Does Today's Music Suck? Has it gotten worse over the years?

My explanation of whether popular music has actually gotten worse over the years, and how our biases toward our past experiences can color this perception.
en.wikipedia.o...
Join my mailing list for free books, early access to upcoming titles, and more! eepurl.com/cQOfWH
Buy MY music davidvstewart....
Grab my Samurai Epic, Muramasa: Blood Drinker, now available in paperback! www.amazon.com...
Get my newest book , Prophet of the Godseed, here! www.amazon.com...
Find me outside of youtube:
Read my books- dvspress.com
www.minds.com/...
Listen to my music! / davidvstewart
www.reverbnati...
www.amazon.com/author/davidvandykestewart
For more music stuff - davidvstewart.com
/ davidvandykestewart
plus.google.com/+davidstewartwriter
davidvandykeste...
twitch.tv/davidvstewart
[e-mail]
[e-mail]

[@DVSPress]

Please see the reflection on this video here - kzbin.info/www/bejne/pmHJnXevnapmiKc Most people did not get that this video was about how various biases affect our perception of quality and indeed our own memories.

[@louiethepitt]

well you just don't like Pop or and dance music lol that is clear...like you said...its all about personal bias.

[@Solinimo]

I know this video wasn't about this (I did get it), it's just occurred to me that the 2015 #1 was Uptown Funk, which is pop through and through, but I actually think is good music, I would have liked to hear the judgement on that.

[@derwandschauer]

Sorry, but 'I want to hold you're hand' is a masterpiece. One of the most clever written songs ever, with a unique chord progression, well pasted and a great emotional peak. An absolute classic. Beethoven wrote a lot, but what was his greatest invention? Dadada Dam, Dadada Dam. Simple is not bad. Or is Fried Chicken bad food, cause it's simple?

[@STONEDECISION]

David Stewart maybe cause that’s not what the video is about.

[@soppelpost1573]

I was a teen in the 2000's, and music started to suck in the 1990's, but it got really bad in the 2000's.

[@lorddarthstar]

I had kids say to me the wish they were born in the 70s🤔

[@DVSPress]

So they could witness Flock of Seagulls and Cindy Lauper at their peak?

[@RoseHowat]

lorddarthstar I'm 13. I wish I was born in the 80's

[@skatasterfi]

lorddarthstar I wish I was born in like the mid forties

[@mattprusinski7797]

I wish I was born in 1940 so I could serve in Vietnam and listen to Good Old music such as CCR, Buffalo Springfield, The Rolling Stones ETC

[@solaris7555]

lorddarthstar I wish people at my school didnt act like wannabes

[@robertjermantowicz7487]

"Ninety percent of everything is crap" - Theodore Sturgeon

[@celestialscripture]

+1 for Sturgeon quote.

[@truthseek3017]

Pink floyd, Led zeppelin, and Jimi Hendrix never get old..Fuck all the new sheep shit.

[@solaris7555]

Logic Seeker we need the real music, Michael bible, Disney counts, Michael Jackson, 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's

[@jonnyx38]

Logic Seeker PREACH

[@silentphantom7826]

Logic Seeker you forgot metallica

[@thema1998]

Logic Seeker "Fuck all the new sheep shit." That is a perfect way to describe 95% of mainstream music.

[@F50909123]

so true man and you've actually mentioned holy trinity of 20th century

[@joshuagarden7304]

I get your point, there was always junk on mainstream .But you are forgetting that the amount of junk has been growing exponentially since 2000. I personally don´t remember the last time I´ve heard a good mainstream song. And if you surf through the 70´s to the 90´s you will find a tonne of them

[@DVSPress]

I go back and forth - I remember how horrible the 90s were, but then I hear some of the crap that goes mainstream now, which sounds like it was written by and for people with room temperature IQs, and I think things have gotten at least a bit worse. I also think the prime pop music market has shifted to younger audiences that have less capacity to understand complexity, since they are more willing to buy music and do the things that generate revenue for what is left of the music industry. I've seen some data that points that way.

[@joshuagarden7304]

I don´t think the 90´s were that horrible. The first half was dominated by the grunge scene which was a very creative and crazy period. Then through the whole decade you find some very solid bands making other genres. Off course there was a lot of garbage around like boys and girls band and shit like that but you would still find very good music playing daily on the radio. Stuff with creativity. Nowadays, it´s just sellout crap.

[@shecklesmack9563]

Even the bad music from the 90’s has artistic merit. It wasn’t necessarily aesthetically pleasing, but the artistry was clear and the people behind the scenes were obviously professionals.

[@wolverinemcstud194]

I'm 37. Most of the obscure bands I listened to during the 90's, many still making albums now, seem to have turned to the pop formulas of their genres. It's kind of saddening. I have never been against growing and changing style. In fact I like it when they do it. I don't want them to sound the same on every album, but at the same time I don't want them to sound like every other song on the radio. Only a handful peak my interest over the years and I rarely find anything new I like. No distinctive catchy melodies. I started traveling backwards listening to the songs I missed out on like green eyed lady and dark star. I feel like music is going backwards in creativity.

[@TheBrazilRules]

Joshua Garden I was born in 1991 and I think grunge is trash, along with New Metal. So I agree with him that the 90's were mostly horrible. I can only find good music today in the so called indie Hip Hop scene, since they try to make more melodic songs with actual lyrics. Not just a 3 second loop stretched on 3 minutes with someone condoning greed, crime and casual sex over it. And that is because I only listened to Metal before, so the mainstream can really make you think bad of styles by misrepresenting them.

[@prestonaxtell7338]

it's my teenage daughters fault

[@matt1901]

Your familiarity theory is not how I experienced music. I was a teenager in the 90ties but hate 90ties music. It was horrible - either depressing grunge, annyoing brit-pop or stupid techno music. I always liked 60ties, 70ties, and 70ties music (Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Pink Floyd, Santana, Hendrix etc.). Then again, some good music was released from the early 2000ths when electronic music became well developed (Infected Mushroom, Carbon-based Lifeforms, Solar Fields etc.).

[@DVSPress]

+Oliver Mattausch I actually like Infected Mushroom - one of the few EDM-type bands I find interesting. And I was the same way in the 90s. BUT! I still think the perception of music getting worse is a common one, and I believe it is because people have a bias toward what they were first exposed to. Obviously not everyone is going to be that way.

[@gonk4509]

At least Grunge had meaning unlike Pop Music

[@thesalamanderking3475]

Oliver Mattausch The Postal Service as well

[@minakat369]

The meaning of grunge was nihilism. Hair metal was cheesy, but at least it was fun. Thankfully the "Brit Pop" movement in the mid 90's made music enjoyable again.

[@patriciaharrison]

At least Duran Duran wrote their own music and played their own instruments!!!

[@princegoatcheese9379]

A lot of musicians still play physical instruments and write their own music; it's not an isolated case. Some examples include Red Vox, Scale the Mountain, Shmu, and a whole lot of others out there.

[@TheJollyMisanthrope]

@@princegoatcheese9379 Do any of them have near the number of hit songs that Duran Duran did?

[@jaysphilosophy1951]

This is the industry's fault for not creating hardware in music. Something you can actually touch and feel is said to be of value, rather than something you artificially upload into a computer somewhere. Also, musicians nowadays are forced into an informal economy, an economy where there is no actual wealth creation, an economy where the artist has to sing for there meal. This is fine if you're young, but if you want time to grow old, to have a family, to generate wealth, you want royalties. This is where the screw up is, and also, this is why there is no new music nowadays. Before the 2000's according to the IRS, there were over 300,000 musicians making over 100,000 a year, when napster hit, this whole class went away and has been stagnant now for over a decade. It's flusted the music economy into a zipf curve, or in science called, a long tail, where there are few winners, and a vast sea of losers, where the winners benefit tremendously, and the losers earn nothing. Want you actually want, to sustain an industry, is a bell distribution, or a bell curve, where there is actually a strong number in the middle, this was true before the explosion of the internet among other things.

[@Sir.suspicious]

The same sequence also happens in architecture, and tbh, in many things in life. Architecture gets more and more complex then reverts to a very simple stage, that starts getting more elaborate again and the cycle keeps happening

[@DVSPress]

I'm definitely become more aware of this in architecture recently.

[@necrophilicexcretion8613]

100%. Pop music has gotten so bad over the past 2 decades, it's a DISGRACE for real musicians, who die hard for the music, for their craft and musicianship. I myself am VERY ashamed of being a musician, a songwriter, producer because all these money grubbing douchebags ruin it all for us.

[@parthiancapitalist2733]

Necrophilic Excretion i think it died in the 70's

[@lipat97]

Necrophilic Excretion actually pop just got good again. Kesha, Lady Gaga, Lana Del Rey, Lorde, and arguably Katy Perry are actually making good records now (as opposed to their earlier works). So you have to ask yourself, is pop bad or is it that its just not for you? Pop songs are meant to be happy and fun, its not like rock which is more meaningful and serious. In pop, the emotion behind the main tune is the main factor. The lyrics are also more about poignancy than poetry. If its a good tune, and the lyrics are decent, then its good pop. Now I can name quite a few pop records this year that have decent to good lyrics and high quality instrumentation, but if you look at it like its a rock song then you're just expecting a fish to climb a tree or calling a skittle bad because it doesnt taste like a steak. For one, I think you should try the new Feist album out. Its folk pop (you know, that sound taylor swift butchers every other year), but I think you'll like it. Has a bit of a kinks vibe to it imo.

[@dennuzz99]

Liam Burke pop is 100% plastic and boring. The artists you mentioned are Just as bad

[@lipat97]

No, they aren't lol. Kesha, Feist, and Lorde have made ridiculously good albums this year. Stop swallowing the shit these other guys are trying to feed you and go make your own opinion. There's nothing wrong with a fun song. Dont act like some beacon of creativity when you can only comprehend one narrow genre of music.

[@dennuzz99]

Liam Burke i made my own opinion. They fucking suck. Stop Being the sheep that accepts any kind of crap the mainstream puts out. Oh wait it's not an opinion it's a fact.

[@Dantallica1]

I've realized that if I wanna hear good music these days, I hafta write it myself ;)

[@isbreadlife1307]

No

[@ludocrious7898]

yeah xd kinda my plan

[@peterbetts858]

the problem with that is that there are standards or else , ONLY You , will think its good .

[@potatoking4227]

or just listen to older stuff because it's better.

[@ChristianBurrola]

Love Me Do may not have many sections but what it does have is a soulful performance, incredible harmonies, an epic harmonica section, and an incredible groove. Love Me Do is definitely on par with their later work. It would be incorrect to say that The Beatles progressed. Their r&b phase was just as groundbreaking and their psychedelic rock phase. I Wanna Hold Your hand is not pop, it's rhythm and blues. "The Way We Were, that sucked" If you seriously think Barbara is not a good singer and that the string arrangement was not good, you're insane. My Sharona is a great groove, lot's of cool rhythmic things happening between the guitars and the drums. George Michael is an amazing singer and Wham! was one of the best artists of 80s pop. I hate Ke$ha too but Alicia Keys is actually decent and The Black Eyed Peas are a great dance group. Usher is an incredible singer. The White Album is more like a 4 star album. "Spice Girls was the top album of 1997" Deservedly so, it's an amazing record with incredible vocal harmonies, they took what they learned from Wilson Phillips and En Vogue and brought it to a massive audience by combining it with the sounds of what was modern hip-hop at the time, brilliant work. "There are artists out there who can actually sing without autotune" Like SPICE GIRLS, there was no autotune on the first two records. 'That level of practice is missing from a lot of artists more recently" No argument there. Totally agree. I think the best composer of the Baroque was Jacquet de la Guerre and the worst was Jean-Baptiste Lully. The Galant style is just flat out boring, let's just keep it real. I love atonal music too. I don't like black metal but I love death metal. Ace of Base, while not as groundbreaking as Nirvana, knew how to make great dance songs. They were very well put together and a huge influence on later styles such as reggaeton. A lot of the music that you say is not very complex may not be so in a harmonic ,melodic, or lyrical way but are definitely so in a rhythmic way. A good example is disco, a lot of people like to give disco a lot of flack but the truth is that a lot of it had amazing drumming, bass work, and percussion. The syncopation and driving counter rhythms are what get you to the dance floor ( a lot of these rhythms have afro-cuban and columbian roots). In terms of the argument of new music getting worse. I look at the billboard charts of the 70s and 80s and I'd say about 70-80% of the songs are good. I look at the billboard charts from the 2000s and 2010s and I find only about 20-30% of it to be good. I was born in 1993.

[@Alondro77]

I think Streisand is egotistical beeyatch, but "The Way We Were" was a lovely romantic tune. And let's look at groups like Tears for Fears, with songs like "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" which are still popular with a large audience to this day. There was so much variety in the older pop music. Now it all sounds the same. And that's been scientifically demonstrated several times over the past couple years!

[@myrddingwynedd2751]

What many don't realize regarding pop music, which on the surface appears simplistic, is that there is a great level of complexity to simplicity. In a way, it's the art of making something sound good out of very little. For example, music that is considered highly complexed uses many musical notes, and in that lies its appeal. But the appeal of simplistic pop music is that it is catchy, creating hooks out of very few notes. Ironically that isn't as simple as it sounds. That, in my opinion, is why pop music is perennially popular over most highly complexed styles of music, such as jazz or classical. It is melodic structure over rhythmic structure. The melodic structure of pop music is rhythmic, whilst more complexed styles rely on using all the notes available for its effectiveness. But, more isn't necessarily better. So we have to ask ourselves the question, if the music we criticise so much is that bad, why is it so popular? I think the more musically knowledgeable we are, the more we tend to look down on music that appears to operate on a musical skill level below what we perceive as highly skilled, and yet that is not what seems to attract most people musically speaking. It's a musical arrogance and snobbery of sorts, and this blinds us to the attractive and effective simplicity (which again isn't that simple) of pop music.

[@rockgod6180]

There hasn't been anything good since the early 2000s

[@vdsp011]

The only good music I remember from the early 2000s (on the pop charts anyway) was Queens of the Stone Age, White Stripes, and the Strokes. Maybe Jet. They were exceptions to the overall rule, though. The late 90s/early 2000s were TERRIBLE for popular music. 1994-1996 was the last great time for pop.

[@dante6x]

Rock God Yea. I'm more of a 80s-90's guy.

[@WebMint_]

Rock God If you actually think music is getting worse then you are very close minded when it comes to music.

[@mennokuipers5709]

you're blind. There has been good music, but it's just not popular anymore.

[@mennokuipers5709]

EdgeRay 1309 muse

[@ganondorfdragmire7886]

"I listen to black metal all day, so of course I like Arnold Schoenberg." Instant like and sub.

[@tobyblake851]

All day?

[@Loverboy19691]

The music has declined since 1990. 60's, 70's and 80's are the best.

[@bapyongukgukguk2352]

Andrew Dexter I think by mid 2000 it became soulless

[@ScorpioBornIn69]

Same here, it really all died in the early '90s when rap, dance-hip hop and grunge alternative became mainstream which really said it all for the future of music and that is it'll only get worst as the years pass. And I was right.

[@sjdrifter72]

Andrew Dexter You are so right. Good music died in the 1990's but you could see the winds of change start to blow in the very late 80's when the ghetto and the seattle sound garbage started to get pushed to the forefront and all the talented artists were pushed aside and later pushed way in the background entirely.

[@PUBNave]

I love the 1960's.

[@jewmatria9291]

it ended after the grunge/alternative era

[@CharityDiary]

I guess you do have a point. Personally, I feel that music as a whole is moving in a direction that I wholeheartedly dislike, where most (if not all) of the instruments are being "played" by a computer program instead of a real person. Take Taylor Swift and Fall Out Boy for example -- their older stuff was pretty good because they had real people playing instruments on their tracks, but when you look at their most recent albums, the only real non-programmed instrument you hear is the vocals, and those are generally tweaked and layered to hell. Guitar has been replaced by electronic tones and strings, while the entire percussion track has been reduced to a standard bass note and ELECTRONIC CLAPS. Like, they can't even use real claps. As someone who actually plays music, it angers me on such an emotional level when I tell people that a newer Fall Out Boy / Taylor Swift song doesn't have any actual instruments in it, and they point me to the Wikipedia page like, "Look, here's the guitarist and bassist and drummer listed right here on the band page." Yeah, but that entire album is comprised of nothing but programmed keys and strings, electronic claps, a fake bass kick, and tons of vocal layering. No one sat down to play and record the guitar or drums for those tracks. And sure, they need touring instrumentalists, because no one would go see Fall Out Boy if it was just the dude singing while his laptop played the songs in the background. For the last century we've had popular musicians and bands that have inspired people to pick up instruments and learn them. You had The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Pink Floyd, AC/DC, Rush, Def Leppard, U2, Metallica, Iron Maiden, The Police, Pearl Jam, Oasis, etc, all very popular bands of the last half-century, all of which inspired generations of people to pick up instruments and learn to play them. You don't have that now. No one's going to listen to the latest One Direction track and think "Omg I've gotta learn that on guitar / drums!", and there aren't really any popular "bands" around anymore that actually play their instruments. I think Paramore and Fall Out Boy were the last real "rock" bands that fell. So now when people get inspired to learn an instrument, they're being inspired by music that's 20+ years old. So I think in that regard, yes, the quality of music has been decreasing, because it's becoming less about the physical playing of instruments, and as someone who actually plays an instrument, I think that sucks. However, if I didn't play any instruments and just generally had no idea about music at all, I admit that I'd probably enjoy today's pop music :P A question for you: if the technology had been there in the ~1960's, do you think music would have became as electronically influenced then as it is today?

[@parthiancapitalist2733]

Charity Diary music is a beauty, not a playground. Elvis thought it was a playground, and he was kinda good, but it didn't match what quality music had before.

[@DVSPress]

I never answered this comment - music technology (which was new at the time) had a huge influence in the music of the 1960s, so I would anticipate a similar effect if they had the same technology access.

[@AndrewWilliams-zc1hf]

The backing on most of todays tuneless songs sounds like a kid learning the keyboard with just the same few notes.

[@jeffrperkinsdds9391]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pYewdpKiaa6qf6s

[@bobbywizdum5248]

100 percent right. They pick up there laptops to become "beat makers".

[@GeahkBurchill]

The short answer is, *'NO.'* The great musicians haven't gone anywhere but it's far harder to get support. This is true for all performing arts (I'm a puppeteer and a lot of my friends are musicians) It's harder than ever to get audiences to turn out to your show and harder than ever to get paid to perform. Getting to be a great musician is a long process. Back in the 80's & 90's I remember how easy it was to pack a local music venue with a band you never heard of. Ten months later that band would be huge. (This happened for me with Green Day, No Doubt, Zebrahead, Smashmouth, etc--not that any of those bands were phenomenal but they got big through live performance) If you can't get traction within the first year, it becomes much harder to keep up the passion. One of my favorite bands (Remy Zero) couldn't find traction even after multiple hits and ultimately dissolved after three albums. I know at least six bands filled with great musicians who struggled for a couple years and then gave up on the third year. Art and music are free everywhere you go and that lowers the value of great art and music. No one can afford to split part time work and also be a musician. At some point you have to give up and get a 'real job' and that means great musicians are not making it to the big time. Just the corporate, studio crap put together by marketers. So, using The Beatles as an example; what if _Love Me, Do_ or _I Wanna Hold Your Hand_ never hit? They were good enough in the 60's to grab attention because there wasn't that much else. No competing entertainment. No Netflix or Internet. There was plenty of other great music at the time but not enough (And not free-enough) to drown out _I Wanna Hold Your Hand_ So, imagine a world with no big hit for The Beatles early on. No Rubber Soul afterwards and no Sgt. Pepper's. The Beatles just gave up after a few albums because they just couldn't get the traction. I think that's the way it is for _LOTS_ of great bands now. People with passion and talent who put in the work and time but aren't rewarded for it at all. It feels like throwing all that time and energy into an empty void. And then you see Drake. He gets huge and you can't even really consider it "music". That shit is demoralizing. I think those are the main problems.

[@ShiftingDrifter]

Don't you know about the new style honey? All you need are looks and a whole lotta money." It's the next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways it's still rock and roll to me...

[@Peteruspl]

I've heard that by running an analysis of hits from last decades there were some significant finding about the quality of modern music. The tonal range is being narrowed, also volume stays flatter and is just overall louder.

[@namanjoshi1477]

Absolutely Correct! Something about Timbre

[@entroducingjpeg]

I think modern music doesn't suck,but the good modern music has been overshadowed by mediocre pop singer's and overrated bands,some good modern bands are Bloc Party,The War On Drugs,MGMT,Tame Impala,Passion Pit,Klaxons,Two Door Cinema Club,Editors,Atlas Genius,The Killers,The Strokes,Mac Demarco,Kendrick Lamar,Tyler The Creator,and Childish Gambino

[@keeysOST]

It's funny, back then Michael Jackson was considered a dancing machine, now I look at all these popular brain dead dances and ask myself what happened!!??

[@realmichaud]

the difference is that Jackson had style and charisma and smarts............today its just go along to get along

[@SuperEnforcer88]

And nowadays you can't select nothing because all is shit.

[@nikolozka1]

At least you could understand what they were singing, nowadays I need subtitles plus slang dictionary to get a clue what they are on about.

[@brodyreyes3235]

Best music of genre from each decade 1700-1800s-Baroque 1800-1900s-Romantic/Jazz/Blues 1900s-Jazz/Blues 1910s-Jazz/Ragtime/Blues 1920s-Ragtime/Jazz 1930s-Swing/Jazz/Boogie Woogie 1940s-Jazz/Country/Swing 1950s- Rock/Doo Wop/Folk/Jazz/Soul 1960s-Pop/Rock/R&B/Motown/Soul 1970s-Heavy Metal/Rock/Disco/Funk 1980s-Punk Rock/Hard Rock/New Wave/Synthpop 1990s-Hip Hop/Grunge/Rap/Alternative Rock 2000s-Nu Metal/Southern-Northern Hip Hop 2010-Rap/Pop

[@wafflestoast5228]

2000's pop was actually quite fun, and had some cool character. That decade as a whole was just freaky and odd, but definitely memorable. I've noticed how much more catchy those tunes are than the garbage made in the 2010's. There have been only a handful of records in this decade that I'll take along with me for the rest of my life. I sincerely hope the 20's are stellar, and that music becomes valuable again. Spotify needs to die

[@Equinox2021]

I'd like to start off saying I appreciate where you're coming and agree that we all have a bias towards things we are familiar with. I often hear a lot of criticism regarding modern music for not having real musicians being featured in tracks and that the music production featured in most of modern music requires no talent. I can tell you as a musician originally coming from the metal scene where I was sponsored by guitar companies and later moving to electronically driven music, they both required immense skill and dedication . Rock, metal and pop music from the 80s and 90s (and before) have such an amazing quality to them and as listeners we have come to appreciate the artists talent to play parts, construct great progressions and memorable melodies. What I've noticed when fans of music from those decades hear a lot of modern music are complaints for how simple the progressions are or how the music requires no real talent to make. I've often seen guitarists online play modern pop songs basically clowning on the songs to show the simplicity. But the skill set required to make modern sounding music is less about crazy progression and scales and more about sound design, which is an entirely different skill and one that isn't widely recognized by the public. A lot of people hear a synth or bass line in Deadmau5 song (for example) and think how simple the progression is and that the computer is doing all the work. When in reality Joel (Deadmau5) probably spent hours or sometimes days creating the sound of one of the synths from a simple wave form. There is no doubt a huge shift happening right now from modern music and the great music from the 60s,70s, 80s, 90s, 00s but there is a lot of skill to appreciate from electronic production. Any one who doubts that I encourage to get a DAW and some VST'S and try recreating some electronic songs. I'll stress again that it's less about recreating the notes and more about recreating the sound of the synths or the tightness of the drum mix. I will also add that I am not the biggest fan of modern radio pop music, just wanted to give a different perspective to people. If you're looking for some innovative modern guitar music check out Animals As Leader or CHON also if you're looking for modern pop music that isn't garbage check out Great Good Fine OK, Penguin Prison and Miami Horror to name a few.

[@Schisma.]

As someone who is actively listening to new music coming out (a few new full length albums a week at the very least) i've found that this attitude has yet to hit me. Even though I shovel through just as much shit as ever, i'm also still struggling not to overflow my year end lists. By that measure, I propose that once people stop digesting as much music as they did when they were marinading in youth they tend to stunt their growth with new new styles that are out there.

[@Materva-hv6sz]

Good topic. I think most commercially successful music thats any good falls in the alternative, adult alternative or adult contemporary charts on Billboard. Not saying that most of that music is good,, but if its good thats where it tends to get categorized. The mainstream billboard chart is almost exclusively hip hop, (hip hop inflected) r&B and house based EDM. The only exceptions I can think of in recent years is some of the girl pop made by Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift. What used to be considered "urban music" is now the mainstream music in the United States

[@realmichaud]

Katy Perrys 2011 album was good. But something happened in 2013.

[@kanegord3109]

Great video, David. Tell me, what are your thoughts on Michael Jackson's music? I think his early stuff was good and innovative.

[@DVSPress]

+kane gord I still play my thriller LP frequently. I think it is one of the best produced albums ever. Quincy Jones got the best of the best to help craft those songs (Toto and Eddie Van Halen, among others), and it pays off. Micheal Jackson himself is talented, but it is the whole package that really makes it sound so good, even after all these years.

[@hawaii6282]

Modern Music Is Awful

[@ST0PM0SS]

There was no good music after 1760

[@worstpianist3985]

Popular music: yes Music: no

[@bizman7485]

But now... I can't be successful in the genre of music I want to play... Cause its just dying.... Like... Listen to the temperance movement..... On Google they had the best rock song of 2016.... And its soooo unknown.... This is just sad...lol

[@CesarManiaX]

Popular music doesn't suck. What sucks is today's rap music

[@fletchercalderbank8498]

Popular music sucks too

[@neox9369]

+Mareșalul Alexandru Averescu. Huuuh??? Original rap was jazz influenced.

[@neox9369]

+Mareșalul Alexandru Averescu. Listen to the earoh East coast black new jack swing r&b of the late 80's early 90's, new edition, Guy, Rene, Tribe Called Quest and tons of other main and not so mainstream. Listen to the instruments, beats and poetic flow. They just don't make it like that anymore, it's sad.

[@vdsp011]

Katy Perry, Bieber, Beyonce, Maroon 5, Twenty One Pilots, Lady Gaga, Pink, One Direction, Rihanna, etc aren't rap, and they are awful.

[@aa561234]

Bruno Mars ???

[@Romelle81]

I've always liked hearing peoples ideas and perspectives on this topic. Back in the 80s and 90s, if it was popular, I probably liked the song, no matter the genre, which is why I say it was better. There were so many different artists alternating the number1 spot back then. You could have 20+ different number1 songs in a year at times. It wasn't always the most popular artists either. You could have a one hit wonder like london beat with "I've been thinking about you," or Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley, then they would fall of the face of the earth and someone else would take their place. I think diversity has gotten a bit better over the past few years.

[@DVSPress]

+Romelle 1981 I think the musicscape is in most ways much more diverse than in the past, because the internet makes it possible to experience so many different kinds of music that normally might not be popular enough to get on the radio. I think the negative sentiment usually comes from the popular music experience, which can be good or bad depending on tastes. Yeah, I don't care for today's popular music, but I didn't really care for popular music in the 90s, either. I'm a metal guy.

[@QazwerDave]

I think BOTH the best AND the worst music ever comes out today !!

[@thebottles2684]

Yea i love lyrics like "nanana nanana nana nana down down" 10/10 or "i love when you call me sěnorita"

[@zaksmith3304]

The best music does NOT come out today.

[@QazwerDave]

@@zaksmith3304 I guess we disagree

[@zaksmith3304]

@@QazwerDave I suppose we do. Musicians are not as talented as they once were, perhaps it is because of the movement away from instrumental music into the realm of electronic music. I am not saying that there are no talented musicians at all, just that they are much less common. I have music production software and ANYONE can shit out music there with just a keyboard and mouse. I use instruments with the software, but instrument proficiency is not required as I can edit any mistakes with the click of a button (I am legitimately good at the piano and guitar). Not very many can pick up an instrument and play it properly today. In my opinion the pop music today is much less profound lyrically and musically, no doubt in my mind. It is mass produced by insecure teenagers because they can do it on their home computer. People can't sing anymore either. Popular artists are not musicians, they are insecure, immature teenagers at best. The Beatles were profoundly more talented than today's pop artists and they were still garbage musicians. Yes garbage has existed for years, but there are twice as many people living now than there were in the 70's and technology has crippled the interest in real instruments for young people in many regards (NOT ALL). Tool I would say is a great example of great musicianship in the modern age, there are more, but that is the best example that comes to mind. They are a no bullshit band. Those are few and far between now and then but definitely more so now than then.

[@QazwerDave]

@@zaksmith3304 I think that while the percentage of shit, especially in the pop music scene, has undoubtebly gone streadily upwards along side techonogical inovation and proliferation, I do think that the number of talented musicians, as well as their actual level, have never been higher than right now, also this spurred on, at least partly, by technology. Learning an instrument has never been easier, and resources like youtube in overflowing with sources for learning and mastery. There are people today doing things never seen before, simply because everyone can see what all of their colleagues are doing and how they're doing it. Rivals are pushing each other from the other side of the globe.

[@RolandoPeralta3DGraphics]

I was a teenager in the 90's and yet I think that music was at its best in the 80's

[@jhonwask]

You skipped over "To Sir, With Love." That is a provocative song about growing up. "The Way We Were" is about memories of all the good things of a relationship. Just forget that Babs sang it.

[@lemonlimelukey]

people arent getting stupider, only teens

[@noahmcgaffey797]

Ironic Frowning Emoji 😃 Because I partially agree with you but am myself a teenager

[@Lightguardian_HOH]

@Marco Paez Then how come your using it?

[@edinop4205]

I'd just like to know how the use of crude language can be construed as a form of "artistry". It took us 700 years to get to here? Maybe it's a throwback to what might be genetic, and a throw back to Yelling across the plains, or jungles of Africa.....Kinda like a re-connect and a tribal "in your face"?

[@robertjermantowicz7487]

"Music is just noise" - Frank Zappa

[@CinematicComics]

noise that sounds good/melodic!!!

[@Mythical444]

Organized noise

[@BubblegumCrash332]

Not having a record industry or at least not one as big as it once was has really made me reconsider what I once thought of “rockstars”. There hasn’t been a new music scene since the 90,s and there hasn’t been any rockstars since then. This leads me to believe it was all just really good marketing. The British Invasion, Disco, Punk Rock, Grunge. I once thought it was all just organically occurring. Since the death of the music industry there is no apparatus to snag up new and exciting bands. Sad but true. The scenes the bands the rockstars it was all just marketing. Except Hip Hop which seems to have taken the place of rock n roll.

[@jaimecruz9013]

Hey Stewart, In my opinion in relating to your question I think "music and the way people look at it" is very different because to me I think that today's music has a mixture of positive and negative feedback which confuses people what it actually means. For instance Music and Podcast is two different types which confuses people a lot because some musicans and artists tent to talk about themselves or their desires . (That actually sounds like a podcast if you compare them when adding a bear to it). Today Ages 0-100 tent to forget the meaning of music and why music was brought to life and now they've forgotten the art of making music.

[@patrickanarchy6996]

I really appreciate your speech here... I have been a singer songwriter for 17 years and guitarist... I still am working on my first album but even at my age 30 I am not going to ever give up.... I just want to be more prepared for this uphill music industry battle... I am applying to nursing school too because I have a lot of hospital experience and come from a large family of nurses and doctors... But they hate my music career stuff. LOL.. However a lot of my songs are similar to Neil young/ Nirvana … But who cares.. lol. I just wanna do this for the love of my guitar and songs and not for any recognition... Thanks ! you taught me so much today ! Happy Holidays

[@MarcusyesMarcus]

I'd like to bring up some points you forgot or completely left out. First of I would just point out that you kind of got yourself trapped in your own cage by cherrypicking and decide yourself what is and what isn't good music. So how can one biased opinion discern and objectively speak about what is good and what is bad? Second of all your whole speak about "classical" music is kinda cliched by giving us a lesson of classical music and its complexity. I've heard that argument thousands of times already. Baroque music isn't somehow objectively superior to all other music. Complexity isn't the only factor to determine such a thing. So what is it? You talk about two things: Novelty and Originality. There's lots of original music out there but does that mean its good? Not really. I'd argue that time signature and melodic/harmonic variation and good mastering is the essential ingredients to good music. A memorable melody is maybe one of the most difficult things to come up with. If you put that melody into the right context you have good music. I rather listen to David Wise masterpiece from Donkey Kong Country (snes) "Aquatic Ambience" than a "complex" piece by Handel or Bach. Less is more. What modern pop music is missing is memorable melodies and chord progression. They miss that third thing called "magic" which is the third thing after originaly and novelty. Loudness wars and the dumbing down of pop music is to blame aswell.

[@thomasanderson2664]

Metal is really good right now if you know where to look

[@teleaddict23]

Even the not so good songs of yesteryear are 10 times better than the songs in the charts today.

[@metalgrinch]

All forms of art started on the decline after about 1997, and after 2005 it COMPLETELY shot down the toilet. Not so much about time signatures or complexity. It has way more to do with good old fashioned INTEGRITY. Art has no more INTEGRITY, and every studio and "artist" is only out for the almighty dollar. Sure, some crap existed always, but at least it was EXPERIMENTAL crap. It tried to do something, even if it didn't work. Now it's all about selling out to stay relevant, corporately or even politically. Music, film, TV and even modern sculptural art have become a laughing stock.

[@Olivia-W]

SergeTheBlerge No. No, some corporations went down the drain (or were shit to begin with), but there are others that do try to maintain integrity.

[@one_point21_gigawatts]

Nirvana, Chilli Peppers, Green Day, SubLime, OffSpring, Tool, Quicksand, Toadies, Soundgarden, Sytem Of The Down, Tom Petty, Sugar Ray, Limp Bizkit, Lenny Kravitz, Everclear, Beastie Boys, Guns and Roses, Presidents, Third Eye Blind, Live, No Doubt , Soul Asylum, Puddle Of Mudd, I could go on and on- the 90's Rocked! 😁✌ I just found this old video of yours.

[@Tbonyandsteak]

I use a different approach. What is the justification of the music? Greed, desire, anger, just make a song? That alone makes most music trash What I like is there something to be learned in the lyric? An experience that is overcome and a wisdom attained? Does it have a genuine message?

[@Mectojic]

Hey David, I recently engaged in a lecture about this. We brought up the idea of timelessness - pieces in music which seem to endure forever. I believe timelessness is possible, but only so when some level of complexity is achieved. For example, Mozart and Beethoven are timeless because of how their music is both accessible and complex. In a modern setting, there are less examples of these, but I could name Bohemian Rhapsody, Jesus Christ Superstar or some of the 1920s jazz numbers. What are your thoughts on this?

[@DVSPress]

+Mectojic I wouldn't disagree on that assessment. I think you have to have a combination of originality (or novelty) and quality or depth for a piece of music to have staying power. I think _Symphonie Fantastique_ is a great example of this combination. It has the novelty aspect that gained it attention in its time (the whole programatic symphony idea, plus it's rather controversial content) plus it has a great deal of musical depth that keeps it interesting long past its time. Now, a broader and perhaps more accurate view is to say that timeless music is effective beyond its style. That's a little harder to describe in a few words, but every period and place has its stylistic elements that familiar and considered necessary when constructing music. "Timeless" music transcends these idioms to remain effective to those who are not intimately familiar with them. Bach's "toccata and fugue in D minor" remains as moody and powerful today, long past the time when the average person had a deep familiarity with counterpoint and dissonant organ styles. Music is different from literature in this regard - the language of music is natural and in-built, since our perception of music is merely an understanding of mathmatical relationships in sound. Literature has a harder time being timeless because it is built upon idioms and removed semiology in the form of language.

[@NotOrdinaryInGames]

The Beatles are like Jesus; if you criticize them, you go to Hell.

[@davidbrown470]

think id rather go to hell then if the beatles will be there, seems to be where all the interesting people will end up.

[@officialclownbusiness7788]

metamorphosis743 my dick is bigger than Jesus'. do something, bitch.

[@user-po5bi6jb9g]

The late Beatles stuff was good, the early stuff was cheesy

[@perfectibility999]

I also prefer baroque over classical, but I'm not too judgmental of simpler arrangements. Formal complexity can be good, but I think the biggest strength of music is its ability to capture a mood or a mood of the times, and mastering this is perhaps even more difficult, or can be as difficult, as mastering the formal side. I guess I'd be somewhat Schopenhauerian about music, in that music's direct pull on the subrational part of us is the key to its power. The formal, rational side of it is just a vehicle to get to those depths inside of us.

[@marusdod3685]

I think It's internet that ruined music because people dont buy CD's anymore and artists have 0 incentive to make good songs

[@zayburnell]

i still buy cd's

[@fascistgamer6514]

Yes. Artists have to tour more to make money rather spend time making albums for money

[@bluesolace9052]

I bought two, but yeah, not enough people buy em

[@uzefulvideos3440]

But production costs are so much lower thanks to digital recording. Today everyone can produce music if he wants.

[@fascistgamer6514]

Uzefulvideos That can be a positive thing and a negative thing. It’s cool people can make their own stuff, but at the same time it dilutes the industry. We enjoyed those older bands because partly we aspired to be them, once you reach that point, then what’s the incentive for the music industry to make good stuff.

[@tomforsythe7024]

The bias doesn't just pertain to the music we liked from our youth. Our brains like familiarity, and it is fairly common for people to warm up to artists they disliked back in the day.

[@RhettRobin]

I walked into a store that was playing pop music today and i literally wanted to rip my ears out i would rather listen to a chalkboard getting scraped than that stupid techno "Music" thats aparently so good. I love 70s rock like carry on wayward son and killer queen and so much more it just goes to show people threw their instruments out and started singing for money instead of for entertainment

[@nightmareTomek]

There are several points to this topic. 1) Bad music did rarely reach us in the 70s, and in addition to that we forgot about it. 2) Companies don't want to take risks, so they rather put on the market more of the same. Yes, we like familiar things, but I believe our brain also needs a challenge, so hearing too many similarities bores us. (ex. millennial whoop). They also flood devices (radios, especially in shops) with the songs they promote, playing them over and over and over and pushing everything else aside. 3) A huge bunch of songs (dunno, 100 or 1000) played by dozens of bands in the top charts were written by like 2 guys. 4) The quality is actually going down due to the music getting louder and louder. Overtones and stuff like this, which makes music feel full get's lost by some (didn't care to remember the name) equalizing process. I think I have that video in the YT suggestions, which explains it.... 5) A study has shown that the lyrics are getting dumber. However I am still able to find new and extremely wonderful music, but none of it is played in the radio.

[@retrocar7761]

Modern music is just Crap.

[@Tony_Regime]

the problem isn't the artists who record the songs, it is the companies who hold their contracts and tell them what to sing. they use sequencers and samples for the music so the backing track is easy to record. very few singers in mainstream music get to sing their own songs or have artistic freedom. music is now an industry instead of an art form. the major labels turn out the audio equivalent of fast food, snacks and sweets/candy. it isn't meant to last. this started in the 40's and 50's when people noticed that there was a lot of money to be made from selling recorded music and has gotten worse as the industry has grown.

[@dperry913MusicTracks]

Q: "Can something be called music if no musicians were involved in its creation?" A: No, but it can be called EDM.

[@dperry913MusicTracks]

Mainstream.

[@MiniZilla1999]

lol yeah, I forgot that producers just press a button and don't have to work hours and hours composing, mixing, finding sounds etc. yeah, ok.

[@bobbywizdum5248]

@@MiniZilla1999 they really dont. Many beats are made in 5 minutes.

[@orlock20]

The big problem with 2016 in pop music was the lack of variety. Hip hop went to dull trap music, country continued to be bro country (same lyrics as hip hop, but a guitar is used) and disco artists were interchangeable. That was the pop scene. The variety of music in the 1980s was much larger and included classical, jazz and blues stars not to mention the half dozen or so sub rock genres. Country music was on the rebound in the 1980s. The 90s saw ska which was big band rock acts. Then the sameness hit in the 2000s and the cross over sameness such as rap country made things worse. Now one can same a song, put some chirping vocals on it and call it a day. If you don't like a white guy talking about is wine, women and wealth or don't like a black guy talking about his wine, woman and wealth or some woman talking about her booty or her breakup then you probably aren't going to like 2016 pop music.

[@SuperIvysaur]

I'm here because after listening to "humble" I just had to search why people listen that kind of stuff thinking of it as some kind of masterpice or a classic. I just feel like we are losing something generation after generation because kids have bad examples as parents, and with the advent of social media the bad music spreads like a disease among the little kids that think that stuff is cool.

[@porflepopnecker4376]

Your conclusions and suppositions are woefully erroneous. Music before the 90s WAS better. Music after 2000 generally sucks...HARD. Forget all that "when I was a teen" relativism. I was a teen in the 70s and I can see it. We didn't forget all the shitty songs, there just weren't as many. Now, it's almost ALL shit. That's just the way it is.

[@zarcero21]

"I hate Kesha - deeply" Lol!

[@cloudshe]

hey David, maybe you should ask your Dad (same age as me) how The Beatles transformed music in the early 60s, and particularly why I Wanna Hold Yr Hand brought them prominence on the US music scene. what were they, 20yo at the time? yet they masterfully created a fusion of R&R and blues that was a genuinely new sound that had so much more musicality than the crap that was being shoved down our throats by the record industry. then the Beatles blossomed to create even more standout improvements and changes like no other artists, in just a few short years. you say IWHYH was too this or too that, but it was an epic change and it grabbed the attention of young music lovers like nothing since Chuck Berry or Bill Haley

[@BallJuiceOfZeus]

As a progressive liberal I have to say that I found your video offensive, your language was triggering, and now I have post traumatic stress disorder, thanks.

[@johnmcternan4157]

+fantana Send us your details and we'll set up a safe zone around your residence. No we can't move you ours, it's too dangerous.

[@BallJuiceOfZeus]

I would like my safe zone to be inside another safe zone

[@DVSPress]

+fantana I find the word trigger triggering, because guns have triggers and I heard once of somebody who was shot by one.

[@AnEvolvingApe]

+fantana Rather that's a "regressive" liberal.

[@BallJuiceOfZeus]

An Evolving Ape please don't refer to me as 'fantana' that is just a name assigned to me, my preferred KZbin pronoun is Sir Mrs Bruce jennerfer

[@Northface-uc4ge]

this era will be forgotten in terms of music and everything the only things that are good is underground music

[@BigTArmada]

Liked for liberal use of air quotes while referring to pop culture

[@LuxMeow]

My brain is the opposite, bad things tend to stick out more and I better remember as a survival tactic. So I'm guessing there are others like myself. I thought it had something to do with genre and lyrics. What do you think about the the differences between 432 Hz and 440 Hz...and these types of changes in regards to frequency in general music?

[@M1GarandMan3005]

This is the reason why I switched to listening to orchestral music back in 2004, and I have never looked back. Such great composers like Michael Giacchino, John Williams, James Horner, Hans Zimmer, Jerry Goldsmith, Christopher Lennertz, Christopher Tin, Thomas Bergersen, Nick Phoenix, and many many others have shown what music can truly be, and portray emotions that no other genre of music can portray.

[@MazeBeans]

teenagers. y

[@DanielBergonzoni]

Loved hearing your rant. I disagree with some of the music you consider not good, but we all have our preferences. I’m on the fence: is it ‘crap’ music if it’s mass produced?

[@bykeman69]

I get what you are saying about biases but I look at music from a different perspective, albeit a complex one. Of course "pleasing to the ear" is largely based on some kind bias so I have to get past that. I look for creativity, innovation, originality, actual musicianship and/or singing expertise--or lack thereof, but I can't stop there. I also have to look at how the song plays to the market or the genre or the masses. That is a factor and always has been, I think. If you look at the 50s-then 60s-then 70s there was a blend of taking a popular sound or a 'cookie cutter' or market driven type of song and pushing the envelope with creativity, originality and innovation. The Beach Boys took a 50's vibe and pushed and molded it into their own thing through the 60s as did the Beatles, even the Stones to some extent. Producers and Record company execs have always battled the artist for control of what they think will make $$ and that tension is exactly what I think produced the best hits in every genre. The difference now in my opinion is that there is no more pushing of boundaries and creating...even in metal. Im not sure if it is because there are only 8 notes in a scale and eventually there is nothing new or if it is because the industry has finally gotten control on the corporate side. People try to elevate indie music because of that, but it is not original either. I love listening to it because it is earthy and raw for the most part, but it isn't innovative or creative or original at all. I do appreciate your take on all of this though, however today's music really does suck. It just does.

[@jakubshouseofrock7109]

there's some really good points here, but your overall idea that there is a bias to what's novel and that people remember what they liked, while true, dose not change that the current state of the music industry dose not even allow or represent good music at this point, even though Barbra Streisand was more popular than Zeppelin, they still wore considered a massive band and hugely popular back in the day and had radio air play... this lack of representation was not the case 10-20 years ago, where both the complexity, musicianship, and variety in both genre and timbre of the songs that top the charts has significantly gone down over the years, there is scientific research that supports this. I'm not speaking from a point of nostalgia, as i'm only just over 21 years old and I grew up listening to the modern pop music which i now conciser garbage.. overall I agree that these are good points to take into consideration, but there is a very real shift in the modern musical climate that allows for less musicianship to be circulated in the main stream

[@jackg350]

Music is kind of like potential energy. As long as the right factors are at play it can exist. The issue we have today is that we won’t give attention to the young artists who are actually talented because producers and record labels over the years realized they can make more money of taking an attractive person making a brand out of them and writing them over produced garbage music that can be played at restaurants clubs etc.. so if anybody can’t understand why 25 years ago we had Kurt cobain singing Leadbelly songs on mtv and now we have Justin Beber it’s simply about money

[@2emo2function]

Mainstream music has always been terrible. Just listen to 60s dwop

[@coopdville855]

You're correct about The Beatles,at least from my personal perspective. I think that I Want To Hold Your Hand and All My Loving are great and enjoyable songs,but I think that it was material from their later music like The White Album and Abbey Road is how they became forever cemented in the annals of history.

[@brahnseer3512]

A critique by Thoughty2 on utube is worth looking at. He considers the change of music in a different way.

[@TimmyMayMusic]

Hey David, I found this video after checking out your flamenco technique videos. You're the first youtuber I've seen who's a virtuoso guitarist, who also has many interesting general commentary videos. I've been developing my flamenco skills for many years now but I started in the worlds of rock and folk. Your description of how most music students believe they can become musicians or composers without investing any sweat or mental energy is priceless. (One point of correction, after having read almost all the comments below to see someone else didn't mention it...The Beatles played for 2 years in Hamburg, not Munich.) I have subscribed to your channel and I look forward to interesting things in the future. (I have a music channel too.)

[@DVSPress]

Thanks! Sorry about getting the wrong German city!

[@Brian-Martin]

I was born circa 1976... As a self taught guitarist myself, I would agree with you, specifically since the 1990's forward, I have been very uninterested in music for the most part. Since the late 80's, musician talent has saw it's decline. I can see what you're saying about pop music, but pop music is just that. But even in the 80's there were some decent musicianship with the writing and performance of those pop songs which have seemed to decline decade after decade. What I have noticed, since the Nirvana scene, and the introduction of rap into the mainstream, is that music became less and less about music than the novelty of it, as you eloquently stated. However I think you might want to look into more of that starting in the early 90's as opposed to the later 90's and 2000's. Grunge was basically the TLJ to all the amazing work of all these amazing guitar players from the 70's and 80's. We saw a progression of guitar playing improvement that started in the 50's and probably before then, that ultimately peaked in the late 80's and early 90's. It died shortly after. It is now just unimpressive repeatable beats and musical complications that I guess to a kid sounds interesting. To the pop music you mentioned from the 1950's onward to lets say 2000: They had hooks! They grabbed you and got you interested because of a catchy hook *musically*. Nothing wrong with that as I am sure you would agree but at least they had *that*. The music today is extraordinarily novelty and lacks the catchy hook which is what makes a good pop song. It has been lacking that for a long time. I can pick out maybe two hand fulls of songs that did this from the last two decades. Could I recommend you do a video on artists through the ages that revolutionized the way an instrument was played? We haven't seen that happen since, oh I dunno, Eddie Van Halen?

[@RichardCranium.]

Great video. Made me think. I hate old pop songs less than I should because they are old. This video made me think and realize I was wrong.

[@Funky_Ghost]

Simple answer is yes, commercial music has. It's all so formulaic and fairly empty of feel and essence. More so, I personally feel, than in the past. Also, compounding the problem is music of today is so amalgamated that pure forms of a genre are fairly rare. At my heart, I'm an old school R&B and soul guy. I love rock too but R&B and soul just scratch all my personal itches. There are precious few modern artists that can hold a candle to what the 70's, 80's and 90's were giving me, all biases aside. There is just too much pop or Hip Hop or ( insert genre here ) mixed in to what they want me to believe is R&B and soul for me to associate it with my idea of what R&B and soul is. Most other genres are well represented by underground artists. If you have a local music scene chances are you can find some pretty killer music being laid down. As I've aged ( 53 now as of this month ) I've found myself slipping into the "get off my lawn!" contingent especially with music since I am, myself, a musician. When I'm honest with myself and give music an honest listen I can always find something I actually dig and it holds it's own with music from my past. It just takes a concerted effort to find it. As young people we associated the soundscape currently available with the "best times". So then everything before or after invariably gets compared to "our time". With no ( or few ) emotive connections to be made via a young mind growing and absorbing everything voraciously new music ( or new to us ) is at a disadvantage. Music, being subjective, lends itself to the age old better/worse debate. As an artist once sagely said, "Good is good".

[@shoogerkane]

Even the early Beatles with their third grade lyrics changed the game with their song arrangements, use of different chord changes and vocal melodies. At least in the rock world, most rock n roll was still 1-4-5, three chord blues based music. Beatles threw in that 4th chord and variations of major and minor chords. I'm not saying they were the only ones, but it didn't hurt that they were from England and looked different. Which added to their novelty.

[@SteveBello]

Music affects teenagers the most because they are intense and more passionate than when they are older. It's why my parents would chide me back in the day for liking "that noise" and "The 50s were the best time for music." That was because they were teenagers in the late 50s/early 60s and whatever was popular resonated with them. Much like heavy metal spoke to me in the late 70s/early 80s. I have tried to open my ears to new things, and have had little success. I would never make fun of what my kids like but I simply don't identify with it. And as a result, people our age get "aged out" without realizing it.

[@nintendsoad]

Music is so frustrating to me nowadays because there are so many "musicians" out there who cannot sing without autotune, play an instrument, or write music/lyrics. I have always been a metalhead and enjoyed having discussions with people about my favorite guitarists, drummers, bassists, etc.. You cannot even really do that anymore today because of the elitism that exists within the metal community.

[@marrionhues7296]

Could it be because we live in such a dark time that our perception is affected (we pay attention to novelty instead of other factors/techiques) or less decadent.

[@kd9262]

I find this to be applicable to almost everything under the umbrella of entertainment these days... what happened? As a musician myself, I've almost lost the drive to "make it", whatever that means. The playing field seems non existent, make it to what, where? I was more motivated and inspired when i heard more melodic songs in the way of pop on the radio not so long ago. What will this decade be remembered for? There seems to be no true theme or identity to this generation, not a postive one, anyway.

[@juliajimoh5852]

A lot of mainstream music these days (mainly pop music) lack in terms of creativity and originality. It's like almost every song played on the radio nowadays sounds exactly the same and nothing is authentic. Also, there doesn't seem to be that much focus on actual music these days. It appears most mainstream "artists" are now more known/recognized for their personal lives/antics than for making good quality music. The industry has gotten so commercial. I grew up in the 90's and early 2000's era, and while the music industry may have been a little commercialized back then, at least the focus was primarily on the music. Artists/musicians back then could put on these elaborate stage shows but they still had the natural, raw musical ability to back it up. For example, you look at someone like Beyonce; she puts on these big, elaborate stage performances but, she also has an incredible singing voice. Other past artists/musicians like Christina Aguilera, Pink, Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, etc, are artists who also put on elaborate performances but still have the raw, natural musical ability to back it up. I don't think the same can be said for most of today's artists. A lot of them, minus a select few, are all flash and no substance. They rely on these big, elaborate stage shows to cover up their less than stellar musical abilities. Another thing, with the use of the internet, as well as social media, it makes gaining a following and becoming famous way too easy. Back in the day, when up and coming artists/musicians wanted to get noticed, they went out and played at smaller venues. They took gigs wherever they could in order to gain a following, as well as get the attention of record labels. They made demo tapes, printed up flyers, etc. They actually started small and worked up to the big leagues. However, these days, with the internet and social media, it makes it almost too easy to become famous. It sort of takes away the need for hard work; with just one click, automatic attention. No time to prepare; instantly thrusted into the spotlight. In my opinion, I think that's part of why artists like Justin Bieber for example, tend to crash and burn. He got famous by posting a video on the internet, and then, boom! Instant fame/attention. Nowadays, it seems like he is more recognized for his off stage antics and relationship status than for actually making music. That's, in my opinion, is what can happen when one is automatically thrusted into the spotlight and given so much attention so soon. It's like, one moment, you're popular and on top of the world, and then next moment, yesterday's news. Longevity in the music industry can be a tough thing to get but, it is possible. Just gotta be willing to work hard and put the effort in.

[@Zelanias]

You seem very knowledgable about music history and music itself. I am not english and I heard you mention different eras(?) of music, words like baroke? (high-baroke, german-baroke), "bach" (didn't he play piano or something?) and from barocke period to classical period. "galantis"? Atonal music? Do you have any video about these periods or types of music where you could explain them a bit? It sounds very interesting! :) I am born in the mid 90s and I like many types of music styles, mostly rock-typed music though. But also classical (instrumental), electronic (many different types), 90s pop, some 80s dance-music. Todays music that is played on the radio is a kind of music I would like to distance myself from. Perhaps its more for the younger generations.

[@Zelanias]

A music I dislike is when a boy sings romantique while playing his guitar.

[@Aragorn.Strider]

Ask anyone what music they like, and then ask what year they really started to listen to music (on the radio/bought records/used spotify whatever) and then ask their age. The results are very often the same: they love some songs exactly when they started listening, and all newer songs after that have to be squeezed into that box, and fail. Hence, modern music is worse then their favourite. Very popular songs such as "Wooly Bully", "I want to hold your hand", "Sugar Sugar", "Call me", "Macarena", and "Happy" can be squeezed into the box of you hear them once, and immediately you can sing along. The lyrics are super easy, rhythm is easy, even if your drunk, and then everyone thinks everything is awesome. People got drunk and had a good time when they were young so yeah. Of course some music, like Barbara Streisand and Whitney Houston is only meant for women. And they will say she had an awesome voice. Thats good enough for them. That being said, compare the lyrics of songs of the 1960's till now and you'll notice they got shorter by a lot. Also more repetition. In the 1960's, 1970's, and early 1980's people had a message they wanted to proclaim, later they wanted to sing a song. Older people will say they love the 1970's because of Queen - Bohemian Rhapsody / John Lennon - Imagine / Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven / Eagles - Hotel California / Deep Purple - Child in Time. However, all of them weren't actually hits or just small hits when they should be huge. The hits that stayed at number one for a very long time, like Bryan Adams - Everything I do, I do it for you / Whitney Houston - I will always love you / Celine Dion - My heart will go on / The Beach Boys - Sloop John B have all faded in people's memory even. Weird.

[@alanatwood1243]

David, what is your opinion on the progressive rock genre? Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, etc.

[@MelindadelosSantos]

I was losing hope until I heard Nate James, Allen Stone, Jarle Bernhoft, Benny Sings, Eli "Paperboy" Wood, etc. Thanks. I'm going to go back to this video and also the reflection on this video listed below. Among the oldies besides, Smokey Robinson, Earth, Wind and Fire's "September", and the Brother Johnson's "Strawberry Letter 22". :D

[@nextsongs4god480]

And when you shoot an insult at it, everybody goes “WHAT?”

[@lil_weasel219]

I'm a young person (born 03/2000) and before my current preferences (formed cca 2015 cuz I dodn't listen to anything that I liked until then) I didn't have any, so I'm here judging music from the past without having listened to the music at the time, I have a 90s to mid 2000s nostalgia. So the thing that I see as the one of the major sources of that perception in me is the shift from rock genres' popularity (especially pop punk and emo at the time) to hip hop,etc...which means that my teenage years are disappearing into an era of trashy hip hop -.-

[@laserduchamp8071]

Do you make music yourself? I'd love to hear it. I used to write/record lots of songs but slid away with time.

[@rikirex2162]

A very tight mix of sense and not as all videos I saw until now about this topic. How music can be worst today when the all past one is still present...There are: classic, jazz, and not the western composer that compose today and perform may be better the in the past...the only one that can be blamed for bad music success is...the listener. Music "is" better today...choices aren't

[@houstonrebel4449]

I thought The Way We Were came out in 1971. Is he mistaken or am i wrong?

[@datemasamune2904]

I enjoy all music, both past and present. I don't know, but I just appreciate whatever I hear. Yeah, there are songs and music that I would enjoy more than others. However, there has never been a time when I listened to a song and cried out in anguish at how times has changed so much.

[@nathanmedina2809]

All y'all need to calm down and listen to the certain good music that comes out each year. It's easy for me to find good music each year so if it's easy for me it should be for you.