The problem with the last 10-15 years or so is that no one have any respect for music any more.
The artists don't put enough work into it, the consumers aren't picky enough, the DJ's don't give a crap. No one cares about music, and we're flooded with too much music.
When I grew up in the 90's, even the dance music was well put together because you had to have a real studio to make music (which costed a shit load of money) - now days people make #1 records on a laptop, which in a way is a great thing because it opens up doors for people with no money.
But in the end of the day it's like, we're brain washed but what MTV and the radio channels are playing and people are dumb enough to buy those records.
It's an evil cycle where people buy and support crap music, and the labels force us to buy that crap by not putting out quality music.
It's funny, because I was thinking this exact same thing while listening to Kiss FM the other day. I couldn't agree with this more.
The problem with music today is that very little effort or artistic vision and ability are required to get a hit single on the radio. It's all about the hook, the chorus, the catchy line. And when any random kid (Soulja Boy comes to mind) can make a crappy song on a MAC that is just catchy enough to make it on the radio, then who needs good production? Who needs real, live instruments? Why bother putting any time or effort into creating art when some random crap you put together in 20 minutes will make you thousands? When it's all about getting the number one song on Itunes, and not the number one ALBUM on Billboard, it becomes all about churning out fast selling singles as quickly and cheaply as possible.
I personally don't think that music really started going downhill until around 1998/99. That's when artists like Britney Spears and NSync really blew up, and to a music industry that has been struggling to keep up with consumers for years, that really set a standard for them. An artist has to sell millions of singles (not albums) to be considered worthwhile to labels nowadays. That doesn't leave much room for creativity when it means it might not appeal to consumers. And since radio stations are controlled by the labels, we get force fed worthless, thoughtless crap over and over until it gets stuck in our heads and we fork over our money to buy the crap on Itunes.
Don't get me wrong, I know that there has been good music made since 1998. I was born in 1985, so although I was very young, I did get to experience and enjoy the last couple of years of the 80's. I've been really into music my whole life, starting with New Kids On the Block, Madonna, MJ, Prince, George Michael, Janet... In the 90's I loved TLC, Fiona Apple, Alanis Morrissette... And even when I was in high school, there were a few great singles like "Lady Marmalade" or even "Slave 4 U", although back then 1999-2003 I knew that the majority of popular music was crap. I don't hate pop music at all, but I've always been able to tell the difference between good pop music, and bad pop music. And today, with music being so easy to make, and the music industry dying a painful death and being desperate to make money no matter what it takes, bad pop music reigns supreme.
Sorry, as you can see, this is a topic I'm very passionate about. :blush: I hope to be a music producer someday, so I always try to stay current on music trends. But listening to Kiss FM the other day and hearing some song "Meet Me At the Hotel" more than once in the same hour, I just wanted to vomit. It's disgraceful that crap like that could get on popular radio! I'm just scared to think about how much worse it can get in the next decade! :blink:
