Why is modern pop music today so terrible?

I think there is a lot of great music out there but they have no widely visible method to distribute it.  Back in the "good old days" of the Beatles, record companies invested and promoted bands.   They also ripped them off at times.  So now record companies are gone, no more of that 3 weeks in the studio-expenses paid- to write and create stuff.   Now the artists make money on the tour, not the record, and usually finance the record themselves.   So they do what they want.

There are a few great records out there made today.  Sarah Jarosz (americana) sounds amazing.  All her records done by the same guy Gary Pacoza who is really good at recording.  The Lorde record was done well, minimal processing, decent sound, nice and simple, not much production.  Michael Bishop's (engineer) DSD work is so good, like Eric Bibb and Hiromi.    Look up recordings by engineer Bill Vorndik (Bella Flek is a client of his), or George Massenburg etc.  So I think its out there.

Brad   

Exactly. Pop music is terrible in all time periods, just probably getting worse and worse. And that's good - let's see how bad bad can be.

One note: pop music by definition is viewed differently depending on perspective.  
If you were 13 in 1962, the Beatles was the most amazing band ever.
If you were 19, the Stones was WAY cooler, much more the street band and avant garde of the time.  The Beatles all cheesy pop music!  Plus they can barely play their instruments. 
If you were 35 in 1962, you may well have thought the Beatles absolutely sucked, 3 chord garbage.  Give me the big band that was at least comprised of musicians who could play.

Brad

In 1962 if you were in America you probably had not heard or heard of the Beatles at all.

Also, the Beatles played their own guitars all the time, except for Clapton's solo on the White Album.  And they played their instruments every bit as well as the Stones.  Eventually, far better.  The Stones were for people who thought they had to be a little bit cooler, less mainstream.  Both great bands, BTW.