I agree with these ...
Black Page ... each generation brings their bad and good to the table
Xero ... Morality is decaying? ... I would say the opposite
KIS ... just a shift to even greater commercially driven shortcuts in the production of popular music.
Larry ... Top 40 is decaying IMO, but that's only a little facet of music. Great music will always be alive and well.
Larry ... The guy who said that was disturbed over the decay of morals in the younger generation. His name was Plato.
Back in the good old days (when the rights of western women, blacks and gays were less than they are today), it was possible for some wacky, independent acts to sneak into the Top 40.
Now you will never hear Top 40 music with the artistry of Macarthur Park (scoff if you will haha), Classical Gas, Bohemian Rhapsody etc because the industry, like all others, has rationalised. The efficiency has also resulted in nothing quite as odious as Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Old Oak Tree either
That's CQ for you - competent mediocrity - nothing too good or too bad can slip through the net. I worked in the public sector for over two decades and am
very familiar with the rationalist policy-based approach - they kill inspiration and original ideas as quickly as they eliminate lack of professionalism (which they often put in the same basket because the risks of inspiration are deemed greater than the potential benefits).
Is the world going to hell in a handbasket? I just think all problems are because there's too many of people (along with a bit of our animal greed and callousness).
Put one dog in the back yard and it's lonely. Two dogs and it's fun. Three's a party. Ten is mayhem, 50 utter anarchy and 100 cannibalism and death.
I can't verify the numbers above
... but there logically must be a number to fit with each of those scenarios.