Answer for question 4595.

[jazzy_dave]

[Error: unknown template qotd]Slightly tiresome but i do think that there are great musicians now as their was in the past. Music changes and so do musical styles. Some styles go out of fashion and then return afresh. I love the musical past but i also search out new music and finding some great music out there.

Contemporary artists that come to mind are Joanna Newsom, and Eliza Carthy. I could mention oodles more but these are the two that stand out for me.

I would not dismiss any genre totally, well maybe country and western..

Comments

[hardblue.livejournal.com]

You guys get country and western music? I thought it was pretty much limited to our south.

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

I think that the issue with popular music nowadays is that the technological innovations of the 1930-1990 period have all been processed by musicians, and now there is simply no "new" sound that is not so unpleasant to listen to that it will appeal only to the self-consciously edgy. Unfortunately a lot of critics born before 1980 have not adjusted to this and believe that a lack of inspiration on the part of musicians is at fault.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

There is some really good country and western music out there. It's rarely played on country and western stations. Most of what you get on any major commercial station is major commercial product, which means "stuff that fits one particular commercially-successful pattern". If you're lucky, you might get a genre in which you can have "one of four or five particular patterns."

This is true of ANY genre. You can get bland, homogenous hip-hop. Bland, homogenous modern pop. Bland, homogenous dance music. Bland, homogenous jazz. Bland homogenous country and western music.

Heck, I've encountered bland, homogenous classical music, which is impressive, since "classical music" includes dozens of divergent genres over five centuries, and many "classical" stations include early music as well, which adds another two centuries' worth.

But there is amazing music within all of those.

[thespian15.livejournal.com]

I think there are some big stars now, but mostly factory celebrities. :(
Hugs, Jon

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

There will always be good artists mixed in with bad. Every generation has their standouts (for good or ill).

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Not even C&W!

Roseanne Cash?

Linda Ronstadt?

[kabuldur.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty much with you on all of that.