact on music. A lot of artists are opting for selling their music online rather than in stores. I think the whole shift to the internet is what will make the 2000s memorable.

Oh yeah, and Janet's titty will go down in HIStory. People wont forget that for a long, long time. But what do you expect. She's a black female Jackson. The only way you could draw in more media attention is if you're a white WTF-is-it? Jackson.
[Edited 1/28/08 9:22am]

matthewgrant said:

Reminds me of Chris Rock and his stand up routine on this infamous boob-exposing incident. If you haven't seen it, well worth checking out....side splittingly funny!

TonyVanDam said:

it sucked so much...I forgot the timeline!

matthewgrant said:

That was one of the stupidest stunts in modern popular music and entertainment. While the reaction to the incident was ageist, racist, and sexist, I cannot help but wonder what the fuck were Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake thinking. God, I swear. These people can be so stupid sometimes.

The downfall of Britney Spears began here:



THAT'S right! It was the night that Britney made a deal with Satan's daughter (Madonna), lost her damn mind and never got it back.

On the whole....nothing great. The 2000's mean this for me:

Bad nu metal and bad bands like Creed, Nicklecrack, etc. (by the way I heard Chad K is a nice guy doesn't mean I wouldn't tell him I hate his music and his standard delivery.

Bad R&B/Hip Hop... this is the bottom of the barrel stuff, lowest common denominator, all image no substance.

Ipods- great portablility, goodbye to good sound.

People will carry a 128AAC Jpeg of a Basquiat Print and tell you look at the detail present in the painting. Covering up 75% on average of the original message is not how the artist intended.

Death to full album sequences, no one buys albums and if they do no one listens from track 1 thru the end. Now this could be cause no one writes a full album of good stuff anymore, but our attention spans are much shorter.

I will spend the majority of the rest of the 2000's .....

wishing for hip hop/crap pop/and new R&B to die
for a 500 gig ipod with a digital out so I can rip all my stuff at lossless
For a new D'Angelo Cd and to see him live (last time he canceled 2 shows I had tix to)
For Prince to open his vaults
Springsteen's Tracks Part 2
a Talking Head reunion
Stevie wonder's 70's output in deluxe editions with 5.1 dvd audio and outtakes
new Aimee Mann album
[Edited 1/28/08 11:06am]

2000's: iTunes, illegal downloads, postmodernism , electronic music , decadence of pop/rock/hip-hop, death of the music industry, huge comebacks


I'll repeat again: THIS decade is (and hopefully will be) the WORST pop music decade by FAR.


[Edited 1/28/08 11:10am]
[Edited 1/28/08 11:15am]

TonyVanDam said:

ABSOLUTELY TRUE!!!!