Do You Think Music Has Lost It's Edge?

[RCMerchant]

What happened to daring music? Hippie, punk, metal- all you hear now is the same boring American Idol new sh!t. At least on the radio. When is somebody gonna do something new? 

[Rev. Powell]

To answer the title question: no. I think you are old. I will get off your lawn now. 

[ER]

Good music still exists and is still being made, but you have to go off the beaten path to find it. What's popular now and most of what's charted across the century is truly bad. I think it's symptomatic of an overall artistic and social decline in our culture. Mediocrities have risen, timidity has replaced bold expression, creativity has been chased into a corner, and to employ a very vulgar metaphor, the crap has risen higher than the cream.

[RCMerchant]

^ That's what I meant. Radio friendly music. You can find anything new and original- but not on the airwaves or popular.

[RCMerchant]

To answer the title question: no. I think you are old. I will get off your lawn now. 

Punk.

[Rev. Powell]

^ That's what I meant. Radio friendly music. You can find anything new and original- but not on the airwaves or popular.

But the radio was always like that, wasn't it? Maybe for a brief period in the 60s there was some more experimental stuff. But look at the top hits of 1968:

1   "Hey Jude"   The Beatles
2   "Love is Blue"   Paul Mauriat
3   "Honey"   Bobby Goldsboro
4   "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay"   Otis Redding
5   "People Got to Be Free"   The Rascals
6   "Sunshine of Your Love"   Cream
7   "This Guy's in Love With You"   Herb Alpert
8   "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"   Hugo Montenegro
9   "Mrs. Robinson"   Simon & Garfunkel
10   "Tighten Up"   Archie Bell & the Drells
11   "Harper Valley PTA"   Jeannie C. Riley
12   "Little Green Apples"   O. C. Smith
13   "Mony Mony"   Tommy James and the Shondells
14   "Hello, I Love You"   The Doors
15   "Young Girl"   Gary Puckett & The Union Gap
16   "Cry Like a Baby"   The Box Tops
17   "Tiptoe Through The Tulips”   Tiny Tim
18   "Grazing in the Grass"   Hugh Masekela
19   "Midnight Confessions"   The Grass Roots
20   "Dance to the Music"   Sly & the Family Stone

Some classics, but a lot of stuff I've never heard of (or in some cases wish I never heard of). It wasn't all Jimi Hendrix, King Crimson, b***hes Brew, and side 4 of the White Album. Much less Frank Zappa or the Velvet Underground!

[RCMerchant]

^ Yer right. I reckon "old man syndrome" makes me think it was better.

Bobby Goldsbrrrro...UGH! 

[claws]

It only lost it's edge to people who are still living like it's 1973   

Punk, hippie or metal is pretty much a "dead" genre, though I'm sure there are modern retro style bands doing that kind of stuff.

[RCMerchant]

^ So what do you listen to? Taylor Swift?

[claws]

Taylor Swift? Sure. I don't really need "edgy" music. I don't mind mainstream at all.
If you have Internet Radio, there are countless radio stations playing specific genres to choose from. I sometimes listen to hot AC radio stations. They play modern adult contemporary music, including the more mature songs by Taylor Swift.

[Paquita]

I noticed from about the early 2000’s until around 2018ish businesses, stores, the cafeteria at work, etc. would play the same modern pop music on loop like Coldplay, Adele, and Katy Perry constantly.  Then suddenly I noticed a lot of them shifted to mixing in oldies, classic rock and 80’s music – I heard Led Zeppelin in my work cafeteria, AC/DC out in public, the Teddy Bears at the gas station, the Bangles were playing at the grocery store this weekend.  Definitely not new, and maybe not the best, but better in my opinion (no offense to anyone that likes modern pop).   I don’t know what happened to cause the shift.  Did anyone else notice this?

I think it’s harder to discover new music now.  The radio and MTV helped to get different bands noticed years ago.  In Chicago at least, local radio stations and cable access TV would play more obscure bands at night among some of the popular stuff so at least I was able to learn about some not so mainstream music that way.  Also, when you had to go and buy music from an actual record store, you could get some exposure with the other stuff being sold there.  I got a gift card when I was 10 and bought my first Danzig CD (or maybe it was a tape) never actually hearing of him, I just liked the cover art. 

I do actually think there’s some good modern bands, but most of the ones I really like are not from the U.S. and don’t play here very often and I don’t know if I’d ever hear them on a radio station.

Punk, hippie or metal is pretty much a "dead" genre, though I'm sure there are modern retro style bands doing that kind of stuff.

Aren't you in Germany?  One of my favorite modern metal bands is Powerwolf and I thought they were HUGE in Germany?  No?  I don't really think they're retro-style although they do some awesome covers.

[claws]

Aren't you in Germany?  One of my favorite modern metal bands is Powerwolf and I thought they were HUGE in Germany?  No?  I don't really think they're retro-style although they do some awesome covers.

Had to look them up as I was not familiar with this band. They seem to be popular in Germany indeed, but not much outside of Germany except for having minor album chart success in Switzerland and Austria.

When I said metal was a "dead" genre this was more aimed at modern metal songs on mainstream radio. Some German mainstream radio stations actually play metal songs in between pop songs, but only popular metal songs from the 70s, 80s, 90s.

Speaking of "dead" music genres, Germany is the only country I'm aware off that still loves techno music. Not necessarily modern techno bands, but techno music that was popular in Germany in the late 1980s and mid-1990s. Techno has become part of German culture and yes, 1990s techno sounds more outdated than 1970s disco.

There is a weird music genre that Germans are very fond of, middle ages music and sea shanty music. Definitely not my kind of thing.

[RCMerchant]

Taylor Swift? Sure. I don't really need "edgy" music. I don't mind mainstream at all.
If you have Internet Radio, there are countless radio stations playing specific genres to choose from. I sometimes listen to hot AC radio stations. They play modern adult contemporary music, including the more mature songs by Taylor Swift.

To each his own. If you like bland music- more power to ya.

[Alex]

It only lost it's edge to people who are still living like it's 1973  

Punk, hippie or metal is pretty much a "dead" genre, though I'm sure there are modern retro style bands doing that kind of stuff.

Powerwolf are decent. Most of the metal fans I know in the UK and the US like them. I was going to see them recently, but the tickets sold out before I could get my hands on some. There are also bands like Sabaton, Poppy and so forth. Your perception might be coloured here by what radio stations you listen to since nowadays you have radio stations covering not just genres of music, but some play only a single artist (for example I know there was a station dedicated to playing only Tom Petty). Got an American friend living in Norway who works as a DJ on a station that plays nothing but metal, so if you listened to ones like that you'd naturally get a different perception. Overall though radio play and album sales is kind of an outdated way to judge music from given the whole internet thing.

[RCMerchant]

^ Your'e right about radio being a dated input for any good new music. I live in Lawton, Michigan- and most of the staions play American Idol sounding s**t, or overplayed oldies. If I ever hear mid 70's Pink Flyod again I may commit hari kari. Oh yeah- and new country music. Insipid.
I noticed a big variety of music on air when I listened to the radio in NYC in the 80's. Early hip hop, metal, punk- it was an eye opener. I don't even listen to the radio much, unless I'm outside with the boombox grilling food. I do listen to new music on YouTube. Not mainstream garbage. I'm a metal head. Or a punk rocker.