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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Interesting article - pretty long, I'll read the whole thing later. I used to work in retail and wholesale record business from '74 - '84, and the record business today is nothing like it was back then; the business is different, the model is different, the consumer is different. But I notice he brings up the Grammies - are they really significant anymore? I don't know, maybe they are, but I never cared one bit about them and never watched them. And to me, there is no 'good music' or 'bad music' - there's music I like and music I don't like, but I try to make no value judgements. 

If going against R&R hall of fame or general pop stuff, then yes. Otherwise things a-bit different outside of pop and R&R hall of pop.

@mike_in_nc :

"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".

In my twenties I grew bored with Rock and began a still--ongoing exploration of Jazz. Now in my late 60's, I've been compelled to recognize that my capacity for appreciating unfamiliar music is inherently limited by deeply-ingrained subjective preferences. Now, I spend more time than ever  searching for music to buy and I buy less and less. Perhaps this is inevitable. It is also disappointing. 

...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. 

I'm not sure where to look it up but my guess is that current artists rake in a lot more money than older artists. Record companies are not in the business of supporting new artists, they are in the business of selling product. Nothing has changed except the delivery system and huge social media platforms.

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