Well, this is just an opinion. My opinion. So it isn't world changing. And is probably meaningless to every other human being on tha planet. But I bet my two dogs would at least respect it if they understood it. Dogs are great for uderstanding and comfort. Anyway, my point... I spent a few days in Las Vegas. Many of the casinos are making me feel older. Why? Apparently the music they are playing is catered to the crowds they are seeking. Unfortunately if this connection is true, then the pop music being played is the new stuff, and geared to the younger crowd. But this music is truly shallow and awful. The only thing of merit is the drum beat, which is probably sampled. Lyrically, absolutely meaningless and not even worded with any kind of poeticness. Melodies are two-notes just a bunch of lame words strung together with occasional step rise and lower. And of course the obligatory loud part.

I guess I am just becoming the grumpy, old man. But I did make it too the Wynn where the music was more subdued and playing some Sinatra. A treat. Also some downtime casinos still like the 70s and 80s. I realize life moves on. Can' t always please me and others like me because we may not be the loose wallet crowd anymore. But I just find the differences in the current pop music styles versus that from the 50s thru the 80s (and maybe some of the 90s), to be dramatically different in the actual composition and content. I hope we actually have melodies in the future.

Just venting a little.

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

It's got nothing to do with your age, it's your musical standards. The music you're talking about is crap, regardless of the age of the listener. I'm 40 but I hated that shallow bubblegum BS when I was 20. Let's face facts, it's for kids (and adults) who don't know any better. They have never learned to appreciate good music - all they want is something (anything) that sounds "modern" and is performed by someone whose image they like. So the melody doesn't matter, as long as it's got a hook simple enough for an amoeba to remember. The fewer notes the better. Of course when performed, the singer embellishes this vacuous 2 note melody with a lot of generic ornamentation to create an illusion of "soul." 
 
The only time I hear this tosh is when I walk into a store or deli and they have the radio on. The first thing that pops into my mind when I hear such music is "What is the point of this?" For the life of me I cannot understand why anyone could go to the trouble of recording such an unremarkable song. They can't possibly be sitting in the studio listening to the master thinking "oh yeah...this is great...this really leaves my musical mark on the world." The only possibility is that they're only in it for the fame and the money. Kind of like how some (most?) politicians are only in it for the power and the perks - it doesn't really matter to them which party they belong to. 
 
Good melody is dead in popular music. I think it started to die out in the 90's.

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

Is there such a thing as Modern Pop these days? It almost seems like much of Pop has now crossed over to some form of Pop Country?

 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.

Nuff said: 
 

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.

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!

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.