Madonna is unimpressed with the current quality of the music industry.
The pop legend has continuously broken boundaries since the release of her self-titled debut album in 1983, challenging musical conventions through her lyrics, song structures, and sexually-charged visuals.
Never one afraid to experiment, Madonna wishes that more artists today would dare to be different.
"Everything's so formulaic, and every song has 20 guest artists on it, and everyone sounds the same," she bemoaned of "the music business now" during an interview with Vogue Italia.
The 59-year-old is gearing up to unveil a new record "that will be released by the end of the year," and went on to explain that she took much inspiration from the Portuguese people she's met since she moved to Lisbon last summer (17), after her 12-year-old son David Banda joined the Benfica soccer team youth academy.
"In Alfama, you'll hear people singing and playing fado music everywhere," the Material Girl hitmaker shared. "There are these weekly sessions called living room sessions which pop up in people's beautiful homes that are 500 years old, and you walk up the marble steps which are lined with candles into the living room which is also dimly lit with candles. And there's this rolling, very intimate performance happening where people play, they sing, they recite poetry."
Madonna also suggested that, unlike the current crop of popular musicians, the Portuguese perform out of passion as opposed to any financial incentive.
"It's like a salon; something which doesn't really exist in many places anymore - people elsewhere say, 'Call my manager, this is how much I charge,'" she noted. "I'm pretty sure in Lisbon people would do these shows and not get paid, they just do them for the love of what they do, and for me, this is glorious and inspiring."
