Is popular music today better than it was 10 years ago?

[vshen]

I have been going way back to the past for music as every year goes on. In general I hate the stuff coming out now and they are not getting any better. There are a few exceptions out there but very few. I have been going back to the 80s, 70s, and 60s for most of the hard rock and pop mostly and also the 90s since that was my teen years and really enjoyed some of the hip hop and rnb back then.

 

[Dwarf lord]

I don't know. I have a lot of stuff from 10 years ago and the 90s and I have a lot of stuff from now on my ipod. And like wise I have a lot of stuff from the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s. I have a lot of Dixie Jazz from the early part of the 20th Century and I have a lot of classical music represented on my ipod. Eras are kind of meaningless to me. Music keeps getting released with little regard to the era its in. All that's different is popularity of the genres and technologies available.

Just did a five song shuffle and we had Johnny Cash, Dropkick Murphys, Dave Matthews Band, Ella Fitzgerald, Rise Against and The Rolling Stones. All from different eras, but I enjoy it all...

 

[CelticPredator]

All I know is, Dubstep is the one of the worst things ever created by a human.

I can avoid Bieber and all that crap...but everywhere I go "WOMP WOMP EWEEEEE WOMP WOMP"

**** that noise!

 

[moviedoors]

I'm not a huge listener, but Dubstep is awesome. Such great, gnarly synth sounds, audio manipulations, and twitching, freaking-out drum patterns. It's one of the few danceable sub genre's of electronic music that I find palatable. It's not as annoying as that bass-hihat-bass-hihat, arpeggiator melody, bumper sticker lyric, 20 minute thump fests that raver kids love.

 

[Rocketman]

"Is popular music today better than it was 10 years ago?"
Adele makes me want to say yes.

 

[04nbod]

I think pop music went downhill between 2004-2008 of the last decade in the UK. Speaking as someone who likes good catchy pop and dance those were the lean years. Full of thug rap and R&B with a sprinking of dreary indie (which had been the undercurrent of 2000-2003 with Eminem and David Gray but then exploded). Kanye started the dance trend in 2007 when he sampled Daft Punk in Stronger but it didn't really come of age until Gaga's Just Dance. True rock has remained pretty dead. In the last 10 years have there been any mainstream Rock success outside Linkin Park, Paramore, RHCP and Foos?

 

[SnuffTheRooster]

Foo Fighters are the only modern mainstream rock band I can tolerate. I wish I could find more, but its very hard. I've got a selective taste in music anyhow.

GREAT comment, because I too have noticed this trend. During the last decade, I always knew a large subset of younger people in my demographic who tended to prefer older music. Especially in university, it seemed every dorm room was populated by students with t-shirts and posters of Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and Bob Marley. I don't think this has ever occurred previously during the 20th century. During the 60s, how many kids were going around saying "modern music sucks, you guys have got to get into the classic **** like Bing Crosby"?

Agreed. I've noticed this too.

Theres absolutely no generation gap with me and my dad, and he's 30 years older than me. We like the same music, we have very similar interests, we like the same movies. The only people I have a generation gap with are people who are my age :P

 

[jjgravitas]

Every decade has had its good music and its crap. Mostly, its crap. To find the good music you have to look for it. What is missing today is brave radio stations that will ignore the pablum and play the good stuff. The best stations I can find these days play metal, alt-rock, or classic rock, and I'm pretty bored with it. I don't have a single recording that was produced after 2000 because

I cant afford to buy anymore
I know there are good artists out there but I am not exposed to them and I am not motivated to search for them

My favorites (very short list, by decade of origin)

• The 60's
  • the beatles
  • the stones
  • the who
  • moody blues
  • cream
  • led zepplin
  • bonzo dog band
  • bob dylan
  • the yardbirds
  • jimi hendrix
  • frank zappa & the mothers of invention
  • the hollies
  • the doors
  • king crimson
• The 70's
  • the ex-beatles (some of it)
  • pink floyd
  • harry nilsson
  • emerson lake & palmer
  • pretenders
  • pat benetar
  • flying lizards
  • zz top
  • yes
  • david bowie
• The 80's
  • the residents
  • the police
  • talking heads
  • sheila chandra
  • robyn hitchcock
  • pogues
  • bananarama
  • janes addiction
  • eurythmmics
  • joan jett
  • cramps
  • billy idol
  • tom petty
  • blondie
  • stray cats
  • art of noise
  • b-52's
  • inxs
  • bangles
• The 90's
  • red hot chili peppers
  • metalica
  • shonen knife
  • my life with the thrill kill kult
  • ministry
  • ten thousand maniacs
  • squirrel nut zippers
  • the breeders
  • white zombie
  • kelly willis
  • liz phair
  • tori amos
  • nine inch nails (trent reznor)
  • the klf
• The 2000's
  • ???

Doesn't say much for the current music scene, does it?

 

[lespaul59]

I've become a huge fan of Grace Potter and the Nocturnals and they released their first album in 2005. But overall I think somethings in music are better and some are not. Probaly one of the best and at the same time worst things about the music business now is that any body can record an album and/or play gigs( or tour depending on the situation). I think it's good because good music and bands that might have been over looked before can get their music out there. While at the same time bands that are not good at all are going to clutter the market and make it harded to find the good stuff.

Personaly my taste in music lean towards older bands while I like a few of the newer bands they're few and far inbetween.

 

[Call Me Darkman]

• The 2000's
  • ???

Rock music has been pretty dead this past decade, so I understand your frustration. But let's not overlook the other genres of music. Just because one genre is dead doesn't mean the other ones are as well.

 

[Fanticon]

good music in all genres is not dead, you just have to seek it out. Popular music in all genres, will always be just that. Popular. And in ten years some of it will feel really dated and some of it will last the test of times. One hit wonders will one day breathe new life again when they are remade and recycled into new hits in the future. And we've got a lot of one hit wonders pumping out of the last 10 years. Label's no longer care about entire albums anymore. Just get that one hit on the radio and suck the life out of it.

That said, I think popular music today sounds worse than it ever has. Like ears bleeding worse.

 

[SnuffTheRooster]

"Good" rock music is extremely hard to find these days, at least for me. Its all about personal taste, and I admit my taste is somewhat selective. I only have 2 or 3 bands on my phone that have released an album in the past 10 years

 

[Raiden]

"Good" rock music is extremely hard to find these days, at least for me. Its all about personal taste, and I admit my taste is somewhat selective. I only have 2 or 3 bands on my phone that have released an album in the past 10 years

Well, I do find myself liking alot of the current bands, such as Rise Against (one of my favorites right now), Muse, Phoenix, etc. And many older bands still rock to this day, like Foo Fighters, RHCP, Pearl Jam, and (recently reunited) Soundgarden, Bush, and STP. It's not as great as the 90's, during the height of the popularity of many grunge and alternative rock, but I won't say the current rock scene is bad.

 

[Karelia]

Foo Fighters and Pearl Jam are still awesome.

A more current artist I'm really loving is Klayton (Celldweller) I'm loving all his new tunes from Wish Upon A Blackstar. Mastodon's stuff is pretty amazing for Rock/Metal, IMO.

And Daft Punk's score on Tron was brilliant. I hope they put out a new album someday.

That's all the current artist I can think of that I really like. Least that I have on my Itunes.