You’ve probably heard it from your parents — or anyone raised during the classic rock era — that music today is disposable, or that it doesn’t hold the “timeless” quality seen from generations’ past.
Though most of these claims are biased and subjective, they may hold some truth.
It is difficult to define the exact music of our generation. It’s tough to even make the argument that many songs today, besides the most popular, will be heard more than a few years after their release date.
However, that does not speak to the quality of today’s music.
As an avid fan of music — both new and old — it seems that there is a lack of appreciation for the way music has evolved.
The only reason there isn’t an established sound of the last decade, like there is from the ’80s, is that the talent pool among artists today is more diversified, and people have adopted a more eclectic taste.
With modern music, popular genres like rock, hip-hop, rap or electronic dance music contain many subgenres within them, each of which ultimately adds more rhythms and sounds to the broad genre as a whole.
Dig beyond what is played on the radio and you’ll find that there is a colorful assortment of different styles with which we can characterize the music of the millennials. Our music truly is multi-dimensional.
The music industry has never been so dynamic, with genres evolving continuously and new subgenres constantly being created.
Much of this change can be attributed to effective utilization of the Internet, making it easier than ever to discover new bands, an improvement that probably cost a great deal of talent from ever making it big in the pre-Internet era.
To clarify, nothing should be taken away from the music of the past. It’s what laid the foundation from which musicians today found their influences and inspiration.
That said, it’s far too easy to turn on the radio today, listen to the mainstream songs that are put out, and conclude that everything sounds the same.
In order to dispute the quality of today’s music there should be a level of familiarity beyond just the songs that are well publicized.
There is more than meets the eye with modern music, and it may take more effort than flipping on the radio. But it shouldn’t be said that quality or variety are lacking.
