At this point the vast majority of music is written, produced and packaged by large companies.
They are products. They are meant to be sold. And make money.
By and large they are making the products that the majority of people want to buy.
Most of the music is also produced by cutting and pasting pre recorded samples/ loops on a computer and then adding in “real” vocals.
You have to delve deep. past the mass marketed pop stuff to find anything that is really new or interesting.
You are so correct with your first statement although this has been the case to a lesser extent it is now past the tipping point.
“Dr. Luke” has been brought in to write entirely too many modern songs. His crap is very formulaic. Also, record companies have started to employ software that can “pick hit songs”, and he has a knack for understanding what the algorithm likes, so his crap all sounds the same.
Also, genres aren't what they used to be. "Rock" today sounds like "pop" from yesterday, and most "metal" today sound like trash (except for Mesuggah). Most instrumental, guitar driven rock today (no lyrics = no stupidity) is more dense and technical than yesterday, but is more powerful and brutal...and beautiful.
I go to Bandcamp to find new music. What the labels want me to think is good, sucks bigly. Bandcamp has a searchable front end where you can find quality, unsigned new music in whatever genre you want. In some way, it's a nod to what Zappa said in 1988:
Q: Do you think that's a reason why guitar is becoming less of a prominent instrument in pop today? Do you think other people are experiencing what you're experiencing?
FZ: Well, pop music is not the end of the world. There's a whole substructure of what they call pop music which is heavy metal, in which the guitar rules. And that's never going to change. That's a style that's probably going to be with us until hell freezes over, to use a rock and roll term. But if you're talking about Whitney Houston, that other kind of pop music, they try to keep those blasphemous elements out of it. There's nothing AOR or MOR about a fuzz-tone guitar. They try to make the orchestration on those songs as neutral and comfortable as possible. And I think the listening public is, to a certain extent, deceived by what is broadcast. Because what is broadcast is not necessarily an accurate indication of what people are writing or recording. Now, what usually goes on the radio is the most banal product that every record company can manage to put together. In the United States, radio truly is a cultural embarrassment. The only creative radio you can listen to is what they call shock radio, where people are talking and making things up. There's a little spark of creativity there. But most of the music that's broadcast is harmful to your mental health.
Be a rebel...reject ugly radio and Sony, and embrace individualism and capitalism. Buy music direct from unsigned artists. Go to a club and see kidz playing their guts out for gas and beer money. It'll renew your faith in the future.
Music was previously a product to sell to listeners. Now, the listeners are the product being sold to advertisers. It's the same reason television and movies have been garbage for decades.
The goal of manufacturing such music is to make it sufficient; it only has to be tolerable enough to keep listeners from changing stations, playlists, etc.
It's akin to the concept from television of the 'Least Objectionable Program'. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Least_objectionable_program