Will there ever be music as good as or better than music from the late 1960’s and early 1970’s? I do not think there ever will be. I think the music of that era is something unobtainable and impossible to reproduce or surpass. I think that 250 years from now people will still be listening to that music.
It’s deeply unfashionable to suggest (at least in some quarters) that modern-day music isn’t as good as that of days gone by, that everything has been done by now, and that there are only a limited number of harmonic arrangements that the human ear can find pleasing.
For those who agree with the above viewpoint, they might draw the line at some other juncture than the one you did (I would place it sometime in the early to mid 80’s-I think grunge conclusively showed that rock-broad umbrella definition-had reached its limits). Since you only gave two choices, with no (customary) NOTA option, I didn’t vote.
There definitely was a heck of a lot of innovation from the mid-60’s through the next ~two decades or so-art forms rarely undergo such dramatic renaissances like that, and in that respect we were fortunate.
I know one thing-it is pretty hard for me, on a personal level, to find good stuff anymore. Any time someone suggests that I listen to modern day group X’s new release, I am underwhelmed by the limp melodies, the often off-key singing, lifeless rhythm sections, and humdrum lyrics (yes for me at least they are important). It often seems like I can go back to a band from years ago, point at them and declare that they did it better than these new kids on the block do. But yes that could easily be me, and not the musicians in question…
One thing which I have found a bit surprising is in that review the last song thread that I started. Very rarely has anyone indicated that they had their socks wowed off by what the last poster suggested-much more often I see some pretty casual dismissals (yes some by me!). Even lukewarm endorsements have been fairly rare.
“Ever” is a long time. But not in the foreseeable future.
You are officially an old person. Please pick up your fanny pack and your clip-on sunglasses that go over your reading glasses at the front desk.
Well the answer is incredibly subjective. I doubt the OP will ever be convinced there is or will be better music produced than the music he grew up with.
I’m younger. I prefer the music from the late 70s and 80s. So to me your poll makes a ridiculous assumption.
Probably 80% of my music collection is from 1965-1975. I am one of those old farts who only listens to the music he grew up with.
Having said that, I can declare with absolute confidence that good music continues to be created and will continue to be created. And in 250 years people will be able to name about as many artists as we can name from the late 17th century.
White tennis shoes!
1- Thanks for the tip on the poll, I will remember that next time
2- Thanks for a very good explanation
3- Why, specifically do you not like grunge Music
I am about to turn 43 
Young(ish) people can be old people. You’re proof. 
music being polled here is rock music.
plenty of other forms of music were good long before then and into current times.
it was something in the water.
I’m guessing that your average 16-year-old thinks the music they listen to is better. Unless they are a 16-year-old who hangs out around with people a lot older than they are.
And I’m guessing that middle-aged people in the 60s and 70s weren’t that fond of music from the 60s and 70s.
I love music from the 60s and 70s. But I’ve got playlists for all the decades since then, and I have to say that I love the music of my youth (80s and 90s) more. I’m listening to kd lang’s “Constant Craving” right now–a song that takes me back to 1992, the year I first developed a musical consciousness. Music is so much more than melody and harmony and rhythm. It’s also the stuff you can’t measure–like emotional depth–and it’s also stuff that is personal–like what that song makes you think about when you hear it.
Now Jimi’s “Hey Joe” is playing on my Spotify. An awesome song, no doubt. But is it better than “Constant Craving”? I’m guessing a lot would say yes. But for me, I cannot say that. All the nostalgic memories I have of “Hey Joe” have been planted from movies and TV commercials targeted at Boomers. But the songs I grew up listening to are my soundtrack. Why wouldn’t I like them more?
My guess is that in twenty years, we’re all gonna be hearing the very best of today’s music being played in movies and TV commercials and thinking to ourselves, “Hey, the music from the 2010s actually wasn’t all that bad!” Just like when we hear “Hey Joe”, we think all songs from that time period were just as great.
Actually, it’s happening now. The oldies-but-goodies channels have dropped a lot of the lamer “oldies” songs from their rotations and replaced them with the songs of the 80s. Oldies stations used to be what I’d tune into only while waiting for NPR to wrap up a boring news segment. But now I can go four or five songs before I hear a song I don’t like. I can usually go only three songs with the classic rock station (Pink Floyd and The Doors chase me away).
Music, collectively, is subject to the Law of Entropy. As time marches on, it gets more and more disorganized and chaotic.
Of course there will be good or better music in the future. There’s good or better music now.
I very much enjoyed the music I grew up with, but I think some of the music I am enjoying now that was made recently is better.
Given the volume and variety of music currently produced and available, I believe it is harder to easily find ‘the great stuff’. But it’s there.
For example, I enjoyed Metal (Priest, Iron Maiden, Metallica, etc) and Progressive (Yes, King Crimson, Genesis, etc) from the late 70’s through the 90’s. Today I am totally addicted to Porcupine Tree and their offshoots, Steven Wilson and John Wesley. Accidentally stumbled on them years ago and never looked back.
Well the electric guitar won’t ever be new again, or will experimenting with big, tube/valve amplifiers. So the music created when the pioneers were pushing those particular boundaries is the stuff we typically think of.
everybody thinks the music they latched on to in middle school or high school is the pinnacle of perfection and it’s all been shit since then.
Thre’s some confirmation bias too. You only are likely to hear a small subset of what was produced then. Look through the Billboard top 100 for those years and good luck remembering all of the bands let alone the songs. Even among the most popular songs I bet most of us can find something we think sucks in that time period. The crap got taken out back and buried. When looking at new music you don’t have that filter.
Everyone knows rock attained perfection in 1974, it’s a scientific fact
ok, some comments worth thinking about…
Agreed with everything, the whole post, but particularly the part above. I was born in 1972. Graduated high school spring, 1991. So I was a college Freshman in Fall 1991. I remember I was watching MTV in the lobby when “Smells Like Teen Spirit” came on. I knew in an instant that Rock And Roll had just completely changed. What an awesome time to be alive and of age. How can I possibly describe to someone how visceral and personal that was, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, not just the music but the message too.
I still think, however that 1965-1975 produced “better” music but what is closer to my heart is the 1990’s.
Of course, there are very few recordings of musicians from the late 17th century for the kids these days to listen to…