Why does most new music suck?

"I did prefer the time when all I seemed to need was one or two "top 40" stations, but I was young and naive and settled for some things I would not listen to now."

Yes, I am fond of those days as well.

Being the techn-geek I was though, when I got my first real stereo in ~ 1972 (a $200 Sanyo compact with radio, phono and cassette all in one, like were very popular in those days), I spent countless hours trying to rig better antennas in order to pick up faint or distant stations from Philly, Baltimore, DC or wherever I might find better in hopes of finding more good stations and music to listen to. IT worked to some degree but many were quite noisy.

Jump to today....more music available both current and past at my fingertips with very good fidelity than anyone could possibly listen to in their lifetime.

AH, the good old days when life was simple and imperfect yet everything still sounded fresh and new. Is it me? OR is it Memorex?

Snore. I grew up listening to The Beatles, The Who, Led Zeppelin, and so on. I listen to The Beatles, Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones once a year. I can't stand The Who or The Doors anymore. I can't listen to the same stuff thousands of times any longer. When I hear The Doors 'People are Strange' I want to watch television.

I've learned to dig deep for new music and although it takes awhile, it's out there for me. Most of my new music comes from reviews I hear on NPR, Mountain Stage etc. Austin City Limits works for me. Not sure what happened to the King Biscuit Flower Hour. The good music is out there for me. It's just that its not popular so it doesn't get much radio play. That's okay by me because I only listen to talk radio in the car and kitchen.

" I can't listen to the same stuff thousands of times any longer. "

I'm with Don on this, though I find I am able to listen to the same old stuff some more, as long as there is other newer stuff to listen to as well. Newer means new to me, it could be old stuff I have not listened to before, or new. Lots of good stuff in both categories. Doesn't matter when it was made. I either like something or I do not. I find something to like in most everything I listen to. My listening time is limited, so I try to listen to as many different things as possible, mixing in the stuff I know and already like as needed. Breaking any habits of always just listening to the same old "favorites" helps find new ones.

You'll never find anything worthwhile if you keep treating music as a competition. Stop comparing everything to something else and just enjoy it for what it is. Soak it all up.

"Newer means new to me, it could be old stuff I have not listened to before, or new."

Yes!!! As an example of some music I've recently purchased that is 40 years old and I had never heard. Shuggie Otis Inspiration Information. I was listening to an interview with him on NPR on my way home from work. I ordered the CD that day and it was at my door 2 days later while it was fresh in my head. The first time we played it, my wife and I danced in the living room. Loved it.

Last weekend we researched St Vincent because we had never heard her (them?) and she's traveling with David Byrne right now. We watched at least a dozen You Tube videos and found her to be extremely talented, quirky and overall enjoyed what we heard. My wife looked at me on Sunday night and said "order everything she's got out". Three Cd's showed up yesterday and that's our plans for tomorrow night.

I stopped recommending music to people because it's such a personal thing. I do truly believe there's a lot of great music for everyone that just needs to be discovered. I think it's out there, you just need to find it. It used to be delivered via radio waves. Now we have to find it. Maybe a one hour radio program that airs once a week, maybe a interview in a magazine. I like it this way because finding it is a hobby in itself.