I, too, am ignorant of most modern music. But, if I can use my own 70+ years of experience as a guide, I think there’s unlikely to be many songs that will be played in 50 years. It’s not that I don’t think that there’s no quality music with enduring characteristics, it’s that the model has changed. The popular songs that endure from the last 50 years are usually those that had close associations with events, relationships, activities, and people. The old models of listening to radio, sharing that LP you just bought at a party, watching MTV, breaking up after a slow dance at the prom, etc., are basically gone.
When I broke up with Cheryl Simpson (who, BTW, totally didn’t deserve me), “If You Could Read My Mind” seemed to play on WLEE 1480 every couple hours as I drove around or listened to my GE 7-transistor radio.
And it’s not just us Boomers. My parents were buying Vera Lynn albums just a couple years before they passed. WWII was a big part of their lives.
My wife just (wisely…and beautifully) adds that music was very often “imposed” on us when we were young. With no Spotify, YT, or streaming, we listened to what the (live) DJs thought we should. We ended up listening to Captain Beefheart records at parties because the guy who brought the beer was a big fan. MTV played whatever made the biggest numbers. But you get the idea.
I didn’t WANT to hear “Sweet Caroline” every time Lee drove me to football practice in the morning, but I had to. I think WLEE must have been on that payola list…
I don’t doubt that songs by Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Drake, etc. will be played 50 years from now. Will I be listening to them? Probably not (since I rarely listen to them now), but there are plenty of people who are in their formative music-listening years today.