Why does most new music suck?

Many great posts.

Maybe what can be said musically, that resonates with the western world, is finite, and we are getting close to the end. Pickings are getting slim. Could the only way forward be backwards? With better tech to record and listen.

Time for the rest of the world to take the stage?

I am just glad I lived during a time when all the great stuff was created or was aval on hifi systems for the home.

50 years from now, todays teens will make a similar statement.

For me, I know my place in time and I am satisfied with it. There is sooooooo much Jazz and classical music I have yet to hear. The young folks like the current music scene, just as I did in the 60's.

IMHO! whew! Almost forgot.

Cheers

05-28-13: Elizabeth
Agree, you ARE turning into your parents. Plenty of new music is great.

Sorry, but you are coming off as the old person here Elizabeth. You're watching too much American Idol and mistaking that for talent. LOL!

If today's music is so 'great', how come all the high school and college kids of today are walking around in Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, etc., T-shirts?

Popular music keeps getting worse and worse, IMO. And for the record, I'm not one of those who prefers the popular music of his own generation (the 80's). I prefer the popular music of generations before mine. Virtually any of them.

Some hypotheses about why things are getting worse...

1. Increasingly sophisticated market analysis. The attitude seems to be: give them what they want, even if what they want is garbage. In fact, garbage is cheaper to produce, so all the better.

2. The prioritization of televisuality. Now beauty = talent. That is a new development over the past few decades, and a terrible disservice to music.

3. Proliferation of artists. Hard to find a needle in a haystack, especially a haystack of needles.

4. Cultural apathy. War? Corruption? Starvation? Screw it, American Idol starts in 5 minutes.

I'm sure there are lots of other reasons, but those are some likely ones that come to mind.

Bryon

Commercialization is the villain. Music has become a commodity. Try looking outside this continent to find something new and challenging.

Stay away from formula driven music. Avoid rehashed drivel. Take a chance on something you normally wouldn't. Go outside your comfort zone.

Good luck,
Nonoise

A lot of good comments here! I don't think I totally alone in my opinion. For those that can recommend well recorded, well written and performed releases, I'm all ears. It can't be just one song but an entire cd. A couple of the recordings that aren't that new but I enjoy are:

Neil Finn - One All
Rooster - Circles & Satellites
Greg Brown - Dream City
Rusty Truck - Broken Promises
Amos Lee - Mission Bell
Tedeschi Trucks Band - Revelator
Buddy Miller - Best of the Hightone Years
Gov't Mule Dose