Does it seem like popular music is (mostly) dead, to you?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

It does to me. I will disclose that I haven't listened to music radio with any regularity for years... And the Clear Channel acquisition and homogenization of huge numbers of stations has had a big, negative influence IMHO.

I remember going on job interviews some years back, and whatever city I was in, depending on the time of day and "genre" of station, I could almost call out their whole playlist.

I realize that corrupting influences like payola (music companies paying radio for airtime for their artists) etc. have existed since the beginning of pop music and radio, along with prepackaged acts like Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, Limp Bizkit etc.

I don't think humans fundamentally change much over decades, because genetically we change very slowly. There are probably the same proportion of musical geniuses and talentless hacks in any given year. I guess what I'm saying is that the current corporate framework of the music industry and radio has made it harder for the true talents to be recognized amid the dross. And as a result the popular music industry seems stagnant to me, at least since most of the 90s.

The internet should actually make the appearance and recognition of new talent easier, especially if one dollar song downloads can reinvigorate the actual concept of the SINGLE which disappeared in the era of the 15-20 dollar CD full of crappy music to get the 2 songs you like. So long as the new artists can still make money and not be subject to endless piracy. I don't know what the current ratio purchased versus pirated online music is, but if people are purchasing more online due to the popularity of .mp3/ipod players then perhaps we could be on the threshold of a great new era in popular (and other) music.

Thoughts? Discussion?

[Broken_Hero]

1. Mainstream music

is completely dead to me, unless I know a band that I like, is coming out with a new cd, than I go buy it. I hardly listen to the radio, MTV is pure crap, Vh1 never shows videos, except its top 20 countdown...I miss MTV 2, and Fuse Network, they at least play music...and even then...with Fuse I only watch Uranium, and with MTV 2 its all about headbangers ball for me(if its still going)....

The pop scene, that hit us in 98 or so, with Britany, nysnc, and all of those bands, I believe....have killed music IMO. At least, the music I enjoy...If you like teeny bop music, or rap music without much content, than the music of today, is your hog heaven.

[Jamastiene]

15. I agree that mainstream music went downhill starting

in 98, not only with the fluff pop crap bands, but with that whole rap/metal angry rich white right wing boys thing too. I could do without all of that crap. Give me some mid 90's music and I'm happy, pop music included.

[fudge stripe cookays]

2. Yep.

I moved to Dallas in 94. Couldn't afford cable. Had used 120 Minutes on M-TV to turn on to new stuff for years.

During those few years I did without, and Dallas had nothing interesting (other than KNON and KERA- when it still played music), I was shocked when I tuned back in. Nothing worth tuning in for.

I haven't cared about music since the Afghan Whigs broke up a couple years ago. Every once in awhile I hear something I like (for instance, a Keane song on KFOG last week while I was out in San Jose). But it ain't often.

[SteppingRazor]

3. If you haven't listened to the radio with regularity in years...

how can you presume to call music radio DOA?

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

5. I guess what I'm saying is, the times I DO tune in, either because the

radio is on wherever I am, or I don't have my own tunes with me etc., I hear nothing much good.

[SteppingRazor]

7. Just playing devil's advocate. Music radio sucks these days, but...

that doesn't mean that popular music sucks. A quick glance over this week's Billboard Top 100 reveals some really great albums by Gov't Mule, Prince, Johnny Cash, Snow Patrol, Panic at the Disco, Gnarls Barkley, and OutKast, whose new album debuted at No. 2. Admittedly, that's all floating in a sea of mediocrity (Paris Hilton's album debuted at No. 6, for example), but I think the person who posted in this thread about how music has always been a few diamonds and a whole lot of lumps of coal was spot on.

[fudge stripe cookays]

6. If you live in a market cornered by Clear Channel

as MM and I do here in the Dallas area, you don't know there is anything different out there anymore. I have to go on trips to California, Seattle, etc to hear anything decent anymore.

[Jokerman]

4. IMHO a large percentage of popular music has always been crap.

At any given time there has been a whole lot of corporate promoted junk and a small amount of real talent. We tend to remember the good and forget about the bad when looking back.

I will agree that media consolidation and the image over substance world of music videos may have made the situation worse.

[speedoo]

8. Most of the stuff on standard FM and AM is crap.

But, as someone else has mentioned, that's always been the case, really.

If there are no good FM stations in your area, you can stream some really good stations online if you are set up for that.

Here's a great NYC station, for example:

http://www.wfuv.org/

They do a nice job, presenting all kinds of quality music.

And I agree that the ability to sample digital music on line, and buy only what you like.... is a great new development. I can only hope that it fosters the development of all the talent that's out there. I've been downloading music that I would have never had access to without this change.

[billyskank]

9. Of course there is always the "music isn't what it used to be" factor

But apart from that, yes. Modern pop music IS shit. :rofl:

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

13. Whatchoo trying to say? I know I've been an old fogey forever. LOL

[Radical Activist]

10. For the most part.

Domination by a few national chains is a real problem, not just clearchannel. I still hear good new music on the local community radio station and when I go to Chicago where stations play things that aren't on the national repetitive play lists.

[mainegreen]

11. My music never has been, probably never will be on the radio.

Sure maybe after 2am in cities like NY, Detroit or Baltimore, but otherwise? Forget about it. The only radio I listen to is our local college station.

[Spider Jerusalem]

12. Dead? No...

I don't really listen to 'popular' music, either, though (in the sense of 'the kind of music that makes up most of the playlists of nearly every top 40 or rock station in the country). I'm lucky enough to live in an area with a few really good college and community stations,so I haven't listened to commercial radio in about a decade or so. And there's some decent music radio available through online audio streams, too (BBC 6 Music and BBC 1Xtra are two I listen to regularly).

[last_texas_dem]

14. Yeah

Well, for one thing, my music taste has generally been stuck in the past. I usually have a few newer bands/artists I like, but the bulk of what I listen at any given time is usually stuff from thirty or forty years ago. I can usually find something to listen to on the radio, though, 'cause I like all kinds of music. If I tried to confine myself to only new music stations, though, I'd probably have problems. And while I understand where people who say popular music has always been dominated by crap are coming from, to me at least, the "crap" (and yeah, I know and love old "crap"; I'm no purist in my musical taste by any means) of the sixties and seventies seems to have a lot more value (even if that's only defined by staying power and listenability) than today's "crap". And I'm not being blinded by nostalgia; I wasn't born until '83, so at worst I'm just an old fogey at too young of an age!

EDITED to change "twenty or thirty" to "thirty or forty" for the purpose of accuracy!

[datasuspect]

16. it's not music

it is engineered overproduced entertainment product manufactured to move as many units as possible in the shortest possible time.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

17. How old are you?

Because losing interest in popular music is the usual consequence of aging.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

19. I'm an old fogey, so this is entirely possible.

[idgiehkt]

18. I think it's just weird

Blondes acting stupid. They aren't even singers or musicians, they are just cross-marketing their asses off trying to generate as many millions as they can so they can flame out on coke as young as possible... :puke:

[begin_within]

20. Songwriting is dead. Singing, recording, concerts are alive, but writing

is a goner.

[hippywife]

25. Maybe in the pop genre

but it's still very much alive in the Americana/Roots sector.

[crim son]

21. I have two teenagers

who never let me forget what's popular, on the radio or off. Both of them regularly add new music to my iTunes account, bring home burned CDs with somebody else's current favorites, whatever. Funny thing: they both have pretty good, if random, taste.

[Joe Fields]

22. It's been on life support since the early 70's.

[mvd]

23. Nah

It could definitely be better, but it's not dead. I think that the non-hip/hop scene has improved since the 90s with pop/rock artists like Avril Lavigne, Michelle Branch, Anna Nalick, All American Rejects, Evanescence, The Fray, Blue October, etc. And as SteppingRazor said, there are quite a few good semi-popular artists out there. And even though I'm kind of lukewarm about it, Christina Aguilera's new CD does take risks. But I'm not a hip/hop fan, so for me, the pop scene has gotten worse in a way because hip/hop is dominant on radio. Even there I find bright spots, like Beyonce (who does a mix of hip/hop with R&B.) Gnarls Barkley is also good.

There are still notable low spots, like Paris Hilton, Nickelback, and The Pussycat Dolls. But IMO, the pure modern rock scene is really struggling. Not too many popular bands with the quality of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Hole, Garbage, Stone Temple Pilots, Smashing Pumpkins, and Veruca Salt out there.

[mvd]

27. Oh, and a couple more things

The Wreckers are on the Billboard 100 chart right now with "Leave The Pieces," and The Dixie Chicks have been there I'm sure. Love both artists.

[sendero]

24. You just have to..

... forget radio. It's history in terms of playing music that deserves to be heard.

But the internet comes to the rescue once again. I still find new music that is good, using a combination of the various music review sites (pitchfork et al) and p2p programs.

If somethings sounds interesting, I download it. If it turns out to be good, I go buy it.

Also, my 16 year old son has excellent taste and he exposes me to a lot of stuff I would't otherwise hear. We're going to see "Tv on the Radio" soon :)

[mvd]

26. The Billboard charts still have good stuff on it, as I said

It all depends on what the listener likes. If you love pure punk and metal, you won't find much on the radio to like, if at all.