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

[terry78]

Music is a sacred cow to a lot of people. So when someone likes it just because it's "fun" or has a nice groove, that just kills them.

 

[Chris Wallace]

In my opinion, there has been a steady decline in the overall quality of popular music over the last 15 years with no end in sight. The bright spots that have come along-at least what I consider enjoyable-get very little airplay and are greatly outnumbered by the nonsense & noise.

 

[Manic]

And with that note, 15 years ago...

1. Macarena - Los Del Rio
2. One sweet day - Mariah Carey & Boyz II Men
3. Because you loved me - Celine Dion
4. Nobody knows - Tony Rich Project
5. Always be my baby - Mariah Carey
6. Give me one reason - Tracy Chapman
7. Tha crossroads - Bone Thugs-N-Harmony
8. I love you always forever - Donna Lewis
9. You're makin' me high /Let it flow - Toni Braxton
10. Twisted - Keith Sweat



R&B sure as hell isn't anywhere near as popular as it used to be. 1996 loses points for having Keith Sweat on its charts. I can deal with "Macarena," but there was no excuse for that whiny voiced sumb**** Keith Sweat to have a career.

 

[terry78]

R&B doesn't really have the catchy hooks it used to. Back then you could distinguish from every song on the radio almost. Now they all got that slow bop or that poppy dance thing.

 

[Chris Wallace]

R & B is ALL ABOUT catchy hooks now rather than lyrics of substance.

 

[Manic]

R & B is ALL ABOUT catchy hooks now rather than lyrics of substance.

Marsha Ambrosius
Anthony David
Musiq Soulchild
Raphael Saadiq
Jill Scott
Adele
Robin Thicke
Erykah Badu


And those are some of the popular acts. There's very little R&B in the Top 40 these days. Practically all R&B is obscure, save the occasional Beyonce song or that new Miguel dude.

 

[Chris Wallace]

Those people get a LOT less airplay than "I Bet The Neighbors Know My Name".

 

[Manic]

Those people get a LOT less airplay than "I Bet The Neighbors Know My Name".

Maybe where you live. On my local R&B station, I get Marsha Ambrosius' song dedicated to a dead friend and Anthony David's song about committing to his wife.

 

[terry78]

It depends on the area, and what people are constantly requesting.

 

[BlackLantern]

R & B is baby makin' music

 

[terry78]

Nowadays it's any poppy rap song that she can dance to.

 

[RockSP]

"Dad, where'd you meet Mama?"

"Oh, she was in the club singing about balls"

© Chris Rock

 

[terry78]

Skeet skeet skeet!

Rock was on point with that bit, mostly because every female in the audience knew he was right.

 

[Snare]

I've never listened to chart music, so its all one big crappy unrecognisable haze from 2001 - 2011 for me.

 

[Call Me Darkman]

What people fail to realize is that popular music is always criticized. Even The Beatles got backlash in their heyday. The thing about music is that it serves two functions: an excuse for a social gathering (dancing) and hitting those emotional cores when you're alone. Pop music, by definition, is for the masses. If you're not at the club grindin' with the opposite sex then there's no reason for you to enjoy the Black Eyed Peas.

 

[WildcatNC]

Its relative really. The music when your young is generally the music you "connect" to. Most people will always think that was the BEST music.

I always liked older stuff. I was raised on 60's and 70's rock, but I also love 80's music and the stuff coming out when I was a teenager (Pearl Jam, STP, Live, etc). I'm also a big Beatles fan.

Occasionally new stuff comes out that I like but much of it is crap to me. Problem is I think we forget all the crap that was coming out 10 years ago too. Some great stuff of course, but lots of **** too.

 

[BlackLantern]

yes

 

[SentinelMind]

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

Heck no. Autotuning, cursing every other word, and mumbling generic lyrics is no way near good as classics of early 2000s (and even better yet the 90s).

 

[Heretic]

Regarding the original post...I absolutely hate that when we were dealing with record labels, trying to get a deal...we wrote some INCREDIBLY radio friendly songs, but included guitar solos. The labels all told us that guitar solos would never come back in style...so we went our own way, put all of those mainstream songs in a file for later use...and released an album thats not as mainstream...and next thing you know guitar solos are back again...

 

[terry78]

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

Heck no. Autotuning, cursing every other word, and mumbling generic lyrics is no way near good as classics of early 2000s (and even better yet the 90s).

That's been around much longer than you think, for a lot of genres.

 

[SpideyInATree]

Regarding the original post...I absolutely hate that when we were dealing with record labels, trying to get a deal...we wrote some INCREDIBLY radio friendly songs, but included guitar solos. The labels all told us that guitar solos would never come back in style...so we went our own way, put all of those mainstream songs in a file for later use...and released an album thats not as mainstream...and next thing you know guitar solos are back again...

Shoot I never even knew guitar solos ever left. Guess it depends on who and what you're listening to.

 

[spidey99]

I don't think I've listened to a radio station of any kind since the early 90s. Nothing on there I ever want to hear. Always play my own tunes off Cassettes, then CDs and now a tiny usb drive in my car stereo. Could be the reason I only know names like Lady Gaga, Justin Beeber, the one that just died.... um... forgot her name. I've never heard any of their songs, wouldn't know them if I heard them in a store either. I like hard rock and heavy metal, and I buy the CDs of the bands I like, and thats how I listen to music.

 

[BlackLantern]

same here....my car radio is either turned to news or sports talk radio

 

[Call Me Darkman]

The music when your young is generally the music you "connect" to.

If people were more open-minded, that wouldn't be the case. Every decade has good and bad music. Every decade has genres that rise in popularity while others decline. Every decade has legends and one-hit wonders.

To ask if music now is better or worse than 10 years ago is very vague. There's simply too many variables. Rap was better 10 years ago. Pop is better now. Rock has been stale for 15 years. R&B has seen better days.

It all depends, really.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

I can't even name 3 currently popular songs.

I used to be able to name at least 6 on any given month.

Maybe I'm just getting older but I'm pretty sure mst music today is instantly forgettable.