Why does most new music suck?

Popular music keeps getting worse and worse, IMO. And for the record, I'm not one of those who prefers the popular music of his own generation (the 80's). I prefer the popular music of generations before mine. Virtually any of them.

Some hypotheses about why things are getting worse...

1. Increasingly sophisticated market analysis. The attitude seems to be: give them what they want, even if what they want is garbage. In fact, garbage is cheaper to produce, so all the better.

2. The prioritization of televisuality. Now beauty = talent. That is a new development over the past few decades, and a terrible disservice to music.

3. Proliferation of artists. Hard to find a needle in a haystack, especially a haystack of needles.

4. Cultural apathy. War? Corruption? Starvation? Screw it, American Idol starts in 5 minutes.

I'm sure there are lots of other reasons, but those are some likely ones that come to mind.

Bryon

This has been an interesting thread, though IMO some of the responses have been a bit unkind.

As I mentioned in my post on 5/28, I’m one of the folks who believe that popular music is getting worse. I think there’s been a bit of confusion on the thread about whether people are saying…

(1) POPULAR music is getting worse.
(2) ALL music is getting worse.

My impression is that most of the people who agree with the OP, myself included, are saying (1) but not (2). And so the assumption that we who believe that popular music is getting worse are (a) old, and (b) unwilling to explore new music is, IMO, false. FWIW, I am 40 and I explore new music regularly, including some of the artists that have been mentioned on this thread as examples of good contemporary music.

In my view, the observation that, as people age, they relate less to contemporary popular culture is an accurate generalization. But, IMO, that fact alone does not invalidate their opinions about popular culture, including popular music. In fact, there is some reason to believe that older people are in a BETTER position to judge the relative merits of eras of popular culture, for the simple reason that they have far more experience with multiple eras than younger people do.

And finally, the view that those who believe that popular music is getting worse are simply out of touch seems to be based on the assumption that cultural and artistic regression isn’t possible. But even a casual look at the history of art, science, and politics will reveal that cultural regression in all three is not only possible, but a common historical reality. If you need an example of that, look no further than the middle ages, when many of the artistic, scientific, and political achievements of the ancient world were lost, hidden, or destroyed. That is cultural regression. And if you’d like more recent examples, look at the artistic, scientific, and political regression in virtually every totalitarian state in the 20th century, and there were plenty of those.

Yes, I know, I’m being dramatic. We don’t live in the middle ages, or in North Korea. But the point I’m making is that there is absolutely no guarantee that music, or art more generally, or science, or governance, will progress over time, or even stay constant over time. On the contrary, all of those domains of human affairs are vulnerable to regression, and when they regress far enough, they collapse.

But now I’m being dramatic again. Happy listening.

Bryon

A lot of hostility on this thread. Some notable exceptions, like Mapman. Whether or not there has been a decline in popular music, there seems to be a decline in popular civility.

I expect the responses to this post will prove my point.

Bryon

06-05-13: Onhwy61
To paraphrase Edgar Quintet -- civility and good manners are ordinarily the last refuge of a degenerate nobility.

I have read a great number of your posts, Onhwy61, and found them generally entertaining, intelligent, and friendly. This one seems out of place, to put it politely. You can't really be calling me "degenerate" for commenting on the tenor of this thread.

Bryon

06-05-13: Csontos
I really don't see a lack of civility here.

Then you missed it. Here's a sample, each from a different contributor...

You must be old.

...you might as well go on Eagles tour or cough up $500 for a Stones ticket. It sounds as if your stone gathered moss long ago.

Most new things (music, fashion, books, art, ect.) suck because you've gotten old and become inflexible. You know what you know and really don't want to know anything else.

You are sucking lemons. Sorry you are missing out. Oh wait, I am not sorry.

If you aren't willing to do that and don't like what is out there today, then stay at home, listen to your superbly recorded albums from yesteryears and enjoy.

Hopefully you'll see the light before you die...

Sounds like lack of civility to me.

06-05-13: Csontos
I'd be disappointed had this thread become an exercise in etiquette.

06-05-13: Csontos
You really gotta hate those snobby tube guys though:)

Anyone who has read my posts will recognize the absurdity of these remarks.

Bryon

06-05-13: Csontos
Frederich Nietzsche... "And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music".

Small correction... There is no evidence that this quote is from Nietzsche, in spite of its popular attribution. It is, however, a tattoo on Megan Fox. Perhaps it is an act of snobbery, but I will look elsewhere for words of wisdom.

Bryon

Thank you, Onhwy61, for your thoughtful response. It is not easy to be thoughtful during a disagreement, and I genuinely appreciate it. I have a reaction to your post, and I hope you will find it similarly reasonable...

What I've done is quote someone who has pointed out that good manners and civility are a method used by one class of society to oppress another sector of that society. The implication is that you are trying to impose civility upon this thread as an attempt to silence opinions that disagree with yours. I doubt that was your intention, but that may well be the effect.

Though I understood the meaning of the quote, I failed to appreciate your interpretation that my comments might, intentionally or not, silence opinions that disagree with mine. It certainly was not my intention to silence anyone, as you mentioned. In fact, my intention was exactly the opposite. It was to point out some comments that I felt might be intended to silence opposition. It is ironic and unfortunate that, in my attempt to challenge what I perceived to be peremptory comments, I made what you perceived to be peremptory comments. You have my apology for that.

Those who are familiar with my posting history will know that I have no problem with differences of opinion. My first comment on this thread reflects that. If it weren't for differences of opinion, this site and those like it would be very boring. I made the comments I did because I felt that the thread was veering into territory where nothing constructive gets said, because people have dug their heels in too deep. You have resisted the temptation to do that, and I thank you for it.

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming...

Bryon

06-05-13: Simao
I'm not sure what the deal with "civility" is. I mean, are we to handle every utterance and statement with kid gloves? ... I don't think audiogon is the domain of sycophants.

This is a false contrast. There is a whole continuum of behavior in between hostility and sycophancy. Somewhere in the middle is civility.

And with that comment, I give up. Enjoy yourselves, gentlemen.

Bryon