Is Old Music Killing New Music?
All the growth in the music business now comes from old songs—with consumption of new music actually shrinking. How did we get here, and is there a way back?
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Is Old Music Killing New Music?
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tedgioia.substack.com
I think with Covid any such stats should be taken with a grain of salt.
All the years, it's the time of the revival.Is Old Music Killing New Music?
All the growth in the music business now comes from old songs—with consumption of new music actually shrinking. How did we get here, and is there a way back?
Buzz and only buzz
OP
- Thread Starter
- #4
Is that because live music venues have been closed or for other reasons?
ZolaIII
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What (music) world needs is more promotional music festivals for young not affirmated artists and their is nothing bad if they perform their (and public) favourite oldies (perhaps they way) along with something their own.
Actually nothing really changed, we just need to push youngsters more.
Actually nothing really changed, we just need to push youngsters more.
Probably that but also because people are less keen to explore something new when things around them seem to fall appart.
I also think it's important to note that a good chunk of the artists in the list died not too long ago.
The decline was underway before covid.
Though think they have a point as many releases were delayed due to covid.
The way the charts are done now keeps older music in the charts longer.
The way streaming sites choose the music you listen to affects the charts.
Even radio stations that used to be more about new music seem to play more older music than they did.
Though think they have a point as many releases were delayed due to covid.
The way the charts are done now keeps older music in the charts longer.
The way streaming sites choose the music you listen to affects the charts.
Even radio stations that used to be more about new music seem to play more older music than they did.
was in the record shop this summer, there's a youth (early twenties) and his girlfriend in there browsing about, I'm talking with the owner. Youth comes up to pay, he's buying two Dire Straits albums - on vinyl!
So there is hope for the world.
Was listening to some new music the other day, female singer, song about splitting up. There must have been two hundred words of lyrics before it even got to the bridge. The ''tune' such as it was, was just a dirge with nothing interesting instrumental-wise going on.
Compare that with the masters of song writing from the past like Steely Dan, not more than a hundred words in the whole song but a massive amount of depth of meaning. Lyrics that created atmosphere and left you with much to ponder.
This is the problem now not just with music but with film and television also, the essentials of the art have been lost.
Yes there was always some pap in the past but when you compare the old pap to the modern pap the old pap now sounds like genius.
So there is hope for the world.
Was listening to some new music the other day, female singer, song about splitting up. There must have been two hundred words of lyrics before it even got to the bridge. The ''tune' such as it was, was just a dirge with nothing interesting instrumental-wise going on.
Compare that with the masters of song writing from the past like Steely Dan, not more than a hundred words in the whole song but a massive amount of depth of meaning. Lyrics that created atmosphere and left you with much to ponder.
This is the problem now not just with music but with film and television also, the essentials of the art have been lost.
Yes there was always some pap in the past but when you compare the old pap to the modern pap the old pap now sounds like genius.
So have the old always spoken of the music of the young.
True that, one of those constants. I suspect that a bigger problem than whether or not music is good or not is that music just doesn't seem as relevant to young people.
well the format irrelevant as this discussion is about musical content, not sound quality. I'm not churlish enough to have suggested to him that he put the records back and buy the CD versions.
That is true but even taking that into account I think there has clearly been a big drop in quality over the last 20 years.
Robin L
Master Contributor
It's harder to make money from recordings now than it was 30 years ago. And a tremendous amount of new music goes directly online without promotion, a company attached, buzz, any accountable economic metrics . . .
Something like "Brothers in Arms" isn't going to happen in 2022.
Something like "Brothers in Arms" isn't going to happen in 2022.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #15
Rosy Retrospection bias?
Who was this female singer? I’d like to take a listen. You mention a name, Steely Dan, for one side of your argument, but leave the other side anonymous. This hardly seems like a rigorous way of presenting a conclusion.
Killingbeans
Major Contributor
The fact that new music isn't prevalent on the big steaming services, doesn't mean that it's dying. It just lives its life elsewhere.
Yes, sorry about that but I have no recollection of her name. Advancing age, you see
But that's by no means an isolated incident. Lyric sheets as long as a postgrad dissertation seem to be quite common amongst contemporary artists, especially females.
bloodshoteyed
Major Contributor
a really good take on the topic:
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My view is that this is not primarily about cultural changes in people's listening preferences - people aren't suddenly more interested in old music than they used to be.
Instead, I agree with the comments above that focus on changes in the industry and the economics of making money from music. Streaming promotes a background-music/party-music/infinite-shuffle kind of listening, often with little active input or song-by-song choice or oversight from the listener. And there are no conventional DJs. This means the listening experience doesn't really promote the music or cement any particular album or artist in the listener's mind. So older music has the advantage, because it is already cemented in the culture and the public imagination from years past when people encountered new music in a different way.
Similarly, as noted above, the venues for making money off of the publishing rights to back catalogues have multiplied greatly in the last 10-15 years, which again favors older music because in most cases advertisers, movie makers, video game companies, etc are looking for music that people are already familiar with, because usually the entire point is to use the cultural caché of known, popular music to promote the advertised product, the movie, the game, and so on.
Interestingly, the article says this issue is also showing up in record-store purchases, but there again I would say the above two trends are probably driving those purchasing decisions - not to mention, I would guess that middle-aged and older folks are disproportionately represented among record-store purchasers - and those older, more affluent buyers are not only probably more numerous than younger LP buyers, but they also probably buy more records per capita.
Instead, I agree with the comments above that focus on changes in the industry and the economics of making money from music. Streaming promotes a background-music/party-music/infinite-shuffle kind of listening, often with little active input or song-by-song choice or oversight from the listener. And there are no conventional DJs. This means the listening experience doesn't really promote the music or cement any particular album or artist in the listener's mind. So older music has the advantage, because it is already cemented in the culture and the public imagination from years past when people encountered new music in a different way.
Similarly, as noted above, the venues for making money off of the publishing rights to back catalogues have multiplied greatly in the last 10-15 years, which again favors older music because in most cases advertisers, movie makers, video game companies, etc are looking for music that people are already familiar with, because usually the entire point is to use the cultural caché of known, popular music to promote the advertised product, the movie, the game, and so on.
Interestingly, the article says this issue is also showing up in record-store purchases, but there again I would say the above two trends are probably driving those purchasing decisions - not to mention, I would guess that middle-aged and older folks are disproportionately represented among record-store purchasers - and those older, more affluent buyers are not only probably more numerous than younger LP buyers, but they also probably buy more records per capita.
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