The Music Industry, quality drop over the time?

Brilliant music is being made constantly. Mainstream charts have been rubbish since the mid-seventies. And what is with all the hate for rap music? I grew up listening to rap in the mid-eighties and discovered brilliant soul and funk tunes by checking out the original artists tracks they sampled from. I've got to watch punk,metal and dance spin off into a billion different genres. There are always underground artists pushing the envelope.

One other thing I would like to point out with rap/dance music, is that these seem to be the only genres that never look back. Rock, punk and metal all have bands (very successful ones too, I might add.) That sound as though they were making music from another era- Wolfmother, Trivium, Rancid- I'm watching you!

P.S. Before I get a ton of abuse, I do like rock, metal and punk/hardcore. I love The Bronx, Eddy Current Suppression Ring- Meshuggah. With Indie music- bands like TV On The Radio and Animal Collective are pushing forward into uncharted territory.

By the way, this current fad in mastering where they compress the hell out of everything so there are no dynamics is a disappointing trend. Listen to Blood, Sugar, Sex, Majick and then throw on a RHCP album from the past 5 years and you will see my point.