Why is modern pop so terrible?

[mikmas]

It all went pear-shaped around the time the Smiths split up.

I would say it all went pear-shaped the day The Smiths formed ....

[Macca]

In the old days there used to be a lot of shit but also a lot of good stuff. Now there is just a lot of shit. I think that's the difference.

Yesterday I was listening to AC-DC on massive JBLs and Tannoys at Frank Cooky's house (thanks Frank) and thinking 'There's no-one doing anything this good anymore'. Maybe because it has already all been done. Or maybe the younger generation have just not got a clue. I don't know.

[cooky]

I have to agree, one of my (mid 20's)stepsons last week asked me had I heard Radar Love? lol to which I said "yes of course..... have a load of this".over the JBL's, I then played him Ships in the Night from Bebop deluxe then Devils Answer by Atomic Rooster just to give him a taste of the standard of some 'pop chart ' singles back in the day and he was just blown away.

[mightymonoped]

Given the huge changes in the commercial aspects of mass consumption of music these days (as compared to the 60’s - 90’s), I find this kind of question slightly irritating.

People’s listening habits and value judgements are always going to make this question a personal hotbed.

As always, people will jump in with metrics to prove their point and we’ll go off on some peripheral discussion (possibly based of a flaky or subjective premise) to support their world view.

The challenge of survival for the working musician (‘pop’ or otherwise) is not the same as it was even ten years ago.

The consumption of music has changed, as many ‘streaming’ discussions on this forum will confirm.

Ok, my personal opinion bit..

First off, plenty of good new music is still around, you just need to know where to find it.

The nature of commercial music has been subject to all of the consolidation and constraints that have made working musicians survival so challenging.

This has resulted in the lack of musical diversity on the main channels to some extent, as new music is finding alternative routes (home grown labels, bandcamp, Soundcloud, Youtube, etc etc).

Any attempt to look at ‘pop’ today compared to ‘pop’ decades ago and arrive at a meaningful statement about the health of music is an exercise in futility in my humble opinion.

Far more interesting question to me about ‘now’ and ‘then’ revolve around the impact on listening habits in the era of ‘the soundbite culture’ and instant access to a global catalogue of music?

There, I’ve got it out of my system.


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[anthonyTD]

Just heard, Kylie is no1 again
Seriously, this is the main reason Ed Sheeran [And I am not knocking him] can have 14 songs in the hit parade,[showing my age] all at the same time!
There doesent seem to be any diverse competition being promoted these days, plenty of talent out there, but very few match the "criteria" what ever that is!

[Stratmangler]

Just heard, Kylie is no1 again

I was going to post in defence of Kylie, but I've just had the album on, and it's fcking awful.
Everything is sequenced, time aligned and auto tuned until it squeaks, complete with millennial whoops.
There's no musical performance as such.

I turned it off halfway though the second track, and put Radio 2 on, which had Michael Ball chatting with guest Julian Clary, and that was fine, up until the point that soem "music" came up.
This time it was more of the same kind of shite that I heard on the Kylie album, only this time it was by someone called Zara Larsson.

I'm quite traumatised by the sorry experience, truth be told

[Stratmangler]

I'm feeling a bit better now that I got the above off my chest

[Sherwood]

I swore to myself that I would not be drawn into this thread again, but here I am (or should that be hear I am?).

In an nutshell:

a) why do we assume that the "charts" are an accurate barometer of popular taste?

b) why do we assume that the ability of musicians to create innovative and emotionally engaging music has somehow declined after (perhaps) millenia, and certainly centuries? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDZdU-snqTs

c) why can we not accept that we are subject to a high degree of bias in our musical preferences in terms of when we first heard the music we like and when that was in our personal development? I am guessing that most of those on this frum are (like myself) 50 plus.

d) Is it not arrogance of the highest order to assume that we are somehow "of a golden age" of musical endeavour? Most of the creators of the music of the 50's and 60's considered it a disposable commodity.

I could go on (ad nauseum) but I am even boring myself ....

Geoff

[Joe]

After a certain age (let's say 30 to make it round figures) it's just plain weird to take any interest in pop music beyond tutting loudly and complaining about 'young people today', unless you're Simon Cowell.

[mightymonoped]

After a certain age (let's say 30 to make it round figures) it's just plain weird to take any interest in pop music beyond tutting loudly and complaining about 'young people today', unless you're Simon Cowell.

I don’t know about pop music but I’m quite happy to be considered weird!


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