Why has rock music lost a lot of popularity and mainstream appeal lately?

[Leo656]

At least once per day I wish upon a star that you'd spontaneously combust.

This has been One Of Those Times.

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by sdp

kids now listen to beatdown or deathcore on the heavier side, anything else is just old or not heavy. radio is dead and people listen to stuff streaming. This thread just shows how the older you get the more out of touch you get with stuff especially music. Rock has just evolved over the years and same with pop music.

Yet just above you I said....

Originally Posted by IMJ

Music movements as a whole have disintegrated almost completely because music isn't centralized like it used to be. Literally everything is presented in a mash-up online and in a messy soup of soundcloud streaming and so on.

When it's not compartmentalized you have fewer "album appreciators" and more casual "algorithm streamers".

You are very vitriolic towards anything you consider "old", I've noticed.

[Leo656]

People generally don't reach a point where they realize they never knew jack sh*t until sometime in their mid-30s, I find. You just sort of wake up one day and realize that you were always a loudmouth dipsh*t, and you wish you could go back and punch your past self in the face. I'm guessing they aren't there yet.

I mean I can at least have a conversation with someone who's about 30-ish, but any younger than that and it's just impossible. Just the worst, most insufferable "I know better than anyone about everything/Anything before my time was trash" kinda sh*t. And only someone with my level of depth and savoir faire can pull that off without sounding like a complete twatbox.

All kids are punks, and none of em know sh*t. The only thing they're good at is making authoritative statements of questionable merit despite being an "authority" on absolutely nothing.

AND they all have sh*tty taste in music. Unequivocally.

[Andrew NDB]

Originally Posted by Original TMNT Cartoon Fan

What once symbolized teenage revolts later became mainstream. Those who listened to "Rock Around the Clock" with Bill Haley in 1954 eventually grew up

That's "rockabilly," not rock.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Actually, that would be more old school rock and roll. Rockabilly is more along the lines of Lynard Skynard and CCR.

[Leo656]

No it most certainly is not. Neither of those bands have anything to do with "Rockabilly".

[TigerClaw]

The issues with Rock is that it hasn't innovated with its sound for years, It always sounds the same, and they never really come up with new ways to present it.

Today we have music that combines rock and other genres into one.

[Sumac]

Originally Posted by TigerClaw

The issues with Rock is that it hasn't innovated with its sound for years, It always sounds the same, and they never really come up with new ways to present it.

Today we have music that combines rock and other genres into one.

Are you seriously want to tell me that Beatles, Queen, Deep Purple and Europe sound all the same?

[Leo656]

Guy listens to electronica, you expect a decent opinion on the subject of music?

For the record, I do like some electronica stuff like KMFDM and whatnot. I'm just saying, is all.

On the subject of Deep Purple, "Perfect Strangers" > Everything

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by Leo656

Guy listens to electronica, you expect a decent opinion on the subject of music?

For the record, I do like some electronica stuff like KMFDM and whatnot. I'm just saying, is all.

On the subject of Deep Purple, "Perfect Strangers" > Everything

Love KMFDM. I've got a modest collection of Wax Trax! vinyl too - for anyone who has any awareness of what that is or means.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by sdp

kids now listen to beatdown or deathcore on the heavier side, anything else is just old or not heavy. radio is dead and people listen to stuff streaming. This thread just shows how the older you get the more out of touch you get with stuff especially music. Rock has just evolved over the years and same with pop music.

I don't have kids or any younger siblings. I'm the youngest member of my family, in fact. So why should I be up to date on what kids and young adults are into nowadays?

I wasn't even that much in touch with what was hot among my peers when I was a kid/teen, so I don't know why I should be in touch with younger gens.

[Leo656]

If you're in the gym every day, like me, you're forced to find out the hard way what "younger people" like in music nowadays.

And dear God, the trash of today is just SO MUCH WORSE than the trash music of just about any era since music has been recorded. I mean even in the 60s and 70s, the "crap" music was at least tolerable. One reason the 1980s are so revered as a decade is because with regard to the music, even the "lousy" stuff was honestly pretty decent if not great, regardless of genre. You can't say that about any other decade, really. I mean if GNR's "Appetite For Destruction" was the best music to come out of the '80s - which it was - what would be some candidates for "worst"? Flock of Seagulls? A-Ha? Thomas Dolby? The Thompson Twins? Like yeah, that's "junk" and I don't care for it but I'd still rather listen to any of that stuff than anything that's getting mainstream play NOW. The stuff coming out nowadays is f*cking intolerable.

At least Fozzy comes out with a new record every few years, and they're always good, but nobody really pays them much attention.

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by Leo656

If you're in the gym every day, like me, you're forced to find out the hard way what "younger people" like in music nowadays.

And dear God, the trash of today is just SO MUCH WORSE than the trash music of just about any era since music has been recorded. I mean even in the 60s and 70s, the "crap" music was at least tolerable. One reason the 1980s are so revered as a decade is because with regard to the music, even the "lousy" stuff was honestly pretty decent if not great, regardless of genre. You can't say that about any other decade, really. I mean if GNR's "Appetite For Destruction" was the best music to come out of the '80s - which it was - what would be some candidates for "worst"? Flock of Seagulls? A-Ha? Thomas Dolby? The Thompson Twins? Like yeah, that's "junk" and I don't care for it but I'd still rather listen to any of that stuff than anything that's getting mainstream play NOW. The stuff coming out nowadays is f*cking intolerable.

At least Fozzy comes out with a new record every few years, and they're always good, but nobody really pays them much attention.

I've never liked music when I'm lifting weights for some reason or another. I do however like to crank something when I'm going to town on a hundred pound heavy bag. Something about the various beats or sonic explosions enhances my combo-tempo as well as the push through the heavy-breathing that I'm a fan of.

[Sumac]

Originally Posted by Leo656

And dear God, the trash of today is just SO MUCH WORSE than the trash music of just about any era since music has been recorded. I mean even in the 60s and 70s, the "crap" music was at least tolerable. One reason the 1980s are so revered as a decade is because with regard to the music, even the "lousy" stuff was honestly pretty decent if not great, regardless of genre. You can't say that about any other decade, really. I mean if GNR's "Appetite For Destruction" was the best music to come out of the '80s - which it was - what would be some candidates for "worst"? Flock of Seagulls? A-Ha? Thomas Dolby? The Thompson Twins? Like yeah, that's "junk" and I don't care for it but I'd still rather listen to any of that stuff than anything that's getting mainstream play NOW. The stuff coming out nowadays is f*cking intolerable.

Completely agree.
One of the reasons I go back to the 80s music, is that even the most pop-stuff had some quality to it. Nowadays...I'd struggle to recall any modern popular performer, much less remember their music, so much of it is the basically feels the same to me.

Another period of music, which makes me feel like good like this - is 60-70s rock music. Not the most popular stuff from that eras, but something more underground.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by Leo656

If you're in the gym every day, like me, you're forced to find out the hard way what "younger people" like in music nowadays.

And dear God, the trash of today is just SO MUCH WORSE than the trash music of just about any era since music has been recorded. I mean even in the 60s and 70s, the "crap" music was at least tolerable. One reason the 1980s are so revered as a decade is because with regard to the music, even the "lousy" stuff was honestly pretty decent if not great, regardless of genre. You can't say that about any other decade, really. I mean if GNR's "Appetite For Destruction" was the best music to come out of the '80s - which it was - what would be some candidates for "worst"? Flock of Seagulls? A-Ha? Thomas Dolby? The Thompson Twins? Like yeah, that's "junk" and I don't care for it but I'd still rather listen to any of that stuff than anything that's getting mainstream play NOW. The stuff coming out nowadays is f*cking intolerable.

At least Fozzy comes out with a new record every few years, and they're always good, but nobody really pays them much attention.

I haven't been to a gym in years, but when I used to, I always took my phone and listened to my own music on it instead. I felt like the local gym always played the same 8 tunes.

The 80s seem to be generally considered as a decade where the mainstream music was awful. I don't know why. Maybe it was all those hair/glam metal bands who wore make up and had ridiculous large hairdos?

As for today's mainstream music, I agree it's crap. And it all sounds the same. Seriously, go play a top 20 playlist on Spotify or something and try to tell the difference between each song. It's very difficult. It's always some overtly produced generic hip-hop/rnb/pop with a main singer featuring a couple of guest ones. And the lyrics always seem about partying, dancing and getting laid.

A lot of popular songs from the 80s and 90s had good lyrics. 2 Minutes to Midnight from Iron Maiden, for example. There are no mainstream hits that have any substantial message anymore.

Originally Posted by Sumac

Completely agree.
One of the reasons I go back to the 80s music, is that even the most pop-stuff had some quality to it. Nowadays...I'd struggle to recall any modern popular performer, much less remember their music, so much of it is the basically feels the same to me.

Another period of music, which makes me feel like good like this - is 60-70s rock music. Not the most popular stuff from that eras, but something more underground.

Perhaps there were several crappy bands and musicians in those decades which aren't remembered today. But back then it was MUCH harder to get on radio or to spread your music. Not to mention you needed to actually pick up a guitar or another instrument and learn to play it a little. Nowadays any teenager can download a program that allows him to make a generic beat and upload it to YouTube in just a couple of minutes and go viral. It's easier than ever to make music nowadays and therefore there's much less quality control.

[Sumac]

Originally Posted by Prowler

The 80s seem to be generally considered as a decade where the mainstream music was awful. I don't know why. Maybe it was all those hair/glam metal bands who wore make up and had ridiculous large hairdos?

This is the first time, when I hear such opinion.

Originally Posted by Prowler

Perhaps there were several crappy bands and musicians in those decades which aren't remembered today. But back then it was MUCH harder to get on radio or to spread your music. Not to mention you needed to actually pick up a guitar or another instrument and learn to play it a little. Nowadays any teenager can download a program that allows him to make a generic beat and upload it to YouTube in just a couple of minutes and go viral. It's easier than ever to make music nowadays and therefore there's much less quality control.

Yeah, on one hand it was hard for the new bands to get into rotation, on the other - it had allowed to filter various crap. With Internet there is no such filter anymore, which led to bunch of copycats and crappy acts to become popular, albeit for much shorter time, then their predecessors.

This is a problem, that is yet to be resolved.

[IMJ]

Originally Posted by Prowler

The 80s seem to be generally considered as a decade where the mainstream music was awful.

I have literally never heard anyone say that mainstream music in the 80's was awful. Never in my life, not once. And I've lived in the greater Chicago area my entire life, which is populated by every kind of person found on Earth.

[Sumac]

I mean, it is the most popular songs from the 80s - maybe there are some mediocre songs, but overall, most of those went to become superhits, which fondly remembered to this day. Not really sure who can, looking at this list, say that mainstream popular music in the 80s was bad.

[sdp]

Every decade has good music, bad music, good trends bad trends. Most people tend to love the music style that they enjoyed when they were teenagers the most for the rest of their lives and never evolving much after that and any music before they were teens feels "old" to them and music after feels like noise.

Granted not everyone is like that and because of streaming music and algorithms it doesn't seem to be as true anymore with it being easier for newer generations having easier access to old songs and them being cool again but for the most part this still remains true.

With that said I never really liked 80s music, as a kid it always felt "old" while stuff like disco and before it felt from like 100 years ago. I didn't particularly like 90s pop music either but at least it didn't feel old and of course I didn't really start listening to music until I was like 13 and got into metal in the 00s.

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by sdp

Every decade has good music, bad music, good trends bad trends. Most people tend to love the music style that they enjoyed when they were teenagers the most for the rest of their lives and never evolving much after that and any music before they were teens feels "old" to them and music after feels like noise.

Granted not everyone is like that and because of streaming music and algorithms it doesn't seem to be as true anymore with it being easier for newer generations having easier access to old songs and them being cool again but for the most part this still remains true.

With that said I never really liked 80s music, as a kid it always felt "old" while stuff like disco and before it felt from like 100 years ago. I didn't particularly like 90s pop music either but at least it didn't feel old and of course I didn't really start listening to music until I was like 13 and got into metal in the 00s.

I wasn't really into music when I was a teenager. I mostly listened to video game OSTs and enjoyed the occasional song I heard in a FIFA videogame. But didn't attend concerts nor did I have any favourite bands or anything like that.

Whne I was a kid, my mother turned in the stereo and always put it on the Nostalgia station that played Hits from the 60s and 70s. I remember listening to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, The Doors, Pink Floyd, Eagles, Simon and Garfunkel, etc. on it often. Most of the top hits from those bands are catchy and ways to like, so I did like those songs. And it's no wonder such bands are still well-known after all these years.

Back to the 80s, as someone who was heavily into metal when they were 18-22, I gotta respect the golden decade of metal music. Thrash and death metal were born during this decade and Iron Maiden were also in their prime during it.

I like music if it's good. Regardless what era it's from. I like classical and jazz music to, and needless to say, that stuff is from way before my time.

Ofc there's good music nowadays. But mainstream music seems at its lowest point ever in terms of quality. Literally almost everything sounds the same, from my experience.