The music out today is not the same quality as it was in the 70's and 80's.

Yes, I certainly feel the same way you do. And I sincerely believe that the 1970’s was the absolute best decade for music, ever.

I think it’s just as good. You just have to look a lot harder.

Every generation feels this way and every generation will continue to feel this way. Same goes for their attitudes about “kids these days”. It’s the same thing over and over and over again. :)

Everyone thinks they’re unique in their thoughts, but it’s been done before. Many many times…

I agree. Some music of today is great, but so much of the music of the 60’s and 70’s is still enjoyed today. I doubt there will ever be a 90’s station in the future.

I was born in the 80’s, but feel that music from 60’s and 70’s was, for the most part, better. I think the percentage of high quality music that is being put out is slowly declining. Even as the number goes down, there are still some very talented acts out there, just fewer of them.

If it’s too loud you’re too old. :)

I was not lucky enough to live through either decade, but I have to say that the production rate of good music fell off the face of the planet after 1989. 90% of the new good stuff out there now is, at least in my opinion, indie. Not to say that there isn’t great music out there from major labels, but most of it is crap. To me. ‘89 and earlier, stretching back centuries… Lots and lots of amazing, beautiful, awesome, epic, innovative, groundbreaking, genre-defining, world-changing music. Starting with the ‘90s… Epic fail.

I would disagree. There was the same percentage of music from the 60’s and 70’s that I think is crap- as the percentage of music today I think is rubbish. There’s just a lot more music nowadays since the everyday people have a chance to record and distribute without the antiquated music model.

I asked a similar question about two weeks ago. my question dealt with the songwriters. did all the good ones retire or die? i totally agree that music has gone down hill, since the early 80s. take any love song from the 60s, 70s or early 80s and they each had their own meaning associated with love. today, its just noise with a beat. no chord changes and most singers are bland. those earlier songs made you want to grab your s/o and either hit the dance floor or share a bottle of good wine together. todays music “just ain’t making it”. i am a religious person, but religious music is not rock and roll or rap. this is my personal opinion only. i am a person that loves good music. keep the old 45s handy, this is the only source of good music we have left.

I think the popular music of today is certainly not as good as the popular music of yesteryears, but I think there’s music of better or comparable quality to be found if you’re willing to search. But yes, most of the popular stuff these days is disposable. It plays on the radio for a couple of months and then no one ever plays or hears it again.

@gemiwing I didn’t mean to imply there wasn’t bad music; If I hear disco duck one more time I’ll kill myself. Simply that there was great music being produced at a much greater rate than now.

I’m one of the few people I know of my age group that continues to listen to new music. I may be stuck in a genre (rock and some pop), but not a decade. I’m 42, and still love listening to current music as well as enjoying the ‘oldies’ of my youth. I think there’s plenty of good and bad music from every time period, and people just tend to think their era was the best. The fact that the bad music isn’t played much, even on oldies stations, may contribute to that… you’re only hearing the best of those eras, and forgetting the worst.

I would disagree. I have a vast musical library spanning as far back as the 1200’s, if you count modern reproductions of music pieces. I think the problem is that it’s now too easy to make music, whereas before, it required a certain amount of talent to get signed and to be successful. These days, anyone who looks pretty can be a pop star, regardless of musical talent. There’s a formula for pop songs and how to launch them into fad-status, so I definitely have seen a major decline in what I consider to be music quality, over the past 10 years.

However, there is plenty of quality music still being produced. It may not make it into the mainstream, but it is there if you look for it. I think the greatest shame musically is that we reward the mediocre pretty people by awarding them contracts, and the people who shed blood, sweat, and tears for their craft are largely overlooked. This is why I rarely listen to the radio. One, there is an utter lack of musical diversity. You hear the same songs, the same artists, over and over. BORING. I’d much rather listen to my iPod, where I have everything from classical, to swing, to Celtic, to 40’s, 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, up until today.

@MissAnthrope thunderous applause

@augustlan I will always listen to new music. I can’t imagine listening to the same music decade after decade.

@tinyfaery That’s cuz we’re cool. :p

Led Zeppelin, Journey good classics

@MissAnthrope is on it. Looks get a career now and a lifestyle, not talent.

70’s were the best.

Largely because of my age, I agree about 70’s and 80’s music being splendid. Something to consider however is how different radio formats are today. Having a larger number of big conglomerate stations and fewer independent stations surely has an impact on what we hear.

@MissAnthrope (clap clap) !!
It seems to me the most played, most popular “music” (and that’s a stretch) is simply some guy in baggy clothes w/his hat turned around backwards , saying things you can’t understand (hopefully) all accompanied by one instrument no one sees and making more money than I’ll ever have. Not singing; just talking. And this is called music. (thump click thump)
How romantic. /-:

@DominicX

I know what you are saying because alot of the music I grew up with was criticized by older people. There are quite a few good songs out there today and there were ALOT of songs that came out in the 70’s and 80’s that even to this day I can’t stand but I just feel there is just less overall quality of a large quantity of music that is out today. I like all different generations of music and enjoy many newer groups however. Maybe i’m getting too old.

@john65pennington

I only joined fluther 2 weeks ago, sorry I missed your question for I will look at it. You bring up a good point about songwriters however.