I would argue that the UK scene is even richer now (multiple those 4 genres by 10). The amalgamation of styles that you see today is on a whole different level.

I would argue that the UK scene is even richer now (multiple those 4 genres by 10). The amalgamation of styles that you see today is on a whole different level. Thanks to the internet, your average player is much more skilled than your 3 cowboy chord singer from the 80s. The cons of being an artist today is that the barrier to put a song is extremely low nowadays and keeps getting lower and lower as technology becomes cheaper and AI gets ever close to bring people into the tsunami stream of voices of people trying to make their new single heard. The "I'm bored but making music is so cheap so let's record something", to the casual, to the good one, to the great one and the talented one. All together crying for your attention. In the 80s, the barrier was much higher and so, if you manage to get in, you were definitely not bored at home or a casual player, you were someone passionate and persistent about their craft. Music distribution is another con. The barrier is super low now and virtually everyone and their grandma have a song on Spotify now. This makes it super hard for talented people to be heard. To make it today, you need to be well-connected because the masses are everywhere else. So yes, you will see more Billie Eilish types. But nothing is stopping you or anyone else from going down your local venue and check the local talent there :)