But maybe one of the reasons Buddy feels that musicianship is down is because the songs are in fact much simpler. I can't remember where I came across this factoid (NPR, Vox on YouTube, or somewhere else) but a study was done on the complexity of musical composition and they found that music is much more simple in terms of musical variation than at any other time.

Part of that could be musicianship. I would doubt that tho.

Yes, more kids are learning to sample and making beats electronically which doesn't necessarily require virtuosity. But there are also kids who pick up live instruments who have better training and access to resources than at any other time than before.

My guess is that with the corporatization of the music industry, the songs are A&R'd to death and as a result, a lot of music is crafted to go cater to the largest demo possible. Even it comes at the expense of artistry. :(

Maybe the reasons some eras include great displays of artistry is that the public is actually ready to accept artists who weave in more complex motifs in their music. Like the 70's. The music industry catered more to artists (at least the stars) who would indulge their creative impulses, even if those impulses were anti-commerical. But the audiences were open to artists noodling and coming up with music which was unconventional. Prog and fusion jazz wouldn't have existed without the audience being open to the innovation.

And also, we're looking at the past through the eyes of nostalgia where we cherry-pick the best of the best from the oceans of average music. Like, take the Golden Age of Hip-Hop. We revere Tribe, De La, NWA, Dre, Snoop, and Wu-Tang but we forget the thousands of derivative, uninspired acts who either were studio gangsters or couldn't rap their way out of a paper bag.

I guess I all of this to say that to say that music sucks and has always sucked, but there are some memorable exceptions to the rule who cause us to keep revering art.