Loved that Nirvana spoof, especially the drummer with the shirt labeled "DRUMMER" and the word "DRUM" on the bass drum. Could that have actually been Dave Grohl doing a stealth cameo?
 
The whole grunge thing started as an anti-pop grassroots protest. Ironically, it was seized upon by the global corporate marketers who tried to turn it into a fashion statement. That's what killed grunge. It was a last gasp; what do we have now that's equivalent? Tween Wave?

There can't be many ways to rebel left that haven't been done a million times before. Wild music? Been done. Drugs? Been done. Taking your clothes off in public? Old hat by the early 70's. I don't hear any new music these days which really wows me in terms of it being new or a reaction or protest against anything. Even the genres of EDM that the kids will tell you are "extreme," like some forms of dubstep, I just feel like I've heard it all before and it all sounds tame, although admittedly the production is very creative at times. 
 
I wasn't into grunge at the time, but we had the acid house scene. That was a reaction against the totally crap club scene of the latter half of the 80's - it had been a load of brass railed, big haired, shoulder padded nonsense and people were poncing around in wine bars with those ridiculous crate sized mobile phones and the music was soulless and brittle. Acid house felt like a reaction against all that and it was new and fresh. Along with the psychedelic drugs which went along with it, the late 80's and early 90's techno scene was the 60's of my generation's time. I don't see that the kids have anything like it now - I compare footage of clubs in the acid house days compared with the dance clubs now and the kids now are standing around with perfectly parted hair and waxed mustaches looking all self conscious because everyone's taking selfies and uploading them to social media. We really didn't give a rat's ass what we wore or what we looked like, and barely anyone carried a camera around with them. I really feel sorry for kids growing up now in the age of social media. It's had a homogenizing effect on culture and made young people shallow and narcissistic. Not the ideal conditions for a grassroots movement. 

I wonder how big a proportion of todays top 20 hits are made as  teamwork-projects? Like when they invited a big bunch of worlds top songmakers to Hawaiji for two weeks or so just to make songs  for Rihanna. It was a new thing to me a couple of  years ago when I read an article about this being a much used practice. It does make me appreciate even more the performers who write their own tunes. It surprised me, that even some Finnish producers
take regularily part in these international sessions. Why don't we do better in the Eurovision song contest, then !? :o/
And of course, this is partly an explanation to why the chart music sounds so generic, though technically brilliant.
I wonder how they quarrel about who get the credits for any particular song!

Hi,
 
The music business in America killed the pop music. Some folks tried to fight it, and lost the battle very harshly ... MJ, Prince and so many others.
 
Until the day that those mercenary record companies are no longer in control ... I doubt that things can improve. And they won't get any better with someone trump'ing even more corporatization of everything from ... you name it!

Kalle Rantaaho
I wonder how big a proportion of todays top 20 hits are made as  teamwork-projects? Like when they invited a big bunch of worlds top songmakers to Hawaiji for two weeks or so just to make songs  for Rihanna. It was a new thing to me a couple of  years ago when I read an article about this being a much used practice. It does make me appreciate even more the performers who write their own tunes. It surprised me, that even some Finnish producers
take regularily part in these international sessions. Why don't we do better in the Eurovision song contest, then !? :o/
And of course, this is partly an explanation to why the chart music sounds so generic, though technically brilliant.
I wonder how they quarrel about who get the credits for any particular song!

They also use team writing to churn out sitcoms in the US. 

Moshkito
Hi,
 
The music business in America killed the pop music. Some folks tried to fight it, and lost the battle very harshly ... MJ, Prince and so many others.
 
Until the day that those mercenary record companies are no longer in control ... I doubt that things can improve. And they won't get any better with someone trump'ing even more corporatization of everything from ... you name it!

Business is about making money. As long as Beyoncé outsells Steely Dan they'll keep making songs like Beyoncé's.
But there will always be a market for more exploratory music as long as people like you are around, Mosh. And thank goodness for them.

As George Carlin said "The average person is pretty dumb, but the real kicker is that half the population are even stupider than that!"
 
When you combine that observation with the fact that "Pop" (short for "Popular") music is aimed at that intelligence level, you're bound to get a lot of inane drivel.
 

Is it any surprise that, among the room-temperature IQ crowd, that some think this tool is a genius?

It's not terrible. We're old or we don't like pop in general. If you're into Rock, then this era of music sounds like trash to you. But, it really isn't. Rock just isn't popular right now. Hold your horses, though. It will eventually find it's way back. The wheel keeps spinning.
 
I like what's going on today. Very reminiscent of the early to mid 80's Pop and Pop R&B I loved as a kid.
Not, I'm not as big a fan of today's artists. I don't see a Prince, Duran Duran, MJ or etc ... on the scene. But, the actual music is great.

I say do it analog instead of digital.

Popmusic is a measurement for the spirit of the age.
The 70 th spirit was full of rebellion and longing for freedom,
which was expressed in the music of that time.
 
Don´t wonna daunt anybody , but what tells the actual music 
about the present time ?
To say it friendly:
At least it seems to be not a rebellious and imaginativ time.