the youngsters just dont appreciate music anymore.

[Jerome]

OK I know this is going to be unpopular but for me rap, hip hop, trance and drums n bass (there's a contradiction in terms as very few actually have real drums anyway) are all lacking in any real depth. Musically there are just plain boring and they have no dynamics in their material. The more technology (and I am a great fan of technology) is introduced into the studio the more mundane the music becomes. Don't get me wrong - technology has it's place, but it is being overused/abused to the point where we might as well be listening to the washing machine. No-one is developing their own unique sound anymore - everyone seems to be dialling in the same presets in the same software packages and coming up with the same result. Even in 'standard' rock music the guitars are all starting to sound alike - because the guitarists are using the same templates for their 'sound'. I hear very little creative work from an audio engineering point of view. Maybe people are just not prepared to put in the effort anymore??!??