I overheard someone talking about this, and I don't really think that has anything to do with it, but I think it raises a good question: Would aliens be able to pick up our carelessly broadcasted content and media? If so, what do you think that they would think of it? -Brian Entei
http://earthsky.org/space/this-date-in-science-first-radio-signal-beamed-to-space I watched some documentary that said the signal/s haven't reached far enough or something like that.
If they are, most of the stuff that's popular is, uh, crap. I'm into metal, but it's not to say pop can't be good, but a lot of the artists are competing with looks and not strictly with talent. Of course, depending on the band, metal has that too, just in a different vein (King Diamond, Slipknot, Cradle of Filth). However, when a musician uses a computer make his music, that's not really talent. I can throw some stuff together with Acid (owned by Sony last I knew) and it's ready for lyrics, but I can't strum a chord on a guitar or keep a beat on drums, so my creativity is limited to whatever I have at my digital disposal. Oh, you can Auto-tune your voice? That's nice. Lady Gaga is weird, but she has the lungs to back up her stuff. If an artist live sounds like they do on the album, that's good. However, if they just lip-sync their stuff, it's all smoke and mirrors. There are some bands I like that sound terrible live, so it's not just pop and teeny-bopper garbage.