Why does everyone sing it like THAT?

COD IN THE MID00000l - why does every pop singer of the past 20 years sing in like that? 🎼 Come see Sungazer on Tour! | http://www.sungazermusic.com/tour 0:00 Intro 0:45 Examples of "caught in the middle" 2:40 Question #1 - Why is this happening? 2:47 Reason 1 - Tone Painting 3:46 Reason 2 - Prosody 5:58 Question #2 - Why is this only happening in the past 20 years? 7:22 Reason 1 - Scotch Snaps 8:37 Reason 2 - Cot-Caught Merger 9:22 Reason 3 - Popularity (⌐■_■) ⦿ Check out some of my music ⦿ http://sungazermusic.bandcamp.com http://insideoutsidemusic.bandcamp.com http://adamneelymusic.bandcamp.com Peace, Adam