Why You Think New Music Sucks

Sure, it could be the music itself...but could it also be nostalgia, or choice overload, or uncertainty about where to find good new music?

In today’s post, we dig into just a few of the many reasons one could be disillusioned with new music… that have nothing to do with the music itself. A playlist awaits you at the end!

Remember those Bubble Tape commercials from the early ‘90s?

You know, the unhinged animations that looked like Terry Gilliam collided with Clarissa Explains it All? That rotating fever dream of square grown-ups with an inexplicable gum aversion?

Those commercials are what I picture whenever another cranky Xennial¹ declares that there’s no good music anymore, or that there hasn’t been any quality guitar rock since [insert decade here, because there isn’t any consensus], or that all new music is just a pale copy of what came before.

I’m not trying to stir the generational pot, here; I was born in 1984, so I’m an Xennial myself, and “cranky” would be a euphemistic descriptor for me at best.

As much as I have otherwise (generally proudly!²) become my parents and somewhat matured, when it comes to this particular brand of “when I was your age” adults, I still imagine a bunch of flat cardboard cutouts yapping away to the sound of the Peanuts trombone while the kids get to have delicious gum.

I make it my business to keep up with new music. Hell, I’ve been pretending to be a music reviewer for going on twenty years now. That’s not meant as a lead-in to “…and so there’s no excuse that you don’t do the same.” Hardly.

If anything, I know how overwhelming it is. New albums every single Friday? Literally who has the time?

No, the issue I have with these “back in my day” crusaders, is the dogged insistence that music flatlined at some point in history and has never recovered since.

I hear some version of these arguments almost daily:

• Nobody has talent or originality anymore.

• Any idiot can record music and put out a record now, and it’s watered down the whole industry.

• There’s nothing worth listening to on the radio anymore, the charts are filled with fluff, and pop music isn’t as substantial as it used to be.

• There are no bands anymore, and guitar rock has practically disappeared.

… and on and on in that vein.

I would love to put the entire matter to rest with the following brief exchange:

Instead, let’s take it down brick by brick.

1. Your Tastes Calcified When You Were Young

None of us is immune to getting old, looking at the generations coming up behind us, and clucking about how much better things were when we were younger. It’s an immutable fact of life.

Complaining about “what the kids are listening to” is a time-honored tradition. And when was music good exactly? Well, invariably (and objectively, factually, unassailably) it always aligns with the end of the development of your prefrontal cortex.

What a coincidence.

The Day Your Music Died

If you haven’t already read Daniel Parris’ essay in Stat Significant, he provides an excellent analysis of when and why this happens.

When Do We Stop Finding New Music? A Statistical Analysis

In short:

We are most open to hearing new music during adolescence, and the music we listen to as teenagers has the strongest influence. It’s right around age 33 that our tastes start to calcify, we begin listening to fewer artists, and ultimately give up on music discovery altogether (chiefly because life gets in the way, but also because we simply aren’t interested in hearing anything new).

It stands to reason that nothing sounds as good as when we’re teenagers. Everything was amplified back then, and nostalgia is a powerful drug.

Think for a moment, though. Is it objectively true that everything after your teenage years has declined in quality? Or maybe, just maybe, we were all adolescents at different times, and your memories and preferences are stuck in amber in whatever that time was for you.³

2. Increased Access Means More of Everything… Good and Bad

Something like 100,000 songs are uploaded to streaming platforms every single day. Assuming each of those tracks is three minutes long, it would take you 30 years (years!) to listen to all of them. Again, that’s a single day’s worth of new music.

And you sit there trying to claim that all of it must be bad? Nuh uh. No way.

Is a sizeable percentage of it bad? Certainly. Is some of it AI nonsense? You bet.

But when you democratize music production and distribution, the good will increase along with the bad. It’s just a little⁴ harder to sift through than it used to be.

Think about all the talent that would have gone completely unheard and undiscovered having to wait for a record label to scoop it up first. Sure, you can argue that the playing field is so oversaturated now that it’s unlikely anyone will hear them anyway, but that’s just it — they get to play.

There’s no shortage of musicians in every single genre, including an absolute treasure trove of (guitar!) bands and pop stars.

The problem isn’t figuring out whether any of it is good, because it’s a given that much of it will be. The trick is in filtering all of that good down to manageable listening.

Which brings me to…

3: How We Consume Music Has Changed

Having all of the worlds’ music at our fingertips is overwhelming. While I don’t actually think it’s difficult to find new music, I can certainly concede that it’s quite an adjustment to how things used to be, and it does take some getting used to.

If you’re still relying on radio, you’ll likely be disappointed with what you hear, and it’s no strange leap of logic to assume that most music reflects what’s playing on the airwaves.

Not a strange leap of logic, but perhaps a lazy one.

Radio is somewhat of a relic these days, and despite the resurrection of the vinyl industry, streaming still accounts for the vast majority of music revenue. And I just finished telling you how much new music gets uploaded to streaming platforms every day.

Suffice it to say, curation isn’t as tight as it once was.

You may have to dig a bit on your own to find what you like, rather than relying on charts or radio DJs. But your inability to discover the good stuff unaided doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

New Music Discovery 101

4: Old Music Sucked, Too

Our brains may be hardwired to hang on to traumatic memories over the pleasant ones, but I’m not sure how well that translates to art. After all, how many people remembered Salieri before Amadeus put him back in the (supporting) spotlight?

Survivorship bias leaves us all with the rosiest of rose-colored glasses. The fact is that you just don’t remember how much utter crap was playing on the radio when you were younger, because you haven’t bothered to listen to it ever again (and why would you?!).

Anything older, and you simply wouldn’t have known it existed in the first place.

Take Ted Gioia’s word for it if you won’t take mine.

All Bad Music Will Eventually Disappear

Bad music from eras past has already disappeared, and given enough time, it’ll happen with the overwhelming amount of new music being published now, too. The cream always rises to the top.

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Since I’m likely preaching to the converted, tell me —- why do you seek out new music?

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In With the Old, But in With the New, Too

Accepting that the music itself might not be the problem might be a tough pill to swallow. If you prefer to stick to your curmudgeonly ways, I won’t stop you!

Despite my tongue-in-cheek mission statement, I don’t typically gear my writing — or music recommendations, for that matter — towards people who truly believe there’s no hope for new music.

I did kind of think that given the theme of today’s post, it might be fun to try to convert the unconvertable, though:

My very toughest customers are always Classic Rock lovers. To them, and to anyone else who just wanted to hear some music today instead of my rantings, I offer up this playlist of new bands inspired by the likes of The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, The Beach Boys, and so many others.

Whether you end up enjoying the music or not, I hope it convinces you that the kids are still as enchanted with guitar solos as ever!

Also on: Apple, Tidal, Amazon, YouTube

Until next time.

xo

Gabbie

1. Because we expect it from Boomers, I guess?

2. I have to say this, my dad is reading. Hi Papa, love you!

3. That, or it’s all about you, and it’s a shocker that music critics haven’t unanimously agreed that 1994 was the greatest year in rock history. (Or was it 1971?)

4. Okay, a lottle.