The truth about why modern music is so awful.

https://youtu.be/oVME_l4IwII

Yes, that's a pretty good analysis of where we are. The points regarding timbre are particularly unfortunate for those who care for such things. If only there was some way to make audiophiles look cool and sexy!

As things stand the industry seems to regard them as beneath contempt and those in the public eye who do have any audiophile tendencies tend to keep quiet about them.

Here's an article on the pro's and con's of digital recording and the impact it made. 

https://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/feature-articles/on-music/1140-digital-is-bad-or-maybe-it-s...

The Beatles are a musical phenomenon that becomes harder to believe with every passing year. Even the Faul saga is fascinating.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/theunredacted.com/paul-is-dead-turn-me-on-dead-man/

Or how about the famous Rick Rubin eulogy from 2009?

"If we look at it by today's standards, whoever the most popular bands in the world are, they will typically put out an album every four years. So, let's say two albums as an eight year cycle.  And think of the growth or change between those two albums. The idea that The Beatles made thirteen albums in seven years and went through that arc of change... it can't be done.  Truthfully, I think of it as proof of God, because it's beyond man's ability."

Must all be strange for the people who were at school with them in Liverpool, or saw them in Hamburg. 

@nickecb, keep up the good work! 
We should demand more product placement in films. There's got to be more to cool Hi-Fi than just reel to reel and err...Beats.

@bmontani  yes and the same goes for vintage recordings. Thanks to YouTube it's easier than ever to explore the lesser known or forgotten recordings from Pop's colossal back catalogue.

Here are a few examples,

Elvis - Puppet on a String
https://youtu.be/Sm2s3-_OFWY

Bob Dylan - Abandoned Love
https://youtu.be/BwV36JL_G0s

Genevieve Waite - White Cadillac
https://youtu.be/ZMQ3BoBSi-M

and many, many more you won't hear on your radio.

@crazyeddy, the business got smarter and less willing to take risks.

Popular music (creativity) always came from the ground up, the street if you like. But nowadays the industry wants to supply it prepackaged, I don't think they enjoy gambling to find out which tastes will sell. It's probably too competitive out there, and they want a sure return. 

This narrow minded approach has seen the market shrink alarmingly but the real killer nay have been the birth of the internet. If they thought home taping was killing music... 

Oh well, things can change. Remember when someone once told the Beatles manager, sorry boys no contract, guitar groups are on the way out! 

@cleeds Perhaps I was being a trifle idealistic but I like to believe that the new genres in popular music were generated from social trends often identified by fashion and hairstyles etc. For example Rock and Rollers, Mods, Skinheads, Hippies, Heavy Rockers, Punks, Disco, Heavy Metallers, Rappers etc were all social movements of one kind or another.

Apart from the growth in popularity of tattoos and piercings it's difficult to think of a recent sociological movement that might be connected with music in some way.

It's as if social media has now replaced music as the common bond or glue that used to unite these individuals into a recognisable group.

We probably need someone young, at the cutting edge so to speak, to point out what the next musical trends might emerge from the underground, if any.

@tostadosunidos Thanks for the link to the Greg Milner article. His book Perfecting Sound Forever is an interesting read on the development of the recording industry all the way from Edison to recent times. I got the impression that the 1950s were a golden age for audiophiles in the sense that the industry followed the money back then and paid real attention to us.

The onset of the CD era loudness wars reveals only too clearly what they think of us now. No wonder many audiophiles always hold vinyl close to their hearts.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/is-new-vinyl-exempt-from-loudness-wars