Why is modern pop music today so terrible?

I think there is a lot of great music out there but they have no widely visible method to distribute it.  Back in the "good old days" of the Beatles, record companies invested and promoted bands.   They also ripped them off at times.  So now record companies are gone, no more of that 3 weeks in the studio-expenses paid- to write and create stuff.   Now the artists make money on the tour, not the record, and usually finance the record themselves.   So they do what they want.

There are a few great records out there made today.  Sarah Jarosz (americana) sounds amazing.  All her records done by the same guy Gary Pacoza who is really good at recording.  The Lorde record was done well, minimal processing, decent sound, nice and simple, not much production.  Michael Bishop's (engineer) DSD work is so good, like Eric Bibb and Hiromi.    Look up recordings by engineer Bill Vorndik (Bella Flek is a client of his), or George Massenburg etc.  So I think its out there.

Brad   

One note: pop music by definition is viewed differently depending on perspective.  
If you were 13 in 1962, the Beatles was the most amazing band ever.
If you were 19, the Stones was WAY cooler, much more the street band and avant garde of the time.  The Beatles all cheesy pop music!  Plus they can barely play their instruments. 
If you were 35 in 1962, you may well have thought the Beatles absolutely sucked, 3 chord garbage.  Give me the big band that was at least comprised of musicians who could play.

Brad

czarivey: great list of bands!  A friend off mine recorded the EWF album that is without doubt iconic.  It was an extremely controversial "sound" at the time, very clean and clear, no distortion or lack of dynamics. Not at all the Motown/Stax sound and he was NOT hired to do the subsequent albums.  Yet, that record (September, groove tonight, etc) still sounds contemporary and current.  This is a GREAT example of sound of pop changing over time with great moments.
Brad     

Its interesting to think that Mozart was thought of in his day to be way too busy, way over the top, "way too many notes".  While he did get the acclaim within his lifetime, he was a completely different style to all else of his day.  He probably thought of Bach as a slow and pondering old man.

This is hauntingly similar to how many 60s/70s rockers felt about Frank Zappa, now regarded to be a great composer.  If you were a fan of YES or King Crimson, you probably liked him but if you loved Joan Baez I am sure Frank was WAY over the top.  Pop music and its interpretation are very much cultural and contextual.

Every generation seems to have its "new music" to embrace.  "The Cars", wow, my generation hated that sparse harsh "new wave" music yet liked the production heavy melodic southern rock, the Doobie Bros.  Music was going to hell!  And then came KISS and POISON, hair bands everywhere.  All of us hated that stuff!  Give me prog rock, Genesis and Yes or at least Steely Dan.  

So now we have Lady Gaga with some incredibly inventive production (Poker Face) and clever compositions.  I know for a fact she works incredibly hard to get the record to sound a certain way.  She's quite the musician, have you heard her play piano?   And we have Katy Perry, 100% a singer, an entertainer, she works hard too.  But she's not a musician, composer or writer- she's sings songs other people buy for her.  My beef is that some of the songs are OK,  but the production is unlistenable on any kind of resolution intensive system. But it sells sells sells and sounds good on $9 earbuds I guess.  Since nothing else is selling  I guess that's good .  Chainsmokers, wow, very good, very unique and different from anyone else.  Halsey, also very unique.   Lana Del Rey, very interesting and very 60s- but dark and brooding for sure.   So there's some good stuff in pop happening a new style emerging.  

But know this, there is NO MONEY in modern records, no one is getting rich off them.  All the income these days in modern music is in the tour.    
Brad     

Ha!  That's funny.  And maybe a few church people?

Brad   

Ghosthouse, a great post.  It is true that once a "star" has been identified, it appears that the machine of promotion follows and incessant flogging of what sold before.  I do find it disheartening that in 1973, there was an incredible variety of popular (not pop) music.  Now there appears to be two kinds: white girl pop or rap music, neither one artful.  AS I was thinking about this subject I remember hearing "Yummy Yummy I got love in my Tummy" in the 70s and thinking , oh God, that's it, its over.   So I have to say there is a tremendous variety of music available, its all hidden.  

You ask a brilliant question, "how are pop stars made".  I am no expert at that answer, but it appears that entire machine is now driven by online /social media and music sites like Itunes.  The kids are now using social media to talk to each other and they talk about pop music just like we did (but in person).   It appears the corporate machine (Disney, Warner, Sony etc) waits in the wings to identify what generates excitement online and then jumps in with both feet.    

Good examples of this are Justin Bieber, a complete online creation- he was a You Tube phenom.  Some serious people but serious money into him and have succeeded in promoting him to superstar status.  Some vocal training and hooking him up with real producers/writers  has paid off.  The PR game has not changed, but the tools of PR have.  Taylor Swift another online "sensation", appealing to little girls with heartache all over the country.  My two teenage daughters LOVE her.  To be fair, she earned it, it took super hard work and a complete sacrifice of your life to achieve something like that.  Giving up privacy forever and a sense of being alone is a very hard thing to walk away from.  Her last record was a brilliant production, and her videos are the best in class for sure.  She's now moved over to pop star land (long long way from country) and embraced fashion as a part of her persona.  She's a huge star and the tours sell out.      

“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side.”
― Hunter S. Thompson

Ghosthouse, watch "The Wrecking Crew".http://www.wreckingcrewfilm.com/about.php
They were actually the band we were listening to on all kinds of records. Cowsills, 5th Dimension, Beach Boys, Monkees, The Association, on and on. I am pretty thrilled that I get to walk into the spaces those folks used to work (East West Studios for example). The vibe is there for sure. And they were and still are great songs.

Brad