Is Music Today Better or Worse Than Ever ?

Worse than ever, of course.

i'll say the same but possibly better because of the easier access to more music.

Better than ever. Absolutely.

head says better, heart says worse

An optimist am I.

More readily accessible varieties old and new to listen to than ever, easier to cocoon yourself as a result.

gone downhill since tiny tim died

Actually, latebloomer, if i may, i'd like to amend that tippin' point to since Warren Zevon died.

Does it really matter? If you just got recommended an album from 1974, and you've never heard it before until now, does it really matter that it's over 30 years old?

I used to know someone who wouldn't listen to any music that was more than two years old. I wonder what he's listening to now that everything from back then is 15 years old at least?

That guy's probably smarter than the rest of us.

No he wasn't. And on a personal level he was a dogmatic tossbag. It just seemed like an odd and totally arbitary thing to do: "I only listen to music that's less than 2 years old".

About the same.

depends on the music

I think guitar playing continues to evolve, but bass playing has devolved dramatically since like the late '80s. What are some inspiring bass players to debut in the past 15 years?

I suppose the fact that all my favorite albums come from the '70s and '80s must mean that music is worse?

Ned is OTM.

I had a fairly broad, but very shallow exposure to music until the napster boom. Now I'm able to immerse myself in genres, etc. so much more deeply as a result and find myself actually branching out more. I woulda never pictured myself liking any death metal ten years ago. It's broken down a lot of my snobbery. or, what Ned said.

pop music right now is terrible. underground music is pretty good!

how 1978 of you.

same as ever

the level hasnt changed.

as a matter of fact ask me again in 10 years

Anybody who doesn't think music is better than ever now is some sort of communist.

There is more good music, but there is also vastly more music to sort through these days.

I think the overall level of quality has increased, but I think the value of music has decreased. Music is not as important as it used to be.

there is more good music but less amazing music

pop music right now is terrible. underground music is pretty good!

^reverse this

lol poptimist

At first I thought it read 'velvet underground music is pretty good!'

Absolutely it's worse than ever. I couldn't even find five good tracks to list on the "List your five favorite tracks of 2007" thread.

Yep, that sounds like it's music's fault.

Music today is worse than ever. When I dance to it now it makes my back hurt and consequently my gut is growing from dancing less - a clear sign of a qualitative decline.

There is more good music, but there is also vastly more music to sort through these days.

I think the overall level of quality has increased, but I think the value of music has decreased. Music is not as important as it used to be.

I was going to elucidate on my initial post, but this says what I would have tried to say, in a much more succinct manner. People with the attitude of Mr Snrub piss me off.

Lots of changes in technology and culture, but music itself doesn't seem to get better or worse. 1800s or 1900s? The question doesn't even make sense.

I agree with everything Nick's said in this thread. I've heard more brilliant songs and albums this year than ever before.

Anybody who doesn't think music is better than ever now is some sort of communist.

Shouldn't that be "terrorist," comrade Vagueski?

I voted "same as it ever was," btw.

You missed an option, which is the actual answer. Music today is worse than it used to be in the 60s, 70s or 80s, but better than it used to be in the 90s and early 00s.

DIE OF BRAINROT YOU FESTERING WANKER

i'll say the same but possibly better because of the easier access to more music.

co-sign

I think maybe musical talent is more diffuse because of the proliferation of opportunities to be heard without going through what were once the traditional channels.

There's also more competition for attention, which I think means some artists don't have as much time to develop, but it also means you have the chance to hear people you might not have heard before.

There is more good music, but there is also vastly more music to sort through these days.

I think the overall level of quality has increased, but I think the value of music has decreased. Music is not as important as it used to be.

OTM

I think that the perceived slide in value is part of the reason why things like poptimism exists -- it's a bit of a rearguard action, predicated on supporting a now extremely debatable social aspect of communal listening that never really entirely was...

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

music has always been worse than ever, starting the day the first caveman hit the first rock with the first stick.

not really, more like starting with the first collectible audio recording of it

we have access to more music than ever = music is better than ever

i.e. nick south4ll otm

plus, 2007 has been fucking awesome for music

theres always been crappy music about, but there seems to be less of the really great stuff today than ever before. and the shit sounds even worse than before.

I voted that it's the same. There's more good music overall now, but exponentially less per capita.

One of the main problems is that the apprenticeship/patron system has gone away. We don't have new Renaissance-level painters for the same reason we don't have any new bands on par with The Who, Beatles, or Black Sabbath.

Labels used to take these 18 year old kids and work them and pay them (and rob them) and fly them around the world. You get a lot better when making music is your job than you can when you're forced to squeeze it in between the cracks of holding down a separate job and practicing on the weekends... which is what 99% of bands these days have to do.

I think it's worse than it has ever been since the late 50s, but contemporary music still has that indefinable patina of freshness that makes me much prefer listening to almost-great 2007 songs to listening to great 1997/1987/1977 songs. Curiously enough, the exact opposite is true for films.

I think it's worse than it has ever been since the late 50s

*dismay*

i mean, yeah, it's still going on. but in comparison to the chillwave era it's like a night and day

basically... there's a bit more hope

i don't know what you mean by a recent shoegaze revival. hasn't that been a go-to from the late 90's onward for people without ideas?

People who think 00's onward has been better than ever are worse than ever and are a cancer that brings down any dwindling credibility that ILM may of once had

And they should be shot but they would probably enjoy that too

is that directed at me?

the 00's were complete horseshit. i'm basically trying to say i've heard a few more distinctive things lately than in the past 6 years or so. it doesn't mean it's any better... just that things are improving slightly

No. It's pent up pessimism over the direction music has taken and the people riding along with it. Pretty much everyone

Gnite!

Chillax bro

I hear a whole lot of interesting music from this year AND previous years stretching back to the 70s (no further than that in my listening habits, granted) so I suppose music now is as good as it's ever been. At least for me. Never been interested in any canon or such, though.

*permashrug*

people who think other people should be shot should be shot.

People who think 00's onward has been better than ever are worse than ever and are a cancer that brings down any dwindling credibility that ILM may of once had

― The Once-ler, Sunday, July 26, 2015 1:55 AM (29 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

there were so many attempts at doing something "new" in the aughts and they all backfired.

like tin whistles, microkorg presets, disgusting sincerity.

be glad your alive now in this fucked up futuristic world

There's tons of good new music being made right now - I hear lots of exciting new jazz, a few impressive metal records every month, the occasional momentarily diverting electronic thing. I think new pop, new rap, the majority of new country, new mainstream radio rock, and most of the new Latin stuff I hear are terrible, of course, but I don't need to pay attention to any of that for money, so I mostly just ignore it. I don't think I've ever heard a whole Taylor Swift song, for example. If enough of a critical mass builds up on Twitter, I'll check out a particular song or video (most recent: "Classic Man," whatever that Fetty Wap song was called) and usually wind up disappointed in both the music and the people I know who like/praise it. So I duck back into my cave.

re: aughts

the trends that had legs were all cast-offs from the 90's. math-rock, post-rock, emo etc. some of which were improved on... but not by much. even if a lot of things now are nostalgia based at least they're more enjoyable

fast forward to 2009: the "hypnagogic pop" wave of ferraro, pink noodlers was actually kind of unique even if it was made up of pre-existing components. it had an atmosphere to it, i think. but it gave other people bad ideas and eventually lead to the revivalism of pretty much every genre under the sun

and now it seems that we're at a cross roads

I'm going to out on a limb here and say 4 piece guitar indie rock - worse now

May HAVE not may OF you festering wanker.

How would a grammar nazi react to someone speaking ebonics on the internet?

How would a grammar nazi react to someone speaking ebonics on the internet?

― The Once-ler

The correct grammar of ebonics is not supervised by grammar nazis, but by grammar panthers.

Don't look at me like that. It's an actual thing:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Grammar+Panther

re: aughts

the trends that had legs were all cast-offs from the 90's. math-rock, post-rock, emo etc. some of which were improved on... but not by much. even if a lot of things now are nostalgia based at least they're more enjoyable

fast forward to 2009: the "hypnagogic pop" wave of ferraro, pink noodlers was actually kind of unique even if it was made up of pre-existing components. it had an atmosphere to it, i think. but it gave other people bad ideas and eventually lead to the revivalism of pretty much every genre under the sun

and now it seems that we're at a cross roads

― hackshaw, Sunday, July 26, 2015 2:55 AM (Yesterday)

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41ycEqFSMML._SX322_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

don't look at me... this thread is cobblers through and through.

maybe it used to be better though...

very happy about the existence of that book/jpeg

it's definitely better or worse than ever

Music is as music as ever, you festering wankers.

i found an old mixtape i made myself from back in 2009. didn't know what half the things were, but all i can say is 2009 was a strange old time in my listening career.

serves you right for making it based on the ILM EOY poll

bad posts itt

I'm just really baffled by Hacksaw's notion that we're in an era of LESS revivalism and LESS nostalgic pandering.
Have you even heard the new Black Eyed Peas single?

xxp '09 was when I started writing about music properly, so maybe a lot of it was made up of shite sent to me by PR companies.

bad posts itt

― regret it? nope. reddit? yep. (Noodle Vague), Monday, July 27, 2015 8:55 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm, love this move btw

all praise to D-40, come back soon brah

i'll admit my post was skewering exclusively towards indie related things

just a drunk observation on blog related buzz bands from then vs now

*bows out gracefully*

what are the new developments in progressive metal lately

Haven't you heard? They've introduced more modes and odd time signatures. Ornette Coleman Atlantic sessions were 55 years ago... imagine how much progress one can make over half a century on his work, and that's what you get in progressive metal. Hence the genre name: it's above the heads of you dimwitted non-believers. Has to be spelled out for you.

In other words it still all sounds like dream theater shite

unless you like djent

How is this thread getting even worse? How is that even possible?

Is This Thread Today Better or Worse Than Ever?

prog metal chat can outshite any thread

today i am listening to the necks (aether) so i am in a music space beyond comparison

the necks are so great, they never better nor worse just consistently beyond comparison.

where's a good place to start with them?

(don't say the jugular)

Drive By, Hanging Garden, Drum Bass Guitars, Sex jeez any of them, they are all great.

sorry that should read Drum, Bass, Piano

or even Piano Bass Drums!

Drive By, Open, Aether, Chemist and Hanging Gardens will appeal to you most I think.

Chemist is underrated cos it's 3 20-minute tracks, but it's awesome.

Had a banging headache last night so lay down and listened to Aether very quietly.

cheers, i've never heard em

It seems quite amusing that the 20 minute mark of the tracks on Chemist is relatively their collection of short tunes, but that is what they do.

I love sides A (Athenaeum) and C (Quay) of the Athenaeum, Homebush, Quay & Raab live set more than any of their studio works.