Is Old Music Killing New Music?

If one is not streaming they'll have a difficult time discovering new music today. I quit listening to mass consumption music after early 70's, only place to hear more ambitious music was the underground/freeform fm and university stations. After undergound/freeform stations went away, left to university stations and a few specialty shows on commercial fm for this up until I discovered streaming.

While I have at least 2500 cd's and 3,000 albums from all eras and most genres I was losing interest in music constantly rotating the usual suspects of collections. Streaming is like having unlimited underground fm and university stations, and I get to be the DJ!

Going to see Beach House this weekend with my older brother and his son. The typical concert I go these days pretty much devoid of boomers.

@jssmith 

It's very formulaic. Songs are now written by committee, so they're dumbed down to a common denominator.

I am quoting just a snip of your excellent comment. This is I think is the most accurate analysis of what "popular" new music has now become. Record companies have always been in pursuit of commoditizing music into a simple consumable product. Everyone sounds and looks the same. Just like vanilla ice cream.  

Top 40 music may be controlled and commercialized but I wouldn’t say that about the music out of the mainstream.

I’m speaking about rock music now but I’m not sure if the artists like Jim James, Conor Oberst, and Les Claypool would go for their music being dumbed down.

@femoore12, I tend to agree.

Parents and schools just don’t push their kids into the arts (music, theater, art, etc.) like they used to do decades ago.

Though this brings back a very vivid fond memory. During the summer of 2016 I attended a High School Musical performance in Carriere Mississippi and was just flabbergasted by these young performers. I’m talking one right after thee other. But check this out ... finishing act, just two tracks laid down by a 5 piece band in tribute of Prince and his passing earlier in the year. My mood shifted from flabbergasted to gobsmacked instantly, for they totally nailed it and were firing on all cylinders. What we would call, PRAT ;-)

I always have hope ....

Those tracks ... Let’s Go Crazy and Purple Rain

I listen to jazz and classical mostly but otherwise have been part of the music biz for over five decades as a musician (not jazz, I'm not that smart) and (more recent decades) a live sound mixer. The music biz has never been a good idea for a career (I was lucky for many years), and neither have any of the other arts. Period. Touring always sucked for all but the very few, record companies pretty much consistently ripped everyone off in any way possible, and for 99.9% of musicians...well...get a gig in the local bar scene? What's that? Be a solo artist and practice your ass off and get VERY good, and do the "coffee house" thing. Play French Horn in Les Miz. Otherwise it's DJ or zip. Get good but don't expect financial success and you might not go insane.

There's lots of great new stuff from all over the world for the tiny minority of jazz freaks like me, and streaming has turned me on to some amazing music I likely never would have stumbled on otherwise. Modern Pop music...mostly just don't care about it with a couple of exceptions...but really...meh...