Is Old Music Killing New Music?


I ran across this Atlantic magazine article on another music forum. It asks the question if old music is killing new music. I didn't realize that older music represents 70% of the music market according to this article. I know I use Qobuz and Tidal to find new music and new artists for my collection, but I don't know how common that actually is for most people. I think that a lot of people that listen to services like Spotify and Apple Music probably don't keep track of what the algorithms are queuing up in their playlists. Perhaps it's all becoming elevator music. 

Is Old Music Killing New Music? - The Atlantic

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My two cents: It is pretty clear that the same generation using up the planet's resources, spreading consumerism everywhere, and keeping housing and healthcare unaffordable for younger generations is also quite ok with keeping the airwaves to themselves. The lack of oxygen -- that is, viable ways to make a living for artists -- started with Album Oriented Rock, and has continued to this day. Boomers and the generations they trained (in business school, law school, and with conventional "wisdom") have been amassing cultural and financial resources at an increasing pace, and young people have gotten the shaft. 

There is more and more music to choose from over time.  That’s a wonderful thing!

As The Duke might have posed the question:  Is Good Music killing the other kind?

Answer:  Yes.  Always has, always will.

Cheers

Rick Beato did an interesting take on this idea and he blamed the music executives for not doing enough for the younger musicians. paying hundreds of millions for music rights of old artists but not supporting younger ones. 

@hilde45 - " young people have gotten the shaft. "

It is not the whole boom generation doing the things you complain about. All that is necessary is that some very wealthy ones are allowed to do as they please and influence many others. A great deal of money can be made by riling up stupid people.

It is indeed to younger persons that the results of elections, and corresponding policy decisions, will be most important. At least in the US, if young people voted at a higher rate, they easily could change the course of the theocratic plutocracy that is arising. However, many don’t use the power they have. This makes it grating when they stereotype others and blame them for societal ills.

Materialism didn’t begin in 1945. The long history of war, conquest, and enslavement in the world shows that the lust for money and power is as old as mankind.

As a boomer, I’ve devoted considerable resources (time and money) to voter registration drives, primarily among the young or disadvantaged.

Going back to music, studies have shown that one’s musical tastes are fixed by age 30. I think that with effort, one can expand them, but it’s not always easy. Still, I feel sad when I see an educated person listening only to the pop music of their youth. Me? I am worse: I listen mainly to Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, and also Max Richter and other modernists.