I'm not sure. Music goes in cycles, like the 80s generated a lot of crap and then gave way to the explosion of the alternative music scene. For an actual semi-

I'm not sure. Music goes in cycles, like the 80s generated a lot of crap and then gave way to the explosion of the alternative music scene. For an actual semi-objective measure, think about how often you hear songs from the 60s and 70s, and from the 90s (and early 2000s for hip hop). And then think of all the crap that's gone by that has no staying power. I'm sure it's partially my bubble, but there were bands in the decades I mention that are going to be widely listened to for a long time, while in between there's a ton of throwaway. Basically you get original, defining music as new genres emerge then runs of derivative crap between them, it's not constant.