This poll will last until the decade ends, since then the question would have to be redone in past tense. You can vote twice here. But I think the second and third options caused the main reason for the slide. But it's the first and fourth options that I HATED the most.

I can't stand music from the 00's, my least favorite year of music was 2003 for some reason, oh wait, it was because of crunk!

Glam Rap and these modern bands that have the 'emo vocals'.

One could say that Glam Rap existed within gangsta rap since Tupac did make songs about money, but it wasn't really in your face like it is in the 00s.  Plus all the rappers from 90's comformed with this trend, like Busta Ryhmes for example.

I don't understand these new hard rock/heavy metal bands that come out the past few years, while not emo they use emo vocals.  Newer bands like Trvium, Killswitch Engage, etc, say they are influenced by Metallica but still have those annoying vocal styles that is popular in this decade.  Fortunately, emo rock and it's derivatives didn't came to prominence until after I graduated high school, so I didn't have to deal with it much.

Glam Rap and these modern bands that have the 'emo vocals'.

One could say that Glam Rap existed within gangsta rap since Tupac did make songs about money, but it wasn't really in your face like it is in the 00s.  Plus all the rappers from 90's comformed with this trend, like Busta Ryhmes for example.

I don't understand these new hard rock/heavy metal bands that come out the past few years, while not emo they use emo vocals.  Newer bands like Trvium, Killswitch Engage, etc, say they are influenced by Metallica but still have those annoying vocal styles that is popular in this decade.  Fortunately, emo rock and it's derivatives didn't came to prominence until after I graduated high school, so I didn't have to deal with it much.
Yeah but 2 Pac had meaningul songs too other than his songs about money and women like "Dear Mama", Keep Ya Head Up, and "Brenda Got A Baby". The Glam rappers don;t have any meaningful songs like 2 Pac did.

I would have to say Ringtone Rap and the "autotone" use in today's current music were the most annoying trends musically in this decade.

I don't mind the "emo" stuff so much (at least it's fairly unique and original), and while I'd prefer real vocals, the vocoder doesn't bother me anymore.  The lyrics and bland melodies are no worse than 80s or 90s, but the Rap/Hip Hop Genre has gotten ridiculous, and the over-inflation of them into other genres is irritating

I'd say that the bad lyrics. There are many songs from 2000s that I don't like just because of that.

Edit: Forgot a word.

I dont think 2000 - 2002 was that bad - coldplay and enimem (and others) came up and were fresh and new.  But 2003 to present is just terrible.  Bad lyircs and mindless music.  Nothing pushing the music barriers.  At least in the 90s - there were various new music styles. 

Everything now is too corporate.

I presume we're talking mainstream stuff here. If so, bad melodies and vocorders. Where have all the tuneful songs gone? I have brief listens to 'popular' stuff and it's dire... Jonas Bros, Miley etc. No melody whatsoever. Very middle-of-the-road yet hugely popular?!

I presume we're talking mainstream stuff here. If so, bad melodies and vocorders. Where have all the tuneful songs gone? I have brief listens to 'popular' stuff and it's dire... Jonas Bros, Miley etc. No melody whatsoever. Very middle-of-the-road yet hugely popular?!


That's the other thing about today's "music" kids have over saturated the market, these so called kid stars (via Disney) are not helping things one bit

The main things I hate about popular music today:

1) I cannot believe how awful rap/hip hop and r&b has got over the last decade. A lot of this is music is so dire (the likes of Akon, 50 cent espec.) yet people seem to love it. I remember when that god awful Soulja boy song was out last year -  the kids at school went crazy over it, It's got to be one of the worst songs I've ever heard.

2) This awful dance/trance music that just has a thumping beat and some stupid lyrics that just get repeated over and over - and over again. I'm thinking along the lines of Basshunter- all his songs sound the bloody same!!

That's not to say that music from this decade is bad - I think the worst time for popular music was between '98-2002. There are tonnes of great Indie Rock bands, loads of great poppy and dance songs that are actually pretty good. Unfortunatly, you have to search a little bit further now to find great bands - but hey, at least you have the internet for that. Last.fm is also amazing when you want to search for new artists - I highly recommend it.

I personally don't hate today's music (well atleast not all of it), it's just not my cup of tea.  Mostly, I just don't want to be listening to the same stuff that everyone else listens to.  In the 80s and early 90s, I didn't mind so much because the music then could appeal to anyone.  Today's music has a wider variety and not every genre will appeal to everyone.

I'd say other: a combination of everything above. And also because radio stations play the same music every hour of every day, so why waste money on CDs?

The main things I hate about popular music today:

1) I cannot believe how awful rap/hip hop and r&b has got over the last decade. A lot of this is music is so dire (the likes of Akon, 50 cent espec.) yet people seem to love it. I remember when that god awful Soulja boy song was out last year -  the kids at school went crazy over it, It's got to be one of the worst songs I've ever heard.

2) This awful dance/trance music that just has a thumping beat and some stupid lyrics that just get repeated over and over - and over again. I'm thinking along the lines of Basshunter- all his songs sound the bloody same!!

That's not to say that music from this decade is bad - I think the worst time for popular music was between '98-2002. There are tonnes of great Indie Rock bands, loads of great poppy and dance songs that are actually pretty good. Unfortunatly, you have to search a little bit further now to find great bands - but hey, at least you have the internet for that. Last.fm is also amazing when you want to search for new artists - I highly recommend it.
music was good in 1998. I was surprised in late 1998 how Britney Spears caught on and teen-pop was all over the place in 1999-2000. I donlt understand the the big thing about Akon his vocals are always the same in each song.

Too many covers of classic rock songs. Can't these bands write their own music?  >:(

music was good in 1998. I was surprised in late 1998 how Britney Spears caught on and teen-pop was all over the place in 1999-2000. I donlt understand the the big thing about Akon his vocals are always the same in each song.


To be fair, 98 wasn't a bad year really - it was towards the end of that year that things started getting bad I think. '99 really wasn't great for music. I remember compiling some CDs for each year and I think I made a double CD of good songs from 98, but I was really stuck on filling just one for 99.

I could say 'all of the above', but deep down...I'm just getting too old for it!  :P

I could say 'all of the above', but deep down...I'm just getting too old for it!  :P


Yeah maybe we're just old and cynical.  ;D

Yeah maybe we're just old and cynical.  ;D


...yet I was a teenager and (as of the few months) entered my mid 20's

Though I'm far from a "hip" person

The late 90's and the 2000's aren't as bad for music in my opinion as others think it is. A lot of songs from 1997 - 1999 caught my attention. 2000 - 2003 was pretty good. 2004 wasn't too good. 2005 was good, 2006 was decent. 2007 and 2008 were awful. 2009 so far is better. The reason why I like 2000 - 2003 because of the popularity of dance music. 2003 was the year music started to go down, but the beginning of the year had some good ones.

The late 90's and the 2000's aren't as bad for music in my opinion as others think it is. A lot of songs from 1997 - 1999 caught my attention. 2000 - 2003 was pretty good. 2004 wasn't too good. 2005 was good, 2006 was decent. 2007 and 2008 were awful. 2009 so far is better. The reason why I like 2000 - 2003 because of the popularity of dance music. 2003 was the year music started to go down, but the beginning of the year had some good ones.


One of the most confusing paragraphs I have ever read.

I can see why some don't like the late 90s for music, but it's nostalgic for me so I quite like the late 90s as well as the year 2000.  American music started going downhill around 2002.  Personally, it's not the music going downhill so much as it's Rap and R&B going downhill.  The only problem is they've infested mainstream music to such a degree that them going downhill drags down mainstream music with it.  Rock music has actually improved over the past couple years in my opinion and non-mainstream Rap is still good.

As someone who loves music from all over the world, one thing I've noticed is that American music has declined much worse than foreign music.  While still possessing some bad trends, European music isn't nearly as terrible as American music is.  I'll take the music that's popular in Britain over the music that's popular here.  Korea and Japan both have better mainstream music scenes than the US (but inferior non-mainstream music in my opinion), but have recently suffered from an onslaught of boy bands that's almost as bad as the year 2000 in the US.  I'd rather take boy bands over mainstream Rap though.  Even Canada, despite being right next door, has a slightly more tolerable Singles Chart than the US does.

Ringtone/gimmicky/snap rap (ie Soulja Boy, Hurricane Chris, Mims, Shop Boyz, Dem Franchize Boyz, etc. etc.) is the bottom of the barrel for this decade.

You forgot retro infliuences...too much of the butchered "oldie but goodie" sound.  Beautiful Girls is the most annoying song ever.  ick!

My biggest pet peeve is actually a pretty simple one (and it doesn't apply to every song, just the vast majority of mainstream stuff).... I don't like how most of them have the same tempo, sound and instrumentation all the way though. Post grunge and most alternative is the perfect example.

That's I believe what made 80s and 90s songs alot more interesting (and older too). Compare "Teen Spirit" to a modern alternative song - it went from mellower verses to heavy rocking on the chorus.

I can see why some don't like the late 90s for music, but it's nostalgic for me so I quite like the late 90s as well as the year 2000.  American music started going downhill around 2002.  Personally, it's not the music going downhill so much as it's Rap and R&B going downhill.  The only problem is they've infested mainstream music to such a degree that them going downhill drags down mainstream music with it.  Rock music has actually improved over the past couple years in my opinion and non-mainstream Rap is still good.

I agree with you on the 2002 timeframe, I think that's when alot of the variety started going away.

Half off subject, but I just wondered if you agree that alot of retro people (such as myself and probably you too) who got into stuff like music really early on...tend tostop being as fond of things once we're in high school? Just as a comparison point...if I recall you're around 20 now and born in the late 80s, right? So for you that would literally be all through Elementary School and then it started going downhill a bit.

I kinda felt the same way about anything after 1995 or so too. Not that I one day loved every song then suddenly stopped liking it (heck, even now I still like some new music), it's just that it was less special and nostalgic to me after I was about 14 at the oldest.

I agree with you on the 2002 timeframe, I think that's when alot of the variety started going away.

Half off subject, but I just wondered if you agree that alot of retro people (such as myself and probably you too) who got into stuff like music really early on...tend tostop being as fond of things once we're in high school? Just as a comparison point...if I recall you're around 20 now and born in the late 80s, right? So for you that would literally be all through Elementary School and then it started going downhill a bit.

I kinda felt the same way about anything after 1995 or so too. Not that I one day loved every song then suddenly stopped liking it (heck, even now I still like some new music), it's just that it was less special and nostalgic to me after I was about 14 at the oldest.


You're right about my age.  I got exposed to a lot of pop culture stuff as a kid, so I did get into things like that early on.  I also got exposed to a lot of 80s stuff from my mom, so I tend to associate 80s stuff like Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and Van Halen with my childhood as well.

I got out of music around 2002, so that would around eighth grade.  Right before high school.  It was around this time that "Urban" music (Hip-Hop and R&B) began to take over the airwaves.  It just seemed like music stopped being fun around that time.  Rappers tend to take themselves extremely seriously.  Even the cheesy songs like "Grillz" and all that have the rappers portraying themselves as being serious and "hardcore".  At least the cheesy music of, say, the 80s was fun and wasn't trying to portray itself as "badass" or anything like that.  Usually I like serious music, but there needs to be a balance, you know?

I did get back into music in the second half of 2004 and into 2005.  Aside from Emo, Mainstream Rock music improved from the Nu Metal and Pop-Punk years and as far as Pop music goes, I liked Kelly Clarkson and stuff like that.  Seemed like mainstream music did start to improve in that time frame, but that didn't last long.  2006 was decent aside from the terribly cheesy Rap, though early 2006 was absolute hell musically.  Seriously, "Laffy Taffy" at #1?

Also, a bit off subject, but this has to do with something I said in an earlier post: mainstream music isn't as bad elsewhere in the world.  Over the past year, I've really expanded my music tastes beyond the US and the occasional European Rock band.  Mainly getting into British and Japanese mainstream music and I've found their mainstream music scenes to be better.  British music is often catchy and has a quirkiness that American music lacks.  American Rap has some chart presence, but not as much as in the US.  Japanese music, on the other hand, has a sense of fun and variety to it that mainstream American music doesn't have anymore, probably due to the lack of a Rap presence on their charts.  American music is bottom of the barrel right now due to Hip-Hop, which has been in decline since 1997, invading almost every aspect of it.

Speaking of which, here's a short six minute video summing up the Top 40 songs in Japan for the week of 5/17/09.  If you don't mind taking a short amount of time to watch short snippets of Japanese Top 40 songs, I would recommend watching it.  There's some not-so-good stuff there, but on average, I find it to better than the American charts, mostly because there isn't anything there that's as bad as "Kiss Me Thru The Phone" or "Birthday Sex".  I wish I could find something like this for British music, but I couldn't find any.

Top 40 Japanese Songs of 5/17/09: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEcMCSg6Wek&feature=channel_page

Top 40 Japanese Songs of 5/17/09: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEcMCSg6Wek&feature=channel_page



Definitely a mixed bag. Some good sounding stuff though. I think I've seen a Baby Blue video before.

You're right about my age.  I got exposed to a lot of pop culture stuff as a kid, so I did get into things like that early on.  I also got exposed to a lot of 80s stuff from my mom, so I tend to associate 80s stuff like Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure and Van Halen with my childhood as well.

I got out of music around 2002, so that would around eighth grade.  Right before high school.  It was around this time that "Urban" music (Hip-Hop and R&B) began to take over the airwaves.  It just seemed like music stopped being fun around that time.  Rappers tend to take themselves extremely seriously.  Even the cheesy songs like "Grillz" and all that have the rappers portraying themselves as being serious and "hardcore".  At least the cheesy music of, say, the 80s was fun and wasn't trying to portray itself as "badass" or anything like that.  Usually I like serious music, but there needs to be a balance, you know?

I did get back into music in the second half of 2004 and into 2005.  Aside from Emo, Mainstream Rock music improved from the Nu Metal and Pop-Punk years and as far as Pop music goes, I liked Kelly Clarkson and stuff like that.  Seemed like mainstream music did start to improve in that time frame, but that didn't last long.  2006 was decent aside from the terribly cheesy Rap, though early 2006 was absolute hell musically.  Seriously, "Laffy Taffy" at #1?

Also, a bit off subject, but this has to do with something I said in an earlier post: mainstream music isn't as bad elsewhere in the world.  Over the past year, I've really expanded my music tastes beyond the US and the occasional European Rock band.  Mainly getting into British and Japanese mainstream music and I've found their mainstream music scenes to be better.  British music is often catchy and has a quirkiness that American music lacks.  American Rap has some chart presence, but not as much as in the US.  Japanese music, on the other hand, has a sense of fun and variety to it that mainstream American music doesn't have anymore, probably due to the lack of a Rap presence on their charts.  American music is bottom of the barrel right now due to Hip-Hop, which has been in decline since 1997, invading almost every aspect of it.

Speaking of which, here's a short six minute video summing up the Top 40 songs in Japan for the week of 5/17/09.  If you don't mind taking a short amount of time to watch short snippets of Japanese Top 40 songs, I would recommend watching it.  There's some not-so-good stuff there, but on average, I find it to better than the American charts, mostly because there isn't anything there that's as bad as "Kiss Me Thru The Phone" or "Birthday Sex".  I wish I could find something like this for British music, but I couldn't find any.

Top 40 Japanese Songs of 5/17/09: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEcMCSg6Wek&feature=channel_page


Meant to get back to this earlier, but I agree. I’ve noticed too that Britain seems to be more diverse than the US. A lot of music trends seem to start there become taking off full stream over here too. I’ve heard the Beatles were already big by 1962, while it took until early ’64 before the US really heard of them. Same with the synthpop and new wave bands hitting big before MTV broke them here.

Yeah, I’m the same way that I got into a lot of things “half afterwards” when it was still slightly current but not quite (just like you, on the music side my mom also listened to a lot when I was a young kid too). Like there’s lots of songs from, say 1979-83/84 that I obviously was too young to know firsthand, or wasn’t even alive yet, but I get nostalgic for, since they were still on the radio in the mid or late 80s (which I didn’t know until some years later). Like “Africa” by Toto, “He’s so Shy” by the Pointer Sisters, “Somebody’s Baby” by Jackson Browne, and of course the huge stuff like Thriller.

Is it just me, or do a lot of people seem to overlook this concept? I’ve heard this “ah, you were too young for that” mindset, like they think unless you were fully conscious the week something came out, you couldn’t possibly know or care. That was always silly to me.

Yeah, 2006 was a real lowpoint. ;D What’s ironic about the last two years, is that there’s still a smaller percentage of music I like, but the good stuff is really good. Like Maroon 5, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Rooney, the new Green Day, etc.

I actually voted emo. I'll listen to glam rap over emo any day.

It just sounds like a cheap washed out imitation of grunge... which I know some will not agree.