# Is Old Music Killing New Music? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [January 24, 2022, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320 "2022-01-24T18:04:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/101 "2022-01-27T02:16:35Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > > [@msmith537](#): > > > > The prevailing style for pop music seems to be a sort of overproduced homogenous blend of vapid lyrics sung by a female (or male falsetto) vocalist over electronic instrumentation and a hip-hop trap beat that you can dance to (possibly with an EDM remix). [All the songs in this playlist sound essentially the same to my ear.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnc9pvuvSuk) Which is probably the point. > > I mean, the OK Boomer thing is played out by now, but holy crap. You sound like my grandfather listening to rock and roll – “It all sounds the same, and all they do is scream into the mic.” He or she is not wrong about observing characteristics like trap beats, electronic instrumentation, and processed/autotuned vocals, though. Which explains its deliberate development into “hyperpop”, which has not stood still, either. > [@msmith537](#): > > To me, there seems to be less distinction between specific genres of rock, dance, hip-hop/rap, pop, etc than there was in previous decades. I think this has actually been scientifically proven. This sounds dubious, though. There are clearly bigger and smaller circles of commonality, but by the time something even gets a Wikipedia article as a “genre” it is already no longer “fresh”, right? No artist wants to sound like everybody else. There will be countless micro-genres. I did not mean fresh as in singing about tuning a 1932 Ford be not fresh; I meant as in whether your ears are, or are not, used to the “sound”. Which is also going to vary: some decades-old music may sound fresh to one who has never heard anything like it before. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/102 "2022-01-27T02:22:39Z")
I don’t understand what you’re saying. Is it that it’s impossible for new musicians to make good money? Because that’s clearly incorrect. Just to take one example: Six years ago few Americans had heard of BTS. Even their genre was not very familiar. Now they sell out stadiums worldwide in minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/103 "2022-01-27T02:34:16Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > Just to take one example: Six years ago few Americans had heard of BTS. Even their genre was not very familiar. Now they sell out stadiums worldwide in minutes. Good example…of the point you didn’t understand. BTS didn’t make it big on riding Spotify or traditional Radio. At least in the US. K-Pop still gets virtually zero radio airplay in the US. Their US popularity was driven by an army of kids forcing the traditional US music powers to recognize times had changed. And they did that mainly over social media and patforms. K-Pop bands have pretty much given up on the traditional US music industry. It’s built for a different (read: older and slightly out of touch) audience. The band was selling out stadium shows worldwide before most of us in the US even realized they existed. It’s a case where their huge international popularity forced itself on our consciousness than vice-versa. Going by the author of the piece in the OP, BTS would be some weird outlier that some how came out of nowhere. But clearly it’s not. Times changed but some of us have not changed as much. It speaks more to many of us just not getting the modern music scene because it no longer looks like what it did when we were younger. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/104 "2022-01-27T02:38:49Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > It speaks more to many of us just not getting the modern music scene because it no longer looks like what it did when we were younger. This is very true: the music scene of 2022 is nothing like the music scene of 1992. NOTHING like it. I’ve been right in the middle of the metal scene for longer than that but if 1992 me was dropped into 2022, I wouldn’t have a clue what the fuck was going on in how to find stuff (metal) to listen to and then, once I found stuff, I wouldn’t hardly understand 60-70% of what I heard. Okay, that’s exaggerating a bit. 😃 Seriously tho, the scene has changed a lot. I don’t have to go out every weekend to hear new music. I don’t have to trade mix tapes or CDs anymore. I don’t have to special order imports from Germany or Italy or France or Japan anymore (everything is just available, now). I don’t have to wait for the monthly zine. Etc. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/105 "2022-01-27T02:39:57Z")
> [@whitetho](#): > > I don’t remember any radio stations having “30s Weekends” in the 1970s. That crowd had The Lawrence Welk Show. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/106 "2022-01-27T03:30:07Z")
> [@Great\_Antibob](#): > > > [@suranyi](#): > > > > Just to take one example: Six years ago few Americans had heard of BTS. Even their genre was not very familiar. Now they sell out stadiums worldwide in minutes. > > Good example…of the point you didn’t understand. > > BTS didn’t make it big on riding Spotify or traditional Radio. At least in the US. K-Pop still gets virtually zero radio airplay in the US. Their US popularity was driven by an army of kids forcing the traditional US music powers to recognize times had changed. And they did that mainly over social media and patforms. K-Pop bands have pretty much given up on the traditional US music industry. It’s built for a different (read: older and slightly out of touch) audience. The band was selling out stadium shows worldwide before most of us in the US even realized they existed. It’s a case where their huge international popularity forced itself on our consciousness than vice-versa. > > Going by the author of the piece in the OP, BTS would be some weird outlier that some how came out of nowhere. But clearly it’s not. Times changed but some of us have not changed as much. > > It speaks more to many of us just not getting the modern music scene because it no longer looks like what it did when we were younger. [And now they have a song with Coldplay.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YqPKLZF_WU) Eventually all bands either feature on a track or become actual clones of Coldplay ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/107 "2022-01-27T03:46:46Z")
> [@Yookeroo](#): > > > [@msmith537](#): > > > > However I would argue that the [Top 40, from say…1992](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1992) represented a wider cross section of more distinct musical genres. Nirvana, Guns & Roses, Boys II Men, Michael Jackson, En Vogue, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Eric Clapton, etc. > > Who cares? People who want to turn on the radio or Spotify and not have every song sound like Coldplay I suppose. > [@DPRK](#): > > No artist wants to sound like everybody else. But the music business does tend to try and replicate the last artist that made it big. Which is why every song on the radio sounds more or less the same. Which is why no one listens to the radio anymore. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/108 "2022-01-27T04:37:26Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > [And now they have a song with Coldplay.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YqPKLZF_WU) Eventually all bands either feature on a track or become actual clones of Coldplay Ewwwww. Curiosity has poisoned my YouTube cookie with Coldplay. Yes, I watched the whole thing just to know how bad it is. It was not better than Cats, I would not want to watch it again and again. Hah! But maybe I can poison the algorithm by searching for music I like now. Ehh, either way, I’ll enjoy it. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/109 "2022-01-27T04:41:54Z")
I remember someone asking in a chatroom in the early 90s right before no doubt garbage etc took the airwaves "why do all the girls sound like they’re auditioning for the pet shop boys? " ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/110 "2022-01-27T07:44:00Z")
Had to… [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/YOrt6Daq2q0/maxresdefault.jpg "Amanda Palmer + Mitch Benn "Everything Sounds Like Coldplay Now" Live at Bush Hall") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOrt6Daq2q0) And the inevitable follow up [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/n2pdv6faw8M/hqdefault.jpg "Now Coldplay Sound Like Everyone Else - Mitch Benn - The Now Show") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2pdv6faw8M) ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/111 "2022-01-27T08:05:53Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > Are you going to hear all this new music on the radio? in a video game? in a movie? on a commercial? Where’s the money for the new artists? Perhaps on social media, that costs nothing and has no barriers to entry? Anyone who wishes to get their music out to the general public has a much easier path to self-publishing. The rest is down to whether enough people think it has any worth. That does mean that you will be up against far more modern artists that are trying to do the same _plus_ all the greatest music from history that is pretty much free and easily accessible to all. Will you stand out? maybe, maybe not. No individual _deserves_ to make a fortune or even a living from music that can’t find an audience in that market. The world has changed, the digital genie is out of the bottle and you are never going to reverse it. People treat and consume music very differently and the rewards from it may well be diferent as well. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/112 "2022-01-27T12:25:59Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I sometimes wonder if Andre 3000 regrets the line “Shake it like a Polaroid picture”. It was a deliberately retro reference even when made, so I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/113 "2022-01-27T12:47:29Z")
Never mind - already done… ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/114 "2022-01-27T14:00:10Z")
It does occur to me that there was a whole generation of kids introduced to older music through video games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band starting around 2005. I watched _Iron Man_ with my nieces on cable back around 2009, and they were singing along with Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” playing during the end credits. I was really surprised they were familiar with the song and when I asked them about it they said it was in Guitar Hero. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/115 "2022-01-27T15:09:15Z")
Man, the world is STILL not ready for Devo. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/116 "2022-01-27T15:42:47Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > To make the equivalent of $30,000 a year you need 10,000,000 Spotify streams per year. I don’t think there’s ever been a point where you just put out a track and sit on the couch opening sacks of money. You put on live shows, you try to get signed by a label, you put your songs on all the other streaming services and Youtube, etc. But the jackpot can still happen. A 17 year old name GAYLE put out a song last fall called “abcdefu”. I heard it on Spotify, thought it was fun and liked it. A few weeks later, my wife was in the car, heard it and said it was blowing up on Tiktok. I just looked and it has over 316,000,000 listens on Spotify alone right now less than six months later. And another six million for the various remixes. So, by your metric, that’s $975,000 for that song (she’s since put out others) just from Spotify in the last six months. So I’d say lottery winners still happen. ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/117 "2022-01-27T18:19:35Z")
> [@scabpicker](#): > > Really, most musicians are going to make music no matter if you hear it or not. Creating it solves an itch in and of itself. “Everything is Free” is a pretty good take on it: Yes, musicians don’t need to be paid. It’s a higher calling. > [@suranyi](#): > > I don’t understand what you’re saying. Is it that it’s impossible for new musicians to make good money? Because that’s clearly incorrect. Just to take one example: Six years ago few Americans had heard of BTS. Even their genre was not very familiar. Now they sell out stadiums worldwide in minutes. A band put together by the label to meet a look and sound. Great example of organic success. > [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Perhaps on social media, that costs nothing and has no barriers to entry? Anyone who wishes to get their music out to the general public has a much easier path to self-publishing. The rest is down to whether enough people think it has any worth. Give it away for free and hope. That’s a good approach. > [@Jophiel](#): > > I don’t think there’s ever been a point where you just put out a track and sit on the couch opening sacks of money. You put on live shows, you try to get signed by a label, you put your songs on all the other streaming services and Youtube, etc. All the labels are owned by the same few companies. A live show might make you a hundred bucks a piece and you’re three years into Covid. Merch was a driver, but T-shirts only go so far and you can’t sell CD’s or tapes. You’re stuck selling retro vinyl to a much smaller niche of fans. You don’t want to release any new material without backing it with a tour. Other streaming services are basically back to “Give it away for free and hope” You know those folks that busk in the alleyway or on the sidewalk. That’s everyone now. Hoping for a donation that’s probably not coming. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/118 "2022-01-27T18:24:36Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > Give it away for free and hope. That’s a good approach. When has it ever been any different? Bands would get by gigging and put their own money into making demos in the hope of getting picked up. Nothing wrong with giving people a taster for free and if they like you enough they may pay for other stuff, other music, gigs, merch. Your work is only worth what people are willing to pay for it. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/119 "2022-01-27T18:44:32Z")
[How Much Musicians Actually Earn](https://output.com/blog/how-much-musicians-actually-earn) > The data doesn’t lie: DIY artists make up a fast-growing sector of the music industry. According to a report by MIDIA Research, unsigned artists releasing music without the help of a label made up 6.3 percent of all Spotify streams in 2020 — a dramatic 28 percent increase from 2019. > […] > In summary, the average working musician earns $35,300 USD gross revenue annually from their music career, counting income from a variety of sources. So while that number sounds low, it isn’t the whole picture. > […] > There are variables. Genre makes a difference. For example, rock musicians make less money on compositions than other genres. But classical musicians make more. And as the study suggests, the older you are and the more experience you have, the more money you make. Musicians aged 18-29 earn an average of $28,260 in a year, musicians aged 40-49 earn an average of $63,900 in a year. Pretty simple and on-trend with life in general. > […] > According to the RIAA, streaming made up 83 percent of total music industry revenue in 2020, growing from 13.4 percent in the previous year. The exact amount you make per Spotify stream varies depending on factors such as the country of the listener and whether or not you are signed to a major label that has an agreement with the service. > > By most estimates, you earn just over $3.00 for every 1,000 Spotify streams — and that’s _before_ you account for the record label’s share (if you have a label, that is). > > That doesn’t seem like a lot, but consider how it used to be just 20 years ago when the record industry still ran on CDs. You pretty much _needed_ a label deal to get your music out there in any meaningful way. In that sense, streaming has leveled the playing field. It honestly doesn’t sound much different from all the other arts. How many people are making bank on acting or painting or writing or making pottery, etc? Very few compared to the massive number of people who will never make more than side-gig profit from it. But the modern music scene makes it much easier to make some side-gig profit than back in the day when your audience was whoever from your workplace you could guilt into seeing you play at the bar that weekend. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320/120 "2022-01-27T20:46:00Z")
> [@Johnny\_Q](#): > > Had to… > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOrt6Daq2q0](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOrt6Daq2q0) > > And the inevitable follow up > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2pdv6faw8M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2pdv6faw8M) I think it’s telling that this clips is 14 years old and everything STILL sounds like Coldplay and Coldplay still sounds like everything! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-old-music-killing-new-music/958320.md?page=7)