The Standards of Talent Have Fallen

        As we were watching Aretha Franklins cover of "Respect," I noticed the three background singers to her left. As I listened closer, I realized those three ladies had incredible voices. Then I thought, if they are so good, then why aren't they artists themselves? Why are they hiding in someone elses fame? And then it dawned on me. Back then, in the 1950's-1960's, only the really talented artists were recognized and received fame. Those artists had to be the best of the best. Even if you were really good, I am sure the chances of finding fame were very slim just because they only took the best.
        But if we compare that to the artists today, I am sure we can all say there are some singers that definently do NOT need to be famous. I can also say that some of the super famous artists still aren't amazing or jaw-dropping. Yes, they are better than the average person, but if we think about it, the standards for talent have really gone down. In these days, if you have an okay voice, but stunning looks, man, you will be the next Michael Jackson. People don't care if you have the best voice, as long as the artist is good looking and live a life that everyone wishes they could have, people will love them. And the reason I think people like these kinds of artists is because they have forgotten what true talent really is. I admit it, I was one of those people. I thought Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, your average pop idol, had really good voices and were talented. And that is true, they do have some talent to an extent. But when I heard The Beatles and The Beach Boys, they don't even compare. Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, The Who...the list goes on of incredible singers from the 1960's. And NONE of them can even be put into the same category as today's pop artists. The Beatles and The Beach Boys can harmonize like no other, but I can't list one band that can even remotely harmonize as well as they can.
        My only reasoning for this is that the standard of music has fallen as well. If you think about it, now we consider a computer making weird sounds music. There are bands like skrillex, which are basically just a bunch of computer-generated sounds blended together to create a good "beat." In some situations, a good "beat" is fun, but I don't know if I would really consider it true music.
        Even though the standards have fallen, it doesn't mean that there aren't any talented people out there. There are. We just need to find them and give them credit, rather than giving these phonies money they don't deserve.