Of course every generation argues that new music sucks and that the music of their generation was superior to the drivel coming out of their radios today.
But this piece of news seems to confirm it – In the UK, the number one selling single is not a single at all, but a ringtone. You know, the annoying sound your cellphone makes when you receive a call, text, reminder – whatever – and you’ve taken the time to change it from it’s regular “beep, beep” sound. (OK, I’ll admit to having changed mine, but I have never wasted the time and money necessary to download and install a custom ringtone. And my phone is set to vibrate before ring, so most people never hear it anyway.)
Anyway, back to the point, new music sucks. And it sucks so bad that in the UK people would rather spend their money buying a ringtone than the latest single from Coldplay (IMHO, one of the few new artists that don’t suck).
It's the American Idol effect. Back in the day an artist had to be consistently good enough and dedicated enough to bootstrap from obscurity to fame. Now we have bands created to order and "stars" elected by instant messenger.
Posted by: Jim at June 1, 2005 9:18 AM