With very few exceptions (and I do mean few), today's music just seems very dry and boring.
I mean, rap is all about "I'm gonna murder you" and "bling-bling", r&b, nothings really impressses me there, and of course there's the buble gum pop music.
So my question to you guys is: do you today's music will improve? where when you turn on the radio you'll actually like what you're hearing? he "arists" will actually write and play their own music? will rap actually have more meanig then nkilling somebody or "thug life"? Or will the music industry just get worse then it already is?
Sorry about my little rant, I grew up in the '80s, so I guess I'm a little spoiled, but I just think today's muisc is just getting worser worser. Nothing's new or exciting. It's really sad to think that 20 years from now this is what today's children will be sharing with their own. i just can't imagine 20 years from now this what people will be calling the "good ole days", I hate to think what music will be like then.
Anyone understand what I'm trying to say?

I Know what you are saying.I think it will have Peaks&Valleys as with Any Era.Technilogy has hurt the Industry but the same could be said 20 Years Back.I think without Artist Development&A Fast Food Mentality&Quick Formula Driven CEO's might Hurt a Potential Great Career out here?? I think there are some catchy Songs but it will take a Album that truly Unites People together to balance things out.So I'll Say Yes&No.the Industry is Worse now than 20 years ago but I also think they have More Smarter Cats getting a Bigger Chunk of there Rights Now.I think while the 80's had High Points that Overall it was Vastly Overrated&Watered Down.Synths&programming opened alot of the Problems we deal with now IMHO.

All this means is that you're getting old. As much as music is evolution, eventually it comes back to the starting point. If my grandparents were alive, they would loathe the music that I considered was good. At this point, I would just boycott the radio and wait for the good stuff to come back around, it always does. Remember disco?

mistermaxxx said:

I wasn't talking specifficly about the '80s, just stating that I grew up then and that I thought music was better then overall

It doesn't look like it really...

lovebizzare said:

the difference with then&Now aside from Technilogy is also Record Companys use to give Acts 3-5 Albums to Make or Break nowadays it's 3-5 Songs.gotta Hit Quickly&also have to Hit Big or be pushed aside.a true "What Have you Done for Me Lately"? Mentality in the Biz.

lovebizzare said:

I totally feel ya on this one! I grew up on the 80's and heck late seventies stuff and let me tell you, it ain't gon git beta!

In the 80's there was more variety, more trends, styles, fun stuff! Now, it all sounds the same. And I AGREE! I imagine all these kids who will have NOTHING to feel nostalgic over or feel good about, just the current Rap crap/corporatized Hip Hop and limpy pop music. Oh and WalMart music rack Country.

Nora Jones' the new hope!

But really looking at even RnB, there's no mo' real FUNK! It all has to be rough, and "from the streets" macho, and you know that shit kills originality.

I don't feel as if music will get better, cuz people not willing 2 hear new stuff. People just want to hear the same ol' same ol' and as long as the same ol' same ol' is making money, that's what the record companies are gonna dilever. People don't want to meaningful music like they had because in seventies, all they care about is if they person is shaking their ass on the videos and have a face like JLo, it's not even about having talent anymore, it's just about a couple of beautiful people with horrid voices, yet they can dilver the sounds of "ching Ching". This new generation don't even know what real music sounds like, and if they don't know what real music sounds like how can the ever learn how to produce it?

I mean just other day one of my sister high school friends came over my house, there was a Jimi Hendrix poster on my door and she looked at my Jimi hendrixs poster and said who's he? My mouth drop when I heard somebody ask who is Jimi Hendrix, see this generaztion is lost along with the music, as long somebody come as long and show them how to play a good note... it's going to be really hard to find it again, this sad but true

NO.

We can always hope

All the good licks, riffs and note combinations have been used up over and over again. Clever artists recycling with style is the best to hope for...

BOYCOTT RADIO!
TUNE IN2 WNPG

lovebizzare said:

i listen 2 more 80s music & bands who have come mainly
from the 80s (Prince,INXS,BonJovi,various 80s songs etc...)
than i do 2day's music.

There is a lot of good music these days, there is good rap music 2...they just not in the top 40. But if u search u will find a good "independent"radio station that plays good new music.

people over 25 have been saying "today's music is bland and boring" since the birth of rock & roll. you love the music you grew up on, and the stuff that was actually good sticks in the collective consciousness. we forget all of the stupid crap that came out when we were growing up.


it never changes.

Janeau said:

I know that

see, that's the thing that ticks me off, 'cause all you see in the top 40 is avril lavigne, or ja rule, or j-lo, or nelly, meanwhile most of the good acts get ignored

lovebizzare said:

why would they be in the top 40? "top 40" is a genre of music. the "top 40" has always consisted of "top 40" music, which has rarely been the best and brightest in the pop field. there are exceptions. the Beatles, Elton John, the Stones, but for every one of them, they had a contemporary who was just as good, just as important, that didn't chart a single hit on "top 40" radio.

Swings & Roundabouts.

I thought music had come to a standstill and started to disappear up it's own airbrushed arse and into the pockets of the marketing and record company big wigs.

Then I found new bands who have never been played on MTV - Ladytron, Felix daHousecat, Ganymede, Detroit Grand Pubahs, Miss Kittin, W.I.T. Swayzak, The Soft Pink Truth, even the over-hyped Fischerspooner, yadda, yadda, yadda.

The Electroclash/Synth Pop wave of artists is certainly getting closer to the type of music I want to hear.

I can't wait until Black artists start being influenced by this stuff - just like Prince was influenced by groups like The Human League, Soft Cell & Kraftwerk.

Subjective


Look it up.

Today's music is missing originality and a whole lot of imagination. And most artists are afraid to be different. That's why your getting the same old stuff over and over. It's like going shopping for clothes and every store has the same clothes why bother? In the 1980's every strived to be different from each other to do their own flavor. But the industry wanted what worked if it isn't broke why fix it thing. Fans were not stupid then. Now people will buy things they don't like to have something. In the 80's you could gauge if the fans weren't feeling you by record sales. So artists were really into what the fans wanted to hear. Now the artists treat their fans like idiots. You will buy garbage. And make nonsingers, nonwriters stars. So why bother giving the fans their best. So caught up in what people look like and not caring if they can sing or play or not. Now they can go to American Idol route. And not have to pay and dues or polish themselves by learning how to perform. Instant stars just add water and stir. We live in a disposable world.

lovebizzare said:

Yeah and I been thinking the same thing, there is nothing classic about what's on the airwaves these day.

in short: no.

DigitalLisa said:

That is the scary thing about the next generation. Way too many think that what they hear is "new" and "original." You'd be surprised as to the lack of knowledge about the difference between remakes, samples, and the original recordings, or at least the version that was popular before it was butchered. Or many think music before the 90's is too old to appreciate. I also have little patience for closed mindedness in music. Like when somebody can only listen to one genre or whatever is popular, not to knock pop music, but just falling for the latest trend. That's regardless of generation gap. And yes I am officially admitting this musically speaking, I'm old.

Wow there is some serious Good Old Days syndrome going on here. Speaking for myself, music seemed so much more original and creative back in the day, until I got a little older and realized that everything I thought was "fresh" and "new" had it's own lineage.

True, there was alot of good music back in the 80's (my frame of reference). At the same time, I remember my mom talking about how much better Hendrixx and The Beatles were compared to what was out then. Considering that the "boy band/Britney" phase of music is ebbing right now (look at what Norah Jones did last night) I think popular music has improved greatly over the past couple of years. Still, no matter what you do the older you get the less you like the radio.

Oh and Aaron's right, there is a whole lotta crap music that we've conveniently forgotten.

As Janeau said, there is still a lot of exciting music coming out now, just have to expand your search beyond the mainstream. Lots of good shit coming out on indie labels or from other countries and its getting easier to get their music now. Either download, get a burn or buy off their website. I used to be jaded about music too, till i started checking out stuff from Asia, europe, and on the indie scene. Since then I could care less about who's top 40.

chickengrease said:

Yes and No. While it's true the music we grow up with will always seem better to what we hear later in life, one fact can not be escaped. Their used to be musicians. Weather it be Sir Duke for you Grandparents, Stevie for your parents, or Prince for us, those cats still PLAYED. It's not so much style that bothers me as much as it is the lack of talent to even play or sing. Which as far as I'm concerned are the basics of making music. This is a direct connection to hip hop taking over pop music. Hip Hop is fine taken for what it is, but it should never be confused with actual music. It's junk food in a musical sense. Actually I felt things were worse in the mid 90's. With Maxwell, Remy Shand, Jill Scott, ect we have a small trend towards "real" music. So my answer would be yes, things can get better. The question is how long and to what extent.

A quick overview of why music today is problematic...


1) No Long Term Vision From Record Company...only interested in the quick HIT aka $$$, instead of carefully nurturing and developing artists.

2)Radio Issues...Radio have all of these independent contractors suppling them with playlists, plus you have the payola issues that play a factor. I remember back in the 70's radio stations{namely R&B radio stations played a wide variety of music{even throwing some jazz/fusion, reggae and rock..people laugh now when I tell them that The Police used to get played on R&B radio} These radio stations now have all of these contests where they're giving away a whole lot of money to keep listeners on their radio dial. EX: They will structure a contest where they will give you three songs that you must listen out to being played in a row, before calling in. Once you hear these three songs in a row you call in and if you're correct caller, then you win. The whole object is to keep you on the radio station. A substantial amount of these radio stations are at or near or at the top of the radio ratings. But it is not the quality of their music that has them at that position, but rather the money that they give away. Most radio listeners will tell you this as well. Additionally, it is very hard for an upstart artist to get airplay on radio now-a-days unless they got a big money machine behind them

3) Lack Of Musicians...this has been stated many times. A lot of upcoming artists simply don't want to take the time to learn an instrument. But considering the way the music industry {and the Billboard charts} are now-a-days, there's not much of an incentive. Why learn an instrument when you can go double platinum with a good producer and drum/beat machine and some programming equipment? The benchmark was much different back in the 60's and 70's. I'm speaking primarily of musical woes within the r&B world. On the contermporary rock scene, you have musicians, but they're not good ones. A lot of musicians I hear now just seem to be going through the motions, just banging/thrashing away on their instruments{without any type of true musicality...in short it sounds like one big messy hodgepodge of sounds}.

4)Lack Of Great Songwriters...As the old folks say they just don't write em like they used to.

5)Music Listeners...Part of the problem are music listeners who don't execute good musical discernment. You have many people who are have very short attention span. They are looking for something that grabs their attention within the first 10 seconds{namely a great beat/or hook..thus record producers and artists know this and thus they try to cater to the demands}. If these people had to listen to a 19 minute piece by Weather Report{for an example}, if would be extremely painful for them. We live in a microwave age, where people want instant gratification.,,,INSTANTLY. Whatever happen to good songs with great melodies, chord and harmonic progressions?

These are few things off the top of my head.

Brother915 said:

I'd say u are pretty right on with most of your points. I would add a little to #4 however. Not just a lack of good song writing but where did all the great hooks go? Does "Make em say Uhhh Na Nana" count as a hook?

Brother915 said:

I Agree.Number 5 Rings truest because I truly Believe that the Industry thinks the Buying Public are Dumb&will go for anything&they don't care if the Song was Hot last Tuesday if they can PIMP it back Next Tuesday than it's there all over again just another Name floating with it.Peace

Brother915 said:

if people listen to the radio to win stuff, then they're getting what they want out of radio.

as for payola, it was a bigger problem back in the old days than it is today. today, it's in the form of prizes to give away to the audience. back in the day it was in the form of cash, drugs, and women directly to the DJ or program director.