What popular songs/bands that are heard on the top 40 today will be listened to and cherished 40-50 years down the road? Who here listens to today's mainstream music and really gets into it and studies it and becomes passionate about it to the point where you could almost or actually cry because of how beautiful it is? Just like I thought...none and nobody...because it's 99% trash.
Have Lil' Wayne, Katy Perry, and Taylor Swift produced timeless music that will be listened to, played, and cherished by future generations much like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, and Lynard Skynard? Will kids in 50 years have Justin Beiber or Bruno Mars or Maroon 5 posters hanging in their bedrooms? The answer to both of these questions in my opinion is no. I would also venture to say that kids in future generations will still be putting up Pink Floyd posters in their rooms and wearing t-shirts. Why? Because music has gone way down hill. I'm not saying that all music in previous generations is timeless, but there was certainly a lot more. Like way more.
Also, I was going over the top 40 just now. It looks like every single band is actually not even an actual band, but rather some person who is the "face" of the band that does the singing and gets all the credit for everything as well as the picture on the cover. Who plays the drums and bass guitar for these artists? Who plays the keyboard? Where are the actual MUSICIANS (you know, the people that actually make these songs work) and why aren't they getting the credit they deserve? I'm willing to bet that most of the artists listed on the top 40 didn't even write their own songs. Sure, maybe they wrote the lyrics (big deal this is music not poetry, words aren't even required) and maybe came up with the melody or so, but did they write eve ry single note for every single instrument to be played? Did they write the transitions and organize it? Highly doubtful. Today's music is much easier to perform, so I'd think that we would be more inclined to give credit to the actual writers for doing the hard part.So why aren't we hearing about the musicians and only seeing the face of the singer? This leads me to my next point.
Why are so many of these "artists" physically attractive? Back in the day, most artists were not your typical hot guy/girl, but now they are today. That seems suspicious to me, because I doubt that somehow over the past 20 years or so that attractive people inherited all the musical talent. Seems like the music industry has figured out that the average listener cares a little more about physical looks than musical talent, which is sad. Ella Fitzgerald is ugly as sin, but she could out sing any of the current female artists today WITHOUT any studio/electronic enhancements to her voice. I doubt she would become famous this day and age.
I realize that there are a lot of indy bands and stuff that we will never hear on the top 40 that are actually pretty good. But it's sad that we have to really dig and search for this stuff on our own. Also, it's annoying cause I can't get away from the mainstream no matter how I try...go to a restaurant/store and there it is. Get in my friends car, there it is. Turn on the TV, there it is. I'm tired of it. It's garbage. End Rant.