Was pop music always this bad?

Too much emphasis is put on image in chart music imo.

I'd watch a band performing on stage with a simple set, playing their music with nothing fancy singing good music over a flashy, commercial one any day.

Some chart songs are catchy though. I listen to them if theyre on the radio but I can guaruntee you, after the song ends I've forgotten about it. It rarely leaves a lasting impression that would make me listen to it again.

It used to when I was younger though and tbh that's most of their target audiences. Young teens who will promote them, buy their songs, watch the videos and attend their concerts.

One thing that really annoys me though is when people generalise ALL modern music as being crap. The good music is there, you just have to look past the charts if that's not your thing.

There are loads of young new bands that only have one or two songs in the charts, that play instruments (which Im sad to say is a rarity in chart music) and write their own decent songs.

Bang_Bang wrote: »

Simon Cowell, Pete Waterman and co killed the actual music industry, hiring songwriters, getting nobody's to do what their told and making millions off it.

This started in the early eighties, there's no one around now that actually performs their own music. I have witnessed countless times, people signing to labels then their "music" suddenly changes.

Example would be John O' Callaghan, ( I like heavy metal and hard techno)

His music before he was signed up by PVD was savage, now it's like Tiesto, rubbish. I will admit he play's a good live gig until all the singing shíte tracks are played.

Nonsense.

Kat97 wrote: »

I don't think it's the epitome of good music but in my opinion it's a contributing factor towards a good song..

That's immediately dismissing loads of good music for a petty irrelevant factor.

Oh look its the "I'm Middle Aged And Don't Know It Yet" thread.

Classy music went out when Fred Flintstone sold his bongos.

The good stuff doesn't really rise to the top like it used to. The disposable crap that is a guaranteed money-spinner is the order of the day and is pushed by the labels.

Imagine if Kate Bush was born 18 years ago and was about to sign a deal now. Would she even get a deal? A proper deal with a major label, and be given musical freedom and time to grow? She would in her ****e.

If Nirvana were starting out now, would we ever hear them on the radio or see them on MTV MTV Music? Doubt it very much.

Doris300 wrote: »

That's immediately dismissing loads of good music for a petty irrelevant factor.

Im not denying that there is good music that dosn't have instruments. I personally prefer live bands with instruments. Thats just me. I guess I did generalise and say it was a factor for a good song when that's not always the case.

Pop music is just so trashy now, everything is tits and arse with no substance, Nicky Minaj probably being the worst offender. There's still good music being made but barely any of it makes it to the radio, its all watered down, corporate bollocks that makes it to the airwaves now.

Yeah, a lot of the music nowadays in terrible. I can't bear to listen to the likes of 2fm, Spin 103 or FM104, etc. A lot of it now is manufactured rubbish, and artists can't seem to write their own stuff. For example, there was a caption on Facebook recently comparing one of Beyoncé's songs to Bohemian Rhapsody. The latter was written by one person, it had one producer, while this particular Beyoncé song was written by several others and had multiple producers. The latter we are still hearing many years on, and the former will probably be forgotten about in a couple of years, while Bohemian Rhapsody will still grace the airwaves on certain radio stations.

Tastes have changed too, I think. I mean, there are those people that grew up in the 60s and 70s, for example, that now seem to listen to more of the current stuff and less of the music they grew up with. One station, 4fm, was set up to be an over 45s station. As a 28 year old, I love the older music, and was delighted to hear the old sounds in the station's early days. Somewhere along the line, though, the format completely changed. Even Q102 went down the same road, and it's a station I can't bear to listen to. Not just because of the music, but because of the serious repetition. Nova and RTE1 (the music shows) are saving graces.

As I said above, a lot of the current music now will be forgotten about in a few years, while the older stuff will most likely get a good bit of air play, depending on the station. I shouldn't say that all current music is sh*te. I mean, there are certain songs that I like from the present or recent years, but there was certainly a lot more great stuff from the 90s back.

Trebor176 wrote: »

Yeah, a lot of the music nowadays in terrible. I can't bear to listen to the likes of 2fm, Spin 103 or FM104, etc. A lot of it now is manufactured rubbish, and artists can't seem to write their own stuff. For example, there was a caption on Facebook recently comparing one of Beyoncé's songs to Bohemian Rhapsody. The latter was written by one person, it had one producer, while this particular Beyoncé song was written by several others and had multiple producers. The latter we are still hearing many years on, and the former will probably be forgotten about in a couple of years, while Bohemian Rhapsody will still grace the airwaves on certain radio stations.

Let's take a random song from the 70s and a notoriously good song from this century and it will have the same effect. Pretty funny how Beyonce will infact have some great songs like Crazy in Love remembered in 30 years time.