Maybe I'm Just Getting Old....

[RainMaker]

but music sucks. Maybe I'm becoming that old guy that "doesn't get it". Maybe every generation goes through this.

I rarely ever watch MTV but tuned in to the VMAs. It was utterly horrible. There was not a single act the entire show that was remotely watchable. The big closing act was Lil Wayne singing a song using heavy auto-tune.Is this really music? Is this really what passes for talent these days?


<embed src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:uma:video:mtv.com:684912/cp%7Eid%3D1668980%26vid%3D684912%26uri%3Dmgid%3Auma%3Avideo%3Amtv.com%3A684912" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" base="." flashvars="" width="360" height="293">Get More: 2011 VMA (http://www.mtv.com/ontv/vma/2011/), Music (http://www.mtv.com/music/), Lil Wayne (http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/lil_wayne/artist.jhtml)




And if MTV wasn't reprehensible enough for the Teen Mom shit they glorify toward teenagers, they made one of their big acts a guy who is a couple years removed from beating the shit out of his girlfriend.

I'm also blown away by what passes as "trend settings" these days. I can remember people like Madonna and Michael Jackson pushing the bar fashion wise. Sure it grabbed attention and people credited them for some weird stuff, but at least it seemed creative. This is what is "creative" these days.


http://i.imgur.com/roKwP.jpg


Sorry, that's just dressing up like a clown for attention. There is nothing creative or innovative about it. The fact people find this entertaining and interesting is beyond me. She's not the only one who does this stuff, you can just look at people like Lady Gaga.

Like I said, maybe I'm just getting old and this is natural. But usually when I hear music not geared toward me, I can still see the talent. I still see people who can create music and have skills. I understand its appeal. This just seems like manufactured crap. Put together some shitty auto-tuned songs in a studio, dress them up like clowns, and call it talent. You can't tell me that half of us couldn't get on stage and sound just as good as Lil Wayne with that much auto-tune.

/old guy rant

[LloydLungs]

I think my moment was when Rebecca whatsername did that "Friday" song and everybody and their mom had some yuks making fun of how insipid it was. To me it sounds EXACTLY like most pop music these days. Bad, sure, but wasn't that just a 13-yr-old kid that threw something together? It's absolutely NO different than most anything popular you hear nowadays.

I'm old too.

[DougW]

Yeah, I agree RM.

Thanks alot though, for making me watch that horrible video - well, half of it was all I could muster - but yeah, thanks for that :)

[law90026]

I'm feeling the same way now. Most new songs are the radio are just ... meh at best. It's kinda depressing because that's how my father used to feel about the music I listened to.

[Julio Riddols]

Music is good, just not popular music. You have to look via other methods in order to find it. The best music today gets its exposure through the internet and social media. TV as a medium for news and music is nearly dead, IMO.

[RedKingGold]

You're getting old.

[Philliesfan980]

Totally agree 100% (and also agree with Julio that there's some really good stuff out there - you just have to look outside of MTV to find it).

It's strange, but obviously the current "popular" music is working, just not really sure why. I wonder how many people truly enjoy Lady Gaga? I'm guessing that the numbers for her sales and concerts are huge, but if you asked her fans "Comon, be real, do you really like this music? Or is it just because your friends do?"

[Apathetic Lurker]

Thats why I stick to rock and heavy metal.........

[JonInMiddleGA]

Thats why I stick to rock and heavy metal.........

FOFC needs a +1 or a Like button or something.

[Logan]

Lady Gaga's music is a complete train wreck, but she has a really great voice. Would be nice if she used it better.

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

All this has happened before, and all this will happen again.

[Ksyrup]

I've been in a big musical rut lately. Right now feels exactly like the mid-late 90s did. I'm sure it's that I'm getting older and just don't have the time to search out new music like I used to. It's odd, but in a way, as great as the internet is for opening up avenues to finding new music, it's also had the opposite effect on me, because there's just too much to wade through, and it's all unfiltered, so it's truly like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You have to wade through an awful lot of shit to find the good stuff, if you're so lucky. Sometimes I don't even know where to start. I might have missed out on some bands I would have loved 15 years ago, but there was something comfortable about knowing exactly where to go in the local record stores to find stuff I might like. Now, it's like jumping in the middle of the ocean and trying to figure out which way to swim.

As far as pop music goes, it doesn't feel all that different now than it did 20+ years ago to me. The whole point of over-the-top appearance/actions and disposable music is to piss off adults. What I used to think was cool, was mainly cool because of its effect on others, not so much me. At the time you don't understand it that way, of course, but that's what it was. And then 15-20 years after it all fades away, it's nostalgia that brings you back to it. If I re-assess my favorite music from 20-25 years ago based on how much I listened to it between the time it fell out of favor and the time it came back as nostalgia, I think I'd have to admit that a good 96% of it didn't have any kind of lasting impact on me at all, at least not in a specific sense. And that's likely the way Lady Gaga fans will feel about her if you ask them 25 years from now. But at the time, it's cool because it sparks threads like this from old people like us.

[M GO BLUE!!!]

Popular music a decade ago was shit I couldn't listen to.

Popular music today is shit I wonder how anybody can listen to.

MTV plays videos?

[JonInMiddleGA]

It's odd, but in a way, as great as the internet is for opening up avenues to finding new music, it's also had the opposite effect on me, because there's just too much to wade through, and it's all unfiltered, so it's truly like trying to find a needle in a haystack.

I'd agree that it takes some work to get it down to something manageable.

I get tipped to a fair bit of the newest things I like via a couple of genre specific websites. While that doesn't eliminate a lot of other things I stumble across, it does at least give me a starting point. At least I do catch a few of the good bits now & then.

The other thing that I occasionally find useful is watching the various "related artists" or "users also liked X,Y, Z" recommendations that come from fairly mainstream sources like iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, etc. Not going to find a ton of really really obscure/new stuff that way probably, but it's usually good for prompting another look at an artist that I might have dismissed after an uninspiring first/second exposure earlier.

edit to add: It's probably easier with my harder rock preferences than with other genres perhaps, but I actually find quite a few new (to me) artists by checking the bottom end of the weekly music charts, like these (http://americasmusiccharts.com/?rtmref=americasmusiccharts). Just off the top of my head from the past few months, that technique has led me to discover Middle Class Rut, Nine Left Dead, 12 Stones, Finding Clyde, and Aranda that probably wouldn't have crossed my radar yet. It's also caused me to take longer looks at artists like Kopek, Redlight King, and Royal Bliss that I would have overlooked. The point to listing all those by name isn't that I think they're likely to be your cup of tea, but rather just to illustrate how many new(er) acts have gotten into my consciousness solely because I saw them breaking onto the charts & did some YouTube searching for samples. I don't believe radio in Atlanta has played a single one of them, only maybe a couple of those have crossed my path on their own in any fashion anywhere else, but every one of them has been in my personal rotation regularly lately. I'd say that's pretty productive just from a single source that I check once a week & then spend an hour or so digging around the 'net to hear.

The whole point of over-the-top appearance/actions and disposable music is to piss off adults.

Hmm, I dunno about that one. The most over-the-top Gaga fans I know are all over 30. Hell, for that matter, pretty much the only Gaga fans I ever run into are over 30 (really over 40 but I'm trying to be generous here).

[Ksyrup]

Seriously? I don't know any Gaga fans. I don't even think my kids listen to her.

[Ksyrup]

This thread reminds me of probably my favorite "old man" statement of how crappy music is these days:

http://<IFRAME height=345 src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cB61QMSwAsg" frameBorder=0 width=420 allowfullscreen></IFRAME> (http://<iframe width=)

Music of rebellion makes you want to rage
But it's made by millionaires who are nearly twice your age

[JonInMiddleGA]

Seriously? I don't know any Gaga fans. I don't even think my kids listen to her.

She'd barely be a blip on my radar except for three FB friends who are absolutely fanatical about her. (You should have seen my FB wall last night during the VMA's, literally getting countdowns 'til the show started from Friday night onward). All 3 are women over 40 (at least one of whom is actually closer to 50).

To redeem myself however, I also have NASCAR driver David Ragan, who posted to his fan page last night "Watching some of the #VMAs. Is there any more normal in this world? What is the world coming to"

[Matthean]

Lady Gaga's music is a complete train wreck, but she has a really great voice.

Sad she gets qualified as a great voice these days. She's average for what a mainstream singer should be, Beyonce and Janelle Monae come across as being better. Joy Williams(The Civil Wars) while not mainstream pop is certainly better as well.

Pop music died somewhere in the 90s and I say that even if based on my age I'm suppose to say the 80s.

[cuervo72]

Came in to work, opened Sirius XM online, greeted by Tina singing Proud Mary. That is music.

[Autumn]

I think the thing is nobody remembers the "pop" music from when they were younger, they remember the music they liked, the good music. But if you compared pop songs from the '70s and '80s and '90s to now, you'd mostly have a pile of uniform crap.

[Ksyrup]

Actually, if you made me choose right now, I'd take 70s pop music in a heartbeat. The worst that can be said for it is it's "easy listening." But the songs are good, performed by competent musicians, and sung well (at least the pop music I'm thinking of). In fact, a lot of stuff I listen to off-mainstream these days owes quite a bit to 70s pop music - but being in a band that writes its own music and plays instruments is not where it's at anymore. I'd definitely take 70s, even if it meant having to put up with a few disco songs as being representative of the era.

[Matthean]

I just watched Lady Gaga's performance and I about died laughing seeing Bieber's non-reaction to the performance. Adele looked bored. The only good part of the train wreck was Brian May.

[Matthean]

Actually, if you made me choose right now, I'd take 70s pop music in a heartbeat. The worst that can be said for it is it's "easy listening." But the songs are good, performed by competent musicians, and sung well (at least the pop music I'm thinking of). In fact, a lot of stuff I listen to off-mainstream these days owes quite a bit to 70s pop music - but being in a band that writes its own music and plays instruments is not where it's at anymore. I'd definitely take 70s, even if it meant having to put up with a few disco songs as being representative of the era.

My biggest complaint of the 80's is it became electronic based so it lost the soul of previously released muisc, but MJ and Madonna ruled that decade so it's hard to speak against it. Even as much as I dislike Britney, Backstreet Boys, and N'Sync, at least it was well done pop. I do agree about the 70's though. It's likely the last pure pop decade.

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, 80s music suffers horribly from synth overload and dated-sounding production values. It's awful, and compounded by the fact that a bunch of otherwise stellar 70s acts hit a creative wall and/or went mainstream in a cringeworthy way at the same time (Elton John, Rod Stewart, Chicago, Styx, Bowie, Heart, etc.).

[Bad-example]

I stopped listening to the radio in the early nineties. It wasn't that most new music sucked although it certainly sounded like crap to me. It was that popular music went off in a direction I wasn't interested in going.

I have artists I follow, and occasionally I add a new one to that list. But there are very few 'popular' artists I would know if I heard or saw them. I buy perhaps 2 cd's of new music per year.

[Suburban Rhythm]

but music sucks. Maybe I'm becoming that old guy that "doesn't get it". Maybe every generation goes through this.

I rarely ever watch MTV but tuned in to the VMAs.


This is some weird sort of coincidence, but...

I didn't even know what channel MTV was on my cable until, on Facebook, somebody commented about watching the VMAs, so I flipped to it.

Actually, first I was shocked...shouldn't MTV be playing videos if they are going to give out awards to them?

I've been in a big musical rut lately. Right now feels exactly like the mid-late 90s did. I'm sure it's that I'm getting older and just don't have the time to search out new music like I used to. It's odd, but in a way, as great as the internet is for opening up avenues to finding new music, it's also had the opposite effect on me, because there's just too much to wade through, and it's all unfiltered, so it's truly like trying to find a needle in a haystack. You have to wade through an awful lot of shit to find the good stuff, if you're so lucky. Sometimes I don't even know where to start. I might have missed out on some bands I would have loved 15 years ago, but there was something comfortable about knowing exactly where to go in the local record stores to find stuff I might like. Now, it's like jumping in the middle of the ocean and trying to figure out which way to swim.

As far as pop music goes, it doesn't feel all that different now than it did 20+ years ago to me. The whole point of over-the-top appearance/actions and disposable music is to piss off adults. What I used to think was cool, was mainly cool because of its effect on others, not so much me. At the time you don't understand it that way, of course, but that's what it was. And then 15-20 years after it all fades away, it's nostalgia that brings you back to it. If I re-assess my favorite music from 20-25 years ago based on how much I listened to it between the time it fell out of favor and the time it came back as nostalgia, I think I'd have to admit that a good 96% of it didn't have any kind of lasting impact on me at all, at least not in a specific sense. And that's likely the way Lady Gaga fans will feel about her if you ask them 25 years from now. But at the time, it's cool because it sparks threads like this from old people like us.

I'm there too. I finished school in 1998, HS in 1994. So around 1994 - 2000-ish, I bought a CD a week probably. Maybe part of it is getting old, but I have no interest in buying anything new. I own everything from the groups I already like.

She'd barely be a blip on my radar except for three FB friends who are absolutely fanatical about her. (You should have seen my FB wall last night during the VMA's, literally getting countdowns 'til the show started from Friday night onward). All 3 are women over 40 (at least one of whom is actually closer to 50).


I have one of these, but it's with all things Britney Spears (who, I can actually pick out of a crowd, unlike Gaga). Her exact posting-

Annoyed Gaga is making Brit Brits moment so awkward...

This "woman" is 29.

I just watched Lady Gaga's performance and I about died laughing seeing Bieber's non-reaction to the performance. Adele looked bored. The only good part of the train wreck was Brain May.

Other than Bieber (and I have a 7 year old daughter) I do not know any of those people.

[Apathetic Lurker]

I am so happy my 15 year old daughter prefers rock, metal and country to the regurgitated pap that passes for popular music these days....

We are going to see a metal show tonight when Mrs Lurker gets home.......

Nothing like a family outing to a mosh pit....

[Drake]

Whenever I'm tempted to think music sucks, I visit FOFC's "What are you listening to now" thread. I've discovered literally dozens of artists I'd likely not have heard of otherwise, recommended largely by guys in my age group (and thus, with at least vaguely similar musical roots).

It's what keeps reminding me that there are some damned good artists out there.

[Ksyrup]

I am so happy my 15 year old daughter prefers rock, metal and country to the regurgitated pap that passes for popular music these days....

We are going to see a metal show tonight when Mrs Lurker gets home.......

Nothing like a family outing to a mosh pit....

My wife won't allow it. I'll sneak XMLM on for a few minutes in the car, but otherwise, I get shut out. The only good thing is my wife's still stuck in the 80s, so they listen to a ton of Journey, Bon Jovi, and Aerosmith (recently, Tyler made his band MILLIONS by joining AI this year), which I can do without these days, but I'd rather listen to them than contemporary pop.

My kids mainly think my musical tastes are weird, aside from 1 or 2 artists they like. But that's to be expected, I guess, when you basically only listen to metal and Beatles-inspired pop/rock.

[RomaGoth]

Yeah, 80s music suffers horribly from synth overload and dated-sounding production values. It's awful, and compounded by the fact that a bunch of otherwise stellar 70s acts hit a creative wall and/or went mainstream in a cringeworthy way at the same time (Elton John, Rod Stewart, Chicago, Styx, Bowie, Heart, etc.).

What? No Boy George? :D

[ISiddiqui]

Anyone reminded of that South Park episode? :)

Oh, and I kinda like Gaga. Her last album was actually pretty good (though I only got it because it was $1 on Amazon) - yes I have a very wide variety of music I listen to, I just bought the newest CD from a band called Gungor, which is folk-rock like Christian music (think somewhat Sufjan Stevens like).

[Ksyrup]

I don't really have anything against Gaga or Katy Perry or any of them. I've never listened to that kind of stuff, even back when I was the primary record company target as a teen. It just doesn't appeal to me because it's singer/personality-based instead of focused on the music/songs, but I've had that opinion since way before Gaga existed, and I'll be that way for years after she's gone.

[RainMaker]

The whole point of over-the-top appearance/actions and disposable music is to piss off adults.

I think it's to cover up for an incredibly average singer.

[Ksyrup]

Well, sure but that was the case with Madonna, too, right? It's about the "entertainment value" of the whole package, as opposed to the technical merits of the singing or music. That's why I don't listen to any of it.

[Julio Riddols]

The sad thing about Lady Gaga is that her acoustic stuff, that you can only find online is millions of times better than the club edited shit she puts out as albums. If she would just act like a serious musician and not someone who is trying to sell records, she would be a lot more respectable. I still wouldn't love her or anything, but I wouldn't wish she'd disappear either.

What I do is find music review websites that I trust that cover my general areas of listening. Then based on the reviews and the buzz generated on those sites for the bands they cover, I check those bands out. Then if I like them, I will use something like Pandora to see what else might fall in their general area and style.. I've discovered about 30 bands in the last year that I never would have known about if I didn't try that. Stuff like the Menahan Street Band, The Kills, Essence, The Morning Benders, Ravenna Woods, Broken Social Scene, Timber Timbre, Malachai and The Black Angels to name but a few. What I think is good is different than the next guy, but for all those bands above, there are others in other genres doing just as much to keep good music alive.

[spleen1015]

I heard through a couple of people that Adele was the only performer worth watching at the VMAs.

[Ksyrup]

I probably should try something similar to Pandora, but I just don't have the time. The last time I had a musical spark lit, though, was 1999/2000 when I got around $200-300 in Amazon gift cards on one of those music rating sites that shut down when the internet bubble burst. And that was basically the same as Pandora, except I got paid to listen.

[JediKooter]

Hasn't pop music always sucked though? Other than every once in a while a catchy tune comes out of one of the cookie cutter pop singers/groups.

[ISiddiqui]

The sad thing about Lady Gaga is that her acoustic stuff, that you can only find online is millions of times better than the club edited shit she puts out as albums. If she would just act like a serious musician and not someone who is trying to sell records, she would be a lot more respectable. I still wouldn't love her or anything, but I wouldn't wish she'd disappear either.

She'd likely make a LOT less money doing it though ;). One of things about Gaga is that she is doing something slightly different than Spears, Aguilara (who has an amazing voice, FWIW), and the early 00s pop artists in that she's bringing dance/club music more into mainstream pop. So the "club edited" stuff is what she's attempting to do because, well... she likes it.

[Ksyrup]

I find it funny that so many people our age apparently watched the VMAs. Only reason I even knew they were on is I follow Billboard.com on twitter and they kept posting annoying updates every 5 minutes. Oh yeah, and the tweets from more famous people our age bitching about how horrible the music is. Otherwise, I'd have had no clue. There isn't much that could have made me tune in.

[Ksyrup]

She'd likely make a LOT less money doing it though ;). One of things about Gaga is that she is doing something slightly different than Spears, Aguilara (who has an amazing voice, FWIW), and the early 00s pop artists in that she's bringing dance/club music more into mainstream pop. So the "club edited" stuff is what she's attempting to do because, well... she likes it.

I thought all pop music was dance/club music.

[bbor]

I thought Adele was fantastic.She has a great voice.

[Julio Riddols]

I decided to spam the "what are you listening to" thread with links to the bands I mentioned above.

[RainMaker]

I would note that I would still tap Britney Spears in a heartbeat.

[lungs]

What are these VMAs people speak of? Sarcasm I know, but I'm not going to complain about a genre of music that has always sucked.

I look on Emusic for stuff that I might like instead of MTV. I don't even know what channel MTV is on DirecTV. OMG I've never once seen Jersey Shore either.

No problem with those that do enjoy such rubbish, but don't act surprise when I don't know shit about the VMAs and Jersey Shore.

/endrant

[Ksyrup]

I just know it's in the 330s on DTV.

[ISiddiqui]

I thought all pop music was dance/club music.

'tis not. Well it isn't exactly.

Kind of like not all rock music is metal.

[Suburban Rhythm]

If MTV showed reruns of Remote Control, it would be a preset on my remote.

[RomaGoth]

I would note that I would still tap Britney Spears in a heartbeat.

So would K-Fed.

[MrBug708]

Maybe I'm different but I see music as entertainment and tend to prefer the stuff played on the radio because it's entertaining. When I hear independent, I quickly think that it sucks.

*This doesnt mean I like all music on the radio

[BrianD]

The sad thing about Lady Gaga is that her acoustic stuff, that you can only find online is millions of times better than the club edited shit she puts out as albums. If she would just act like a serious musician and not someone who is trying to sell records, she would be a lot more respectable. I still wouldn't love her or anything, but I wouldn't wish she'd disappear either.

Give it a few years. My prediction is that she is going to cash in as much as possible while her shtick is still popular, start her own record label, and release real music under her real name. As I understand it, she is classically trained and has a very good voice. We'll get to find out if that is true when she has enough money to release her own stuff and not care if it sells.

I don't have a lot of respect for her current style of "art", but I have loads of respect for her marketing ability.

[lungs]

Maybe I'm different but I see music as entertainment and tend to prefer the stuff played on the radio because it's entertaining. When I hear independent, I quickly think that it sucks.

*This doesnt mean I like all music on the radio

Entertainment is different things to different people. I tend to be entertained by things that aren't as entertaining to the masses.

That doesn't mean the masses are wrong, as much as I'd like to think it does.

[Ksyrup]

Maybe I'm different but I see music as entertainment and tend to prefer the stuff played on the radio because it's entertaining. When I hear independent, I quickly think that it sucks.

*This doesnt mean I like all music on the radio

This will probably sound strange, but I don't listen to music for entertainment. I mean, I am entertained by the music I like, but when I think of being entertained, I think of being in a good mood, partying, etc., and most of my favorite music is way too dark/depressing to be "entertaining" in that sense. Or, even the stuff that's more upbeat, I like it because of the song structure, harmonies, instrumentation, riffs, etc. That's just the way I approach listening to music. I can't really even listen to music I like as background - when I'm in the car and my wife wants to talk to me, I stop the music so I can pick back up where it left off.

[JonInMiddleGA]

This will probably sound strange, but I don't listen to music for entertainment. I mean, I am entertained by the music I like, but when I think of being entertained, I think of being in a good mood, partying, etc., and most of my favorite music is way too dark/depressing to be "entertaining" in that sense. Or, even the stuff that's more upbeat, I like it because of the song structure, harmonies, instrumentation, riffs, etc. That's just the way I approach listening to music. I can't really even listen to music I like as background - when I'm in the car and my wife wants to talk to me, I stop the music so I can pick back up where it left off.

FWIW, I don't see a problem with how you utilize music/the role it plays for you. I'd suggest however that perhaps your definition of the word "entertainment" might be in need of revision.

Your approach to listening to music does "entertain" you, I think, it's just working on a different portion of your brain/filling different psychological and/or emotional needs, etc than what the more limited (and perhaps traditional) definition of "entertainment" you described covers.

A weird analogy might be how a lot of FOFC'ers are "entertained" by "playing a game" when we aren't actually playing the game itself but rather doing some portion of the grognard'ish stuff we do that's a tangent to the game itself.

[Lathum]

Get off my lawn!

[Subby]

Music is so completely personal, I wonder why people try and expend any effort at all trying to tell other people their feeling about it.

[Apathetic Lurker]

My wife won't allow it. I'll sneak XMLM on for a few minutes in the car, but otherwise, I get shut out. The only good thing is my wife's still stuck in the 80s, so they listen to a ton of Journey, Bon Jovi, and Aerosmith (recently, Tyler made his band MILLIONS by joining AI this year), which I can do without these days, but I'd rather listen to them than contemporary pop.

My kids mainly think my musical tastes are weird, aside from 1 or 2 artists they like. But that's to be expected, I guess, when you basically only listen to metal and Beatles-inspired pop/rock.

My wifes rock tastes are stuck in the 80's too, but she does bend over backwards to let me listen to pretty much anything I want...But she does put her foot down on me listening to Las Ketchup and Los del Mar for more than 20 minutes at a time..lol

The cd's in our car run the gamut from Mercyful Fate to Mozart to Charlie Hall...yes, we have a very mixed up collection of cd's. It gets hilarious when some of Mrs Lurkers Christian friends come over and bump into my Venom Vinyl and when they see the rugrat rockin to ICP,Maiden, Motorhead, Sugarland and Charlie Hall....Gets a bit "interesting"

[frnk55]

The cd's in our car run the gamut from Mercyful Fate to Mozart to Charlie Hall...yes, we have a very mixed up collection of cd's. It gets hilarious when some of Mrs Lurkers Christian friends come over and bump into my Venom Vinyl and when they see the rugrat rockin to ICP,Maiden, Motorhead, Sugarland and Charlie Hall....Gets a bit "interesting"
Mercyful Fate. Ha, thats funny. I was a die hard metal fan in the 80's but just could not get into their music.
Today I never listen to today's music. I'm stuck in the late 60's to 70's. And 80's for hard rock. Yup, I'm old.

[Apathetic Lurker]

Mercyful Fate. Ha, thats funny. I was a die hard metal fan in the 80's but just could not get into their music.
Today I never listen to today's music. I'm stuck in the late 60's to 70's. And 80's for hard rock. Yup, I'm old.

I actually like some of the modern metal/rock out there so I can't say i'm stuck in the 60's-80's rut. It helps that I have such fucked up music tastes that I can rock to some turbopolka one minute and some metalcore the next then throw some modern jazz in right after.....

[JonInMiddleGA]

It gets hilarious when some of Mrs Lurkers Christian friends come over and bump into my Venom Vinyl and when they see the rugrat rockin to ICP,Maiden, Motorhead, Sugarland and Charlie Hall....Gets a bit "interesting"

Just so long as they aren't around when the Steel Panther is playing ...

[Apathetic Lurker]

Just so long as they aren't around when the Steel Panther is playing ...


LoL..yeah they are raunchy but her friends have run the Motley Crue gauntlet to the living room so they are partially immune to glam these days

[JonInMiddleGA]

Back to the impetus for this thread for a moment

’2011 Video Music Awards’ Draws 12.4 Million Viewers, Biggest Audience In MTV History - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers (http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/08/29/2011-video-music-awards-draws-12-4-million-viewers-biggest-audience-in-mtv-history/101708/)

The 2011 Video Music Awards scored MTV's biggest audience in the network's history with a record-breaking 12.4 million total viewers. Among the network's target P12-34 audience, the VMAS delivered a 10.8 rating and 8.5 million P12-34 viewers, making it MTV’s most-watched telecast of all time in the demo.

It'll probably be another day or so before the rest of the ratings data trickles onto sites like TVBTN but I'm gonna guess that a big chunk of the remainder (outside of 12-34) is going to be adults rather than <12. If that's the case, it would probably land them a rating of somewhere between 4.0 & 8.0 with A18-49.

By depressing comparison, last Sunday's (i.e. 8 days ago) Breaking Bad did a 0.7 rating in A18-49.

[thesloppy]

A small piece of my manifesto: I think the internet age has created a stagnant cultural loop. The opening up of a massive world of information means the current generation of folks creating music and culture have grown up immersed in the culture of the past and the present. There is so much information and culture from the past (and the present) to be devoured, so much art, history and commentary thereof, so far beyond what any generation before has had access to....I think at first blush, you might think that would result in an explosion of new creativity, and in some areas (especially new media) it certainly has, but in a lot of the more traditional cultural outlets, it's resulted in stagnant trash. Mainstream music has sounded largely the same for the last 20-25 years, and modern movies seemingly only consist of double-digit sequels and features based on comic books.

My half-baked theory revolves around the thought that the initial information generation has become more observational than experimental, and as a result culture has become a lot more self-referential and self-conscious. Although folks the world over now suddenly have access to a global pool of music, art and culture they never have, the most popular and time-proven stuff is still going to attract the most attention....so basically now everyone the world over is drawing from largely the same pool of ancient/modern influences, and as a result the culture they produce comes out looking/sounding a lot more homogeneous than that of the disconnected past, when lots of folks were driven to make their own entertainment. Looking at how music evolves even through modern history, you can see drastic changes through the decades as tastes, influences, and expectations wildly changed through the years. On the other hand, the evolution of music and movies seemed to come to nearly a complete stop, practically the second the internet entered the scene (TV for whatever reason, seems to keep evolving, for better or worse).

Likewise, the information age has made culture much more self-conscious, as various flavors of opinion and criticism have become a much larger and seamlessly intertwined component of modern culture. The internet has made everyone a critic, and criticism for the artist is everywhere, and extends far past whatever art you're producing, and as far into one's fashion/psyche/financial/family/personal concerns as it can possibly worm. I think the cultural result of such rampant criticism is three-fold: A) It encourages the artist to put out warmed over crap that fits within whatever the cultural expectations of the minute may be. B) It encourages the artist to spend AT LEAST as much time crafting/securing their image/brand as creating any actual art. C) Criticism has become it's own cultural outlet, and has likely leached away many creative minds that decided to share their own opinions and criticism rather than produce their own art. American Idol, Someone May/May Not Have Talent, and other reality shows have enforced the idea that you don't really need to be creative, or work at your craft, when you can get just as famous for showing up at a cattle call, wearing your skimpiest outfit, and singing oldies with as much vibrato as possible.

All of those factors together have led to (at least mainstream) culture putting out stagnant, repetitive, self-referential crap, with very little inventiveness and only incremental border-pushing. That said, I think culture moves in waves, and once we break out of the loop, we're probably in store for a major shift, once people start shining the lights looking for new things, rather than looking for the best of the past and the now. Perhaps the current dearth is the result of the ancient cultural industries of the past going through their death throes as we pass into a new era. Perhaps the same sort of cultural hiccups occurred with the introduction of other cultural game-changers, like TV and radio.

.....or maybe I'm just getting old.

[sterlingice]

A small piece of my manifesto: I think the internet age has created a stagnant cultural loop. The opening up of a massive world of information means the current generation of folks creating music and culture have grown up immersed in the culture of the past and the present. There is so much information and culture from the past (and the present) to be devoured, so much art, history and commentary thereof, so far beyond what any generation before has had access to....I think at first blush, you might think that would result in an explosion of new creativity, and in some areas (especially new media) it certainly has, but in a lot of the more traditional cultural outlets, it's resulted in stagnant trash. Mainstream music has sounded largely the same for the last 20-25 years, and modern ovies seemingly only consist of double-digit sequels and features based on comic books.

My half-baked theory revolves around the thought that the initial information generation has become more observational than experimental, and as a result culture has become a lot more self-referential and self-conscious. Although folks the world over now suddenly have access to a global pool of music, art and culture they never have, the most popular and time-proven stuff is still going to attract the most attention....so basically now everyone the world over is drawing from largely the same pool of ancient/modern influences, and as a result the culture they produce comes out looking/sounding a lot more homogeneous than that of the disconnected past, when lots of folks were driven to make their own entertainment. Looking at how music evolves even through modern history, you can see drastic changes through the decades as tastes, influences, and expectations wildly changed through the years. On the other hand, the evolution of music and movies seemed to come to nearly a complete stop, practically the second the internet entered the scene (TV for whatever reason, seems to keep evolving, for better or worse).

Likewise, the information age has made culture much more self-conscious, as opinion and criticism have become a much bigger and more important component of modern culture. The internet has made everyone a critic, and criticism for the artist is everywhere, and extends far past whatever art you're producing, and as far into one's fashion/psyche/financial/family/personal concerns as it can possibly worm. I think the cultural result of such rampant criticism is three-fold: A) It encourages the artist to put out warmed over crap that fits within whatever the cultural expectations of the minute may be. B) It encourages the artist to spend AT LEAST as much time crafting/securing their image/brand as creating any actual art. C) Criticism has become it's own cultural outlet, and has likely leached away many creative minds that decided to share their own opinions and criticism rather than produce their own art. American Idol, Someone May/May Not Have Talent, and other reality shows have enforced the idea that you don't really need to be creative, or work at your craft, when you can get just as famous for showing up at a cattle call, wearing your skimpiest outfit, and singing oldies with as much vibrato as possible.

All of those factors together have led to (at least mainstream) culture putting out stagnant, repetitive, self-referential crap, with very little inventiveness and only incremental border-pushing. That said, I think culture moves in waves, and once we break out of the loop, we're probably in store for a major shift, once people start shining the lights looking for new things, rather than looking for the best of the past and the now. Perhaps the current dearth is the result of the ancient cultural industries of the past going through their death throes as we pass into a new era...

.....or maybe I'm just getting old.

I've had a lot of similar thoughts, but one of the conclusions I drew is that you end up with huge fragmentation. People can pick and choose what they want so much more than in the past. Also, "knowledge" can come from so many angles.

It must be impossible to do humor now as it is strongly rooted in shared experiences. It makes me think of Krusty's monologue about time tested jokes about doctor bills and women drivers. When there was a smaller body of knowledge to draw from, it's easier to have common backgrounds. It's easy to make a joke about a tv show when there were only 4 channels so you were watching one of four things. It's a bit harder when there are 200.

SI

[thesloppy]

It must be impossible to do humor now as it is strongly rooted in shared experiences. It makes me think of Krusty's monologue about time tested jokes about doctor bills and women drivers. When there was a smaller body of knowledge to draw from, it's easier to have common backgrounds. It's easy to make a joke about a tv show when there were only 4 channels so you were watching one of four things. It's a bit harder when there are 200.

SI

For sure. On the other hand, I think a lot of the new variety is smoke and mirrors, and the "back-end" is a lot more consistent than we may realize. Track those 200 channels to their roots, and 195 probably lead back to the same 4 corporations, airing the same 100 commercials. 95% of us are likely having the same internet pushed to us by the main service players, Google, Youtube, Facebook, etc. The 80 million local and national news sites are all re-wording the same AP brief to fit their own agenda. I can choose whether to watch the latest hot internet videos, actually on the internet, or via Comedy Central's Tosh.0, G4TV's Web Soup, or MTV's Ridiculousnes. Would you rather watch a midget baker who rescues pit-bulls and hunts ghosts in his spare time, or a pit-bull ghost who bakes midgets in his spare time, the choice is yours!

[BYU 14]

After watching the few moments of the VMA's I could stand last night, maybe this wasn't that bad afterall!

<iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3rK6BjJaAjY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[thesloppy]

I'll tell you what I really don't get: dubstep. That shit brings out the true old man criticisms from me. "What is this? You call this music? It's just noise! You actually listen to this?" I can feel myself getting older when I hear dubstep....I get a hankering for hard candy, and sock garters.

[RainMaker]

Music is so completely personal, I wonder why people try and expend any effort at all trying to tell other people their feeling about it.
I understand that, but I just don't understand how anyone can watch that video in the first post and say "this is the best music has to offer". That would be laughed out of a karaoke bar.

Sure there are different music genres that we all like and don't like. But can't we all agree by now that the autotune crap is a cover for someone who can't sing? That it takes almost no talent at all to sing into an autotune mic?

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'll tell you what I really don't get: dubstep.

Your timing is excellent. I had the misfortune of running across a dubstep (whatever the fuck that means) remix of a Halestorm song earlier this evening.

Epic. Fail.

[Ksyrup]

Sure there are different music genres that we all like and don't like. But can't we all agree by now that the autotune crap is a cover for someone who can't sing? That it takes almost no talent at all to sing into an autotune mic?

The other explanation for this - that autotune is the sound they are going for - is equally unsatisfying. It sounds ridiculous. But then again, wearing your pants around your ankles has looked stupid for over a decade, and that fad/phenomenon is still going strong so...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Sunday Cable Ratings: 'True Blood' Rises, Leads Night + Kardashians, 'Entourage,' 'Leverage,' 'Breaking Bad,' & Much More - Ratings | TVbytheNumbers (http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/08/30/sunday-cable-video-music-awards-true-blood-kardashians-entourage-breaking-bad-leverage-much-more/101800/)

With MTV's top viewership ever, the Video Music Awards had no competition for Sunday night's top cable (or broadcast) ratings, drawing a 6.2 rating for adults 18-49.

[Dutch]

I'll tell you what I really don't get: dubstep. That shit brings out the true old man criticisms from me. "What is this? You call this music? It's just noise! You actually listen to this?" I can feel myself getting older when I hear dubstep....I get a hankering for hard candy, and sock garters.

Bah...sock garters are the shit!

[Suicane75]

My problem isn't so much with the content of the music but rather the fact that I have no idea who any of these people are. Once MTV stopped playing videos I sort of just lost touch with what's cool. Unless someone gets so huge like Perry or Gaga I'm just lost.

I do think however that pop will always be pop. I don't expect pop music to affect me in any other way than to get me tappin my feet and bobbing my head.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Just when I thought the Halestorm dubstep was going to scar me forever ...

Five Finger Death Punch + DJ Kraddy = Under & Over It All (dubstep remix).

No, I'm not linking this one, you can find it yourself if you want to. Damned if I'm gonna promote an idea this fucking horrifying.