Music has changed... a lot.

Before any of you pounce on me like a pack of wolves, please note that some parts of what's down below is my opinion, and is a shared one with many people I know, HOWEVER, some of the stuff below are also facts, please distinguish opinion and fact. This is also partially a rant.

Music, music is important in all our lives, it makes us feel, it provides entertainment, and most importantly, it inspires us. Music has so many forms, it's extremely diverse, from classical, to hard rock, to dance music. However, I've noticed that music has changed a lot lately, and not always for the better.

I want to let this out of my chest, I'm not very fond of a lot of pop music that's popular now, it's a proven fact that some of that music is produced solely for profit, targeted at audiences from 12-25 years of age. I'm not saying music in general has gotten shitty lately, I'm saying that music of less quality has become more popular. I don't know why people lately like songs about money, drugs, sex or violence, what happened to being inspired by music?

Inspiration, and feeling: In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, there was a major cultural revolution, equal rights for men and women of all kinds. Because of this revolution, many songs in that era had a meaning behind them, take for example, A Change is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke,


This song was written by Sam Cooke to reflect on how his life and his family's were affected by inequality, because he was black. This song has since then become an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement, and is deemed culturally, historically, and aesthetically important, and has been selected for preservation in the Library of Congress. Another song, What's Going On by Marvin Gaye, was also written in the same background, both songs are now considered some of the best of mankind.

Human skill, and imperfection: Music genres such as Classical, Jazz and Rock are instrumentally based, and that comes with skill. Pop music today is vocally based, but that barely scratches the surface of human created music, but then, even those vocals are autotuned, and in the end, the entire song barely contains any human content. Being part of a symphonic band for years, I can hear the humanity in the sounds produced by the instruments, it's something only someone who's played an instrument for years can detect. Lot's of music recently is computer generated audio, and it's not the same as having a person directly making that sound, with just a guitar, you can create so many audio effects, take Jimi Hendrix's Machine Gun,
(Sorry for bad audio quality, it was recorded back in '70)

Machine Gun has so many guitar riffs, that sound like sounds of war, such as bombs falling, machine guns firing, all created with Jimi's guitar. Not to mention, the song was also a protest against the Vietnam War, and the conscription of citizens. Another thing, a lot of pop music is so glossed over, that there are no "imperfections" in the song, and that kills the magic of music for me. Human imperfection conveys the emotion of the singer, take the singer Axl Rose for example, he purposely allows his voice to crack in some of his songs, to convey the emotion in his vocals.

The meaning: People often forget what the purpose of music is for. It's supposed to inspire, be something we can relate to, that can't happen when the song is about sex, money, drugs, etc. In the past, people made music, because they felt compelled to, they wanted their audience to feel what they did. In the early 90s, musician Eric Clapton had lost some of his friend in a helicopter crash, including legendary guitarist, Stevie Ray Vaughan, as well as losing his 4 year old son, and he wrote the song, Tears in Heaven,


Some of his audience had also lost a loved one, and they had someone to relate to, someone they could look up to, in a time of hopelessness. You can't do the same to someone who sings about sex and drugs. There are still people who make music for good intentions, usually to relate to the audience, but sadly, they are shadowed by the pop artists.



Don't get me wrong, I don't hate the pop artists today, I'm just not fond of them. I just wanted to let this out of my chest, because it's very sad to see people who seem to know everything about the new trending pop singer, but never heard of Hendrix, Marvin Gaye or Presley, and it's an even deeper blow when some say that they're "shit and nothing compared to 1 Direction."

So, do any of you agree with me? Do you disagree? Please explain why? I'd like a nice and friendly debate, don't flame others' opinions.

EDIT: Some more songs that support the points I made:



EDIT #2: Just saw a comment made by someone saying that Lynyrd Skynyrd glorifies rednecks, guns and slavery. I have just lost my last shred in humanity.

 

I do agree because when Dinosaurous (Sartorius) and Bieber came along. And some both of them need to improve a lot. So music now a days is worse than the music back then.

 

Music is full of drama and shit and people getting really dramatic I mean even 5year olds are hyping up over drakes new album thinking it's the bomb or something (even though it's all about cussing and "stuff")

Probably the best out there are Coldplay, they are normal and chill, and they are good unlike other pop artists/bands

 

Twenty One Pilots are one of my favorite bands, and I have to admit their music is pretty dramatic.

 

Yeah that's the thing, artists and bands fill their music with drama and depressing stuff, compare it to the 80s, in the 80s people were dancing & singing with joy n shit

 

Totally agree, before the 2000s, people were interested for example, when Clapton did a song with Tom Petty, but they didn't treat it like it was a gift from god. Whenever a great guitarist, like EVH, SRV or Satriani released a new riff, teens would grab a guitar and learn that piece, take for example EVH's Eruption, that song made more than 50% of teen boys in the US grab a guitar and start learning it. People actually did things whenever an artists released something, not just stand by treat it like god.

 

It's getting to the point where there's no actual poetry in pop, but only yammering, slurs, and just... petty "lyrics".

I do agree with you man. Back then, the bands like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones were the real shit -- you were in the majority of you knew who they were. And now? That's all been bastardized. By whom? Kids probably. Idfk.
I'll pillory everyone who likes the genre by saying this: pop is really shit. It just invokes a lot of materialism. I should be studying or smth, so I'll just stop.

Just let me say this: I do find the "It's always on the radio!" argument that people come up with as null though, because pop just short for popular music. Of course it's gonna be on the radio if it's popular, lmao

 

I'm not bringing up the "radio" argument, but what I'm saying is that it's absurd how dedicated bands such as Muse, Incubus and Kings of Leon are nowhere near as popular as the bad pop artists. Also, the term, "pop" now has two meanings, one as popular music, and the other as a genre.

 

We've come to a whole entire level. You're just scratchin' the surface.

Bands like Death Grips are satire taken to the next level, to the point where they have mainstream success. We've come full circle.
DG is a unique blend of everything pop recycles, with some mindfucking instrumentation.

Check a few of their tracks out:




The following definitely aren't fully accessible.

Now, we're moving into the strange field.

Have you ever thought of pop gone insane? It's dancable, but there is something off 'bout it. Well, I introduce to you: PC Music, a label from London.





Jazz and rock have also evolved.

The next level of jazz lies within such artists as Kashiwa Daisuke. (His Program Music I album says it all, track 2 is definitely a part.)

Another fine example of this style is World End Girlfriend's Bohemian Purgatory.

Both also have rock-ish stuff. (WEG's Les Enfants Du Paradis should say more than enough, KD's 9 songs album also fits the vibe.)

Bands like Sigur Ros are using rock instrumentation to make music which is completely different from traditions. (Untitled 8)

Let's say, it's sometimes time to move on.

Music has always been changing.

Keep in mind, this is just my cup of tea and objections are fine by me.

 

I know that there is a lot of experimental stuff for rock, Steve Vai has done guitar pieces with a classical symphony accompanying him, but the thing is, mostly the experimental stuff now has become very, warped, and it feels completely different, the new stuff can go under a new genre, but I wouldn't classify it as hard rock, we haven't had someone as innovative as Hendrix, with his unique guitar riffs, and experimenting on different FX, the closest someone has ever gotten to Hendrix was Stevie Ray Vaughan.

 

I do agree with most of the things people are saying, Even i am not very fond of todays music either, I find todays pop music tasteless and Rap music i cant stand at all, Its a shame because music is supposed to be something you express, Ts supposed to inspire you and others, its not supposed to be big loud and stupid noisefests you create just to get cash in your pocket.

I listen to things that are remembered for decades, such as the work of Queen, most classic rock bands, John williams's orchestral compositions for movies, Johnny cash, Elvis presley and many others. To me thats my kind of music. :)

 

Like legit if you think about it, "sex and drugs" have always been referenced in music. Take one of the most seemingly innocent (lol) and successful bands ever, The Beatles.
Got To Get You Into My Life (1966) is actually not about a girl, but about marijuana.
Why Don't We Do It In The Road? (1968) Well isn't this obvious. Paul McCartney even said it was inspired by two chimpanzees doing it.
Please Please Me (1963) "Please PLEASE me, oh yeah, like I PLEASE you." John sang
Day Tripper (1965) is about a prostitute and having a one-night stand. Yikes indeed!
I guess they wanted more than to just "hold your hand".

And who could forget The Rolling Stones!!!! Personal friends of the Beatles (not rivals, they were in fact close friends) Very successful but not as seemingly innocent. (Except for Charlie Watts, God bless him.)
Let's Spend The Night Together (1967) So obscene to the point where Ed Sullivan forced them to change the words to "Let's spend some time together" and Mick Jagger made his eye rolls obvious on camera.
Mother's Little Helper (1967) Gee, that little yellow pill sure helped ma get on with her busy, dying day.
Sister Morphine (1971) Sister morphine and cousin cocaine. Where is mother heroine?
Dead Flowers (1971) Mick just flat out says it. He's sitting there with a needle, a spoon, and another girl to take his pain away.
Honky Tonk Women (1969) Gee, now we know about Mick's affairs. A bar-room queen in Memphis and a romantic divorced woman in New York. Great to know. (That cowbell in the beginning though, nice)

We can't forget about those other artists though, am I right?
Led Zeppelin. I can't squeeze a lemon without thinking about Robert Plant, and personally it's sad.


Ahaha and lest not forget the iconic White Rabbit (1967) by Jefferson Airplane. LSD is a hell of a drug, man. I love Grace Slick's voice, she sounds like an angel, but that doesn't hide the fact that the song is basically an LSD trip. Thank god for those acid dropping parties of the sixties and the summer of love.

That's enough of me lol
(I could go on forever about the relationship between the Beatles and the Stones hmu if you wanna hear me talk about that)

 

While many songs in the sixties and seventies are about drugs and sex, it's not so explicit, it's mostly implied in the lyrics, but now, artists are too explicit, literally all the lyrics in those songs are about how they enjoy sex and drugs, without any context, or backstory.