Jimbo21
To me, there's no denying the musicianship and production quality. It's a lot closer to classic rock these days than it is to Conway Twitty or Loretta Lynn. Hey, there's even an openly gay country artist who sings about housewives smoking pot!

I think that's why I gravitated towards it, Jimbo. I'm a rock/metal guy but also like when a song has a hook in it other than musical wankage all the time. It's amazing how many country artists are using heavy guitar sounds and even lots of rock licks. I too could do without the twang you mentioned. Heck, sometimes I wish I could copy that because I've written quite a few country tunes that I think would have done well. The problem is my voice sounds nothing like what they consider country. Then again it depends on the song...that Jason Aldeen song, "She's Country" gets me going all the time. Some sick, low tuned guitars on that. Gotta love low C#. Haha! :)
 
-Danny

BenMMusTech...
The whining in the music industry.... 

do what i do, ben..
ignore most all whining.
 
voila.
 

Great topic BMus! And very interesting responses too.
 
I don't think people need worry. The music will take care of itself. It is constantly evolving and more and more is made every day. Some guys would like to see the return of "Steely Dan" or "Dark Side of the Moon" recordings but I think not many people are interested in that sort of stuff now. People still can listen/reminisce to that sort of thing on their old recordings and curse the brickwall limiter and whatnot of todays music but the world has moved on. Also, the man on the street doesn't give a damn about the loudness wars whatsoever!
 
About monetizing music. Again, it will take care of itself. There are more acts than ever before so they won't all make it. There is a lot of crap and not only are their records competing against todays acts but against the acts of years gone by. But.... there is always room at the top as Daniel Webster said about the legal profession. The guys on the fringe will struggle as the fringe recedes! Elton John and the guy who invented "Cats!" will still be doing alright.
 
And those below the fringe artists will still be supported by the general public. Not only through their substandard record sales and poorly paid live gigs and busking sessions but through the unemployment benefit.
 
I am blown away by the number of terrific bands I have been exposed to because of the interebnt the last few years. It's a GREAT time for new music. 
 
 

I think one thing's for sure - people just aren't spending as much money on music as they used to. This is partly because more music is available for free either through YouTube or illegal downloads/people emailing tracks to each other. But it also has a lot to do with the fact that music has so much more competition for people's leisure dollars today. Smartphones, app downloads, tablets and video games have taken a large chunk of what used to be spent on music purchases. As much as artists like to whine about the likes of Spotify taking away their livelihoods, the fact is that streaming services have found a way to monetize something that was rapidly losing its market value.

People are stuck in the mindset of the 70's, 80's and 90's when fortunes were to be made in music. There are still fortunes out there, but for a much narrower band of artists. And not only has music dropped in monetary value, but with the rise of the "bedroom producer" the number of tracks competing for attention has exploded.