Why can't songwriters turn out original sounding, melodic songs anymore? Have past artists used up all of the different combinations in which notes can be arranged to make original songs? It seems songs today are boring and unoriginal, and all sound alike

I think the 'official' music industry has grown stale and is falling apart when the the internet opened up and people started finding little known bands and explored all new genres. Good music is still out there; just not so much in the mainstream and these original bands have no need to enter the mainstream since they are getting an 'underground' following so to speak. The music industry doesn't know what to do with itself at the moment so it's falling back on it's old 'pre-fab manufactured' music method and folks just aren't going for it as they used to. So, just dig a bit outside the mainstream and you will find some wonderful music out there! Best of luck and may your 2008 be filled with enjoyable new melodies!

I agree with the others. The music industry has died, but now because of the internet you can find countless amazing songs. But for every good artist there are 19 shitty ones. I myself have developed a taste for songs by Jonathan Coulton. They can be geeky or heart wrenching, or both at once.