Wow Space Glider, looks like you hit a nerve.

Yay!!! :donmike:

I love when people get into discussions like this one. Excellent job.

Now, one thing that nobody seems to have hit on... Space Glider... what kind of music do you like? If you are saying that today's pop music isn't as good as the new wave and punk from the 80's and 90's then we may have an entire different discussion than if you are saying Brittney Spears and Christine Agublablabla aren't as good as Prince and Madonna Mach 1.

Ken, I went through a period of being one of those snobs who reject everything mainstream. But I've learned to take things at face value. I still hate most of the popular music today, but only after actually listening to it. I mean, I heard SexyBack by Justin Timberlake and wanted to rip my ears out. There's no music there, no melody, no heart and no soul. However, I could listen to O Superman by Laurie Anderson for hours and there you have a monotone vocal sample that runs through the entire 8 minute piece, sparce keyboards, and an almost spoken vocal. Hardly "musical" but I love it. Although I think it has a lot more heart and soul to it then Sexyback. Okay, I will say it. I usually hate commercial music because I know it's all formula crap made just to sell records, but you know, sometimes I find beauty in a billboard, sometimes I sing commercial jingles all day long and sometimes I like commercial drek that is made just to sell records. It's what Ken was saying, if you like it then like it, no matter where it came from or what the intention behind it is.

Now, (catching a breath) Space Glider, I was feeling the same thing you were, very unhappy with the state of music today and frustrated by the inability of finding ways to hear new music. Then I discovered the All Things Go music blog. Now before anyone goes crying about the whole filesharing issue, keep in mind that although you can get a lot of free music here, they intention of the blog is to expose people to new artists and I have gone right to my iTunes and purchased music from bands I've discovered here because I would have never heard of them otherwise. And the fun thing is that they put together "MixTapes" which is like when your friend gives you a CD (or a cassette like back in the day) of songs they want you to hear, with a custom made DIY cover. They actually reproduce this on the site. You download the songs, print out the cover and make your own mix CD. And if you like the songs you check out more by those artists.

I hightly recommend this site for anyone who wants to explore new music way better than what they play on the radio (in my humble opinion, of course).