"There's no good music anymore!"

[bobby bill]

There's MORE good music being made today than ever before.

I agree. It just takes a little effort and curiosity to find it.

[farmerjones]

I feel like I can't listen to music correctly unless I take off my musician's hat. But I don't want to. I'm still fascinated by why did this guy picks up a Rickenbacker instead of a D18? And i'll listen to everything from Ratpack to Public Enemy.
Simply going by this site's numbers, there's more folks playing more music now than ever before. As it's been said, it's just a bigger pool. By the time a cut gets out, the dudes, hiding behind distortion, or some weak lyrics, hopefully get washed out. But not always. The cream does always rise to the top. But the dregs doesn't always settle to the bottom. There's just more, period.

[jaycat]

For a bit of perspective - within a span of 13 years rock had gone from Love Me Do to Anarchy in the U.K. Has the music of 2017 evolved all that much from the music of 2004?

[FLATROCK HILL]

People that like "mainstream" music think that it is "good" music. Are they wrong?

Hey Ky Slim...I clicked the 'Thanks' button on your post. Not because I like "mainstream" music or even because I hate it.
I just think it was the perfect question to ask.

[catmandu2]

Has the music of 2017 evolved all that much from the music of 2004?

I would answer, yes. Hpwever, we might have to engage in "What is music?"

(remember, George Martin was hearing a lot of Stockhausen, Varese and all..."Beatles" was another step in the 'evolution')

Today's musicians are accessing an ever-expanding lexicon of materials. Does the faculty of human creativity reach a threshold at which point it cannot proceed to (re)invent? That is to say, is there some point at which human creativity has a limit?

[tiltman]

Here are a few bands that I've discovered (though not necessarily via NPR) in the last couple yrs that surprised me:

Colony House (rock)
The Cactus Blossoms (country/rockabilly)
Foghorn String Band (old time)
Keane (Brit pop)

It's funny that you say that. Even Foghorn String Band isn't what it used to be...
I saw them a number of times back when they were called Foghorn Leghorn.
Better, worse, or only different - who's to say.

Kirk

[mandroid]

We're just getting old, and the 20 somethings don't listen to old folk music..

The Industry pushes what gets , like, pandora plays, not LP sales.

Now Easily put on the web is challenged by Volume, trying to stand out in the Crowd.

[jaycat]

. . . Does the faculty of human creativity reach a threshold at which point it cannot proceed to (re)invent? That is to say, is there some point at which human creativity has a limit?

Maybe so. Or at least, innovation by its very nature has a short lifespan.

[FLATROCK HILL]

The Industry pushes what gets pandora plays,not LP sales.

Well... it has to be the "Industry" behind that push. No one on my Pandora list is able to push anything (up) but daisies.

[catmandu2]

...the 20 somethings don't listen to old folk music..

Many ARE - many more than 'yesterday' - thanks to youtube, etc..

More examples of 'reiteration' or revivalism: my particular fondness is study/playing wire harp repertoire from about 1300 and perhaps earlier. Not until 1990s was the (Ap Huw) manuscript interpreted (by Ann Heymann), recorded, and made widely available. I subsequently heard it, and am now studying it (granted, some may not regard this as 'good' music ). The form had died-out, as is widely believed, and is experiencing revival due to recent efforts through conservation, research, restoration, etc.

[catmandu2]

Maybe so. Or at least, innovation by its very nature has a short lifespan.

See above

[Br1ck]

I'm 66, and very heartened by the music coming out of places like Berklee and such. I don't know we will ever see an era again where new, fresh, and exciting converges with mass popular culture a la the Beatles and other British Invasion groups, but there are many talented and musically educated young folks doing great things across multiple genres. It's just that mass market product sucks right now. Obviously that statement pertains to me. Plenty are sucking up the product I think just sucks.

I've reached the demographic virtually no one panders to anymore. I do listen to many young Americana and roots groups, but what I consider young has changed a bunch too. Chris Thile has been around for twenty years now.LOL

[Charlieshafer]

No, because most pop music nowadays is completely formulaic and is written specifically to be catchy and liked. Combine this formula with "insert pop icon here" and you have a guaranteed cash cow.

Well, so was pop music in the 60's and 70's with the stuff the Brill building was churning out, so was 50's rock, lots of big band stuff, even Mozart and Vivaldi were churning out the pop tunes of that century for the money.

To say the 60's folk music wasn't formulaic would be be absurd, same with lots of bluegrass, delta blues, all the stuff we think is cool.

It's way too easy to generalize by genre, when there's not one single genre that didn't have someone trying to hop on the bandwagon for some money. And yeah, for my friends who are locked in the 60's, I make them listen to In A Gadda Da Vida on a 4 hour loop.

[Frogstar]

For a bit of perspective - within a span of 13 years rock had gone from Love Me Do to Anarchy in the U.K. Has the music of 2017 evolved all that much from the music of 2004?

Well, I'm not sure what to pick as the representative of 2004 (looking at the charts, I guess it would be an Usher song), but dubstep went from barely existing to being huge in 2016/2017. Pretty stark contrast there.

[jhowell]

I'm going to plug a public FM station that is user supported and plays an incredibly eclectic playlist, including 6 or 8 hours of americana/bluegrass weekly....it's www.krvm.org --straight from Sheldon High School in Eugene, Oregon...its been on the air since 1947, a few years before me. It streams really well...enjoy.

[Timbofood]

I'm not wild about how this could go, opinions are free flowing as misinformation on the internet. We all enjoy what we enjoy. My brother has absolutely no use for what I listen to. I like a pretty wide scope neither of us is wrong but, I'm more broadly accepting than he is.

[MediumMando5722]

And yeah, for my friends who are locked in the 60's, I make them listen to In A Gadda Da Vida on a 4 hour loop.

Wow, that's probably close to two entire plays through

I'm encouraged to see everyone one here seems to feel the same way, that there's plenty of amazing music to be had.

[NursingDaBlues]

I'm going to plug a public FM station that is user supported and plays an incredibly eclectic playlist, including 6 or 8 hours of americana/bluegrass weekly....it's www.krvm.org --straight from Sheldon High School in Eugene, Oregon...its been on the air since 1947, a few years before me. It streams really well...enjoy.

In that same vein, I'll plug listener supported WDVX out of Knoxville. On-air and on-line.

[Mark Gunter]

No, because most pop music nowadays is completely formulaic and is written specifically to be catchy and liked. Combine this formula with "insert pop icon here" and you have a guaranteed cash cow.

The problem with this is anything that does not fall into the "success formula" is not given much of a chance, and as a result, creativity in mainstream music is completely murdered. That's not to say creative music does not make it onto the radio. I believe brilliant music will find a way to an audience, and once it has a large enough audience, radio play will generally follow. But this modern way of producing stifles the creative process, leads to little innovation and stops the pushing of musical boundaries.

All too true, and will always be. People always tend to look for a formula that can help them build an "income pipeline." Commercial is one context for a standard to judge music, "can we sell this?" - so good music to a record producer in the 90's would be judged by that standard. Every person has his own set of standards for what is 'good music'.

Another interesting concept is how earlier forms of music drive the newer forms, because everything is inter-connected. A good example is Chet Atkin's development of the formulaic country sound. It caused a reaction that directly drove Willie Nelson to make an independent concept album with mostly just a guitar and vocals, Redheaded Stranger. Would we have one without the other?

[catmandu2]

I'm encouraged to see everyone one here seems to feel the same way, that there's plenty of amazing music to be had.

I suspect there are as many or (many) more here who would disagree. Recall, this is a *mandolin* site - where likely the vast majority are into traditional forms..

[Randi Gormley]

I've often thought that people who say some form of art -- music, sculpture, poetry, literature -- has passed its peak based on what they see or hear this very minute are expressing frustration over their own aging process as opposed to reality! Art by its nature constantly moves and changes. It's like the weather around here -- if you don't like it, wait 15 minutes and something new will come up.

My kids listen to all kinds of music I've never heard of. They don't seem to find it hard to either find or download music they like. My youngest is absolutely hooked on songs from the new musicals on Broadway, especially "Hamilton" these days. She grew up listening to Disney music and she and her friends have long bonded over the music from Mulan (especially "I'll Make a Man Out of You" which became the theme of her -- mostly female -- fencing team). My son's playlist includes everything from Bach to bands I've never heard of. My husband listens to Folk Alley on the computer while he's playing solitaire. Me, I listen to ITM and anything written before 1900. To hear 'there's nothing good being written any more' or variations thereunto always makes me sorry they've limited themselves so much...

[Mark Gunter]

Well, so was pop music in the 60's and 70's with the stuff the Brill building was churning out, so was 50's rock, lots of big band stuff, even Mozart and Vivaldi were churning out the pop tunes of that century for the money.

To say the 60's folk music wasn't formulaic would be be absurd, same with lots of bluegrass, delta blues, all the stuff we think is cool.

It's way too easy to generalize by genre, when there's not one single genre that didn't have someone trying to hop on the bandwagon for some money.

Chet Atkins, Sam Phillips, Leonard Chess, George Martin, Phil Spector, Rick Rubin, Dr. Dre, Rick Hall, Jerry Wexler - They all had a formula, or developed multiple formulae, for producing hits.

[mandroid]

Q : Do you Like Country Music? A: I've heard the music of many countries , that was good..

I liked them all.

[catmandu2]

Where does the belief that modern music sucks come from?

As with most questions of this nature, the answers are complex - but sociology makes the attempt (typically of very limited interest here, fwiw).

[Charlieshafer]

I think one thing that every semi-music fan seems to have trouble separating is the commercial aspect of music from the quality of the music. We've certainly discussed the fact that there are formulas through the years that people used to keep the cash cow... umm.. milking? Analogy stone wall, here... Anyway, there is a lot of commercially driven music that's pretty darn good, and there is a lot of music-for music's sake that's awfully good. The genre is irrelevant.

A look at the history of the folk recording industry is interesting this way. Field recorders representing labels went down south by the dozens, and local mill hands who were musicians by night flocked to try to get recorded. While we look at these old wax cylinders as original works of art, the record companies were counting sales, and seeing who they could exploit for more. The old "race records" category was an absolute gold mine back then, and a treasure trove of early blues recordings for us now. One man's cash is another man's treasure.

Like just about everyone here has already said, it's not the date on the music you might have an issue with, it's the music you're listening to that minute. Just change the station. There's too much great stuff being made right now to worry about the stuff you don't like.