Why does music today suck?

[bobby_steeles]

sippin' own sum sizzurrrrrb. sip, sip, sip, sip....

[Patterson]

I am completely uninterested in listening to musicianship. All I care about is the composing of the music and that it sounds right. I don't care if a man or a computer plays the drums in a song. It makes no difference to me. I wish every sound an instrument could make was on a computer and you had only to click it. Music would be much more accesible and artists could focus on composing rather than playing. Technology has given much more innovation and possibilities to music. And I'm pleased everyone agreed with my list of great current artists.

[Twisted up]

Music sucks

Music sucks because no-one is truly interested in talent.


Like Frank Zappa said some years ago, "They're not hiring musicians these days, they're only hiring models"!


That says it all.

The record companies don't give shit ONE about talented musicians--they only care about making a buck. They actually CREATE many of the new bands and acts these days.

Music truly sucks because there is no honesty or passion in the music. Of course, there are exceptions to this rule but generally they are very few and far between.


RADIO is what sucks (and of course music video channels!!!!)


John

[McLeod]

Yes, SOME of todays music are simply models, male and female singing rehashed hip hop BS. SOME.
But to generalize that ALL music today are models who don't play inst. and don't do anything new, well that's ridiculous.
I agree, there was great, classic music from years ago.
Stones, RUSH, Queen, Floyd, hell even back to Elvis and Jerry lee, Beatles, And endless 1 hit wonders. but that was then and this is now. Music has changed, but has not become Sh*t. Back then those great songs did not come out every week, we just knw what is good and what isn't now, 20-30 years after the fact.
Today, there is ALOT of good music.
I am a huge fan of a plethora of musical talents (like that?) and some of Metallica/ Limp Bizcuit/ faith No More/Korn/ Nirvana/ etc will becme classic that people still listen to 25 years from now.
Then you have groups like BareNakedLadies and Tori Amos and Alanis Morrisette, and REM and So On that may not be rock per say, but are great musicians ( even if I may not listen to them)

things may not be the same, bt there are still classics being played, and I for one will want to say that I enjoyed them when they were released.

[dan downard]

Ever since Lawrence Welk died.I havent heard a good accordian solo in years.Libarachi is gone.Sanatra is gone.Dean Martin is gone.Thank God we still have Tony Bennett.

[NGU]

Dan - you forgot Kate Smith! so I guess you miss those Lennon sisters (was it?)

[Robbie]

I don't think all of todays music sucks,I like Creed's music a lot.I also like Nirvana some limp bizkit,Korn,Rage against the machine,and a few other good rock bands.

[dan downard]

Yea,the Lennon sisters.They had big hair.Thats another thing.Other than the red headed chick from that band that did suger shack and rock lobster.The girls just dont have cool hairdo's

[sodamnpoor]

hmmm

Music is merely a reflection of people. If music sucks more today it is because people suck more today. Solve the problem by killing yourselves.

[Tony10]

As somebody who has worked in the music biz for years (at the biggest player in the game) and is still involved with it, I can tell you why:

1. Corporate mergers resulting in labels only signing acts that sound like something already successful, increasing the chances (the argument goes) that the artist will sell 1,000,000+ the first time out.

2. These same corporate multi-media companies controlling airplay and concert venues--i.e., they will only push acts that they've invested a lot in, whether they're crap or not. Ever notice how limited radio playlists are now?

3. MTV only playing these same artists. If MTV does not play your video, your record dies.

The biz has been overrun in a way that I've never seen with corporate bean counters, unwilling to sign anything they're not convinced will sell multi-platinum NOW. It is strictly bottom-line with these people, and they have no imagination. Often times you will see bizarre stories of acts being signed to a major because the A&R guy thought they MIGHT sell big, but was unwilling to have his ass on the line if they didn't. So they sign them, never release their record but will not let them go to another label (!). They've essentially taken them OUT of the game.

Even IF you have a big first album, if your second one does not surpass it, you are considered a failure. Remember how Alannis Morrisette's 2nd album--which sold "only" 3+ million copies in the U.S.--was called a "sophomore slump"?

But in a nutshell, corporate consolidation has resulted in everything being controlled by two or three companies who decide what you see and hear. Radio and MTV play only what they're paid to play. Payola is now legit, but disguised as "promotion" or "advertiser money."

That's why you've got 5 or so Britney Clones, same for Boy Bands, this year's generic rock/rap act, completely generic hip-hop and at least one punk/pop act for the white suburbanites.

Radio in all--ALL--of the U.S. is controlled by owned by three corporations. Mostly by one, Viacom--which, coincidentally, owns MTV, CMT and VH1. Get it?

SFX and Tickemaster control 99% of all venues and ticket sales.

Sad. I am friends with a big-time manager (managing a platinum act right now) and I asked him when the next revolution (like with Nirvana) was ever going to come. He, and others like him in the biz, don't think it's ever going to. I've heard that from people much higher up.

Music has turned into an accessory, a marketing tool to sell whatever it is that these corporations want to sell. That's why you've got Destiny's Child in AT&T commercials and Britney hawking Pepsi. That line between "artist" and "shill" has been completely erased. When you sign, you are expected to generate revenue NOW, and as soon as you're not doing that in their eyes, you are discarded.

If you guys want, I can post a piece by producer Steve Albini (Nirvana, Bush, P.J. Harvey, countless others) that actually takes you through the whole process of what it's like to be signed and how you get totally f*cked. I show it to lots of people who are still delusional about the music biz.

[DIRE WOLF]

Hookah I figured someone would recognize Dire Wolf as being a Grateful Dead song.

[sodamnpoor]

oic

This is true Tony. Still I think my theory that people simply suck more today than they did yesterday is all encompassing.

[duchman]

i'm a tupac fan for live

[aikidoka]

metallica, there is no other band.

[Patterson]

Do you mean there is no other band that sucks as hard as metallica?