Is today's music inferior compared to older music?

mr_fegelien · 13-08-2020 5:20pm #1

This seems to be a sentiment that is expressed by many who lived through music of the 60s to 80s.

My teacher has said that "they just don't make music like they used to". He says that there's good music today, but it's far more difficult to sort from the generic crap played on the radio.

I would admit as a person in my early 20s, I listen to mostly 80s new wave (Duran Duran, Sting, Modern English, Joy Division, Human League, Pet Shop Boys) and 60s jazz (Dean Martin, Bobby Darin, Frank Sinatra, Julie London, Dave Brubeck).

The explanation I've heard which might make sense is that people only think today's music is inferior because they are suffering from the cognitive bias, rosy retrospection. They think the music in the past was better when in reality, they're only remembering the good music from the 60-80s. Today, we are listening to the good and bad music being made but in 2030 and 2040 when people look back, they'll also think the music of our generation is cool because only the good music from the 2000s and 2010s will have 'survived'.

Thrashssacre · 13-08-2020 5:22pm

Music now is technically and objectively better now then it's ever been.

Dravokivich · 13-08-2020 5:24pm

I wouldn't focus too much on when the music is from, if I was to consider it poor, it'll be on its own merits. Or a lack of them as it so happens.

Limpy · 13-08-2020 5:28pm

Some music is timeless. Not all stuff from before was good, just like today. Some music is intergenerational and speaks to the listener the same way.

BorneTobyWilde · 13-08-2020 5:29pm

Queen Bohemian Rhapsody v Harry Styles singing about strawberries and water melons

Yea I think music today's is a sound-byte for the masses, all wrote by writers and sang by those aesthetically pleasing

Dave147 · 13-08-2020 5:31pm

Thrashssacre wrote:

Music now is technically and objectively better now then it's ever been.

Nice troll. Besides the New Retro Wave stuff like The Midnight, Timecop1984 and FM 84 music is terrible. I'm mainly referring to the mainstream crap.

BorneTobyWilde · 13-08-2020 5:31pm

Today people would look at Freddy Mercury's teeth, and say ''NEXT''

paddythere · 13-08-2020 5:34pm

Music is dead as far as I can see

touts · 13-08-2020 5:39pm

In the past you had to be good to get a record deal so that was a natural filter.

Now half the world seems to be a ****ing singer on YouTube etc. I know one local lad who even held weekly concerts on Facebook to help his "fans" get through the lockdown. I've heard him sing. He wouldn't even get a PFO letter from a record company in the past. Now he has "fans".

There is still good music being made now. It's just there is an absolute torrent of bad bad bad music.

kenmm · 13-08-2020 5:43pm

There is simply more music now that there was before. More good, more bad. The signal to noise ratio may be a little out of kilter because its also easier for your average person to release music, but no - I don't think generally we are getting less talented.

The J Stands for Jay · 13-08-2020 5:45pm

To rebuttal to every one of these threads is: turn on BBC 4 and watch Top of the Pops. I believe they're up to the late 1980s now. Most of the music from whatever alleged "golden period" is being discussed was ****e, exactly as it is today. The good music is always hidden by the finish of the day. Time filters out the dross.

Limpy · 13-08-2020 5:47pm

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Queen Bohemian Rhapsody v Harry Styles singing about strawberries and water melons

Yea I think music today's is a sound-byte for the masses, all wrote by writers and sang by those aesthetically pleasing

Bad comparison..FM was a genius of his time like the Bach, Beethoven's and Beatles ect.

At the same time FM couldn't do what Liam Howlett or a Max Martins have to in recent times.

Conall Cernach · 13-08-2020 5:49pm

McGaggs wrote: »

To rebuttal to every one of these threads is: turn on BBC 4 and watch Top of the Pops. I believe they're up to the late 1980s now. Most of the music from whatever alleged "golden period" is being discussed was ****e, exactly as it is today. The good music is always hidden by the finish of the day. Time filters out the dross.

The late 80s was a particularly bad time for pop music. It's amazing how far it fell after the surprisingly good early 80s.

Anesthetize · 13-08-2020 5:50pm

Music is currently at it's most diverse.

Also, music labels are the worst filters for music, as their goal is to make money from it. There's plenty of websites and Spotify playlists to browse instead.

Say Your Number · 13-08-2020 5:52pm

Any time Reeling in the Years is on, or I'm listening to a Golden Hour type programme cheesy and mediocre music is never far away, every time this thread pops up you'd swear there wasn't a bad piece of music released between 1960 and 2000.

Limpy · 13-08-2020 5:52pm

Conall Cernach wrote: »

The late 80s was a particularly bad time for pop music. It's amazing how far it fell after the surprisingly good early 80s.

I dont agree, i think 1984 was the greatest year in pop music history.

Plus you had prime Michael Jackson who's music defined pop in the 80s.

the purple tin · 13-08-2020 6:00pm

The popular music of the day is nearly always crap. You can go on websites that let you pick a date and see the top 40 and it is usually 90% tripe.
The good bands are usually further down the charts or in and out quite fast.

I suppose it had to do with singles too: a serious music fan will buy an album rather than a single.

greasepalm · 13-08-2020 6:00pm

Was talking to a m8 weeks ago and he said music on vinyl was better as you could hear the music,{ needle hopping and scratching on mine } Music now is altered and not original when recorded.
I do like good sounds of music and would spend a bit of money to listen to it through good speakers,tweeters and woofers.

mr_fegelien · 13-08-2020 6:04pm

greasepalm wrote: »

Was talking to a m8 weeks ago and he said music on vinyl was better as you could hear the music,{ needle hopping and scratching on mine } Music now is altered and not original when recorded.
I do like good sounds of music and would spend a bit of money to listen to it through good speakers,tweeters and woofers.

I thought that was because music recorded on VINYL is FLAC (a lossless audio format) whereas most music nowadays if in .MP3 format which removes frequencies not perceptible to the human ear.

Dravokivich · 13-08-2020 6:10pm

mr_fegelien wrote: »

I thought that was because music recorded on VINYL is FLAC (a lossless audio format) whereas most music nowadays if in .MP3 format which removes frequencies not perceptible to the human ear.

Nope, its the difference between analogue production and digital production. Flac from a digital perspective is a lossless codec. But there is a loss between analogue and digital production formats. For the most part we can't actually hear them, becuase the frequencies that get cut off through digital production exceed the range we can hear. We are able to feel a difference with it though to a degree.

the purple tin · 13-08-2020 6:15pm

Dravokivich wrote: »

Nope, its the difference between analogue production and digital production. Flac from a digital perspective is a lossless codec. But there is a loss between analogue and digital production formats. For the most part we can't actually hear them, becuase the frequencies that get cut off through digital production exceed the range we can hear. We are able to feel a difference with it though to a degree.

Is it true that the original master tapes from the recording studio have a sound quality far superior to the vinyl, cd, digital whatever. I think Neil Young said it in his book.

GLaDOS · 13-08-2020 6:15pm

Still plenty of music being made that I love and that's all I care about.

Dravokivich · 13-08-2020 6:21pm

the purple tin wrote: »

Is it true that the original master tapes from the recording studio have a sound quality far superior to the vinyl, cd, digital whatever. I think Neil Young said it in his book.

I've never heard a master tape straight, but I wouldn't expect it to be absolute. The issue with Neil youngs statement, is he's talking not just about the medium which holds the recording, but the environment it was produced and played back in. We will never get that and for a large amount of time, music was produced to be played back on mono radios, then in car radios and now they are targeting headphones.

So from a consumer point of view, we should look at comfort and accessibility to be honest.

Digital production has and continues to improve with higher sample rates available now, which leads to more of the sound being captured during the recording process, this will improve more over time as the tech improves. Here's hoping cubase will stop defaulting to 48!

beauf · 13-08-2020 6:32pm

Well its more about this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFaRIW-wZlw

That said once you forget about main stream media, you start looking around youtube and other sources. You find loads of amazing musicians and music. Its just can't get airplay in the traditional way.

But lots of great music around, especially live. Since that where someone who wants to work or have a career in music will be.

I like the Jam in the Van series...

AMKC · 13-08-2020 6:32pm

I honestly would not have a clue who is in the charts or who is singing these days whereas in the 90s I knew all the artists including the crap ones like Blur and Oasis.
To the OPs question yes I think the music of the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s is way better than any of the music out today. Hell even if you follow or like someones music today you can not own it on a C.D or tape so what's the point. They don't release singles or Albums to buy anymore. So as a poster above said its dead and I agree. To me the modern music industry if there is one does not really exist.

Zookey123 · 13-08-2020 6:44pm

I think what ruined majority of modern day music is MTV and how music videos made it more about image and less about the quality of music being produced. As stated early queens freddie mercury would find it hard in the modern world to be as ubiquitous as he was in the 70s. However I must say that their is still some great musicians out their but you probably wont find them at the top of the charts.

AMKC · 13-08-2020 6:50pm

Zookey123 wrote: »

I think what ruined majority of modern day music is MTV and how music videos made it more about image and less about the quality of music being produced. As stated early queens freddie mercury would find it hard in the modern world to be as ubiquitous as he was in the 70s. However I must say that their is still some great musicians out their but you probably wont find them at the top of the charts.

I disagree. What has ruined it is that it's all about downloads now. Downloads and streaming is and has ruined most of the Movie, Music,T.V and even the games industry but it to a lesser extent.

beauf · 13-08-2020 7:01pm

You need to forget about the charts.

You can explore music now in a way that wasn't possible in the past. You're just looking in the wrong places.

Rothko · 13-08-2020 7:01pm

BorneTobyWilde wrote: »

Queen Bohemian Rhapsody v Harry Styles singing about strawberries and water melons

Yea I think music today's is a sound-byte for the masses, all wrote by writers and sang by those aesthetically pleasing

I didn't realise that Harry Styles was the only person out there making music today.

Rodin · 13-08-2020 7:03pm

Wild youth, Picture this, Dernot Kennedy....

Awful, awful stuff.

GLaDOS · 13-08-2020 7:10pm

AMKC wrote: »

I honestly would not have a clue who is in the charts or who is singing these days whereas in the 90s I knew all the artists including the crap ones like Blur and Oasis.
To the OPs question yes I think the music of the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s is way better than any of the music out today. Hell even if you follow or like someones music today you can not own it on a C.D or tape so what's the point. They don't release singles or Albums to buy anymore. So as a poster above said its dead and I agree. To me the modern music industry if there is one does not really exist.

With all due respect, artists absolutely do release albums and singles and both digital and physical (well maybe not physical singles) formats. Well certainly the bands I listen to do.

Is today's music inferior compared to older music?

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