Transport yourself back to the days of The Beatles and their huge crowds (especially women) going crazy wherever they performed. They are still one of the most well known bands even after their break-up in 1970. Fast-forward twelve years to 1982, when Michael Jackson released his “Thriller” album and became a worldwide pop sensation. Now, take yourself to the next decade, in which Beck Hansen created the song “Loser,” which is now considered to be a one of the top 30 songs from the 1990s, according to VH1 Top 100 Songs of the ‘90s. Fast-forward another 20 years, and enter the era of glam-pop, which includes such artists Justin Bieber, Ke$ha, and Katy Perry. The public seems to like them, but their popularity seems to be declining, while “oldies” musicians are returning to the limelight: Paul McCartney, Robert Plant, Michael Jackson, Pat Benetar, and more. “All these pop singers nowadays, they just don’t want to change the way we think,” metal and rock fan Graham Nickelson said. “All they really care about is money, money, money. You hear of all these big record deals, but you never hear of how someone’s music started a cult or a protest for what that group of people believes in.” Although protests and riots are not particularly good, they still show that an idea that is from a song has affected society. Today, one often does not hear of such things, since the mindset of today is different than that of the twentieth century. “Society has always been based around money, more so now than back then,” lead guitarist of published band Pinkleef Henry Zimmerman said. “Back in the oldies time period, you could sell a few bad albums but still be star. Now, if you sink in the charts, you could risk losing your fans and eventually your career. That’s why artists can’t really be too focused on ‘influencing society.’ After all, this is a business, and when you run a business, you can’t afford to be distracted.” However, the decreases in popularity may not be because modern pop does not impact society. According to a survey recently conducted by a CHS student, 14 out of 20 respondents said they preferred listening to older bands simply because they thought that modern pop music was boring. “It’s fun to listen to at first, but then it grows tedious after a while,” one respondent said. “Every artist uses the same style for every song, which really irritates me.” Though six respondents said they enjoyed modern music, most student respondents in the CHS survey agreed that modern music needs to be change and become unique. The biggest factor that has caused the decline of modern music is the perception that all modern pop artists are indifferent. Unless that perception can be changed in some way, modern pop might see a permanent fall in the charts.