This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »
Why cant we create high quality music anymore just like we did in 70's 80's and 90's ?
Maybe TED community will disagree with me on this but I strongly believe that music of our era lacks the originality and genuineness of the previous decades. Not particularly Rock Music but also pop and even folk music is getting more disposable every day.
What do you think on this? do you have any idea on specific causes and what can we do to prevent or turn back good old days of music?
When will we listen new Depeche Mode, Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Nirvanna or Michael Jackson? When and how will Madonna be better than her 80's version?
Do copyright violations have an affect on this?
Did mainstream media and its profit policies took us down here?
Topics:
art composing digital media live music mass media writing
Kent Spencer 10+
Erol Toksoy 10+
Cheyenne Lin
Tim blackburn 30+
go.
Martin Courtney
I, for one love the 'old stuff' and look and listen at some of todays chart music and cringe. I agree with some comments here already such as the fragmented industry and the money-hungry execs. Despite this, there is some great, great music out there just waiting to be found.
Now, you went for 1975 - a vintage year. but i bet there was also some amount of dross recorded that year. But as time goes on we forget the rubbish and cherish the greats, it's what we do. That' s the problem with the 90s - it's still too recent, we still remember (insert crap band here!).
Good topic!!!
MC
Erol Toksoy 10+
I hope our kids will find anything usefull from 2010's to listen as I find from 70's.
Ryan Lawrence
just a short list of some of my favorites of recent years if anyone is interested in checking them out
Recovery - Eminem
Mer de Noms - A Perfect Circle
Rise and Fall, Rage and Grace - The Offspring
With Teeth - Nine Inch Nails
Hot Fuss - The Killers
Release Therapy - Ludacris
Tim McGraw & The Dancehall Doctors
Burn Burn - Our Lady Peace
Those albums are all masterpieces released in the last decade - in my opinion. If you want to hear artists expressing some real emotion these are my top recommedations
Gordon Barker 10+
Now with iTunes, the internet and an exploding spectrum of targetted niche radio stations, it may just be that you can't find it.
I listen to the local University radio station. They play music that would not ordinarily be played on the commercial bands and some of it is really good.
There is also one or two internet stations that I frequent (Radio Paradise comes ot mind) that are programmed by the operator and not by a service. That provides a window into music you won't find many other places.
The best thing to try is to go to local shows. The local music mag here in town (Edmonton AB) has pages of local acts at bars, community halls, night clubs and coffee houses.
Something for everybody and nothing beats a live show.
Erol Toksoy 10+
First of all thank you for responding. And I really respected your taste of music ( eventhough I am not a big fan of rap and eminem) the rest were really inspiring albums espcially tim mcgraw's, killers' and surely nine inch nail's and maynard's ... Anyway The main thing that I wanted to point out is hidden right under your comment. You made a list of best albums in last decades...
Here is a random pick date from the era I mentioned : 1975
And the list of albums that were released in that specific ''year''
pink floyd- wish you were here ( lets take this as coincidence)
Led zeppelin- physical grafitti
bob dylan- blood on the tracks
bruce springsteen- born to run ( just random picks)
queen -a night at the opera
aerosmith- toys in the attic
rush - fly by night
frank zapppa- one size fits all
and bunch of albums that I didnt mentioned, by bob marley, brian eno, patti smith, david bowie, ac/dc, black sabbath, elton john, fleetwood mac, grateful dead, ted nugent, jeff beck, the eagles...
Now I dont say todays music is all bad. For example my best friend claims that Coldplay is ''maybe'' the best band of all times. And I really like them aside with muse, a perfect circle, killers etc they are not bad. U2's and Metallica's latest albums are alll good. But if you look at the lists we posted here, and compare them you will see that the the number of high quality albums are getting fewer each day as time goes by...
anthony bruni 30+
Andres Ricardo Chamarra
I think that the mediums change and the culture and environments in which the artists mind is bred change just as much. I don't believe the mind of most people changes that fast and that probably creates the "all past times were better" illusion which I think is false.
Turn at things like Cirque Du Soleil, where a bit of almost every form of art is combined and mixed in ways never seen before, whether or not it appeals to your personal taste or mine it is to be recognized.
Perhaps things change so fast in our era that the geniuses don't get as much time to perfect their art and rather have to reinvent it all the time.
I have little doubt that commercial agendas play a rather destructive roles, although it is through that very same system that The Beatles, Depeche Mode and every other band you named came to be as known as they are.
I do have good hope for the future though, I believe art is a natural form of expression, and that once commercial interests are done with a particular art, they will probably go on to something else and leave it as it started, but it will still be there, just maybe harder to find.
Stevan S.
I do, however, completely agree that music is going through a horrible demise when it comes to quality, especially in the past decades.
It seems to me that there are two factors that caused the "downfall":
1) Commercial agenda, as Allan has well put, is probably the force driving musicians to accommodate the market-needs and current trends, which is absolutely contrary to the concept of creating artwork. Hence, "art" created by following these guidelines does not even qualify to be called that way.
2) There is an interesting paradox when it comes to today's popular music: It seems that listening to songs has became much less important than the visual aspect. People actually evaluate musicians through looks/style/the flashiness of their videos. While I am not denying the importance of the previous, wouldn't you agree that that isn't as important as the quality of the music itself?
I am convinced that today there are a lot of extremely talented artists capable of creating high quality music worldwide. Unfortunately, they are rarely known to a crowd wider than a couple of hundreds of fans at best.
Krisztián Pintér 200+
but thanks to the internet and the dj culture, i can find thousands of hours of good music now. but i can also tune in to radio stations with endless streams of musical treat.
thank god the boney-m and abba era has ended!
Gordon Barker 10+
Erol Toksoy 10+
Allan Macdougall 30+
Some of the best art - whether music, poetry or art itself - seems to come from artists who are in some way emotionally tortured, or who are able to match our own emotions with theirs, so we can relate to them. A window into an artist's life can so often also be our mirror. The music from the decades in Erol's list all seemed to possess that quality.
You are right - No matter how hard we try, it always ends up reflecting personal taste!
Krisztián Pintér 200+
Erol Toksoy 10+
Allan Macdougall 30+
Bands like Kings of Leon for instance, start out with one - maybe two - albums that are wonderful, gritty, straight-from-the-heart albums of pure personal artistic value- ie "Youth and Young Manhood". Once the record companies get a hold on the band's musical direction (entirely for commercial ends), the music then becomes insipid, populist and the band then becomes a shadow of its former creative self. Notice the musical difference in"Come Around Sundown".
Music is a good example where commercial interests smother, and even strangle creativity.
Erol Toksoy 10+