To write off all modern music is foolish.
However I do feel that in quantity, there are less artists who have or will probably ever have the same status as the iconic artists of past decades. There will probably never be another guitarist who will reinvent the guitar the way Hendrix did or artists who will create a cultural revolution like Chuck Berry or The Beatles.
Everything just seems inherently generic today but in the 60s and 70s these things were fresh. Many of the biggest genres were just being developed. I do fall into the stereotype that older is better.
Jazz was best in the 50s and 60s, R&B was best in the 60s and 70s, prog was best in the 70s, punk and metal were best in the 70s and 80s, alternative rock was best in the 80s and 90s, electronic music was best in the 90s and folk was sure as hell better in the 60s and 70s than all the derivative indie folk bullcrap we have now.
Almost every popular genre has already met their peak by now. Unless there are new innovative genres on the way things do seem pretty dire and genres will become more and more generic and watered down.
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