I did this already. There was so much material that came up that pretty much said the same thing over and over.

What did I do? I GOOGLED variations of something like "why is today's music so bad?" The results were pages and pages of common-sense explanations.

Like....why do lyrics say absolutely nothing nowadays? Answer: Because only two men (a duo) wrote most most of the words for the last 15 years or so for 80-90% of pop songs. (if I had to guess, they're whole repertoire was less than a dozen words manipulated into different phrases.....kind of like a board game) Why do people listen to today's rubbish? Answer: it's made for the average overburdened person we're producing today...i.e. you can finally shut your brain down at the end of the day when you listen to it. Simple....repetitive....you don't have to think about it.....the reason people don't listen to Opera or Classical music as much. It involves too much thinking!

Playing to an audience was always an exercise in psychiatry and analyzation ....not just playing music but knowing how an audience is interpreting your music and what they're in the mood for this time around.

GOOGLING this topic is a must if you want to keep up with your audience's current listening habits!

Very interesting observation, to be sure. It makes me doubly sure to play to only retired, unburdened minds that only think about what restaurant to eat at today.

Steve, I'll go you one better.



chas

At 73, I'm in the studio every week, playing commercial music, and I believe lots of pop music is actually better than it was years ago.

Granted, things are repetitive, and there are questionable lyrics, but the net output is better than, say Rock-a-billy or anything from the "three changes" era.

You are right about "common denominator" issues. As the audience "dumn's down", it get's bigger. That's the problem with jazz and why we have to support PBS or anything else that requires thought and other effort to understand or appreciate.


Sad!

PS: Take a few of the top 10 songs from the radio and "noodle" around. They will surprise you, if you do it with an open mind

R.