Why is modern pop music today so terrible?

One word... Compression :/

"Why is modern pop music today so terrible?"

Because it's an honest reflection of the times that we live in: pop music for mass consumption is superficial, artificial, meaningless and 100% disposable.  Here today and gone later today.  It wasn't always that way imo.  

It is what it is.  And most of it is God-awful and execrable.

There.  Spoken like a true Old Fart.

I'm not an old fart lol, but I agree with that statement as far as the music itself and not the actual recording process. It's cheap and the easy way " 2 takes and we will fix it in post" most the time the music itself in prefabricated and auto tune inhanced vocals laid down on top, You look and the garbage sampes supposed artist like Diplo, sleepy Tom, M82, the weekend are laying down. even that Justin temberlake dude and honestly you would think he would know better as long as he's been an artist. It's just crappy home studio garbage. you will notice that there is some that do, do a good job spend massive amounts of time in the studio to get it right. But they are really few and far b/t. 

One of the truest old sayings is" The Good is the Enemy of the Best !"

If you settle for good it inevitability becomes fair which over time degenerates to bad

Bach is Best .

While I agree with most of you guys about modern top 40 pop, I definitely come at my disdain for this music from a different angle..

I love electronic music. Experimental, abstract, dubstep, house, ambient, noise.. I have found tracks I love from almost every sub genre. Right now, there is so much incredible electronic music out there, inventive and fresh. That's what drew me to it after a childhood of listening to never ending classic rock on the Jersey shore.

I'm disenchanted with pop right now because it borrows its sounds and production values heavily from the producers pushing the edge, but does so in a way that crushes the inventiveness, making what could be incredible tracks into milquetoast mush. That said, there is the occasional track that I fall in love with only to find out it is a big hit 'out there'.. on those rare occasions, my faith in humanity is momentarily restored.