I believe there was a significant decline in the quality of mainstream 
music at the end of the 1990s that can be tied directly to Clear 
Channel's monopoly on radio stations.

Before 1992, there were laws in place that limited the number of radio 
stations a company could own. During the 1990s, Congress began relaxing 
these rules, particularly with the Telecommunications Act of 1996. After 
that, companies were free to buy up radio stations and hold monopolies 
in particular regions and markets.

Clear Channel jumped on this. Before 1992, Clear Channel owned 2 radio 
stations, which was the limit at the time. By 1995, Clear Channel owned 
43 radio stations. Today, the company is called iHeartMedia, and they 
own over 1,200 radio stations. And they're not alone. There are a 
handful of companies that own hundreds of radio stations across the 
country.

Before the late 1990s, radio stations could play whatever music they 
wanted. A radio DJ wasn't just a babysitter for the station. They 
curated the playlists, and DJs were often the force driving the 
popularity of songs and artists.

But once Clear Channel and other companies bought up all the radio 
stations, mainstream music became homogenized. Every radio station 
within a certain genre is basically just playing the same playlist 
curated by the company that owns them. The pop stations get the pop 
playlist, the rock stations get the rock playlist, and the DJs just hit 
the play button.

There's no room for originality. There's no ability for a DJ to push 
that underground band they just discovered. There's no opportunity for a 
new artist to have a surprise radio hit. The mainstream isn't the most 
popular music. The mainstream is what iHeartMedia decides the mainstream 
should be.

In that type of environment, where the mainstream is predetermined by a 
few companies, you're going to see a decline in the quality of music.