Music hasn't gotten worse. It's just that before 2000, we had VH1 and MTV to show us all of the popular music in heavy rotation but at the same time, they'd show us stuff we'd never listen to on our own. We'd find stuff we didn't know we'd like and we'd make it big. We'd buy it, we'd request it, and we'd tell our friends about it.
Now, we only listen to what we hear on the radio and most of that is just stuff they try to force us to like. Companies decide what is going to be in heavy rotation an pay for it to play every time you get into your car. When we're left to find good music on our own, we don't even know where to begin.
Sometimes, people recommend good music to me via youtube message. What do I do? I say, "Who the fuck is this asshole pushing music videos on me?" and I block them. There's just no way to find the good through all of the bullshit except for the rare ocassion when the company molded, generic voiced, model-faced, Disney star takes a back seat to a real musician. Even your MP3 player is filled with stuff the industry forced you to like (or older stuff that you discovered via your cool friends or when MTV was trying to be "edgy" and mattered).
