The hypercommercialization that started with Nirvana killed music in the West. I watched it happen step by step by step to my absolute horror, then being a classical music theory student and musician.
While Nirvana was breaking every sales record, I was listening to four live bands every night, ALL of which were objectively superior.
I eventually concluded that the music industry actually seeks out generic crap and actively avoids anything original and extraordinary, because you can’t infinitely reproduce the extraordinary and sell it again over and over under different names.
I listen to mostly Japanese music now. It’s the only source of new music that is not nauseatingly childish to the educated ear.
Here’s a list I’m working on of tunes I’ve ripped from anime that are well worth listening to on their own without understanding a word of Japanese. Compare this to what’s popular now, the night and day difference is breathtaking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-qCBBRecCM
Personally I think Nirvana was one of the last great rock bands. I’m not sure how you define “objectively superior”. As one of my college music teachers defined it, music is the art of affecting people emotionally with sound. So “better” is always subjective to some degree. More complex, technically challenging to play, isn’t necessarily better. Some of the best music is very simple.
That said, I hate the homogenized, compressed pop shlock on the radio these days. It’s not that there aren’t excellent bands and artists out there, it’s just that they don’t become huge stars anymore for the most part. At best they gain a large cult following.
Personally I think Nirvana was one of the last great rock bands. I’m not sure how you define “objectively superior”. As one of my college music teachers defined it, music is the art of affecting people emotionally with sound. So “better” is always subjective to some degree. More complex, technically challenging to play, isn’t necessarily better. Some of the best music is very simple.
That said, I hate the homogenized, compressed pop shlock on the radio these days. It’s not that there aren’t excellent bands and artists out there, it’s just that they don’t become huge stars anymore for the most part. At best they gain a large cult following.