I think it’s sad what has happened to music over the past few decades.
I understand that there is “good stuff out there”. But the concept of music trends sweeping the globe “British Invasion” or “Punk” or “New Wave” or even “Grunge” just seems like a thing of the past. No big trends. No huge bands. No huge concerts. It’s now a bit of a treasure hunt through the garage sale that internet music has become.
And, few people sit and really listen to music. They used to. Now, it’s a soundtrack to their lives. They have headphones at the gym, while shopping, while working. People don’t like to be alone and attentive. They need to be distracted by something while they do something else — often to avoid doing something else entirely. I don’t want to think about anything at all. Maroon 5 will do.
As I rant from time to time, there IS great new music. I go to Bandcamp to find new music. What the Sony et al want us 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.
Going further, commerce works. Get off yer assez, go out to a bar/club, plunk down $10 for a cover charge and hear 4 bands play their guts out. Two bands will suck. One will be ok. But then you'll find that one band that blows your socks off, and renews your hope in youth and humanity...you just then buy their merch because capitalism.
All of, in some way, is 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.