They're out there, you just have to search far & wide on iTunes and talk to other musicians. Also the reason I came back to jazz, and pretty much exclusively. Jazz cats are still doing it.

"Video Killed the Radio Star" - The Buggles

Actually there are still talented artists out there and quite possibly the overall level of musical talent may actually be higher than ever before due to access to online training and marginally better teachers training marginally better students. Think of it like this; in the mid to late 70's Neil Peart became a hero to a lot of young drummers and he was certainly blazing a new trail in the realm of progressive rock. At the time I was blown away. Now listen to the current crop of progressive rock, metal, speed metal, etc drummers. It may not be your cup of tea but holy smokes! The stuff those guys do with two feet is a little mind numbing. Kids start off wanting to learn to play like that and simply imagine a much more involved style of playing. Of course we eventually hope they will learn to groove as well. :-) The same is true on any instrument.

There is a lot (and I mean a lot) of schlock out there as well, but to some extant that has always been the case. The schlock is generally forgotten and only the gems remain as well as a few of the horribly catchy pieces of refuse that one might need to have surgically removed. "Hey Mickey you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind hey Mickey!" You get the idea. The rise of hip hop has done little to bless the world musically other than introducing the mainstream to the gospel style of playing in live settings. Loops, computers, boring.

Maybe the peak of evolution is passing.

I know there is talent out there. But why are they not at the forefront like it use to be. Why do we have what we have. Are people not sick of the bland, generic crap that is being put out.

time marches on. genre's evolve, record companies manufacture new faces, etc...its all a quick cash grab for them then on to the next batch of nobodys.

there are some good artists today. if you like them or not atleast they actually have talent. like alot of people i love adele, joe banamassa and beth hart to name a few. and kings of leon are new to me but they got some cool stuff going on. it won't be like the old days but if you dig deep enough you will find them.

not to mention we've lost and will lose those great classic artists, then we will be left with complete crap. to me its funny that some of the modern "artists" (katy/miley/backstreet/sync/menudo/brittany/etc...) actually think their "artists". they have nothing to contribute to the artform. if i was in their shoes i understand the draw of it, but i also would not want to be a fake and make money that way.

the youth will continue to be force feed crappy music and the record companies know it will sell.

somewhere i read a quote that said something to the effect of, "why doesn't the record companies sign artists with actual talent and invest in those artists". i would suspect that they do...in the form of a singing contest on tv. that's we're we are at nowadays. the industry is too lazy to go find talent.

> Maybe the peak of evolution is passing.

It's not that bright, new, creative people aren't out there, you're just not hearing them. The chase for the almighty dollar won out over free expression. It's become formulaic, the 'business' part of the music business took over as the years passed and now the only stuff that gets played on mass media like radio is stuff that fits the 'formula' that the marketing guys have determined produces the largest return on investment.

Back in the day we had FM radio. Before it became controlled and obsolete it was the best place to hear new bands, new artists, people that were writing and playing great music. Good, bad and everything in-between was on the menu. Producers and record companies took all the creativity out when they realized that they could make more money with fewer artists on the roster. When I was coming up everybody was striving for a unique, individual sound/voice. Nobody wanted to ghost/sound like, somebody else. Now-a-days because of the formula the big record companies will only back artists and bands that play the kind of music they know sells. Ergo, they all sound alike. They only care about making safe investments, not advancing creativity in music. The bottom line is all they care about.

Want to hear some great music? Check out all the independent bands that are promoting and marketing their own music. You'll find some gems. You have to look, you have to do the work. It is no longer being offered up for your consideration at the touch of the radio switch. You have to hunt for it. The good news is, it's out there.

John

Thanks Purdie. That's what I was trying to say but couldn't put it into words.

As Purdie said, FM radio is no longer what it was. There all held by a very small number of major players so you no longer have a regional act making it big.

Record companies have all but failed the transition to the new paradigm. The idea of the lucrative record deal hardly exists. The nice thing for guys like me is that artists make money now by touring which was not the case twenty years ago. Artists used to tour to promote album sales. Now they tour because it is their primary source of income.

Meanwhile audio quality has gone right down the tubes. You cannot hardly find a decent stereo store anymore. Everyone listens to overly compressed mp3s on tiny computer speakers or even worse, smart phones. Current producers are often concerned about making acceptable product for mediocre at best playback. Artistry? Hmmm.

Honestly, I think a lot of the personalities mentioned earlier would probably consider themselves entertainers as opposed to artists. "Entertainer" is more of a factual description as opposed to the very subjective term "artist."

True Very True.