I love articles written by people with no knowledge of music history. This is the same argument from 1985 re: what we locally called New Wave , but was really post punk/synth pop; is it even rock. And that wasn't even the first time. Now I have no issue with genre bending or fusion, and that is the way things are going but, sure, they (Imagine Dragons) are not quite rock (and I don't think they're trying to be or their fans consider them to be) though it is possible to incorporate some elements of modern dance pop (for example) without ceasing to be rock, there is a threshold at which you actually cross over. Actual (purist) rock is continuing on, though I have to say, half the time it is kinda me'h and cliche, but not all the time. I do have a bit of a issue with the homogenization of music that seems to be what the mainstream industry does to it - the process takes new genres, at first marginalizes them, and then as critical mass of fandom approaches, suddenly reverses course and absorbs it as fast as possible; one huge bite in attempt to swallow it whole, but inevitably a piece of it is crunched off and left behind like the tail of a cocktail shrimp. The effect is that the forms of the new genre are applied to the same banal pop pap as before, usually without (all of) the substance. You have people who listen to pop tarts and boy bands walking around in pre-ripped jeans and docs and studs in everything; makes no sense. I mean they're free to be into whatever they like, and stuff, but like, that was my jam (though I distress my own jeans the hard way thank you, and frankly some more reserved, tasteful inclusion of studding is what I would recommend) and now you've watered it down and made it just another cookie cutter style option; a cliche. I can buy sweatshop-made black 8 hole Docs at any Softmoc but not even the old stores I used to have to go to carry the well-made 10-14 hole oxblood combat boots (of whatever brand) that I prefer anymore.
These attitudes and trends have even crept in to the independent (you can't even use the word indie anymore, because Indie bands aren't actually independent) scene(s).
There will always be room for whatever genre you care to discuss, be it rock or otherwise. Just the nature of that scene will cease to be quite as mainstream as before. The good news is that the echo boomers (who are driving all the marketing right now; still some heavy action for their aging parents, but with that group's attrition losses....) for the most part respect and acknowledge what came before (vs complete rejection of their parent's music as in former generations), there will be another rock revival. Probably as the demographic's median age reaches 30-35 or so.
