Genuine question, not intended to be rude or insulting

[LostAngels]

I was personally raised on 80s hair metal. I also love 60s/70s funk and glam rock.
My favorite bands include The Sweet, Skid Row, Boston, The Scorpions, Faster Pussycat, KC and the Sunshine Band, Wild Cherry, etc.*
I have met maybe 5 people in my life who share these music interests.*
I can not STAND absolutely anything played on the radio today, or any music that comes out really. The few exceptions include The Used, and All American Rejects.*
But I can not for the life of me understand why almost everyone of my generation has the exact same music taste. And I also can't understand why dubstep, or other electronic music, is so incredibly popular.*
I guess my question is, why do so many people listen to music that really doesn't take much effort or genuine talent? And that all sounds remotely similar.*

[Maloo]

Because that's what we grew up listening to. My parents listened to 70s and 80s music while I was growing up, so I like that stuff too. I like country music, because that's what I listened to when I was growing up with my cousins.

[Le bonheur*]

I think it's because they grew up listening to what they do.. just like you grew up listening to the music from the 60s-80s you like. I grew up listening to country music with my grandmother so I'm hooked on that.

[Houseman]

So I'm not a music producer or anything but I have some music editing software like Reason, and Logic on my computer, and I've tried writing dubstep with them myself and it was anything but easy.

I think it's a little silly to say that music today doesn't take genuine effort and that it all sounds the same... 'cause I mean, that's just obviously not true. It's not like people before the 90's just tried harder to write music lol. And what about KC and the Sunshine Band? A lot of their hits that made them famous follow the same progression style, and have the same instruments (hence similar sounds).

Personally I listen to all music, I mean ALL music. I can name at least one song from every genre that I like. From classical to dubstep. I feel as though if someone else can appreciate a song, why can't I? What makes them enjoy this sound more than I do?

[craz33me]

I like every kind of music. I like it all. The old stuff and the new stuff. But I don't like the pop as much as I like the newer rock though.

[Cosmo]

Because it's easy to listen to. That's all there is to it really. Pop is the ultimate in easy-to-listen-to, easy-to-produce.

However, don't assume that the only music that is made is that which gets airtime. Plenty of amazing music out there.

[Squiggly]

I am pretty sure I like at least one song from every music genre and I like old songs too.
I quite like American pie song. People like what they grow up with.

[Snufkin]

My question would be why do you not find 70s and 80s music similar-sounding? Or hair metal? Constricting yourself to one genre in general makes everything similar-sounding in the end, and it really made me lose my interest in music for a while until I discovered some artists outside of my comfort zone.

While I agree with the anti-dubstep stance, I would say to you that I find the idea of listening to bands like Boston equally as boring.

[Cosmo]

I would add that I consider it rather snobbish and blinded to take the position that many take and to say "Everything after 1980 sucks, I'm going to pretend I'm still living in 1979.". There's great music out there still being made and you're limiting yourself and stopping yourself from enjoying it by telling yourself that you're a unique snowflake for listening to older music.
If it's any help, I hate a lot of what is produced at the moment too. If it's on the radio, I probably hate it. R&B, Rap, Pop... hate the stuff. However I've found things that I do like; specifically Post-Black Metal, Post-Rock, Hardcore and Emo. So I spend the time looking for the genres I do like, sifting through the good and bad bands until I find the ones that actually are really good. I now very much enjoy modern music, just not the stuff that gets the airtime. I highly suggest you do the same. I suggest you spend some time on last.fm just exploring different genres that you find attractive.

Sorry if that came off as harsh, but we've seen a smattering of these types of posts recently on TH and it's starting to grate.

[Kitty.]

Everyone has different music tastes. There are some people that like things from every genre; yet others who stick to a few select genres. It's all up to personal preference.

[Iris. ♥]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions about music. Personally, I agree with some of the things that you said. I don't get the hype about DubStep, and pop music does seem to be auto-tuned a lot these days. But, that doesn't mean there's not talent behind all of the smoke and mirrors. If you really can't get past that, there are still plenty of other amazing artists out there. You just have to be willing to look for them.

Also, I love your taste in music. The bands that you mentioned are amazing.

[Tynan]

Like what the above posters said its what we grew up listening to. I grew up listening to more guitar oriented blues, rock, and metal. But also as I got older I started to listen to a wide array of music. For example in any given day I will go from listening to classical music to pop to thrash to post rock. And outside of country and most rap, I listen to most anything under the sun.

Originally Posted by LostAngels

why do so many people listen to music that really doesn't take much effort or genuine talent? And that all sounds remotely similar.*

And this in fact is a question I would love to answer. Any kind of music made takes a fair amount of effort and genuine talent. If you actually look up a lot of DJ's and producers they know how to play instruments. IE guitars, drums, keyboards, ect.. But the same thing can be said about 80's hair metal for example. Anyone could just walk up to a guitar and start to play random fast rifts and beat on drums. And honestly a lot of it sounds like that too me. So really until you actually try and make that "takes little effort" to make you cant really say how easy it is to make.