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I couldn't agree more, sure there's lots of coverage on Kanye, but you can ignore it and listen to the ridiculous amount of indie artists out there instead. (Ne

• TheOtherHobbes 11y ago
  It's a golden age for indie music of all kinds. There's an unbelievable amount of talent out there - not even counting how easy it is now to find good music from Eastern Europe or Thailand or other places that used to be completely off the Western music map. It's not a golden age for making a living as an indie artist. The unbelievable amount of talent makes it hard for anyone to break through, or even to scrape by. I don't think Bieber and Kardashian are any worse than their equivalents in previous generations. There's always been a lot of manufactured product sold by image in pop, all the way back to vaudeville and music hall. But I think the 70s and especially the 80s hit a sweet spot for cost-of-entry which kept dabblers out while promoting some of the strongest talent. Now people are a lot more likely to be making music at home than paying someone else for it. Software synths and samplers have become the modern parlour upright piano. It's good in a way, but it makes it much harder for the talented artists who are selling music to stand out from those who are selling an image and a lifestyle brand.