Modern Pop Music

You know you're getting old when they replace Sinatra with Manilow....

I'm in that generation, and I know just what you mean. I like synths, I like good production. Sadly, the lyrics are just so non-innovative and meaningless, the melodies have no true grasp in many cases, and yes, they have to be loud. I don't know why myself. But it's all gotta be dance music.
I listen to They Might Be Giants. Good since the eighties, still good now IMO

 I haven't actually listened to  the radio or muzak in awhile. I mostly think about what I want to hear and get to it some other way. The last time I remember really listening to radio airplay was in the dentist office. They were mostly playing 70s and 80s music or oldies but not really old oldies. I listen to a lot of talk podcasts so I guess I miss out on all the fun. You must be talking about acts like Brittany Spears, Madonna and Lady Gaga. Or maybe the rap centric music or TDM or whatever it's called.... most of that music seems to be written for the really young to the young. They want to dance and they need a reason and it doesn't take much of a reason.
 
 There are exceptions to almost every loose rule. There are probably plenty of older house wives jigging to those tunes around the house or older working women trying to loosen up a bit. I can't say I've ever heard a radio at a construction site blaring Lady Gaga but maybe I haven't been around.Lots of younger folks still like classic rock and roll.
 
 I know this will be seen as a stereotype- I don't see the logic in playing music that only appeals to the very young because as a population segment it's the older folks who have the most of the dough. Maybe it's the small percentage of the young who have money to throw around that they are after because the older people are a little wiser in terms of money(usually), so you won't find that crowd at a casino. 
 
 On any subject like this I find it difficult to really make any across the board judgments as most norms in some places are exceptions in others.From week to week who knows who will show up in Vegas?
 
 Just a guess, but maybe that kind of music loosens up a persons inhibitions better than other types of music. They want a quick to act person with a full wallet ;) Three cups of coffee and a catchy Madonna tune and look out....especially if you have ADD. Disclaimer- I had coffee before I wrote this.There may or may not be a grain of truth to it.

It's a good thing we figured out the fact that we don't need music education!  Clearly, raising our children in complete and total artistic ignorance has had no impact whatsoever on our culture.  Spending those dollars on lowering our math and reading standards was a wise investment.
 
Did someone say something about keeping the populace fat, happy and stupid?  I'm too busy admiring the sound my belly makes against my desk to understand anything.

Sharke, you nailed it with that song/lyric comparison.

I agree a lot of it has to do with danceability. Not everyone appreciates a great lyric, guitar solo, bass line, whatever. Just give them a little dance ditty, and that is all they need. No thinking involved ( maybe that is what concerns me). On the other hand, something like Micheal Jackson's "Beat It" was able to cross all the boundaries and appeal to a super-wide sector of audience. So it can be done. Just the artists of today being promoted in the pop vein just don't seem to have the musical talent anymore ( nice going Simon Cowell, you egotistical turd). Oh, I don"t even wish to start on pop country. Or as a friend of mine referred it as...Hollywood Country.

don't old folks always complain about pop music?..  :D
 

As another grumpy old goat I remember recently watching a DVD concert of Harry Chapin.
 
I forgot how good that guy was.

Pop Music Became More Moody in Past 50 Years 
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=scientists-discover-trends-in-pop-music

MakeShift

I wonder if anyone has compared the average IQ of teenagers today against what it was 20-30 years ago... Of course, at least the ones that weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer back then were still able to perform manual labor. Now it seems no one is willing to do much of anything!

 
Tell me about it.  
 
My son, a couple of years ago when he was 19, one day told me that he was thinking about going into the military.  I thought to myself...well that's a noble cause.  I decided to ask how he came about this idea.  He replies....because I will be a General in a matter of weeks.  How do you figure that, I ask?  Because he has been playing Call of Duty for many years and he knows everything there is to know about the military.  Roit!

See post #15.

About 15 years ago I worked on a job which involved supervising a 16 year old trainee. I got the feeling he was a bit "lacking" in general knowledge so I quizzed him about it. Turns out he thought WWII was in the 60's and he had never heard of Hitler or JFK.

Modern music:
 
The Coffee House Band
The Forum Monkeys
The Coffee House Collaborators
Straumpu & The CHC (aka Coffee House Chior)
The Bapu
 

tom1
I like the direction this thread is going but truth be told I know plenty of stupid old people bapu.

 

tom1
@ Bapu
 
Actually, admitting you're stupid is a sign of intelligence.
 
 
The people I'm referring to are not smart enough to know how stupid they are.
 

Membership helps.
 

 
Music is just music.
 
What makes 'pop' music 'popular' is that it appeals to the lowest common denominator. And it sort of sells, whatever that means nowadays.
 
The blame lies with the people in the music industry who really make the money, and in the main, that's not the artists. If you go to the bar and all they sell is lager, you're going to drink lager.
 
I do agree with the general consensus that pop music isn't as 'good' as it used to be though. With a few exceptions, everything seems to sound the bloody same, a homogenised mush of pure sh1te.
 
And to me, that's the rub - there doesn't seem to be the variety that there used to be. When the BBC broadcasts old editions of Top Of The Pops from the 70's and 80's, you're likely to see 8 or 9 different groups/solo artists performing (or more accurately 'miming') maybe 6 or 7 different genres of music.