Pt 2: Why is current music so unappealing to older generations? #6

     As you might have read in the first installment of this post, new and unconventional music has been continuously rejected by the norm for years. Is it the rebellion from such social norms that causes new genres to be rejected, or is it the fear that new music will bring forth a societal change? In many ways, it’s both. Music has always been a driving force in culture and is consumed by almost everyone in the world, so naturally different types of idealisms and cultures have their own types of music. To understand why society is so hostile to sonic change, we need to understand society’s nature as a whole. Societal norms are in essence, a comfort zone for large groups of people, so naturally there is a resistance to any form of change. The fear of the unknown has affected people since the beginning of time and the misunderstanding of the youth has been a constant theme since the birth of the domestic household. This is a partial explanation for the existence of generation gaps between the old and the youth.

     One of the biggest disagreements between these gaps is the music that each generation listens to. I hypothesize that this is because different types of music convey emotion in their own unique way, and different generations interpret their emotions differently due to the environment they were brought up in. Music also reflects a certain set of ideas and morals that may differ from generation to generation.The simple existence of the cell phone has changed us psychologically on a fundamental level. We now interpret information in short bursts due to social media and other pass times found on the internet, and our music reflects that. Music is more dynamic, complicated, and fast paced than it ever has been before; and that may be appealing to us, but for older generations who are more used to the limited technology of their time, it’s an earful.


     That’s another reason music is so much different now than it ever has been before: the advancements in technology have essentially enabled all art forms to have limitless possibilities. Before the 2000’s, music still had a limit to what could be created sonically. There used to be a restriction on how many tracks could be recorded and the different types of sounds that could be implemented, but those limits don’t exist anymore. Due to these advancements, music has changed dramatically since the beginning of the 21^st century. It’s an artist’s dream; no limits, an infinite platform to release their music onto, and a generation that is always craving something new. Before artists wanted to push people out of their comfort zones, but now many artists have trouble even keeping up. I think that’s why music and art in general are going to change drastically within the next 10 or 15 years. Artists are going to need to take a new approach to addressing their audience if they are going to continue to redraft society.