Why is every "artist" in top 40 about 19-20 years old, what does that say about musical culture today?

YOUTH IS MARKETABLE.

THAT IS ALL.

Lady Gaga is 25.

Ke$ha is like 28.

Katy Perry is 26.

Most rappers and singers are in there middle to late twenties.

I think you're only seeing what you want to see.

Katy Perry - 25

Usher & will.i.am - 31 and 35

B.o.B. - 21

Travis McCoy & Bruno Mars - 28 and 24

Drake - 23

Lady Gaga - 24

Taio Cruz - 26

Drake & Lil Wayne - 23 and 27

Taio Cruz - 26

Ke$ha - 23

There's the top 10 for today, and all of them are over 20 years old. And if you'll look deeper into the top 40 and current popular music nowadays, you'll also see Eminem (37), the members of Train (40s), Christina Aguilera (almost 30), Black Eyed Peas (34-35), Shakira (33), Ludacris (32), Timbaland (38), Mariah Carey (40), Kylie Minogue (42), Madonna (51), oh I can go on and on! Actually I can think of only a couple artists as young or younger than the ones you mentioned.....maybe Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, and Taylor Swift.

Anyway a lot of the media is directed towards younger audiences. They're trying to make money and that works. What's so difficult to understand?

That it's all about the money. The vision of music as artistic talent and an emotional (not emo, TRUE emotion) canvas takes a backseat to modern popular music. The Top 40 are, for the most part, simple songs that follow cookie cutter progressions, simplistic lyrics composed with the vocabulary of a 12 year old, and emotion that's told rather than expressed, felt, or symbolized.

It doesn't mean that you have to go to "unknown" bands to find awesome music. On the contrary there's plenty of good music from popular bands. Deftones' newest was amazing, Jack Johnson continues to put out good stuff, as do Dave Matthews Band, and I'm stoked for new stuff from Tool and A Perfect Circle later this year. But it's not generally in the Top 40, or if it is it's only there for a week or two.

Oh man, do I know how you feel.

For a while I tried listening to that stuff, and then I'm just like wait. These people can't sing, they can't play instruments, they're hopeless. No personality whatsoever. So why are these people famous? And then, a revelation. They're attractive, adn our society is completely materialistic and visually-driven. If you can't see it don't believe it. The minute you see someone you make judgements about them, so companies want to find the most easily marketed people- beautiful people. And our society believes that youth is beauty, so we have young beautiful people. They don't care if the people can sing or act, everything is completely fake, with vocal tracks and other musicians that have actually studied playing for them. This is why I switched to punk music. They play what they believe, even if it doesn't go mainstream. They aren't in it for the money, just to get their ideas out there, and for the love of their music. Look at the Clash, or The Sex Pistols, or P.I.L., although I doubt you've heard of them. They're amazing. Try listening to stuff that isn't so mainstream

Not fully true though, because some older rappers and musicians are in the top 40, such as Ludacris and the band Train

I'm gonna reach through the computer screen and slap the next douchebag who sarcastically puts the word artist in quotation marks.

It means that the majority of the music listening people are gangster/pretty boy teenage fags who don't know good music when they see it. I wish justin beiber would drink a load of gasoline, eat sone razor wire, then swallow a piece of news paper that was on fire. He is, the ultra fag.

It means that youth is exploited in the music industry just like in the army.

it says to me mostly everything/everybody in the top 40 that are youths talks about what youths usally talk about ex. love, cell phone relationship stuff, sex, drugs, alchol and whatever dumb things out there that kids are into nowadays

edit: i totally agree with Matt above my answer ^^

it says that musical culture is just about the same as it has always been--young(ish) kids singing about love, sex, and drugs.