Gaga V.S. Sinatra

The demise of music over the past forty or so years is well known, at least to true musicians.  To the "well-informed" public, music is far greater and more successful than it ever has been before, but at what cost? The popular music scene now consists of worthless degenerates with a much larger knowledge of sound altering technology than they do of anything musical.  People have alienated themselves from true music, to hide amongst the talentless buffoons that they call musicians.  A modern song without mindless use of obscenities, references to solicitation, or drug use is nearly impossible to find.  It would be insane to say that this sort of behavior is restricted only to our time period, however, most music of fifty years ago is much more urbane, both in terms of language and references, and musical understanding and ability.  Adversaries of music from the past will quote the lack of speed and excitement and some earlier music, but there is more excitement in almost any single Count Basie recording than can be found in the whole of modern country music.  Many people are exhilarated by the sounds of rap and hip-hop, however the similarity of any rap song to every other rap song easily makes, for any musically aware fan, the excitement an entirely negligible factor.  When a sensible person takes time to muse over the inclement environment of modern music they will be forced to reminisce on a time when good music was dictated by talent and expressiveness, rather than technology, money, and less than reputable "showmanship."  The perpetuation of auto-tune and similar effects and programs has done a great deal to allow people with very little talent to become incredibly popular "singers."  Instead of working hard for nearly thirty years of your life to attain a small amount of fame, money, and talent, a person can simply say "I want to be a famous singer," and nearly anything they want will be handed to them on a silver platter.  The days of working like Sinatra or Armstrong just to make good music are seemingly gone forever, now, it is all about money.  No one will go so far as to say that good music is entirely dead, as long as an appreciation still exists for the inimitable talent of Armstrong, Fitzgerald, and Monk, true music cannot be deleted from our lives.  It seems that there is no way to redress this problem, until it is recognized as a problem by more than the few purists that still exist, although I wouldn't hold my breath.