Originally Posted by Tokyo Jihad
It has alot to do with the mindeset of what is popular.
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I totally agree with this. Hip-hop has become so popular here that it is what is ruining music in most of our eyes. I know there are some people who like their SR AND hip-hop as well, but there are others that do not like the lack of traditional instruments in it as well as other things. Since this has become so popular, it is what gets most of the play-time. We are in a "club"-centric time right now, where most popular music is stuff what can get the most plays in clubs. There will always be watered down rock or pop that will be mainstream but its this mixed in with the hip-hop, rnb music that is ruining my enjoyment of most mainstream music. Its not just that hip-hop as a music style is bad, but it's what it says and the culture it promotes. Most fans of it look down on education and other values that everyone should have and promote instead sex, drugs, etc. While this may seem like a sweeping generalization, it hits home with most of the stuff that's out there or that I have been exposed to.
A perfect example of the hip-hop rnb influence on mainstream music is shown in Maroon 5. I liked their first album, I didn't praise it or anything, but it was enjoyable to me. Their recent album (that took them like three years to release!) is wayyy more hip-hop and beat oriented, with more typical "club" sounds etc. This totally ruined their style which I had found pretty unique. While it is not completely un-enjoyable to me, I definitely have not heard it in its entirety in one sitting.
Originally Posted by justriiingo
No one's stopping you but yourself. 
So do we agree that music that's most accessible are horrible and the godly stuff is hidden in an obscure corner of the music sphere that very few have access to? If the music is actually good, why aren't the broadcasting media (TV/Radio) actually broadcasting them, making them accessible to the general public? What is it that changed in terms of the way we receive music?
Maybe we can also think in terms of the environment for making music. The price of recording technology quite a lot lower than before and you do get a number of musicians who released CDs recorded at home. How much are people willing to pay for these recordings? Can it be comparable to similar releases from record companies with proper recording equipment? Are people more or less willing to pay for music these days? |
I can't agree that the good stuff is hidden because there is some mainstream groups that I think are really good but just might not appeal to your particular tastes. I think there has always been music that has been accessible to the masses and others that are more niche, but today it seems like we are overwhelmed with the former. This overwhelming wave of watered down music seems to stem from the fact that it IS easier to record things in your home and people get left without learning the classics before moving on. I can't think of any band that's in the mainstream that actually has a permanent piano like TJ. Anyone who I've ever met that played classical instruments, such as the piano, just worked on playing the classics and not really making their own music. Nowadays, everyone just want to pick up a guitar and make something catchy instead of really trying to do something new or just worthwhile.
Also, our society, in my opinion, is more about mass consumption then it has ever been. With the abilities to get anything you want from any country, it's all about buy buy buy more than it was before. New marketing strategies and such have enhanced the way the companies target the consumer and this has led to bad worked being marketed well and in turn selling well. Plus, MTV doesn't help by turning their station into reality shows instead of devoted to showing music all day long.