Golden and Silver age composers are influenced more by classical and concert music. They're established in a schooling and education that is detailed with a very formal schooling.
Modern composers - and this isn't all of them, either but some of them - simply know film scores or the industry and simply put music in the film without the same background or understanding of music that other composers had. Instead of Robert Wise telling Franz Waxman he wants a suspense score, we have hipster directors asking musicians/composers/sound designers/whatever to take music from Franz Waxman and shoehorn it into another project.
One is more organic than the other. And while there are a number of very good working composers today - I'll let you name them for yourself, dear reader - there is a trend with "inorganic film music" on the rise.
In my opinion, change in this area has to come from the composers who are just starting. Things are only going to get less musical if we rush to get that first big film composing job. With patience, young composers can build a career in low budget video games and films while developing their style. Once they make it into the high budget productions, they'll have more of an identity to bring into the industry. As Jerry Goldsmith once said of young film composers, they need to be more patient and their time will come. Too many undeveloped voices on the scene right now.
Modern composers - and this isn't all of them, either but some of them - simply know film scores or the industry and simply put music in the film without the same background or understanding of music that other composers had.
I take it you mean "current" or "contemporary" composers and not "modern" composers. "Modern" film music was among the best ever written.
