Music is changing. However, there is still plenty of good rock and roll to be found. I’ve given pop a try, but at the end of the day, not for me. What happened to actual “bands” With real instruments……sad. Electronica…too monotonous. I could go on but I think you get the jist.

It’s all about personal taste - music is subjective

You can still find great music being made by great new bands. Just a matter of searching for it instead of listening to the same legacy bands.

Very well put.

Depends on what type of music, and which 'type' of person or demographic the artist is gearing their music towards. Back in the 90s, even though I was playing in metal bar bands & solely listening to underground metal and late 60s/early 70s rock/acid rock, I was at least somewhat familiar with some of the 'big' name artists who were receiving radio play. Really though, not long after that, it seems as though the overall cultural/pop cultural backdrop soundtrack (meaning, all movies, tv shows, sports, anything where large numbers of people gather, etc) became this non-stop/NO variety hip hop/rap (along with neo-country) music that apparently most people think is the coolest thing since canned beer. I didn't get it and still don't. I've completely tuned out the mainstream culture for decades now. Couldn't even begin to tell you 'who is who' among the 'big' names these days.

There are so many factors involved in this topic that it's easy to have a difference of opinion. I think modern technology has allowed to more artists to create music. This can be seen as problematic as you may listen to 9 underwhelming creations before you find that 10th piece of art you've been looking for. It depends how dedicated you are to finding that quality. But there are less constraints on the artists. You don't need to follow along with vision of the record label. The music can be daring and more progressive than it was 40 years ago. Change isn't a bad thing if you learn to embrace it. Nostalgia is wonderful, but it shouldn't stop you from finding new exciting sounds.

As a 57 yo I've learned to never say never so I'm sure there is great music out there but I wouldn't know where to find it and I dont get the sense that a detailed search would be worth my time, tbh. Besides, its because of KZfaqrs like you, Pete Pardo, Ralph Vierra, the Contrarians etc. that I'm finally now able to say that I'm a full on Motorhead fucking ADDICT. I couldn't afford to buy alot of music growing up so I missed out on bands like Motorhead and Thin Lizzy. Idk, maybe I'll get to some new music but with Lemmy in my life fueling my workouts and helping me shame guys over half my age at the gym, I dont really need to sift today's minutiae lol.

As technology increases , organic musicianship is de- evolving .

well the lack of " surprise " is no longer there , there is no new movements if you will .., just repetition , borrowed ideas .., some better than others . But the elements of growth from the 60's to the early 90's .., your metal , prog , glam , grunge , punk , new wave , rap , so and and on .., the foundations are laid out , but what really is new ??!

Great points. I think the knee-jerk "easy' answer to the question is..yes. But slowing down and giving it some thought, it's true that that is what people have ALWAYS said, through the generations. Many people were appalled when The Beatles and the Stones became popular. Then fans of those bands thought Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin were just noise, that David Bowie was a weirdo etc. Then fans of respectable rock legends were horrified by the Sex Pistols. Older heavy rock fans thought bands like Metallica and Slayer had zero talent. "Thrash" like "heavy metal" before it, was just a journalistic insult. Then yer average thrash fans couldn't cope with death and black metal vocals. Etc etc. The wheel keeps turning. I think people have always missed out on great "current" stuff when they're looking in the wrong places, or just not looking at all. Or saying stuff like "where is today's Pink Floyd (or whoever)? That era is over. Yes, it might require a bit more digging and research to find truly great stuff, but the abiity to do that is right there in front of you in a way it NEVER was before. Everything is at your fingertips. It probably won't be piped directly into your brain via the radio or MTV, or even be a part of some grand rock critic consensus, but some effort and an open mind will be rewarded.

With streaming anyone now can post music, so now there's too much product and most of it is average at best.

It all comes down to integrity. There's a huge percentage of new "music" that is disposable, flavor of the month garbage these days being put out by "digital creators" that simply need validation every 10 minutes. ZERO integrity behind any of it regardless of genre. You really need to look extremely hard these days for music with genuine heart and integrity.

It's changing for the worse

Its not that music is getting worse, it's the quantization of rock and metal that's made that style so boring and predictable now, imo. I'm a metal head who makes electronic music, I started spinning records and then graduated to producing. Using quantize on the drums in electro is the way you want to do it because that music is supposed to sound mechanical and repetitive in the rhythm section. However, when you start using that same technique with rock bands it takes out all the swing and variation that the rhythm section creates as it moves along through the song. Quantizing the guitars have the same effect, the guitars now never play in front of the beat or behind it on these modern recordings, and that's why for me is why rock and metal sound so generic now, respectfully.

Never look in the mainstream. Some good music leaks through but like you say, one has to look deeper to find the good stuff. Check out All Them Witches!

Yes

SH0UIDNT EVEN BE A DISCUSSI0N, THERE WERE ENDIESS INDIVIDUAIS AND BANDS IN THE 60s AND 70s THAT WERE B0tTH GREAT IiVE AND IN STUDI0, THE MUSIC IS ENDIESS FR0M THAT ERA, CREATIVITY, TAIENT WiII NEVER BE DUPIiCATED AGAiN, AII Y0U HAVE T0 D0 IS I00K BACK THERE IS EN0UGH MUSIC T0 IAST A IiFETiME FR0M THAT ERA!!!!!

Mainstream music has always been the least original. As far as "music" made without any real instruments being played specifically for the "song" .....that's not real music. Just using computers, loops and remixing music that was already recorded with real instruments is not musical at all in my opinion. That's like saying AI is the same as a human being. Music is not getting worse because the mainstream always was lame for the most part. There are so many underground heavy metal, hard rock, guitar rock ECT bands and artists out there just waiting to be heard. The amount of great new music from the older bands and up and comers is staggering.

People like Beato criticize music they don't like for being 'simple' or 'easy', without any self-awareness to realize those complaints don't actually prove the music is 'worse'. They aren't words that describe the quality level of a song. It's all a matter of taste, but some people have to feel like they can prove their taste is the only good one. Even his example of Sinatra shows he full of it. He lambastes modern pop for being written and produced by a team. Umm... Sinatra sang songs that other people wrote, played, recorded, and produced for him. He had to sing well, but it was still 'easy' for him compared to artists who were doing the creative work themselves. But he likes Sinatra, so all is forgiven.

Wow Tony Iommi's channel has been posting Born Again tracks and now they are doing Seventh Star. What could this all possibly mean 🤔 ???

Getting worse

The modern mainstream music that people like is objectively bad. Just listen to Jelly Roll.

Mainstream music is getting worse. But they still make good music in the underground. They even still make good classical music.