I agree completely, but looking back without the rose-colored glasses there was a whole lot of "excrement" back in the day as well. Who could forget the Monkees (manufactured band, but I liked 'em anyway) or "Yummy, Yummy"? How about "Dizzy"? Or Dave & Sylvia?
I have to disagree about country. Country from the last decade was a lot like old rock & roll but now it's cowboy rapper wannabe's (with a few exceptions, I love Miranda).
That said, there will always be people creating music and putting in the long hours to learn an instrument. We'll just have to find them ourselves on Youtube et al instead of being spoon-fed by the music industry.