Why is modern music so bad?
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You can comment on this video at YouTube
Thursday April 20, 2023
David Mellor
David Mellor is CEO and Course Director of Audio Masterclass. David has designed courses in audio education and training since 1986 and is the publisher and principal writer of Adventures In Audio.
@Iimmydog: I'm jaded af and 57 but I like that Tame Impala
@todareistodomyfoot8403: He's a clear and simple example of how bad music has been for at least 20 year, and I pose the question, "name a better band that came after the Arctic Monkeys who released their debut album in 2006. We were told somewhere around that time that guitar music was dying out, that the radio wasn't playing guitar bands as much anymore. So what happened, because I can't remember any bands of quality that came after those guys. Here's a great band that came out 2 years before the Arctic's, and that's Kasabian, and another band called The Open released their debut album in 2004.
The brilliant band called "The Coral," released their debut in 2002, but I'll always go back to these artists to see if they have any new material, because I can't find any new artists that are anywhere near the standard that these bands set.
@todareistodomyfoot8403: Music is dead man, it's all produced by the producers now, and the front person is just there for window dressing. People are too self aware now, there's just too much knowledge at peoples finger tips which has taken away the mystery of life. Everything sounds like Ed Sheeran and auto tune which is the clear evidence that music has been dumbed down. And not only that, as it's clear that movies have gotten worse along with sports entertainment as technology has taken the mystery and the soul out of all the artforms. Everything sounds overproduced to the point that it ends up sounding like plastic cheese strings for kids. The fact that people have everything they need now at the touch of a button, has made us lazy, and has taken away the creativity and the mystery.
@todareistodomyfoot8403: No it's not an age thing as there has been a clear decline in quality music in the last 15 years at least. Like, Top of the Pops always had mediocre pop artist getting big hits with awful corny tunes, but that show also showcased a lot of talented artists who created their own music and lyrics.
I could look back at every decade and pick great bands, albums and EPs, but something happened within the last 15 years.. I can't put the exact numbers of years, but it definitely has to do with black soul and boybands as those types of bands maybe started the decline of the quality of music.
The likes of Boyzone, Take That and N-Zink has led us up to the likes of Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes, George Ezra, James Bay, Lewis Capaldi, and Passenger. Also the auto - tune thing where every artist was doing it, and I just wanted to put my head through a wall because it was so annoying.
Maybe technology is making us dumber as a society, as there has also been a clear decline in the quality of movie making too. Sports is more boring to watch with all the technology that's been introduced.
@giantpanda777-l3x: One can clearly see that there was top quality melodic music in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. But somewhere around 2010 the music took a nose dive into mediocrity, and it's been there every since. And I noticed that Simon Cowell and Ed Sharen have a lot to do with why music is so dumbed down and disliked today. Music has very little value today because of Spotify and other streaming platforms like it. For me, I named Ed Sheeran because every other artist on mainstream radio sounds exactly like him. The guy for me has zero talent, his music lacks melodies that hook us in, and I think that music has been so degraded, that people now accept such music as high quality.
@giantpanda777-l3x: Don't give it the certain age thing, as music has clearly taken a dive into the shitter. Mainstream music all sounds the same because the producers are writing the music and the lyrics. The artists that make it are talentless, and they make it because they're lifeless puppets. I haven't listened to modern music for years, unless it's forced on my by accident and I when this happens, I still hear no life, no soul, and a serious lack of melody. Another thing I notice is that artist are deliberately trying to sound retarded as if they can't pronounce words clearly, and that auto tune is so annoying.
@notxolomasquerade: I can't wait for you boomers to finally die off
@PeteDrummond-l7x: there is nothing new under the sun. music is a dead horse. everything is just a variation.
@Develboiperson: it's generic and things
@Johnnywhamo: I've never seen consumerism pushed so hard in pop music. "Look what I got and you don't, I've made it because I can afford this" it's a HUGE narrative in todays music.
@gridsleep: If all you have heard all your life is crap then crap is your music. It doesn't mean it is music, any more than looking human means you are human. Most people are not, really.
@zell863: IQ is falling. 100 years go people in Europe listened to classical music because IQ was high. It proved through achievements in science. From there is way down. Rock, pop still good and come to today.
@jeffng8580: Why so bad? Very simple. Very little talent out there today. Of course there are many factors that caused this but bottom line is songwriting skills have gone to hell. Musicianship too.
@AudioMasterclass replies to @jeffng8580: Expanding on that, if there is very little talent out there, where has it gone? Are people now inherently not so talented due to fluoride in the water or whatever, or is there a lack of education, training, work experience opportunities, or maybe some other issue? Comment readers please opine.
@jeffng8580 replies to @jeffng8580: @AudioMasterclass sorry, i don't have any answer. There are hundreds of videos on youtube with their opinions, and they all make sense. Music is subjective but for me at least, majority of songs out there these days sound like garbage.
@Freedomstudio3824: It seems like your beef with modern music has to do with the level of compression, distortion, clipping, etc. I can understand that, however, one thing you didn't mention was that back in analog days the distortion was kind of factored into the recording. Now with digital processing we kind of need to simulate some sort of saturation. I don't care for the loud is better mindset because pushing a song into a limiter is pretty much always bad though.
@BrunoSousa-17: I don't even care much about music at all is a subject that i am not interested.. but i do love Technology and AI stuff..
So i entered pixverse app
AND OH MY GOD there are some short videos trends with the most BORING AWFUL ANNOYING GOD FORSAKEN CLICHE GENERIC MUSIC EVER it pissed me off so badly that i googled "Why modern music is so bad?" And then i ended up here in this vid
@christhompson6010: dont think it,s age people the problem seems to only affect popular music. jazz reggie and other music suvies generations so it has to be marketing.
@danieltruyts-ke4gi: Today's music is junkfood for juveniles.
@thomasmcnamara5929: This is nothing new, but I’ll throw my two cents in. There are several things wrong with modern music, especially pop.
An overemphasis on engineering and production, as opposed to actual songwriting and musicianship.
Overuse of auto tuner, as opposed to singing.
A lot more focus on image in marketing rather than talent.
No real creative control from artists, if they can even be called artists.
As you mentioned, everything generally being overly loud, without any room for subtlety or nuance in terms of the sound production.
Formulaic songs that fit into a certain time stamp, as well as certain chords progressions.
No real attempts at doing anything original, but rather sticking to lazy, low effort attempts to generate a consumable product.
@greydinimagicman: Too Technical
@Slovo-hore: Its the distortion. Its only on English language music and Spanish music markted to the US. I listen to Music from Czechia and Slovakia and its dosent make me want to rip my ear dumbs out
@Alex_1z7hg: I really like older music mainly 90s but also 80s 70s and some 60s and even older depending on what it is. Im 19 though so i do like listening to newer music as well and one thing i really find annoying about a lot of it especially female rap for some reason is how tinny and distorted the vocals sound. I was listening to Cardi B’s new album (Am I The Drama) after it came out from a iTunes Download so thats really a high quality way to hear it and It really sounds like they recorded her loud ass vocals and didn’t process it or do any modifications like adding a bit of depth to it so they sound more pleasant to the ears. Megan Thee Stallion’s self titled album is the same the audio is just so loud and really annoying the music is enjoyable but is ruined by poor mastering listen to a 90s song from a good source like a cd or a high quality streaming service and you’ll hear the difference in sound IDK just my opinion.
@ajmaeenmahtab8456: Most modern musicians are not concerned about making good music but rather they are more concerned about LGBTQ, Gender Equality and all other woke stuff.
@mrbreeze9999: First, I think the craft of songwriting has become extremely mundane, with lyrics basically conversational or largely irrelevent. Add to this the confining production values of commercial producers. Add to this the overwhelming reliance of computers rather than instruments to create music. Good music still exists, but mostly out of the realm of contemporary popular music. In a way it is unfortunate that something as engaging as music can be homogenized into pablum and people will still buy it an listen to it.
@KingKull1971: Oh, crap, I thought you were Paul McCartney.
Click bait 🫣
@joke_that_isRatherFast: waaaaahh i'm a pop artist waaaahhh i cant cope with rejection
@melvinbarnesjr.8222: I'm sick of overdone 1 5 6 4 chord changes.
@GlassFullIsh: Thank you
@NewHampshireWild: In rural areas I'm stuck with 1 station, sometimes 2. Today, oh boy lemme tell ya!!, my ears felt violated! It was modern pop. The females sounded similar to one another, the lyrics were never deep or meaningful, the beats were so-so. Nothing stood out. It made me wonder how a person could dream to be a singer then just sing about some boy crush or something without depth. Sometimes it's as if the songwriters just find a sentence that rhymes instead of really feeling what they're saying.
@gradclvz3501: I disagree about the Old familiarity idea. When I browsed music from Youtube, there are a lot of songs/music from 60's-90's which are I have never heard before, but I like them instantly. To the contrast when I browsed the 2010's- nowadays songs/music, I can only find several ones that interest me. I agree that most of current modern music at terrible. Current songs are more like religious chants which repeat the same familiar rhythm over and over again. I can find 10-20 songs which are actually the same repeating rhythm and hope people will Like the videos.
@chingondayete: Modern music feels designed to not steal my attention where old music stole attention. You'd sit and play a new cd or record with your friends, and you payed full attention. And the music had air. The concept of audio negative space is not popular right now
@AudioMasterclass replies to @chingondayete: Audio negative space - good point.
@MrMrneil1: more English accen.., wtf is wrong with u, u tube?
@StanPolnicky: Better watch out umg is coming to town.
@AudioMasterclass replies to @StanPolnicky: Fret ye not. Both of these tracks were copyright claimed. I filed responses under fair use (fair dealing) as my use is review. The claims were released, as have been all of the claims on music used in my channel. I play by the rules and get good results.
@StanPolnicky replies to @StanPolnicky: @AudioMasterclass right but harassment .....
@AudioMasterclass replies to @StanPolnicky: I see it as due process. It doesn’t bother me.
@StanPolnicky replies to @StanPolnicky: @AudioMasterclass i never do. If anything at all flies past me im pissed. Im kind of like trump.
@wombatcube: I think its all for the ego and there isn’t a lot of soul searching. They follow every trend and nobody has a large subversive personality that cares about their art over fanbases, acceptance, and shared vision. they cant even work together and everyone has to be a one man band to have a band
@erossinema8797: What's disgusting and insulting is when asking this question, we always get the canned answer----"It's because you're old and prefer the songs of your youth." No! That has nothing to do with it!
If you want to put it that way, when I was growing up, they used real instruments. Imagine that. They used something called vocal harmony.. There were intros, prologues, monologues, epilogues, harmony, diversity in timbre. You don't hear any of that today. Which really begs the question, how do people actually listen to today's crap and actually enjoy it? It's like something a 2 year old would listen to.
@happybeejv: Music through history has valleys and peaks
_40s all bad, /57 Starts getting okay, /64 finally good, x70 bipolar, /77 starts getting good again
/80 peak, \85 starts dipping again \90 bipolar \97 all garbage /2003 actually okay \2005 crap /2008 pretty good /2012 underrated _2016 meh
Late 10s i was mostly listening to 80s music
_2020 okay?
/2025 I'm pretty happy, don't care if others suffer through it because I'd have to give mine up
@karzenismine: Modern artists write songs for Tiktok, not live concerts. Thats the problem
@PowerGlitch: You'll never convince me that mumble rap is good
@volcanic3761 replies to @PowerGlitch: yeah pack it up bro no one is saying mumble rap in 2025
@Stationair-t6h: There might be 'good' music out there but for the past decade or so it's becoming harder and harder to get noticed. The internet is just completely saturated with new music. Back in the 1960s it was far easier to get noticed if you were good. When Beatlemania broke, the only competition they had to face until then was The Shadows. These days there could possibly be a really great band out there but they'll just get lost in the noise, as it were. It's the same with guitar heroes, in the 60s it was far easier to get noticed, now there are dozens of guitarists on Youtube who can outplay the original guitar heroes. They'll never become household names though, people will just listen to them and then move on to the next great guitarist they hear online.
@Drbob369: Modern music is for the gen z stereotype cluster b
@georgeed3627: How do you define modern music? The 2 songs you selected may be particularly bad 😂. I purchased the 2023 Porcupine Three album on vinyl, under a tenner. It sounds brilliant. Is this modern music? Vinyl Vs CD Vs streaming and bit rate is a more interesting discussion. And even though my hearing is now probably shot, or maybe because? I have a brand new setup where (some) CDs sound amazing 🎉
@georgeed3627 replies to @georgeed3627: Tree* thanking you spell checkers and AI worldwide
@Albert_C: Just look at their time domain samples, what a mess😢
@eazyecream: It isnt, ur a clown
@HerculesLukewaynemathers-j8l: It's too compressed and the frequency bands are too high 😂
@youngboi6741: You should listen to Playboi Carti. It's actually very good and the best music.
@yayoikise-wf5rd: This is why I only listen to Japanese music
@jimpinkowski3394: In the past, producers and distributors welcomed and rewarded unique individuality, think about it; every band or artist had a distinctly unique sound. Great risk taking was rewarded, resulting in albums like Sargent Pepper's or Pet Sounds, and audiences couldn't get enough. The variety was nearly endless. But today, no artist wants to risk rejection and producers and distributors, ae even more risk averse! So we get endless uninspired variations on an inoffensive musical template with all the freshness filtered out through autotune. I can't recall the last time I heard a new song and could even identify the artist...
@George-h4p4r replies to @jimpinkowski3394: The music industry and radio are now controlled and owned by NWO globalists and has been since the 1990's no Thanks to the Telecommunications Act in 1996 that gave the big boys power and control. Same thing with the media.
@Ian-p4g2y: Modern everything is so bad.
@MrTheTomahawk: Reasonable take and a comment section full of examples
@Tristan_again: Reminds me of Douglas Adams:
1. Anything that is in the world when you’re born is normal and ordinary and is just a natural part of the way the world works.
2. Anything that's invented between when you’re fifteen and thirty-five is new and exciting and revolutionary and you can probably get a career in it.
3. Anything invented after you're thirty-five is against the natural order of things.
@cymrs1406: The problem with today's popular music is that when one song becomes a hit, everybody wants to copy it for a sure fire hit for themselves in order to bake a buck.
@George-h4p4r replies to @cymrs1406: It's all about being alike, physical appearance and money today.
@George-h4p4r replies to @cymrs1406: The music industry and radio are now controlled and owned by NWO globalists and has been since the 1990's no Thanks to the Telecommunications Act in 1996 that gave the big boys power and control. Same thing with the media.
@GreenHandle83: Modern music is just degenerate trash. Its just random noise.
@George-h4p4r replies to @GreenHandle83: The music industry and radio are now controlled and owned by NWO globalists and has been since the 1990's no Thanks to the Telecommunications Act in 1996 that gave the big boys power and control by brainwashing and degrading society. Same thing with the media with the false infos and sheer deception.
@mattdawg83686: I’m 52, and what immediately caught my attention is that I can’t hear any layering in the music, and that tells me is that whoever is putting it out knows it isn’t good but it’s in demand and they try to cover up the fact the sound isn’t good. It’s been that way for the last 20 years.
@royalsteven: Lot of pop and rap music today has irritating monotone pitched false voices, cheap dance beats, and horrible lyrics. I stopped liking music after 2010.
@BoynamedMagnus183: Look Paul McCartney just started a youtube channel how fancy
@AudioMasterclass replies to @BoynamedMagnus183: So many hundreds of times. Still cracks me up.
@greyfox4577: i stopped listening to music on radio in the early 90's because everyone started going with the distorted guitars and seems creativity started fading, now and then i used to tune to my favorite alternative rock stations and could not stand the music, seems like rock took a dive regarding melodies and lyrics so i completely kept away from it.
There were a few bands that popped up once in a while that were good but for the most part very rare.
Nowadays seems rock is nonexistent and replaced by very superficial pop with music that is just cringy but unfortunately very popular and doesn't seem it will be going away any time soon.
For me a lot of the music today has extremely dumb lyrics and the extent of the creativity is whatever program they use to record is dictating what generic sounds they use so music today is bottom of the barrel garbage.
But there is one genre that surpased its predecesors and for me the one music i do look forward to and that is soundtracks, either for videogames or movies, seems the composers and musicians involved in that do have a passion for it, examples such as Hans Zimmer (Thin red line, Inception) or Martin O'Donell, and Michael Salvatori who worked on some of the Halo franchise music and there are tons of composers out there that put out masterpieces, maybe because they don't do it for the fame or money, the drugs or rockstar mentality they just have a passion for it.
Only downside is the genre it does not have lyrics for the most part so for that i will be going to past music until someone or some band decides to do rock music for the passion of it and nothing more.
@19JohnConnor84: 1980s music is the peak of music
@George-h4p4r replies to @19JohnConnor84: 1964-1986 was prime. After 1986 was when the decline began and been downhill since.
@19JohnConnor84 replies to @19JohnConnor84: @George-h4p4rtrue but I might extend that to 1991.
@George-h4p4r replies to @19JohnConnor84: @19JohnConnor84 By the late '80s dance pop, rap and hair-bands like Poison became more mainstream.
@stlbusker3025: Why do I look at this guy and instantly think of Paul?
@CraigAnderson-h2h: Oh no, another old guy bashing modern music. Well, I'm even older. Why not bash all the half-dead, aged rock stars recycling the past
to make their final millions before kicking the bucket. I hate nostalgia rock and I'm 78!
@AudioMasterclass replies to @CraigAnderson-h2h: Haha. Watch my video again, this time pay attention.
@bFix: Kinda funny how I could've never imagined 11 years ago to not listen to pop music/mainstream. But 10 years ago started doing it and never looked back pretty much.
Love modern music, but don't care about mainstream. (there are exceptions)
The electronic music scene has some great artists out there in various genres and it's exciting to be part of shifts in the scene (one genre to the next, ups and downs etc)
Though right now the mood is partially down (covid still left it's marks to the scene, I'm not talking about the techno scene which is thriving right now though probably not in a good way either)
@bFix replies to @bFix: to name an example what I'm listening to
Camo & Krooked, Mefjus, Joe Killington - Pray For Me
Drum and Bass is a genre born in the 90s
@doormattttt: the only reason why old music seems "better" is because we've had years, decades even, to filter out and forget all the garbage from those eras. if you actually took the time to look beyond generic pop songs you could find hundreds of incredibly talented artists all over the internet.
@MrKotBonifacy: Well, it's not just about age - i.e. "the next generation music sux" - as if this would be the case I wouldn't be able to enjoy classical music, right? I mean, it was composed "so long back" that anyone born in twentieth century should never like it, innit?
I myself was never "properly educated" musically, all my "likings" are based on... well, "likings". I do enjoy classical music ("light classic" - be it Mozart, Haydn, Mussorgski, Tchaikovsky. Chopin, Beethoven - you name it), and then I also find Gregorian chants quite fascinating (minus that "Enigma" nonsense, of course), and Georgian choir music (like Duduki Trio) has also place in my audio collection - and then while ABBA is as pop as pop it could be, it's still chapeau bas for the arrangements, melody of the music and singing.
"Beatles and Pink Floyd also nice very much" so suffice to say the net is cast wide (and it's very "inclusive", wink wink...). BUT! I never enjoyed this "noisy stuff" - that " loud for loudness sake" stuff most rock band used to churn out back in '60s and '70s, or '80s (I'm 60+ now). Led Zeppelin? Yeah, "Stairway to Heaven" is OK, and would be "great" if not for than noisy finish. Bohemian Rhapsody"? Oh boy, GREAT! "Another One Bites The Dust" - erm... not so much (to put it mildly). "I Want To Break Free"? _ well, me too, hearing it...
And so on, and so forth - "long, long time ago, I can still remember, when the music used to make people smile " is "the key", methinks... Some folks may think that a sound of a metal drum rolling down a cobblestone road, accompanied by couple of barking dogs IS "music" (and they call it "rap"), but I wouldn't agree. But then, de gustibus non disputandum est, so... So I'll leave this li'l rant of mine at that.
@nondescriptcat5620: my ears are only moderately old, but modern music is great, actually. i find new stuff i love all the time. last year was all about Kendrick Lamar. Lady Gaga's Mayhem just got me into modern Pop, and Mayhem is loaded with references to everything from ABBA and Blondie to Prince, Bowie, and MJ. Sabrina Carpenter has a lot Classic Rock, Folk, and Country fans could get into, too. fairly stripped back, guitar-driven production. also she's hilarious.
the Loudness/Compression Wars are certainly still a thing, but they've been going on for decades, and good artists are getting back to the point of having dynamic range on their recordings.
@ronniewilliford3449: I remember my dad saying it in the late 50s.
@jancodreyer: Find the right music!!!! New is better
@ChadAV69: It’s not bad, but it’s not good either. It’s made to appeal to the largest audience possible, so it’s about as exciting as watching paint dry.
@icursekayvon: Let them have their music. Evey generations tastes are different and should be respected. You don't like turn it off.
@irphanodin5942: Listening to Today's pop/rnb/rock/hiphop/rap is just like maturating watching a peorn 😮
But I gotta if there's last spirit left in music making it's gotta be Black metal/Doom/Funeral doom/Atmospheric metal and some blues
@romaniantrains06: I am 18 years old and literally don t understand where the music should be, it is just effects, sounds with no porpouse and thrown words meaning nothing
@RemoWilliams-jg4yb: I get that each older generation thinks the newer generations music is terrible, but todays music is on another level of bad. I have found good music from each decade up until the early 2000's. One reason is that people are just dumb. They are spoon fed and told what to like. The other is that todays youth hates everything old across the board. They blame boomers and gen x for everything wrong with the world without critical thinking skills.
@livetomanifest2272: I legitimately thought this was Paul McCartney
@niconico4114: the music is a reflection of the contemporary world—loud, competitive, digital, consumed in a state of commercialized distraction, and on never-ending scroll, usually through a phone speaker or a bluetooth (mp3 or worse) quality external speaker. the human nervous system runs on overdrive as the world tilts off axis into increasing chaos. and of course, it needs a soundtrack…
@Widkey: All the criticisms of modern music are fair enough, but my sense is that it still works because there are certain threads which are common to all good music, even modern hit songs.. if we can identify those common threads then us older listeners can at least appreciate why the youth of today like this music.
@delemetra: Sorry to burst your bubble, all music is good unless it's made to be harmful and belittle an individual or group (except drake)
@AudioMasterclass replies to @delemetra: Haha, you'll have to do better than that.
@delemetra replies to @delemetra: @Adventurer-te8fl That's exactly what I meant, however it's music, just enjoy what you want to enjoy lol
@SamLazier: I discovered 70's-90's jazz fusion in the age of 29 and that changed my life. However there might be connection to my formative years when I heard fusion inspired music in tv-shows and video games, but the actual interest and passion for it awakened 15+ years after I had got excited about any new style of music. Of course the music I listened in my teens will stay with me more or less, but I'm always open for new discoveries. What I've noticed is that most people don't really listen to music anymore and it's just background noise of preference, but I could neverimagine myself making music for just somebody's background noise. I always make it first for myself and after that comes music-fanatics, scene followers, musicians and very last will be the ones searching for background noise.
@VIDSTORAGE: 1984 Too much Synthesizer 2025 A I - Hold my bottle of Jack Daniels
@narm-music: There's a fine line between a passionate music enthusiast/musician and being a pretentious elitist piece of sh***. Personally, after trying a bit the second (I mean, don't we all want to be validated by our "teachers" ? And that's the easiest way most of the time.), I decided to remain the first.
Most people outside the music field and who don't know my work will not take me seriously anymore when I talk about modern music based on some of the artists I love, but I like music more than ever.
At the end of the day, might sound simplistic, but why would you limit yourself in what you love just to play pretend ? Which is what most pretentious elitists do imho. Deep inside their heart, they still love that corny funky tune or wathever not "legit enough" to shine in society, but will just never admit it. They're also boring people most of the time. And often can't dance neither. (yeah I know, lots of speculation here)
@gunjabeans: If people come to their senses in the future they will look at this era of music loudness as complete foolishness.
@AudioMasterclass replies to @gunjabeans: You say, "if". I hope for "when". And "soon".
@Hank_E: @53 I listen to all kinds of music, as long as I like it. I have my own "points system". Inspiring music/melody where something happen, great voice, great lyrics and "something special" are the four main things and a great song need two of these. Then minus points can destroy a great song like wailing or wrong kind of vibrato in voice.
An example is many blues songs. Often a great melody and a whiskey voice but usually lack great lyrics but it's still good thanks to two out of four main things, but for some blues artists I don't like their voice and can't listen to them.
Many modern pop songs have the same beat going for 3 minutes, lyrics are just repeated for three minutes so even a great voice can't help this song. Then some pop singers have a great voice and the song can have "something extra" which makes it ok.
@RetroSoulGirl: I am 25, and I love all music of all genres and decades up until around 2010. I don't just like music I grew up on (90s and 2000s pop/rock/rap) but I love stuff as old as the 40s. But in my opinion everything began going downhill after 2010 with a few minor exceptions of specific artists. As a musician I can tell you that it has little to do with distortion and loudness, as those 90s dance tunes were just as loud and I groove to those. Music does not seem original enough anymore- it feels as if we used every possible chord progression already and now everything is so overdone. Music does not seem authentic now that we are using everything with computers. Instead of playing music to one whole track and allowing minor mistakes, music sounds inhuman as they match every note to its exact beat like a robot. When you do this with authentic instruments like guitars and piano, or even vocals, that's when it sound horrible and inhuman. There's a degree in which you can make something 100% raw and authentic, like "Let It Be" by the Beatles to shit so fake we have AI music now. Some minor beat matching and auto-tune can sound cool but newer music over-does EVERYTHING. Thus why it's all loud and distortion. It's also why many people hate singers on American Idol who think they have to over-sing a fucking song so much every time that they're just show offs and it's not even emotional anymore. Less is more with music and art in general. This is why most music before 2010 was so favored and missed. Of course though, good music is always out there including now, and there's undiscovered talents out there that are doing it right. At this rate let's just keep encouraging people to pick up real instruments and sing with their own voices so that AI doesn't take over.
@Rockaliser: It's a difficult thing to pinpoint what I dislike about modern pop. I never really saw the point in the loudness war. I am in my late 30s but have always gravitated to the 60s and 70s rock, blues and prog rock. For me getting a clarity in a mix is something I think to be essential.
My other issue is that most modern music doesn't seem to have much feeling in it. The lyrics tend to all be roughly about the same kind of theme, pastiches of love, heartache and such and the music seems to be ever increasingly taking melodies from the past and regurgitating them, either in the form of loops or different instrumentation.
I know the old argument will be there's only so many notes etc and that different artists are bound to come up with similar chords structures or melodies eventually, but really, these days it is more apparent and clearly not a coincidence that a pop track is using a melody from a previous number 1 hit.
There is no real originality in most mainstream music no one is pushing the envelope music is now just a product, content to be consumed, a background for tiktok videos and is considered to be old news 2 weeks after its release. Currently your lucky if you get any of the modern generation to listen to one song for more than 30 seconds, and the autotune on these tracks! Can no one sing without sounding like a robot anymore?
There are still good artists out there with originality such as Cosmo Sheldrake, Snarky Puppy, Steven Wilson, Larkin Poe, Trifecta Thundercat and such but they don't get the recognition they deserve and aren't of interest to radio stations. Pop is now a manufactured genre you are brainwashed to like, you very rarely get a track in the "pop" charts these days that's country, rock or alternative, it is generally rap or electronic based with an artist who I'm sure can't play instrument but will be quite happy to pretend to be able to play one (I'm looking at you Katy Perry with your recorder that miraculously sounds like a flute).
@Theta313: For me it's both the sound and the music that is bad in mainstream pop. As a musician and audio engineer myself, I can understand when distortion is used to achieve a certain sound, but these people don't sound like they are going for that sound, they sound like they are still caught up in the loudness wars of the 2000s/2010's. Online streaming basically ended the loudness wars, but their engineers didn't get the memo.
Additionally, the actual content of the music is just generic, uninteresting, repetitive garbahe. It's glorified nursery rhymes. The lowest common denominator of musical tastes imho. I would like it if we could bring back musicianship and artistry over "personality" and theatrics. Right now, we don't have many musicians in mainstream music. We have a lot of actors who play musicians on TV.
Maybe they are just using all of that distortion to blur the fact that their musical content is garbage.
@witoldwitoszek6209: Objectively, modern music is lacking in melodies and interesting harmonies (chord progressions). It is done in a very lazy way. Without melodies and harmonies music becomes just noise, at least for me.
@77Fortran: 6:36 To echo this sentiment, it is a sad thing in the modern world that this incredibly loud music is being used in shopping centres/malls, supermarkets as 'background music' (ha). I find it so unpleasant to listen to, but it is very difficult to avoid.
@blakemosses: Im 30 and have hated popular music since prob 2010 ish id say harsh is a good way to put it and soulless
@firejs1000: Music is missing a lot these days across all genres. I often ask am I just old but then I notice my kids do not really listen to music anymore like I did. Perhaps the market lost its niche with all the tech and people are not as interested which is making the profits less and market thinner. Perhaps kids are happy with their tv and games and have no need to start a band to start that spark of 1 out of 10000 that might become something. Not sure the last time I heard of kids doing anything with a band these days so guessing a lot less talent with a lot more money buying your way into the industry instead of the talent. Lyrics suck, messages suck, plots suck, instruments??? are they even used anymore, melody there is none, voices ex... Often i feel like the same bad song is playing over and over with a different person and minimal changes from autotune. Just listen to the top songs of 2024 and 25 and was humbled by just how bad it all was as I thought for sure I would find something.
@TomHendricksMusea: Many people think young people like the most popular music on the charts - but NO ONE DOES. The Big 3 Labels control the music industry, prop up the same 10 pop stars that we are all tired of, block out new music, give themselves wonderful reviews in the media their parent companies own, rig the charts, sue upstarts out of business, and watch as sales plummet.
Don't you dare blame it on the new generation !
They are as desperate for good music as anyone!
@TomHendricksMusea: Music sales in the US for the last 25 years are still half of what they were in 1999, yet no one will talk about this collapse of the entire industry.
The Universal music executive recently got a $300 million bonus. What about you?
The Big Three Labels, control the entire music industry from radio, and reviews, to streaming and concerts. They are, Warner, Universal, Sony.
These 3 labels put out horrible songs, can't get a hit, and then spineless media like Rolling Stone, Spin, NPR, and Billboard, give them great reviews that tell them how good these generic songs are.
While YOU are making t-shirt money and
YOU STILL WONT COMPLAIN ONCE - 95% of you are on your knees with open wallets asking this handful of inept businessmen that have ruined the entire industry with excess greed, to PLEASE TAKE MORE OF MY MONEY and PLEASE RUIN MY CAREER and ALL THE CAREERS OF THE MUSICIANS I KNOW AND LIKE!
Time to, WAKE UP and STAND UP!
Start by telling others you don't like fake corporate top 40 music with robo vocals, anymore. Tell your music media source to talk about this the biggest issue in the entire music industry!!!
@sheilasmith8844: Modern main stream music is SHIT! There are 5 drum sound samples, every rock/metal band using fake guitar stuff with IRs, and modeled amps. All singers are auto tuned to death. There is no individual room sounds because there is no longer a room where the music is recorded in with musicians playing together. Go listen to Fleetwood Mac Rumors, Pink Floyd Division Bell, or Dark Side, early Metallica, older country music...etc......So different sounding because they were recorded in different spaces. Today everyone "space' is in the box. Terrible.
@АндрійФранжі: High compression sounds are really bad... for my older ears (brain). And it's not too bad for younger ears (brain).
@Martha56100: Music today is more manufactured & soulless with auto tuned voices & engineered perfection (?) rather than allowing things to flow. I like hearing a wrong note or small timing error; love to hear it on Beatles tracks etc. We saved up to buy an album, loved it & knew every track - what was coming next! Now it's all ephemeral - one minute in your face & then disappears again just as quickly.
@Grumnut3-w1q: I'm 63 and I tune in religiously to the Triple J Hottest 100 countdown every year. Lots of people our age have BBQ's and parties around it. They've even crossed to parties in Antarctica. Our PM has sent in his list of 10 favourite songs as well. However, a bit less compression and a bit less distortion would help.
@tobymaltby6036: 1999 - Autotune: "I'm going to ruin the music industry"
2024 - A.I: "hold my beer..."
@calidadamusic replies to @tobymaltby6036: ?
@tobymaltby6036: As a "Caulkhead" (i.e. someone who is not a "wetleg") I have to say... I much prefer Level 42. And not just because I'm old enough to remember then in the 80's... and not just because I know people who knew the band personally... though I admit Wetleg are one of the best bands of their era...
..which ain't saying much.
@AudioMasterclass replies to @tobymaltby6036: I remember a TV game show contestant from the Isle of Wight who thought it was 'corkhead' because islands float.
@SailingSarah: Seriously, when people try to pass off denigrating women, glorify sucking dope, killing people and and just being trashy, nasty, disgusting, filthy, demonic, devilish creatures of HELL, you transition from light to darkness. Yeah it might be music but it's garbage to us who APPRECIATE life, love, happiness, kindness, goodness and just plain things that are good.
@paulcampbell1476: I will be 60 years old soon and my taste for new extra noisy music has not abated. An album I very much enjoy is Low's "Hey What" which is near pure distortion at several points. Listeners might not know about the context of the album or even care. I think i developed a taste for finding a signal in the noise in the 1980's with bands like Husker Du or Fugazi but I also listened to many other genres. I find a large proportion of old rock got too precious and fancy and it simply annoys me. I don' t want to listen to someone impress me. That being said I can enjoy a good Jaco Pastorious track and appreciate technical proficiency and feeling.
@fender1000100: 1. The songwriting is weak. Too many amateurs are making music with no quality control. And that means alot of filler gets put out there. Because nobody is telling them its garbage.
2. Too much quantisising of sounds and computers. And not enough real performance. Autotuning. When its the slight timing shifts and vocal imperfections. That cause the magic. Go and listen to the seminal tracks of my tears (the Miracles) or A day in the life (the Beatles) And try to imagine someone capturing that magic on a laptop. Not happening.
And this is a big one.
3. Music is now too easily accessable. And throwaway in the way its pushed. Theres no value anymore. Streaming means you can access the whole story for like 10 bucks. This means Artists dont get paid right. Unless they are the absolute elite sell outs like Swift and Beyonce. And if young people had to buy records the old fashion way. They would be alot more picky about what they bought. 90% of the garbage we are hearing in 2025 wouldnt exist...
@WayneRamquist: It's not listenable it's a bunch of static noise is garbage
@ClNoBody: Old fossil boomer here and I thought one purpose of music was/is to piss off old people. I hate auto-tune but the kids dig it. Glad rock n roll won't die before me.
@AlanAbles-hy1pi: Today's music is just a fashion show. The music comes second.