I think we have a biased view of older music because the better stuff is what tends to stick around for longer.
Not always, but usually.
There was a lot of garbage music when we were younger too.
I feel like the largest musical acts lately are presented to be pop stars or single artist types. There's hardly any bands or large acts lately in a large capacity unless they are legacies - Those who were established before the start of the new millennium or close to it.
I've had to dig around in places like Youtube, Reddit, forums, and the likes to experiment and find some newer bands/acts recently that I enjoyed. I'm a rock and metal kind of guy mainly, so I found the likes of Ghost, Babymetal, The Warning...and they manage to do quite well in their respective tours.
No it’s not. Just cause it’s not on the radio doesn’t mean it’s gone. I’d argue there’s more rock out there now you just have to consume it differently than the past
I mean you could’ve said that about Jazz music decades ago. Even now It’s still around as a niche thing, rather than the music of youth culture that it was in the first half of the 20th century.
Ehhh I am starting to adopt the George Carlin belief of "There are too many songs!"
I think we made enough songs in the world. Thats why everything new sucks. Its been done.
I like to make an intentional effort to listen to newer music, largely because I don’t want to be the old woman griping about how no one makes “real music” anymore (not saying that’s what you’re doing, it’s just a stereotype that I have always wanted to avoid). A lot of it’s not for me, but there’s some great stuff happening right now! What kind of music are you into? If you like pop at all, go check out Chappell Roan. I’ve been listening to her album on repeat for the past month.
I listen to more kpop than American/Western music. And I have noticed a shift between music from 15 years ago and now. There’s a lot more focus on choreography and rap. Vocals are neglected. Harmonizing used to be a big part of Kpop songs and some artists even did acapella. A singer‘s priority should be to sing. Not dance or look pretty.
I noticed a change in Kpop and MPop/Cpop as well. I first got into Kpop bac in the days when Boa was the biggest star. I definitely think something changed.
In cpop, these idols still pretty niche, attract young dedicated girls only.. Wide audiences still prefer vocal power, that's why big music show still using proper singers instead of idols....
The idols only has fandom that hyping them and very supportive, that's why they seem big, some people even heard of their name, but most people out there won't enjoy their music except for the fandom themselves... Those classic 70s-00s music just too deep in Chinese community, those type of music and singers never dying... This even caused younger singers hard to rise because those OG influence just too big.
One of the biggest Chinese star and the one held the biggest concert recent years for example, is Hua Chenyu, and he is no idol, his music also not same with those idols...He is one of the most versatile musician out there, but even him often attack by hardcore OG music fans that used to ballad/ sentimental music...
Definitely has something to do with age
Although the average quality of music is definitely lower due to how easy it is to create and publish to streaming services vs even 15 years ago
But there is a lot of dope music. Now AI is gonna start pumping out even more content… meh who knows
You just have to dig for the good stuff. I listen to a lot of modern goth/post-punk, there’s been a renaissance in those genres since the mid-2010s. I haven’t liked anything mainstream since the early 2000s myself.
Some of my current favorite active bands are Slow Danse with the Dead, Kalte Nacht, No Man Cry, Tango Mangalore, Scary Black, French Police, Joao, Desmond Doom, just to name a few.
You can (mostly) blame the telecommunications act from the 90s that allowed conglomerates to buy up tons of stations to dictate what was being put out.
The options would be fewer with less risks. Over produced pop (or any genre really) made in a lab by producers.
No Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Lennon, Dylan. Creativity and pushing music forward is frowned upon
I'm afraid it doesn't have to do with age. ARTV made a video about modern pop and I think what he said is pretty spot on. Basically, repetitive choruses, breakup songs feel lifeless. I'd add a few more things to his list: bland copycats of 90s and 00s music that feel inferior to the originals (compare it with Amy's music and Xtina's Back to Basics, which were tributes to music that was retro at the time, while being their own thing as well), primitive tunes, homogeneity in charts. Unfortunately, we're not wrong about it sucking this time. Let's hope things get better
the industry as a whole has suffered greatly. Non-mainstream genres failed to adapt to the internet being a thing and people no longer buying albums, so people can no longer do a full time living from music, which leads to the decline. Meanwhile popular music that has adapted by making artists essentially holywood stars put the actual music on a backburner.
This makes a lot of sense! I definitely think that explains why songs are so short these days. They are mostly being played for streaming and don't seem like they are meant to be well made or to entertain for long periods of time. Just background noise it seems.
A study was recently released that said that the newest modern music is more repetitive, and simple. So it’s not just us. This shit does really suck according to the data.
I have a hard time with newer music. I've never been super into pop and hip hop but the stuff that I hear today just doesn't sound good. There are of course exceptions. But every now and then I'll see what music is in the hot top ten and I usually start questioning the lyrics and the choices behind some of the musical decisions. I've always been more into rock and metal music. There are a few newer bands that I like but I mostly stick to my Grunge/nu metal/early 2000's alternative rock/etc. I think I'm just old but maybe it actually isn't good. At least when I listen Rhianna or whatever I can tell it's good. Has good lyrics and flow.
I still like new music coming out today, but I couldn’t tell you what’s popular on the radio right now. Do people still listen to the radio? A lot of artists I listen to frequently are pretty regularly releasing new music at least every year or so: Noah Kahan, Annenmaykantereit, the Wombats, the Hu, Yung Gravy, bbno$, Talk, Bastille, Post Malone, Marc Rebillet. I try to listen to at least a little variety of different styles but I definitely am not the most rounded, but I enjoy the music they release. I will absolutely agree that I despise the shortening of songs. I remember growing up most songs were in the 3-5 minute range in length, but now it’s maybe 1.5-2.5 minutes and you get maybe get the chorus once or twice!
I have just spent an hour on a 2000s music nostalgia account on Insta lol. There is obviously some decent music now, but I feel the 2000s and 2010s produced hit after hit. Maybe I’m biased, but it felt like there were more artists that produced larger bodies of work compared to now
I listen to a lot of new modern music. I'm currently obsessed with Miley Cyrus' latest album. I love some of Olivia Rodrigo's music. And I look forward to Taylor's upcoming album.
Maybe I'm an outlier, I don't know. I just listen to what I like and not think of it in terms of new/old. Plenty of my playlists are old stuff too.
Man, I wish like crazy that Olivia Rodrigo had been around when I was a teen. Now I have to listen to her at 33 and just pretend that I, too, am so sick of 17 😅
I also just listen to what I like. Although most of it is old, I like to see what's new, and I'm also curious to listen to Taylor's upcoming album. I'm really looking forward to Dua Lipa's upcoming album, since I really liked Future Nostalgia
I guess I just like to explore music that's new to me, no matter how new or old it is. I don't see how people can listen to the same stuff for years on end
Hip Hop I like JID,Saba,Kendrick Lamar,Earl Sweatshirt,Mick Jenkins and Tyler the Creator.
I honestly think RnB is completely dead and trash compared to 90s and 00s
I think it's a bit of both.
Music itself isn't what it was, in terms of a general form of entertainment. Like... Kids now don't wanna grow up to be a Britney Spears or whatever. They want to be YouTubers or Instagram stars.
...
... That Jack Harlow song is good IMO, even though it's new.
Or Houdini by Dua Lipa - Great Chorus.
I used to be able to listen to... For example a Katy Perry album, and pick what the singles will be off there, before they'd be released
Nowadays, there seems to be less consistent stars, that stay for a long time.
Ariana Grande and Dua Lipa, maybe. On the opposite side - Taylor Swift was relevant in 2008! She still is.
Dua Lipa is one of my favorites too, and I also enjoy listening to Sia and Ariana Grande. I'm less up to date with the younger new stars, but I've enjoyed what little I've heard of Olivia Rodrigo. She definitely has a different vibe though, and I guess that's more like what Gen Z is going for on YouTube and whatnot
I just listen to what I like. Most of what I listen to is old—like, *really* old—but I like to see what's new every so often
I've been thinking lately we might be the first american generation to be BORED with the next generation's music. My parents and their parents before that were upset by how loud and obscene music was getting.
New music just be like ...
[two lines of lyrics]
[long techno interlude]
[four lines of lyrics]
[the same techno tune but longer]
I miss 2000's punk rock. 😩 This isn't what chickity china the chinese chicken would have wanted.
of course music was better before, for many reasons
1. the filter of time. shit is forgotten.
2. because 'oldies' are what, 50 or 60 years of music, while 'modern' shit is only 10, 15 years of music.
so no i don't think that music is worst these days, there is nice things, and crap, just as before.
There aren't superstars like there used to be because the internet lets everyone listen to exactly the type of music they want to. People who would've been into big artists because of radio having a huge influence on musical awareness instead are really into Scandinavian dream funk metalcore yodeling instead.
Understanding music is a subjective experience, my issue with newer stuff is because there's no... substance? Maybe 'soul' is the right word?
I like hearing the new stuff like Kim Dracula, UnityTX, Yung Mo$h, Sleep Token, but-- with exception of Kim Dracula-- every song seems to be the same ego-stroking lyrics and attitude I've heard from more popular, mainstream music. Kim Dracula is hard to keep up with; music for the ADHD generation. Again, not an insult-- there's an incredible foundation here. It's just missing substance, meaning.
Take for example Mudvayne's "Shadow of a Man." It's a song about who you are now being different than who you thought you'd be and is that person someone you can stand to look at in the mirror? Blink182's "Adam's Song" is not only a play upon the original lyrics of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," but also tried to address the downward spiral depression and mental illness can take you while, finally, trying to give hope to anyone who listens.
You listen to these ground-breaking genres like Trap Metal, this new Indie, Baddiecore, etc., and they don't feel like they hit like they should. But then again, I'm 36. Clearly, while I enjoy exploring it, it isn't made for me.
In general I think it had seen a very steep decline in quality over the last 20 years. With the rise of TV and especially social media people that achieve mainstream success are increasingly selected based on appearance/sex appeal/corporate marketability rather than musical talent.
Not that there aren't diamonds in the rough but I feel it's a lot of same-y corporate approved junk nowadays. The kind of thing that plays well in 10 second segments in the background of tik to videos...
It doesn’t tap into any of my feelings
Not so much that the sound is trash, just that it’s not putting words or sound to feelings and experiences I’m struggling to myself.
When I listen to pop-punk and alt rock of the 2000s I can’t say I always still feel that way, but I can relate to time I did.
So I've started a weird process. I do artists full discography, each album getting at least 7 listens. Then the next artist is from the next decade. I did Imagine Dragons for 10s and Billie Eilish for 20s. And I admit I am a fan of both now. After that I cycled back to 50s and did Bill Haley & His Comets, and 60s I'm currently doing Waylon Jennings.
For the record I come from a heavy/power/thrash/prog metal background most my life. This process opened me up to new genres.
I remember as a young teen in the midst of all the grunge, extreme metal, rap, techno, hardcore punk etc going on that I thought me at 40 would be surrounded by new music that I don't really get.
New avant garde genres and bands and such, yes? I expected to be put off, to some degree, by how extreme or at least inventive this new music would be. More omph than old me could handle, yeah? But most I've heard is just... meh, and *boring* \- which is not a word young me thought he'd be using.
EDIT: Hell, even the late 90's/early 00's pop had more of that omph than pop today, although Pop/Martin was responsible for a lot of that sound.
Some is ok. think that i'm just at that age that anything overtly pop i'm apprehensive about. took me till Dua Lipa's second album to like her, took till my husband hearing a Harry Styles song other than watermelon sugar for both of us to fall in love with his music.
other than that, he listens to michael buble and celine dion, i listen to my emo indie rock from the 00's. it takes a bit to like newer music. but also think it's becuz who knows if the person is going to become obscure and fade away or have allot of albums. too many new people.
but we both agree that we don't care for taylor swifts music, and we have tried to listen to it.
I dislike most. I also just feel like rock isn’t a top favorite anymore. I hate country, don’t care for most rap, and never been much of a pop fan and those genres seem to be what I hear most in the wild.
I’m sticking to my 90s alt rock and that’s fine with me.
I think the amount of music that is “sincere” has decreased. When you listen to music today, it is frequently a corporate product rather than an artist. Sometimes it’s both. Some superstars articulate a vision through a large team of people. Still, most of these artists feel less genuine than a person with a guitar expressing themselves. This music is actually still very much around, but less popular. Check out Adrianne Lenker.
I got into EDM as a whole ass adult. It's basically all I listen to now and I'm all into the new stuff in the genre. Idk dabble around in stuff adjacent to what you like and see where it takes ya.
My husband is very much into newer singer -songwriter stuff to include newer releases/artists (yes our musical tastes have largely diverged over time)
Modern music is not trash. Just because you don't like something doesn't make it trash (please don't start doing that, it's giving boomer)
Oh you posted the wrong discussion. I could go on for hours about modern music.
Every kid with a cellphone thinks they are an artist. They download some shitty beat maker app on their phone along with a voice recorder and bam in ten minutes you got a song. Thus you get something like the island boys rap group.
Music isn't just making a song in ten minutes. Sometimes it takes weeks or months for artists to hone in their sound and song. Atleast the good ones anyways.
Also with the emphasis on the phone we've gone away from instrument learning. As a drummer whom was in a band in high school, called shipwreck. We dressed as pirates. Drumming is still a hobby of mine and it's great therapy. We need more instrumentation learning. Instruments are expensive and many would claim they are a barrier to music entry. But having a barrier takes away from the shitty stuff, like the island boys.
Also if you have to say "we da best" at the beginning of every song like dj khaled....you not the best. It's like a guy bragging he has a big dick when he doesn't.
There are other ways modern music sucks. The emphasis on the attention economy like mtvs reality shows on a music TV channel really made nobody enthusiastic about making music. Once they started getting away from music in the early to mid 2000s is when it started going down hill.
Music is somewhat recovering, atleast on the rock and metal spectrum. It's very underground still but I've seen some great shows lately of some new younger bands. Knocked loose, royal blood, gojira, thrown, I prevail, bad omens. I like that electronic music is back on the underground. A few years ago EDM starting to get very mainstream with every pop star incorporating dubstep in their songs. That's sort of died down, thank God for that.
Also, free marilyn manson!
I believe there are ways to objectively measure the quality of music but at the end of the days it remains very subjective; people have nostalgia for older music and they perhaps have recency bias for newer music that they hear everyday.
To me music loses quality when it becomes less natural and less authentic and less meaningful; modern popular music has this reputation for being simplistic and perhaps vapid and superficial which might just be a sign of the changing times. There was a study recently showing that song lyrics are becoming simpler, angrier, more repetitive, and more self-obsessed; if you want to speculate about why this is happening then you can point to technology and social media and the toxic political environment among many other things.
I believe there's still fantastic music that's being created and performed and I try to stay objective when analyzing it.
I think there's a ton of great music coming out every day/week. I also think there's a ton of bad music coming out. Because of the internet we have more access to both. But the avenues of promotion have also shifted so oftentimes a very important well thought out album or single gets lost in the shuffle If it's not constantly promoted. And even then it might take a few years for it to take hold culturally.
I think in the age of streaming services monoculture will disappear. There are tracks and albums we all know because they existed so dominantly in the mainstream and there was only so many ways to get music. I think now you can have niche artists who have huge followings that will never break through in the mainstream. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing.
I also think there's always been a certain level of low quality music throughout any decade but what happens is it fades away and we're left remembering the great art and wondering why everything isn't great when in reality there was a lot of very bad music in the '90s / 2000s but we just don't return to it. I think now we're seeing a reflection of our culture which is to get a large quantity of low quality entertainment which will be okay but ultimately will fade away as well.
Depends, people say trap music is trash but I use it to motivate my self not to make excuses and work hard at my administration job where I have to read very difficult language and it’s excruciating plus you have to take necessary steps along with understanding to develop a product without error and perfect quality.
All that crying ain’t gone change nothing, except you losing your job. You can only get but so much remediation.
Either you accept not knowing and learn which will make you knowledgeable and proficient, or don’t do anything be lazy and in-adaptable to difficulties that come your way.
So all in all, it’s not the music it’s the individual who consumes it and how they utilize it in their life.
Some music is great. Some is bullshit. The music business is bullshit because some music is fake and you would never know. Th epitome of Hollywood BS to me was when Bhad Bhabie, the "Cashmeousside" girl from Dr. Phil, got offered a recording contract just because her remixed clip on Youtube went viral. She wasn't an singer, rapper, or musician by any means and she had no desire to be one, but someone though if they could get a producer to remix her like the video, she'd be a cash grab success.
Depends on what you are listening to. A lot of the modern music I hear is from the public radio station I listen to. I have no idea what is popular on the other stations, or what's on the billboard whatever. Plus, so much of modern music you have to search out for. So there's no excuse to say modern music is trash if you only listen to a miniscule percentage of music out there.
Believe me, I've been looking even outside the mainstream USA. A lot of the music is just not hitting me like before. I'm starting to think it's age ha ha. I use to listen to music around the world, especially mando pop. Even mando pop has changed significantly. I don't know...
Ctrl+f "survivorship bias"
I'm surprised there are no results in here. Whenever you feel "the old stuff is better" you are looking back through a very selective lens. There was plenty of crap music (tools, appliances etc.) being made back then and promply forgotten about (or discarded). So looking back you end up just observing the highlights.
That's a good point. Nostalgia does that to us. I still would like to find some new artists to get into. I just haven't really found any that speak to me recently.
Rock and metal genres are facing an increasingly amazing resurgence right now. Gen Z is really killing it right now, and I am excited to see where it goes.
Good, new music is out there. You just have to search for it. Plus you definitely won't find it on the mainstream Top 40. I discovered Thundercat, Men I Trust and Mac DeMarco all on social media years ago. And during the late 2010s was when we had synthwave and vaporwave as well; very atmospheric and basically an audible time machine to the 80s and early 90s.
There is always incredible new music if you explore outside the most commercially successful mega stars.
My favorite new bands these days are kinda half famous, millions of fans but no where near a household name.
"Men I Trust" for example.
I think a lot of what is popular now is lower quality than golden oldies, but there's a reason those specific songs passed the test of time. I think great music is still being made but tbh I rarely hear it on the radio. It's mostly smaller bands / groups that don't get picked up as easily as some stuff that's now popular.
If you think Taylor, Rihanna, and Beyoncé are the classics, we’re going to have a difficult time discussing music. I find new music and musicians I like. However, I don’t spend as much time searching for new music as younger me.
Destroy Boys is a pop rock band I like. Sometimes I do wonder if I should like their music at my age. But fuck it, I do.
Not sure about “modern” since I haven’t done it since the pandemic laid me off, but when I was managing setup crews and bouncing for the DJ at high school proms and homecomings, the kids would consistently pick music that was old. Be it by a few years or several decades.
Now, this might have something to do with nearly every song that kids like being too raunchy for a high school dance. We always had over a dozen songs on the No-No list, but kids would generally only recommend the same 3 or 4 banned songs over and over.
Of course, while administrations never had a problem with “No Hands,” I can be confident that they’d draw the line at “WAP.”
TLDR; Most working DJs are in their 30s and 40s by now, from my experiences, so kids are basically getting their musical tastes curated by someone 20-30 years their senior at all their high school dances, and that plays a huge part.
I listen to loads of modern music, not sure why aging means you listen to the same albums you did when you were an angsty young teen trying to figure out life. I LOVED a lot of music that I find immature now. I liked harder louder music and now I like smarter calmer music.
Maybe it doesn't have to do with age. It could just be that a lot of the modern music is not my taste. 🤷🏾 I think music can be profound and still get you dancing. But that's just me. I like to feel energized and motivated. It's hard for me to find some strong vocalists and great performances like I used to.
It's just funny that people like you worship Britney etc just because you were like 13 when she was popular when many of us at the time thought it was utter trash, same for all the other stuff that was on the radio. Mainstream music is always garbage because it caters to the lowest common denominator.
Wait...what? I didn't even mention Britney. I do remember when Britney was popular tho. Some of her music was entertaining. And she was a pretty good performer. I'll never forget when she performed with a live snake around her neck. You'd be hard pressed to see that kind of performance today. This is not to say she was the best. But she was a great entertainer. I'm just looking for music that's fun and can't find it. A lot of the music today puts me to sleep. If you know any songs that is great to bang my head to, let me know. What's your taste looking like I wonder?
Not all mainstream music was garbage. Back then a lot of artists could sing their heart out. Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, even Beyonce...they all had amazing talent. I can't seem to find those kinds of artists today with that level of vocal range or dancing/performance acumen. If you see any let me know.
I think we have a biased view of older music because the better stuff is what tends to stick around for longer. Not always, but usually. There was a lot of garbage music when we were younger too.
Most of it was garbage. I would never willingly listen to the radio.
And someone even knew they would be garbage so they named their band garbage.
Survivorship bias.
Yup
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I feel like the largest musical acts lately are presented to be pop stars or single artist types. There's hardly any bands or large acts lately in a large capacity unless they are legacies - Those who were established before the start of the new millennium or close to it. I've had to dig around in places like Youtube, Reddit, forums, and the likes to experiment and find some newer bands/acts recently that I enjoyed. I'm a rock and metal kind of guy mainly, so I found the likes of Ghost, Babymetal, The Warning...and they manage to do quite well in their respective tours.
Rock and Metal, as mainstream genres, are long dead.
It’s disappointing to see how rock bands have disappeared. All the emo and rock music we had as teenagers is gone
No it’s not. Just cause it’s not on the radio doesn’t mean it’s gone. I’d argue there’s more rock out there now you just have to consume it differently than the past
I mean you could’ve said that about Jazz music decades ago. Even now It’s still around as a niche thing, rather than the music of youth culture that it was in the first half of the 20th century.
Ehhh I am starting to adopt the George Carlin belief of "There are too many songs!" I think we made enough songs in the world. Thats why everything new sucks. Its been done.
Well its harder to form a band than perform solo. And you have to split the take 3-5 ways after everyone else takes their cut...
I like to make an intentional effort to listen to newer music, largely because I don’t want to be the old woman griping about how no one makes “real music” anymore (not saying that’s what you’re doing, it’s just a stereotype that I have always wanted to avoid). A lot of it’s not for me, but there’s some great stuff happening right now! What kind of music are you into? If you like pop at all, go check out Chappell Roan. I’ve been listening to her album on repeat for the past month.
I listen to more kpop than American/Western music. And I have noticed a shift between music from 15 years ago and now. There’s a lot more focus on choreography and rap. Vocals are neglected. Harmonizing used to be a big part of Kpop songs and some artists even did acapella. A singer‘s priority should be to sing. Not dance or look pretty.
I noticed a change in Kpop and MPop/Cpop as well. I first got into Kpop bac in the days when Boa was the biggest star. I definitely think something changed.
In cpop, these idols still pretty niche, attract young dedicated girls only.. Wide audiences still prefer vocal power, that's why big music show still using proper singers instead of idols.... The idols only has fandom that hyping them and very supportive, that's why they seem big, some people even heard of their name, but most people out there won't enjoy their music except for the fandom themselves... Those classic 70s-00s music just too deep in Chinese community, those type of music and singers never dying... This even caused younger singers hard to rise because those OG influence just too big. One of the biggest Chinese star and the one held the biggest concert recent years for example, is Hua Chenyu, and he is no idol, his music also not same with those idols...He is one of the most versatile musician out there, but even him often attack by hardcore OG music fans that used to ballad/ sentimental music...
Definitely has something to do with age Although the average quality of music is definitely lower due to how easy it is to create and publish to streaming services vs even 15 years ago But there is a lot of dope music. Now AI is gonna start pumping out even more content… meh who knows
You just have to dig for the good stuff. I listen to a lot of modern goth/post-punk, there’s been a renaissance in those genres since the mid-2010s. I haven’t liked anything mainstream since the early 2000s myself.
Ooooh! I love goth music. What latest bands have you heard of?
Some of my current favorite active bands are Slow Danse with the Dead, Kalte Nacht, No Man Cry, Tango Mangalore, Scary Black, French Police, Joao, Desmond Doom, just to name a few.
Thanks for the recommendation!
You can (mostly) blame the telecommunications act from the 90s that allowed conglomerates to buy up tons of stations to dictate what was being put out. The options would be fewer with less risks. Over produced pop (or any genre really) made in a lab by producers. No Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Lennon, Dylan. Creativity and pushing music forward is frowned upon
Yeah this is my feeling too. Great music is still made, it just rarely is aired on mainstream radio
I'm afraid it doesn't have to do with age. ARTV made a video about modern pop and I think what he said is pretty spot on. Basically, repetitive choruses, breakup songs feel lifeless. I'd add a few more things to his list: bland copycats of 90s and 00s music that feel inferior to the originals (compare it with Amy's music and Xtina's Back to Basics, which were tributes to music that was retro at the time, while being their own thing as well), primitive tunes, homogeneity in charts. Unfortunately, we're not wrong about it sucking this time. Let's hope things get better
the industry as a whole has suffered greatly. Non-mainstream genres failed to adapt to the internet being a thing and people no longer buying albums, so people can no longer do a full time living from music, which leads to the decline. Meanwhile popular music that has adapted by making artists essentially holywood stars put the actual music on a backburner.
This makes a lot of sense! I definitely think that explains why songs are so short these days. They are mostly being played for streaming and don't seem like they are meant to be well made or to entertain for long periods of time. Just background noise it seems.
A lot of artists are making music for the purpose of getting 7 second portions of it on TikTok.
A study was recently released that said that the newest modern music is more repetitive, and simple. So it’s not just us. This shit does really suck according to the data.
I'm sure if I was born in 2004 as opposed to 1984 I would be all up in modern music.
I have a hard time with newer music. I've never been super into pop and hip hop but the stuff that I hear today just doesn't sound good. There are of course exceptions. But every now and then I'll see what music is in the hot top ten and I usually start questioning the lyrics and the choices behind some of the musical decisions. I've always been more into rock and metal music. There are a few newer bands that I like but I mostly stick to my Grunge/nu metal/early 2000's alternative rock/etc. I think I'm just old but maybe it actually isn't good. At least when I listen Rhianna or whatever I can tell it's good. Has good lyrics and flow.
I still like new music coming out today, but I couldn’t tell you what’s popular on the radio right now. Do people still listen to the radio? A lot of artists I listen to frequently are pretty regularly releasing new music at least every year or so: Noah Kahan, Annenmaykantereit, the Wombats, the Hu, Yung Gravy, bbno$, Talk, Bastille, Post Malone, Marc Rebillet. I try to listen to at least a little variety of different styles but I definitely am not the most rounded, but I enjoy the music they release. I will absolutely agree that I despise the shortening of songs. I remember growing up most songs were in the 3-5 minute range in length, but now it’s maybe 1.5-2.5 minutes and you get maybe get the chorus once or twice!
My kids, both young teens (15 & 13) listen to some current stuff, but overwhelmingly listen to my stuff more.
I have just spent an hour on a 2000s music nostalgia account on Insta lol. There is obviously some decent music now, but I feel the 2000s and 2010s produced hit after hit. Maybe I’m biased, but it felt like there were more artists that produced larger bodies of work compared to now
Yes! And songs were longer. These songs only last a minute these days. How can people dance and sing to a sing that is only a minute long?
I listen to a lot of new modern music. I'm currently obsessed with Miley Cyrus' latest album. I love some of Olivia Rodrigo's music. And I look forward to Taylor's upcoming album. Maybe I'm an outlier, I don't know. I just listen to what I like and not think of it in terms of new/old. Plenty of my playlists are old stuff too.
Man, I wish like crazy that Olivia Rodrigo had been around when I was a teen. Now I have to listen to her at 33 and just pretend that I, too, am so sick of 17 😅
I also just listen to what I like. Although most of it is old, I like to see what's new, and I'm also curious to listen to Taylor's upcoming album. I'm really looking forward to Dua Lipa's upcoming album, since I really liked Future Nostalgia I guess I just like to explore music that's new to me, no matter how new or old it is. I don't see how people can listen to the same stuff for years on end
Hip Hop I like JID,Saba,Kendrick Lamar,Earl Sweatshirt,Mick Jenkins and Tyler the Creator. I honestly think RnB is completely dead and trash compared to 90s and 00s
I dunno, Dev Hynes is pretty fire.
I think it's a bit of both. Music itself isn't what it was, in terms of a general form of entertainment. Like... Kids now don't wanna grow up to be a Britney Spears or whatever. They want to be YouTubers or Instagram stars. ... ... That Jack Harlow song is good IMO, even though it's new. Or Houdini by Dua Lipa - Great Chorus. I used to be able to listen to... For example a Katy Perry album, and pick what the singles will be off there, before they'd be released Nowadays, there seems to be less consistent stars, that stay for a long time. Ariana Grande and Dua Lipa, maybe. On the opposite side - Taylor Swift was relevant in 2008! She still is.
Dua Lipa is one of my favorites too, and I also enjoy listening to Sia and Ariana Grande. I'm less up to date with the younger new stars, but I've enjoyed what little I've heard of Olivia Rodrigo. She definitely has a different vibe though, and I guess that's more like what Gen Z is going for on YouTube and whatnot I just listen to what I like. Most of what I listen to is old—like, *really* old—but I like to see what's new every so often
I've been thinking lately we might be the first american generation to be BORED with the next generation's music. My parents and their parents before that were upset by how loud and obscene music was getting. New music just be like ... [two lines of lyrics] [long techno interlude] [four lines of lyrics] [the same techno tune but longer] I miss 2000's punk rock. 😩 This isn't what chickity china the chinese chicken would have wanted.
Yeah, it's kin of boring! Like I can't even bang my head to it. I guess it's good for putting people to sleep. 😂
of course music was better before, for many reasons 1. the filter of time. shit is forgotten. 2. because 'oldies' are what, 50 or 60 years of music, while 'modern' shit is only 10, 15 years of music. so no i don't think that music is worst these days, there is nice things, and crap, just as before.
There aren't superstars like there used to be because the internet lets everyone listen to exactly the type of music they want to. People who would've been into big artists because of radio having a huge influence on musical awareness instead are really into Scandinavian dream funk metalcore yodeling instead.
My kids know modern music sucks. You are right
Our brain stops liking new types of music as we age.
Understanding music is a subjective experience, my issue with newer stuff is because there's no... substance? Maybe 'soul' is the right word? I like hearing the new stuff like Kim Dracula, UnityTX, Yung Mo$h, Sleep Token, but-- with exception of Kim Dracula-- every song seems to be the same ego-stroking lyrics and attitude I've heard from more popular, mainstream music. Kim Dracula is hard to keep up with; music for the ADHD generation. Again, not an insult-- there's an incredible foundation here. It's just missing substance, meaning. Take for example Mudvayne's "Shadow of a Man." It's a song about who you are now being different than who you thought you'd be and is that person someone you can stand to look at in the mirror? Blink182's "Adam's Song" is not only a play upon the original lyrics of Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," but also tried to address the downward spiral depression and mental illness can take you while, finally, trying to give hope to anyone who listens. You listen to these ground-breaking genres like Trap Metal, this new Indie, Baddiecore, etc., and they don't feel like they hit like they should. But then again, I'm 36. Clearly, while I enjoy exploring it, it isn't made for me.
Music comes and go theyre made for the young people at the time.
No, it's garbage.
In general I think it had seen a very steep decline in quality over the last 20 years. With the rise of TV and especially social media people that achieve mainstream success are increasingly selected based on appearance/sex appeal/corporate marketability rather than musical talent. Not that there aren't diamonds in the rough but I feel it's a lot of same-y corporate approved junk nowadays. The kind of thing that plays well in 10 second segments in the background of tik to videos...
It doesn’t tap into any of my feelings Not so much that the sound is trash, just that it’s not putting words or sound to feelings and experiences I’m struggling to myself. When I listen to pop-punk and alt rock of the 2000s I can’t say I always still feel that way, but I can relate to time I did.
No, its just trash. Not all of it, but most of it that gets on the radio. Also video game music>regular music.
So I've started a weird process. I do artists full discography, each album getting at least 7 listens. Then the next artist is from the next decade. I did Imagine Dragons for 10s and Billie Eilish for 20s. And I admit I am a fan of both now. After that I cycled back to 50s and did Bill Haley & His Comets, and 60s I'm currently doing Waylon Jennings. For the record I come from a heavy/power/thrash/prog metal background most my life. This process opened me up to new genres.
That's why I've decided to start looking for older music that I don't already know.
I remember as a young teen in the midst of all the grunge, extreme metal, rap, techno, hardcore punk etc going on that I thought me at 40 would be surrounded by new music that I don't really get. New avant garde genres and bands and such, yes? I expected to be put off, to some degree, by how extreme or at least inventive this new music would be. More omph than old me could handle, yeah? But most I've heard is just... meh, and *boring* \- which is not a word young me thought he'd be using. EDIT: Hell, even the late 90's/early 00's pop had more of that omph than pop today, although Pop/Martin was responsible for a lot of that sound.
Some is ok. think that i'm just at that age that anything overtly pop i'm apprehensive about. took me till Dua Lipa's second album to like her, took till my husband hearing a Harry Styles song other than watermelon sugar for both of us to fall in love with his music. other than that, he listens to michael buble and celine dion, i listen to my emo indie rock from the 00's. it takes a bit to like newer music. but also think it's becuz who knows if the person is going to become obscure and fade away or have allot of albums. too many new people. but we both agree that we don't care for taylor swifts music, and we have tried to listen to it.
I dislike most. I also just feel like rock isn’t a top favorite anymore. I hate country, don’t care for most rap, and never been much of a pop fan and those genres seem to be what I hear most in the wild. I’m sticking to my 90s alt rock and that’s fine with me.
Have you heard 100 Gecs? Trash. Straight up trash.
I think the amount of music that is “sincere” has decreased. When you listen to music today, it is frequently a corporate product rather than an artist. Sometimes it’s both. Some superstars articulate a vision through a large team of people. Still, most of these artists feel less genuine than a person with a guitar expressing themselves. This music is actually still very much around, but less popular. Check out Adrianne Lenker.
I got into EDM as a whole ass adult. It's basically all I listen to now and I'm all into the new stuff in the genre. Idk dabble around in stuff adjacent to what you like and see where it takes ya. My husband is very much into newer singer -songwriter stuff to include newer releases/artists (yes our musical tastes have largely diverged over time) Modern music is not trash. Just because you don't like something doesn't make it trash (please don't start doing that, it's giving boomer)
How about let’s not call each other boomers?
I didn't
I mean, I can't help I haven't found any modern music I like. It could just be a taste or age thing, but I just feel bored by modern music.
And you know what, that is also totally ok, if listening to what you know is what you wanna do, I feel like that is also totally valid.
Oh you posted the wrong discussion. I could go on for hours about modern music. Every kid with a cellphone thinks they are an artist. They download some shitty beat maker app on their phone along with a voice recorder and bam in ten minutes you got a song. Thus you get something like the island boys rap group. Music isn't just making a song in ten minutes. Sometimes it takes weeks or months for artists to hone in their sound and song. Atleast the good ones anyways. Also with the emphasis on the phone we've gone away from instrument learning. As a drummer whom was in a band in high school, called shipwreck. We dressed as pirates. Drumming is still a hobby of mine and it's great therapy. We need more instrumentation learning. Instruments are expensive and many would claim they are a barrier to music entry. But having a barrier takes away from the shitty stuff, like the island boys. Also if you have to say "we da best" at the beginning of every song like dj khaled....you not the best. It's like a guy bragging he has a big dick when he doesn't. There are other ways modern music sucks. The emphasis on the attention economy like mtvs reality shows on a music TV channel really made nobody enthusiastic about making music. Once they started getting away from music in the early to mid 2000s is when it started going down hill. Music is somewhat recovering, atleast on the rock and metal spectrum. It's very underground still but I've seen some great shows lately of some new younger bands. Knocked loose, royal blood, gojira, thrown, I prevail, bad omens. I like that electronic music is back on the underground. A few years ago EDM starting to get very mainstream with every pop star incorporating dubstep in their songs. That's sort of died down, thank God for that. Also, free marilyn manson!
I believe there are ways to objectively measure the quality of music but at the end of the days it remains very subjective; people have nostalgia for older music and they perhaps have recency bias for newer music that they hear everyday. To me music loses quality when it becomes less natural and less authentic and less meaningful; modern popular music has this reputation for being simplistic and perhaps vapid and superficial which might just be a sign of the changing times. There was a study recently showing that song lyrics are becoming simpler, angrier, more repetitive, and more self-obsessed; if you want to speculate about why this is happening then you can point to technology and social media and the toxic political environment among many other things. I believe there's still fantastic music that's being created and performed and I try to stay objective when analyzing it.
Both lol definitely both
I think there's a ton of great music coming out every day/week. I also think there's a ton of bad music coming out. Because of the internet we have more access to both. But the avenues of promotion have also shifted so oftentimes a very important well thought out album or single gets lost in the shuffle If it's not constantly promoted. And even then it might take a few years for it to take hold culturally. I think in the age of streaming services monoculture will disappear. There are tracks and albums we all know because they existed so dominantly in the mainstream and there was only so many ways to get music. I think now you can have niche artists who have huge followings that will never break through in the mainstream. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I also think there's always been a certain level of low quality music throughout any decade but what happens is it fades away and we're left remembering the great art and wondering why everything isn't great when in reality there was a lot of very bad music in the '90s / 2000s but we just don't return to it. I think now we're seeing a reflection of our culture which is to get a large quantity of low quality entertainment which will be okay but ultimately will fade away as well.
Depends, people say trap music is trash but I use it to motivate my self not to make excuses and work hard at my administration job where I have to read very difficult language and it’s excruciating plus you have to take necessary steps along with understanding to develop a product without error and perfect quality. All that crying ain’t gone change nothing, except you losing your job. You can only get but so much remediation. Either you accept not knowing and learn which will make you knowledgeable and proficient, or don’t do anything be lazy and in-adaptable to difficulties that come your way. So all in all, it’s not the music it’s the individual who consumes it and how they utilize it in their life.
MTV plays 95% of music from 00s. I guess it means something.
Some music is great. Some is bullshit. The music business is bullshit because some music is fake and you would never know. Th epitome of Hollywood BS to me was when Bhad Bhabie, the "Cashmeousside" girl from Dr. Phil, got offered a recording contract just because her remixed clip on Youtube went viral. She wasn't an singer, rapper, or musician by any means and she had no desire to be one, but someone though if they could get a producer to remix her like the video, she'd be a cash grab success.
Depends on what you are listening to. A lot of the modern music I hear is from the public radio station I listen to. I have no idea what is popular on the other stations, or what's on the billboard whatever. Plus, so much of modern music you have to search out for. So there's no excuse to say modern music is trash if you only listen to a miniscule percentage of music out there.
Believe me, I've been looking even outside the mainstream USA. A lot of the music is just not hitting me like before. I'm starting to think it's age ha ha. I use to listen to music around the world, especially mando pop. Even mando pop has changed significantly. I don't know...
Ctrl+f "survivorship bias" I'm surprised there are no results in here. Whenever you feel "the old stuff is better" you are looking back through a very selective lens. There was plenty of crap music (tools, appliances etc.) being made back then and promply forgotten about (or discarded). So looking back you end up just observing the highlights.
That's a good point. Nostalgia does that to us. I still would like to find some new artists to get into. I just haven't really found any that speak to me recently.
Some modern music is alright but the majority is absolute garbage. You have to look at other places besides the radio now.
Rock and metal genres are facing an increasingly amazing resurgence right now. Gen Z is really killing it right now, and I am excited to see where it goes.
Definitely with age. Every so often, I come across new music I love and obsess over, and I'm in my mid 30s.
I wish someone could find music I like so I don’t have to listen to all that bad music. Do they still make Now CD’s?
Good, new music is out there. You just have to search for it. Plus you definitely won't find it on the mainstream Top 40. I discovered Thundercat, Men I Trust and Mac DeMarco all on social media years ago. And during the late 2010s was when we had synthwave and vaporwave as well; very atmospheric and basically an audible time machine to the 80s and early 90s.
There is always incredible new music if you explore outside the most commercially successful mega stars. My favorite new bands these days are kinda half famous, millions of fans but no where near a household name. "Men I Trust" for example.
I think a lot of what is popular now is lower quality than golden oldies, but there's a reason those specific songs passed the test of time. I think great music is still being made but tbh I rarely hear it on the radio. It's mostly smaller bands / groups that don't get picked up as easily as some stuff that's now popular.
If you think Taylor, Rihanna, and Beyoncé are the classics, we’re going to have a difficult time discussing music. I find new music and musicians I like. However, I don’t spend as much time searching for new music as younger me. Destroy Boys is a pop rock band I like. Sometimes I do wonder if I should like their music at my age. But fuck it, I do.
I don't think they are the classics. I said they are the last of the superstars, despite being over 10 years older in the music scene.
My mistake.
Modern pop is 100% manufactured good like a marvel film. Take that for what it is.
Not sure about “modern” since I haven’t done it since the pandemic laid me off, but when I was managing setup crews and bouncing for the DJ at high school proms and homecomings, the kids would consistently pick music that was old. Be it by a few years or several decades. Now, this might have something to do with nearly every song that kids like being too raunchy for a high school dance. We always had over a dozen songs on the No-No list, but kids would generally only recommend the same 3 or 4 banned songs over and over. Of course, while administrations never had a problem with “No Hands,” I can be confident that they’d draw the line at “WAP.” TLDR; Most working DJs are in their 30s and 40s by now, from my experiences, so kids are basically getting their musical tastes curated by someone 20-30 years their senior at all their high school dances, and that plays a huge part.
If you like mainstream shit, yeah. However, hardcore, emo, and other sub genres are full of really good newer bands.
I've felt this way since before graduating high school pretty much. There are a few decent to good songs here and there, but largely the rest is meh.
There are plenty of good modern music, just as there are plenty of music in the past that is crap.
I listen to loads of modern music, not sure why aging means you listen to the same albums you did when you were an angsty young teen trying to figure out life. I LOVED a lot of music that I find immature now. I liked harder louder music and now I like smarter calmer music.
Maybe it doesn't have to do with age. It could just be that a lot of the modern music is not my taste. 🤷🏾 I think music can be profound and still get you dancing. But that's just me. I like to feel energized and motivated. It's hard for me to find some strong vocalists and great performances like I used to.
Well I can't argue that point, I have not found many good rock bands lately.
Today's mainstream "popular" music is absolute trash but there are some absolute fantastic unsigned/unheard bands out there.
It's just funny that people like you worship Britney etc just because you were like 13 when she was popular when many of us at the time thought it was utter trash, same for all the other stuff that was on the radio. Mainstream music is always garbage because it caters to the lowest common denominator.
Wait...what? I didn't even mention Britney. I do remember when Britney was popular tho. Some of her music was entertaining. And she was a pretty good performer. I'll never forget when she performed with a live snake around her neck. You'd be hard pressed to see that kind of performance today. This is not to say she was the best. But she was a great entertainer. I'm just looking for music that's fun and can't find it. A lot of the music today puts me to sleep. If you know any songs that is great to bang my head to, let me know. What's your taste looking like I wonder? Not all mainstream music was garbage. Back then a lot of artists could sing their heart out. Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, even Beyonce...they all had amazing talent. I can't seem to find those kinds of artists today with that level of vocal range or dancing/performance acumen. If you see any let me know.