The problem today is that the media rarely shows musicians with an instrument in their hands. Artists just dance and lip sync while the musak magically appears in the background. The few exceptions... country, thrash metal, & chicks with acoustic folk guitars are pretty much the clientle in music stores these days. But without the key 18-21 year old audience barred from the clubs by authoritarian do-gooders, it really goes nowhere.
BTW, you're fooling yourself if you think what's coming out of Nashville these days isn't some of the most fomulated crap being produced these days.
That is an angle I never thought of before. When I was 18, it was just before the "age 21 drinking age" madness and I was able to get into clubs in Boston. This was the 1979-80 period when new and upcoming acts like U2, The Police, Teardrop Explodes, Devo, Talking Heads, etc., would play packed nightclubs filled with mostly teenagers. It was a very lively music scene during those years. Once the age was raised to 21, a lot of that exuberance was lost. Many people over 21 want to hear the music of their youth and are generally not interested in hearing new and unproven bands like teenagers do.
You may have an excellent point here. And I have always maintained that the mandatory age 21 drinking law was one of the biggest mistakes we made in this country for many other reasons that probably shouldn't be discussed here.