In my opinion, artists like Amy Winehouse, Coldplay, Alicia Keys, etc brought back around the era of the singer-songwriter again. There was so much pop fluff BS going on in the late '90s early/ '00s... think of Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera, Backstreet Boys, N'Sync, etc were the popular acts during that time. Artists like Amy, Alicia, Coldplay, and others made singer-songwriter music popular again... and seemed to incite (or at least be a part of) a trend back towards real MUSIC. Amy single handedly made Soul music cool again, and accessible to an entirely new audience. Alicia did the same with her jazzy sound. I'm not saying these are necessarily the best or even my favorite artists of the the decade... but their impact is undeniable. Amy's popularity opened the door for other acts like Adele, Duffy, etc. Whether or not you like any of the people I've listed, I'd take ANY of them
any day over Britney freaking Spears
.
I do have to agree that this decade has brought about no new Madonnas, Kurt Cobains, Pink Floyds, or anything truly groundbreaking. But the second half of this decade has had a decidedly welcome shift back towards artists who write their own songs, play their own instruments, and who aren't just studio creations. The Indie scene seems to be exploding... and once underground bands are going mainstream (who could have seen a weird little band like Owl City getting so much mainstream airplay?
). There's just a lot of good stuff brewing right now... a lot of potential. Yes, there are still Adam Lamberts, Lady Gagas, and crap like that... but there always has been, and always will be. Just look back at '77 for instance... the biggest singles of that year were by Fleetwood Mac, the Eagles, Billy Joel, Carly Simon... and... Debbie Boone
.