That's true, but it really is hard to imagine that Cowell's output will be up there with Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, The Temptations, Four Tops etc in 20, 30, 40 years time.

Maybe it will...who knows?

Music of today is not bad, Its only the music in the charts that is bad imo.

I have many albums of moden music that I think is great but you would never see them in the charts as they are not commercial enough., And the charts is all about x factor and crap like that anyway so wouldnt want to see them there.

Ok I admit that most pop/RnB nowadays is complete rubbish but its not like the entire nation is going to have an epiphany and start to think its complete rubbish are they? There are millions of people who like this stuff, so as long as people like it we are going to have to put up with it .

You can't really say Muse are great because everything you see from Muse is a copy of Queen Jeff Buckley & Radiohead.

I think a lot of the pop music and songs in clubs etc has been very poor for about a year and a half now. There just haven't been many songs on the radio I've liked compared to between 2006 and the first half of 2008.

Robson/Jerome > Smokey

I haven't got a problem with covers, some excel at them. The problem for me is that they can become boring and mechanical in the hands of unimaginative acts such as Westlife and Cowell's performers.

Their complete dependency on old material is essential, because most of them couldn't write a decent song if they tried. To compound this lack of ability, their cover versions are usually pale imitations of the originals.

If you look in my music collection then music from the last decade probably (70's may win it but I am not sure) has the least appearances from out of all the decades since the 60's.

I am not saying good songs and albums haven't appeared throughout the noughties but overall it has been a terrible decade imo.

It's an educated guess. There's nothing from the 00's onward.

The rise of the so called "co-writers" has killed music today. Essentially these are all manufactured artists who sit in the same room as a whole load of different songwriters and then claim part of the credit(the record company likes this as it gives the artists a form of income to make up for the pittance they pay them). Previously "co-writing " meant a partnership e.g. Lennon and McCartney. So essentially all the songs in todays charts come from the same source.

Cool that this thread is still going and I've managed to stay above it all and not get into a fight with anyone

BTW the answer to the thread title is:

Because music has lost it's sense of humour

People forget that Queen were funny, the Beatles hilarious, Pink Floyd weren't afraid to sneak a few gags into their early albums, Elvis Presley was always having a laugh, so was Louis Armstrong, early rock n'roll was outrageous and even serious rockers like Led Zep weren't afraid to raid the funny fridge (the Lemon Song!) in an effort to lift our spirits.
Prince - a full-time gag-writer
Bowie - Labyrinth
The Cure - need I say more?

Modern bands and artists, by and large, though they may have a great sense of humour in real life, on the musical side are very earnest and more then a little too cool for school. This despite the fact the they are aping the work of these comedy legends!

This is why shows like the Mighty Boosh and Flight of the Conchords continue to thrive, capturing the imagination of kids and adults alike, while the music industry flushes itself down the bog with dreary guitar bands, po-faced electro-bollocks and manufactured pop-shite.

That's a great description of the current music industry

On the sense of humour point, you're so right Fez. The Beatles song You Know My Name ( Look Up The Number ) is a hilarious spoof of the Goons and has a Monty Pythonesque feel. Other acts from the era used humour as an essential ingredient, including The Scaffold and the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. Even Billy Connelly started off in music, part of folk trio the Humblebums, which included Gerry Rafferty.

Would that today's acts had such diverse roots and could manage some humour once in a while. Apart from Morrissey there's little wit left in pop now.

It's because there's less money in it because of illegal downloads. Record companies are thus less likely to be able to take risks and invest in new, original talent. Instead they just shovel out more of the same, stuff which they know will make money. Thus, lady gaga, la roux, little boots, and every other derivative electro artist we've seen this year.

Totally spot on! It seems like all the fun has gone out of music with all the self-rightous bands and electro-pop divas who are oh so serious and "all about the music". Lighten up, you're making a pop record not bringing world peace! People just want to listen to music to have fun and relax. No one really cares about your motivation or your inspirations especially when you produce mediocre and tedious tunes *cough* La Roue *cough*

I like your taste .

Yes, the state of chart music has been depressing this decade (and the alternative music scene has suffered from a number of bands sticking their heads up and going 'ooh look, I'm Indie, me, I sing in a regional accent' when they're really just chart fodder.), but that doesn't mean that there haven't been some great and innovative albums/artists out there.

Unfortunately these days you sometimes have to spend longer digging for them because publications like the NME aren't as good as they once were, Peel and TOTP aren't around to showcase interesting new talent and the internet has given rise to a whole host of perplexing new acts publicising themselves. But you've just got to do your detective work and try and find it. It's out there.

I'm still trying to fathom why people think Lady Ga Ga is so good? I have listened to her songs and think she sounds awful. She's not a patch on Madonna singing wise or looks wise.
Don't think the X Factor helps much either.

Music today is as good as it's ever been. We have everything from today and everything that's already been.

We're laughing. Spoilt. The lot of us.

music has been ruined by accountants in record companies.Speculating to acumilate is over in the business.
In todays market there would be no bowie,,the police,george michael,U2 and many many more who didnt even break the top 20 with the first single
Its also been ruined by
rappers with no real singing talent,computers -why bother to learn an instrument,reality tv competitions,

It's not the singing; it's basically Dance music with catchy hooks (never been done for the mainstream) and meaningful lyrics.
Her image helps as well: She sings live and is very energetic. Her image is very Robotic - electronic voice, robotic repetitive movements, simplistic words (gaga rara etc..), covered head to portray a mannequin - obsessed with European Fashion/Music/Arts but is balanced out by her in your face NEW YORK. Sometimes I think she is a robot gaining feelings - a process that appeals to a lot of people.
It appeals to fashion designers as she's basically a mannequin admired by many people and therefore use her to sell clothes. Her 'high cultured' idea also appeals to the lucrative middle class market which means it attracts lots of product deals. The press around this helps her become more mainstream.

Commercial Music is Terrible, but this decade has had some brilliant albums that never really got the light of day on TV or Radio.

I blame Simon Cowell and his boring singers.

I'm ashamed of our music industry.

yes their voices are brilliant, some of the singing voices these artists/bands have are absolutley outstanding.

but the cheesey awful lyrics, that could be written by a 5 year old, on the back of a weetabix box.

there's no passion, put into lyrics these days.

the worst one at the moment, a classic example of this is, some pap radio one play, it goes:

"Take Dat, I got Da formula, I got Da formula, Take Dat"

Cowell & ITV.

Granted, a lot of the music around nowdays (mainly this decade) has been appalling, not just talking about countless r&b songs, but all these terrible indie bands with the same bland boring songs, plus all the commericial music and the dreary stuff The X Factor has churned out. Having said that, there is tonnes of fantastic music out there, its a question of finding it and its easier more than ever with the luxury of the internet.

there has always been 'rubbish ' music , and todays is in many ways the same, there is some amazing music too but its the public today listening to cowells xfactor rubbish where a new diva etc is produced every few months thats taken it to a new extreme of rubbish