Record companies aren't using the best songwriters available. They're mostly using producers who have track-creating skills but can't melodically or lyrically write their way out of a wet paper bag. The songs aren't good quality any more than the artists.

If they do then fair enough, but if Britney Spears was the only music i was ever subjected to i'd probably like it aswell. My comment was made more about personal experiences i've had with friends, some of who's idea of finding out about the latest music is switching on MTV and seeing what it serves up.

I've lost count of the amount of times, I or another mate have introduced someone to The Stone Roses or Ocean Colour Scene, and they've ended up loving it. However they were never interested enough in the first place to go and find out new music, which is fair enough as music is not at the forefront of everyones minds. However this then leads to people buying into what their given ie quickfire, easy money, manufactured pop tripe. All in all leading to complete dominance of pop music in commercial programmes that reach the masses, meaning independant bands struggle to make any real impact without all the marketing backing that these 2 minute conveyor belt popstars get.

There is so much quality music out there that never gets heard.

Eg If you only new of McDonalds and only ate there you would think you loved McDonalds above any other food.. But maybe if you tried the small restaurant down the road, which has better, healthier, homemade meals but far less advertising and fewer people know about it, you might love that loads more! You see what i mean?

Bit of a weird analogy but anyway im tired

Basically our society has much more money than sense, thats why celebrity is the new religion.

I dislike maufactured pop..the music industry is falling apart..true artists with real talent are being pushed to one side to make room for dare I say it *crap*. This is only my opinion of course others would argue the point and are free to do so. If you cant write your own music, if you cant perform live..then you shouldn't have a recording contract.

scorpian

I think everyone pretty much agrees that most of popular music, at any given time in history, is fleeting as far as shelf-life. It is manufactured for mass consumption and therefore art takes a backseat to fashion. The real question seems to me to be has this current era of pop music produced anything that will last...like the era of Stephen Foster, the era of Irving Berlin..what will be remebered a hundred( or even ten) years from now?

don't get me wrong, i know what you guys are saying and i totally respect it, but it doesn't matter the quality of the music to the producers, so long as they're getting back the money they put into their advertising, and more. they advertise it, people begin to know about it and find they like it. if those bands you recommended to your friends were as heavily advertised as popular music is, then they would undoubtably be just as popular. but in todays "respectable" music world, isn't it almost a cardinal sin to promote your band? it's the fans that get so anti about it that the bands get stuck in a rut and then we end up with stuff like idol and popstars.

anyway, these days it's cool to like music that no one else does, eg. hate pop music. if your favourite " underground" or lesser known band was popular, would you still like them? i don't know any of you so i'm not directing this as a snide statement or anything mean like that, more a crude generalisation. but i've found (moreso in the rock forum) that this is how it works.



i think that's just how the world works today. people want a pretty face, someone to look up to. no offense but most people you'll find listening to pop music aren't exactly a-grade musicians are themselves. they just listen because they like the music and the lyrics, whether the artist wrote them themselves or not. to hell with the technical side, who cares if the ENJOY it? and of course, everyone is going to enjoy a gorgeous face singing their favourite tune.

sometimes i wish i did sociology or something like pop culture so i would hard facts to back this up. they're all just theories. but when you read forums like this, with people crying "sell out!" and other such things, how can we expect bands with some musical integrity to put themselves forward if they're going to be shunned for it?

something tells me i'm getting a little off-topic.

"is it getting worse?"

despite the efforts of many brilliant pop artists, pop has been getting progessively worse for sometime.

"can it get better?"

yes, ibelieve it can. a big step will be the return of Morrissey this year with "You Are the Quarry".