The key observation for me is Sturgeon's Revelation: "90% of everything is crud."

My most impressionable years for music were the 70s and 80s. I remember fantastic music from that time... But the fact is, most of what we hear today from that era has been curated for us. We hear the 10% of the 70s and 80s hits that weren't crud. Or maybe even the 1% that was great. If we actually listen to the top twenty-five singles from any month in those two decades, 90% of them would be crud.

I think most people comparing the present to the past are comparing everything today to the 10% of yesterday that wasn't crud.