Lookup The Wrecking Crew. Lookup Muscle Shoals. Lookup Ghost Writers and Mili Vanilli. Lookup Auto-Tune and synth music. Before the 80s, musicians had to be able to play and sing well just to make it in the clubs where they developed their sound and style. The competition was fierce, so you had to be good. Also, most great musicians like Neil Young, Prince, and many others started out playing in other bands before they went solo. Record companies had more money back then, so they had the resources to develop a bands' sound and talent. Now, they just throw them out there with no experience at all! Music also had a longer lifespan on the radio. A hit could last for ten years on airplay! Now, it's gone before it can even draw a listenership. You have to pay to get your song on the radio - a LOT! The record companies spent millions to make certain people stars like J-Lo and Madonna. You have to do a lot of that yourself, now. Now, there are 360 recording contracts that eat up all the money artists make with add ons for every little thing you can think of! You can't make any money off a hit song, anymore, so most bands tour to make the money. Also, most of the really great artists, songwriters, musicians, and producers are either old, retired, or dead. There's no one to help you out there, so a lot of bands are just winging it with no one to show them the ropes. Record Labels are very controlling and limit bands' freedom going only for the sure hit because they're broke. In the early days, the labels would 'rob Peter to pay Paul' to give a band a chance to develop and get a fan base. Now, it's all online. Record stores don't sell records anymore and everything is about money and drugs, instead of music. Radio stations won't play anything unless it's on their playlist that's determined by the corporate office. There are no clubs or coffee shops for artists to develop their talent and get heard anymore, either. If you put your music online, you don't get paid. That's what's wrong with music and why it sucks now. What artists really need is a union to protect them. The record labels don't want that and won't give union artists work because the union protects the ARTIST, not the record label! Had Tom Petty been in a union for artists, he would not have been allowed to tour because his hip was cracked and that would have cost him in tour sales to take off and get it fixed, but it would have saved his life, and he would still be here!