I'll probably be crucified by many for saying this, but a substantial portion of the music produced these days genuinely sucks, and to be more specific, I'm talking about the same songs that people often seem to enjoy.

The music industry is getting railed by music pirating, vinyl sales ... blah, blah, blah. Ultimately, there are several other reasons why a formerly booming industry is probably going to be the next to ask for a government handout.

Here are just a few things that are ruining music.

1. MTV

Mocking and degrading MTV has become a necessity to my everyday life (I also hate Nickelback), so I'm simply going to shout out from the parapet and hope something sticks. During its inception, MTV had so much promise. A channel that would just show music videos? What a peach. That was, until the media moguls decided marketing to pre-pubescent tweens and telling kids what's cool became commonplace.

I'm too young to be able to really feel a true sense of nostalgia for the aforementioned glory days, but I can imagine it. It's a story we've all seen before. The same thing happened with FUSE, a TV station originally hyped as the anti-MTV. This excited me, and I jumped in with both feet. Only a few short years later, they began MTV-esque "original programming," which comprised of equally mind-numbing shows that had the added flavor of emo.

Remember how cool Pandora was before they added commercials and advertising? Everybody wants to a piece of the proverbial pie, and those with the power will corrupt and degrade the sanctity of music to get it.

2. Music pirating

Before I delve into a seemingly endless purgatory of copyright debate, I have to admit I am as guilty as anyone else when it comes to downloading music. That being said, I assume partial responsibility on behalf of the pirate community.

People download music illegally because it's free and they need something to do between load screens for the porn they downloaded the night before. It's a subconscious action to go onto LimeWire to get a new album for free, but we fail to realize the effect it has on the music industry.

It shows a lack of respect for the artist and the work they do, which in some cases, I condone. I hate Nickelback, so I would love to just sit and download every song and live rarity they have ever vomited, just to say I disrespected them. Then I would file them in the appropriate folder, which is actually the same one that I have my Kanye in: the little recycling bin in the bottom corner of my desktop.

3. Individuals

These are the cult of personalities that feel the need to assume to role of the self-appointed badass. People like Kanye West and Amy Winehouse attract more attention for the freak show antics than for their music. When we stop talking about music to discuss who is in rehab or whether or not Kanye thinks Britney's psychological meltdown was better, there is a problem.

These people are ruining music. Their music aside, these people are in role model positions where they can have an influence on people and they are using the attention to promote their new role on celebrity rehab. I can't remember P Diddy's last song, but I remember him promoting his clothing line.

Try and think of some of the most polarizing, captivating musical artists during the last decade, and consider the broad musical spectrum. Like it or not, our generation will forever be associated with people like Spears (bald) and Lohan (meth. Lots of meth). It's time to find better figures to idolize.

4. Over-simplification

I'm not going to lie, video games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero are fun. The problem arises though when they are thought of as a supplement to actual involvement with music. It's kind of cool if you can hit a billion consecutive notes on "Dragonforce," but wouldn't it be cooler to pick up an acoustic guitar and write a song? Just a thought.

I've been following the story regarding Courtney Love's (hate) lawsuit against Activision, and I have got to say, I'm siding with her.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the problem, Love is suing Activision, the developer and publisher of the popular Guitar Hero franchise, over the use of Kurt Cobain's image as a playable character. The other two members of Nirvana, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, both agree seeing Cobain's likeness lip sync the lyrics to other bands' songs is sickening.

These types of things should not happen. We should not be allowed to make Kurt's ghost sing along to a song by Duran Duran or David Bowie. It's just not right.

5. The music industry itself

That's right. A healthy slice of the blame can be attributed to the record producers, musicians and corporate fat cats who fail to produce a quality product while simultaneously giving you, the consumer, a viable reason to buy it. No wonder we download it illegally.

They copy-protect their investments, and even in the face of steady decline, they fail to offer incentives to make you buy their product. Do they drop the price of a CD? No, they don't. Do they offer content in an easy, original way that makes shopping easy? Nope, but iTunes does.

The music industry is suffering economically just like anybody else in the middle of a recession, but that's not really the true problem. The issue at hand is the decline in the integrity and quality of their product. If they can't find a way to get people to keep supporting their business, then they are in even more trouble than they previously thought.

I hope people don't forever associate my generation with poor music taste and a slew of party tunes that were popular for a week at a time, but in all probability, that will be the case.