Thoughts on current music industry

[koizora]

Thought this could be an interesting thread.

I've been thinking about this for a while now. In my opinion, the music industry is not what it used to be. To make things clear, I'm talking about the English spoken music industry by the way. When I look at the state of the music industry in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, even in popular music, everything was so dynamic and exciting. Most songs actually had meaning and made you feel things. Songs had raw emotion that I feel you hardly hear these days. To me, music from that time feels kind of magical, if that makes any sense. Artists from that time actually had something about them and some songs are absolutely timeless.

What in the world happened? We have some good artists at the moment, but I doubt people will honestly remember them in 40 years with the same nostalgia as some older people now do with musicians of the past. Not to speak of the current popular 'artists' like Justin Bieber & Co. *sigh* Maybe this is just me though. I just don't feel the same excitement listening to today's music compared to older music. Maybe it's because most things have probably already been done before.. I can't quite put my finger on how I feel about it. Because of this I am glad I discovered Korean and Japanese music, which is really refreshing after years of just the same old, same old that's been released in the Western music industry. (Even though the most is also mass-produced by record companies.. but the energy in the music is good!)

But still... I wish we had legendary artists like Queen, Michael Jackson, Prince, the Beatles, Stevie Wonder, ABBA, Mariah Carey, etc. nowadays too.

I'd like to hear your thoughts on this!

 

[Night Owl]

My opinion is the same. I don't spend much time at all listening to music these days, but my tastes remain. If we stick to the 50's until today, I personally think a slow degeneration started from the late 80's onward, even though there's some great stuff in the 80's, and in my view, some of my favourite, from the 90's. 'The Noughties' brought forth some strange tunes that wil easily be forgotten... and I actually reckon things have got a little better in the past 8 or so years - but in general there is something that lacks. Of course there's always exceptions, but music in general lacks what it once had - a gusto, a vibe, a depth, a certain passion, zest, energy, power.

Sure, so many things have been done, so that it's statistically harder to come up with something new, but in a way that's probably a cop out, since if music is carried out as an authentic expression of a person or a group of people within a specific context, that will inevitably lead to some form of originality, since such a person/people and their context is distinctive. My honest opinion is that in general, people are isolated from themselves like never before, and are disconnected from their own spirit, thus resulting in what I feel is a lack in human depth and quality to music these days. I think this lack can be seen in general - always exceptions, in film and art. Still, anyone can break that mold.

Vague, broad sweeping statements, without a bother to give concrete examples. But that'll do.

 

[Eric86]

Look away from the mainstream (particularly anything affiliated with the RIAA) and you'll find that music is doing perfectly well across all sorts of styles throughout the world.

 

[Sinny]

Satanic... Ermminati. Gay cult. Down hill. Brain washing.

 

[dang]

I think the 60's set the bar really high creatively. Today most popular music is for kids without taste. There is an overwhelming quantity of new music with an underwhelming quality of new music. So much 21st century music is derivative of the stuff that came out in the 20th century. Every year (for the past 60 or so) there is a mix of good and bad music. I think today you have to dig deeper to find the good stuff than you used to. The great British Invasion bans for example were constantly on the radio. Today to find comparable music you need to do some research because you probably won't find anything great via mainstream media and entertainment options. I know this will make me sound old, but my favorite music was made even before I was born. So I am not merely reminiscing about the stuff I grew up with. The music industry just isn't what it was back in the day. Whatever. I like silence as much as I like music. So there.

 

[koizora]

My honest opinion is that in general, people are isolated from themselves like never before, and are disconnected from their own spirit, thus resulting in what I feel is a lack in human depth and quality to music these days. I think this lack can be seen in general - always exceptions, in film and art. Still, anyone can break that mold.

I feel exactly the same way. I think it might even be technology's (*cough* the internet *cough*) fault. Everything has become so superficial and normalized because of that. For example, I don't want to listen to songs with suggestive or even explicit lyrics that are about sex. Yet these kinds of songs have become so accepted (at least where I live) that you hear them all the time. There is no real message in songs anymore, not in most of them at least, and I do think it's because of what you said, lack of human depth.

Look away from the mainstream (particularly anything affiliated with the RIAA) and you'll find that music is doing perfectly well across all sorts of styles throughout the world.

That's what I've been trying to do, hence my discovery of Japanese and Korean music. Yet I can't help being irritated by today's mainstream music. hwell:

 

[Skarekrow]

Crap.
Mainstream music is garbage that has been overly written, overly engineered, lacking in actual talent but if you're pretty or cute who cares?

 

[sprinkles]

I don't even know anything current.

 

[sprinkles]

Explore what is good and don't lament the crap. All things eventually end.

If you want to feel things then look where you can feel them instead of where you can't.

 

[Tin Man]

Look away from the mainstream (particularly anything affiliated with the RIAA) and you'll find that music is doing perfectly well across all sorts of styles throughout the world.

Pretty much this. Mainstream music has always been crap. Sure there's the occasional glimmer of originality, but for the most part it's always been creatively bankrupt. If you want to find something new which resonates you, then you need to look beyond the mainstream. Open your mind to alternative types of music, or re-approach stuff which you may have ignored because it's not your style. I hear this same argument with books and movies, that it's not like the old days. I think it's really just a case of seeing the past with rose tinted glasses.

For some perspective, in 1969, a year where Bob Dylan and John Lennon each released a critically acclaimed song, was the same year Sugar Sugar (as sickly sweet a piece of crap you can get) topped the charts. The song now is only remembered as a footnote in history and I have little doubt Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift will meet the same fate

 

[koizora]

For some perspective, in 1969, a year where Bob Dylan and John Lennon each released a critically acclaimed song, was the same year Sugar Sugar (as sickly sweet a piece of crap you can get) topped the charts. The song now is only remembered as a footnote in history and I have little doubt Justin Bieber or Taylor Swift will meet the same fate

But I love that song... :'D If that song is considered bad for those times, then we have really hit rock bottom with today's music, haha.

 

[Wyote]

Pop music has always been shit, that's pretty much the point. It's easily consumable for people who just want to consume and not think and really that's ok. Really it's OK. Music doesn't have to be a religious experience with every note that goes into your ear. But it doesn't change the fact that the music really is shit. Really. It's so basic and even strives to be more basic at times. The music industry has ALWAYS had this section of artists generating this crap. The people that push the envelope and experiment are driving forces. Sometimes dumb shit is needed to progress. It's like throwing out ideas no matter how dumb they are and then ultimately coming up with a new really great single idea. If you want good music it's out there, you just have to dig a bit.

It may have been slightly different at various points when people were actually creating music for legitimate political reasons, but there was still a lot of pop shit around those times that nobody really remembers. Most of the stupid shit fades away with time.

TL;DR: A portion of the music industry has always been shit and people have always eaten it up but then it's gone

[video=youtube;vUN4djYJl1E]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUN4djYJl1E[/video]

 

[the]

I detect a little of le wrong generation.

 

[Deleted member 10171]

I feel exactly the same way. I think it might even be technology's (*cough* the internet *cough*) fault. Everything has become so superficial and normalized because of that. For example, I don't want to listen to songs with suggestive or even explicit lyrics that are about sex. Yet these kinds of songs have become so accepted (at least where I live) that you hear them all the time. There is no real message in songs anymore, not in most of them at least, and I do think it's because of what you said, lack of human depth.

I agree. I don't mind the odd cheesy songs now and again...what about the mass explosion of voyeuristic music videos.

 

[Tin Man]

But I love that song... :'D If that song is considered bad for those times, then we have really hit rock bottom with today's music, haha.

I like the song too, but I also think it has the same artistic merit of popular songs nowadays. Which is to say none.

 

[SpecialEdition]

Sometimes I really just enjoy some trashy shit. It's fun. It's light. It's entertaining. It's mindless. It can set your mood and get you dancing and hopping around. Sometimes I really like absurd gangster rap or hyper sexualized pop. Sometimes I like death metal, sometimes I like numetal, sometimes I like Creed lol. I occasionally have been known to enjoy boy bands and love all that 90's stuff.

I think with anything you can be a pretentious snob whether it's about coffee, craft beer or the state of the music industry. Taste is so subjective. I am sure back in the 60's and 70's people were missing their music from the 30's and 40's and some probably just wanted to listen to some Lizst or Bach. I can find something good in all of it regardless of what decade or century it came out and whether or not it has poetic or intellectual depth.

The nice thing about today is that there is incredible access to all types of music online. There's a lot of great stuff that's not mainstream and there are so many genres that there is a place for everyone's taste. The only thing I hate about what plays on the radio is that it is punctuated with stupid commercials so I just don't bother and am not as familiar with everything that's come out over the last few years.

 

[Eventhorizon]

Microbrew beer....
Not that long ago you did not have that many choices for beer. Most were made in vast quantity by huge distributors. Today there are so many choices. The nice thing being how many choices. A never ending supply of different things to try. From them, some rise to the top as your favorite, others fade away as background noise.
Increased world population means increased choices.
What has happened to the truly great minds? Where are the Einsteins, Newtons, Bachs and Vivaldi's for our age?
Oh you were talking about music. Sorry.

 

[#@&5&49]

I was shopping in a grocery store one day and found myself singing to an instrumental that was being played by the store in the background. As I started singing the lyrics to myself I realized I was singing an old Pink Floyd song that had been turned into instrumental elevator music. When I left the grocery store I was just in a state of shock.

I agree with a lot of the other posters, you have to dig to find music today that is artistically and creatively dynamic. The days of a musician who plays three or four instruments, sings and writes their own songs and music is hard to find. It sort of feels like the music industry has sold out to just whether or not people look the part. I think the movie 'Beyond the Lights' sums up today's music industry. It's not about talent, it's about something else that I have a hard time relating to.

So many artistic genres seem to have just become old and tired. I hope this trend changes some time in the future and we find our artists and their work more dynamic and daring. Gee wiz, how did our civilation become so fucking boring in the arts? It seems like people aren't even interested in any artistic genre that pushes the envelop. It's just the same ole, same ole, ad nauseam. How sad, people used to appreciate cutting edge artistic genres, now it seems like the arts are almost going backwards in time as opposed to going forward into developing new and interesting art forms. What the hell happened? It's almost embarrassing.

 

[aeon]

The industry has changed, in that there is less money in it, and obviously, the distribution is entirely new, contrasted with a generation ago.

But in terms of quality? My sense is it is the same as it ever was...there is always great music to be found, and these days that is easier than ever.

I love pop music when it is done well, and for me, there are usually 3-5 examples of that in the UK Top 40 at any given point in time.
I mention the UK Top 40 because my taste more closely aligns with styles present there that are not found in the US Top 40.

That said, if I don’t find any songs I like there, I’ll find two dozen elsewhere, pop and otherwise, so no worries.

There’s always new stuff, and some is good stuff, and some even has that essential quality that makes me an obsessive music listener to begin with.

So many styles, so many cultures, so many people writing and playing. It has never been such a great time for recorded music as a listener.

In terms of working in the industry, doing, for example, engineering/mixing/recording...well, there have been better times for sure.

And if nothing new catches the ear, there is always back-catalog exploration to do. So much to learn, so much to get to know.


Cheers,
Ian

 

[Asa]

It is because music is manufactured instead of discovered. Discovered talents have more depth, are multi-faceted, unique, and they have raw drive and are willing to take risks. Even when people (such as jazz greats) were playing songbook standards, the people playing the stuff bent it to suit their individual talents. You could hear Ella and Billie sing the same song and it wold not be the same, nor would it be for Monk and Ellington.

Now, people who may still possess true talent, but must possess the "right" talent to fit in, are coached to fit a formula. Many of our pop stars began their careers as children, being groomed to become money makers later on. Max Martin writes a huge amount of top 40 hits, and others copy him. It is well known that certain keys and note progressions are more successful, so more songs are written using that formula. (I wish I could remember the formula, but I am not a musician and my musician SO is not here to explain.)

When someone different is discovered, other talents that mimic them are signed and pushed to make the labels money.
Even in underground music tons and tons of bands copy the more popular ones, and thanks to the internet, music knowledge spreads like wildfire, so it is really easy for genres to become homogenized. More people are putting out music, which is awesome, but rare talents that sound very different get drowned out. --- I had more to say on this, but I have to go.......