You can definitely still have that if you join the (still existing) mainstream. Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, etc are all ubiquitous. However, if you're lucky enough to find someone who enjoys similar stuff while choosing freely instead of having the choice made for them, I'd say there's potential for higher quality and deeper bonding
Yes 100% agree, it's a weird time. Not bad entirely but not good, and despite the opportunities technology now offers young artists to produce and share their music worldwide in an instant, the power of the algorhythm is still massively skewed by the major labels dollars. Hopefully, that will change but it's hard to see the new era emerging when we are in the fog of whatever this era is called, if indeed it has a name? One era I think Rick missed was the "Emo" genre of the mid 00s which was pretty big worldwide, but after that I'd agree it's hard to point to any genre or "era" that has been dominant or groundbreaking; that has created, as you say, "the shared experience". The closest I can think of is Taylor Swift and her insanely passionate fanbase, but I would hardly call it a genre. Strange times indeed, but I am sure that music will find a way to continue to delight and inspire us until the sun burns out 😎
@@FredPriest-ud6cu That was an amazing time. Seems crazy now, even to me, but whoever got hold of the "latest" big album, we'd all head to theirs or someone elses house to check it out together. It was an event - usually with some beer and weed to enhance of course lol. Closest I get to that these days, and it's almost as exciting, is if a friend sends me a spotify or TH-cam link and says "Check this out" and that's how I have discovered some of my favourite new bands of today. it's fine, but its not the same ya know.
It's not just music. It's everything around us that lacks a discernible era. I went into a grocery store the other day that I first walked into 20 years when it was brand new. They have never refurbished or renovated it, yet it looks exactly like every modern grocery store today, even brand new ones. Now think about the difference between a grocery store in the 70's vs. just ten years later into the 80's. A complete change in appearance. This is why I think "vintage" eras are so cherished now. Because they were distinctive and I think people hunger for that.
There's clothing as well. Watch a tv show from the early 2000s. The fashion is very similar and it's because you no longer have an organic growth of individual styles that slowly marches across the country in waves. Now you can see what everyone is wearing instantly.
@@rheeslane9529 💯! I have noticed this as well. Clothing changed dramatically each decade from the 1940’s through the 1990’s, but for the past 25 years fashion has been basically the same. It’s a weird phenomenon.
Rick - I’m 73 years old and have lived through many of the genres you mentioned. I find your videos and your introspective look at the music industry so fascinating. Always enjoy listening to your insights and your wonderful interviews.
I first got into pop music as a 5th grader in 1963, when my school bus driver in suburban New Jersey always played AM top forty - either WABC or WMCA in New York City. Four years later, living in New Mexico, I was listening to clear-channel KOMA from Oklahoma City every night. I think those format radio stations (and even the concept of AM clear channels) are long gone.
@@pickles224 wow, you are really going to say 'a lot of his insights are wrong', and then just duck out instead of giving data... examples... proof? wouldn't you find that behavior cowardly (or at least lazy) if you saw others exhibiting it? give us an example of where his insight is 'wrong', and back it up with your own thoughts. As for me, I find Rick's commentary to be thoughtful, educated, and passionate. Even if his facts aren't 100.000% correct, I'll take his insights over mean-spirited, any time!
Rick. Thank you for all of your hard work and helpful lessons, interviews and perspectives. You have enriched my life. May God bless you and yours this Christmas and always.
I am of two minds here: The ability to curate your own individual playlists is very cool and feels freeing. HOWEVER, the sense of a shared experience and cohesion that we all felt in the 60's and 70's, where all of us knew the words to those songs....that was something special and important. I don't think young people can really know what that felt like....to feel like you were all connected and joined together by a common experience. It created a sense of "generational cohesion". It felt right....and comforting. Perhaps "Swifties" have that now..
I think people still have the shared experiences that generate cohesion you speak of. However, they are an order of magnitude more niche while also evolving incredibly rapidly. You might share an incredibly memorable experience but as part of one of a billion online communities. There will always be things that break through, but even those are very short-lived now. Culture has almost become individualised.
Yes, this is the main take away. We can be fans of many types of music, but the genres were cornerstones of shared youth culture. It doesn't exist Iike that anymore with my teenagers and their friends.
Witness that Spotify has over 6,000 genres competing for the ears of its listening/subscribed audience. During my 30+ years in the music business interests in artists and songs was generated by radio and labels run by people with a musical knowledge and a vested interest in the success of their product. For better or worse that changed with the advent of downloading and streaming that, in my mind, changed music and listening patterns inexorably.
All very well, but……if you don’t like the dominant music it can lead to feeling intense isolation. or as in my case while I was growing up simply believing “I don’t like music”.
Yeah right 👍it was the radio era...nothing like hanging out with your buddies and pals and everyone would sing along to the songs in the radio 📻...everyone knew the same songs 🎵
...and i just read an article accusing Spotify of loading up its official playlists with pieces composed/performed by "ghosts" that are packaged by third party companies. This is designed to lower Spotify's royalty pmts. Just friggin sick
I agree. We are in the "playlist" phase were algorisms, need it now, and instant gratification rule the music world. Something that came of it this, good or bad, is musical acts can no longer be put into a category, they just are.
I miss the old days. I grew up in the 90s and I miss the new album buzz. I miss going to record stores. Change is inevitable but I'm old enough to have some serious nostalgia.
Hey I’m a kid today, growing up through the 2010s and there’s still great music being released and there’s still tons of hype around albums and singles, if you wanna check out the website ‘albumoftheyear’ it’s a really good way to find popular albums/artists that are good today!
@@TheNinjapancake14 They do for sure but they are few and far between, not like in the 90s when every town had at least one, if not more. There are now multiple options to purchase and absorb music. Back then the record store was the only way to buy the latest new album or even singles - unless you managed to time it just right to tape it off the radio broadcast😁😁.
As a younger person who listens to basically anything, I’ve found that you can kind of teach yourself to like a genre. My dad always played rock songs when i was younger, and it is my go to genre, but most of my friends listen to rap and hip hop. I didn’t really get it at first, but there were a couple of songs that i enjoyed and started listening to. Now I can appreciate rap as much as i can appreciate other things, but if i was just listening on the radio or mtv I would’ve never expanded what i listen to. The main playlist I listen to now has everything from reggae to irish drinking songs, hip hop to Mongolian throat singing rock.
@@Silv3rleaf213 ah…but what you’re not appreciating is, especially when FM radio came onto its own in the late 60’s, you could hear every type of genre on that platform. If you wanted country or top 40 hits, you got that on AM radio. But on “underground” or “college” radio, which was FM, you would get folk, soul, R&B, rock ( both blues based and prog). You have been introduced to other genres through your friends. So were we. We bought albums. We went to each other’s houses or dorm rooms and listened to them. Although there was allot of overlap because some albums EVERYBODY had, there was also variety, so we heard that too. The thing is, unless you ”silo’d” yourself to a country or jazz station, you got exposed to pretty much every genre that was out there. So your experience now, which I think might be the exception, was the experience of most of us back then. It’s just that we had ALLOT of music in common that we all knew. That was the cohesive part. We also had the variety if you wanted it.
@@Silv3rleaf213 that being said "seven drunken nights" is a classic haha, check out planxty live in the olympia 1980 if you haven't already, it's great
Yeah but that would mean dissecting genres made without physical instruments (i.e. EDM, hip-hop) and that wouldn’t pander to his following of Beatles-worshipping music purists.
I was ready to say, "we're not in a musical era, it's now a musical error". But you are correct - just like your "post-genre" idea, I find myself exploring all kinds of music on the internet that I simply can't find on the radio. It's both refreshing and freeing.
Yes. Good for you but I’m really set in my ways and cannot get myself to listen to new music cause I HATE auto-tune and my love for old music is too strong and there is still so much old music I haven’t heard. So the urge to do so is not present.
@@Funkybassplayer Can I recommend J-pop? My kids recommended it and the basslines are insane as are the vocals. It might not be everyone's cup of tea but the musicianship is off the charts compared with the 'dumbed down' stuff that passes itself off as Western pop these days. Yoasobi, Zutomayo and Fujii Kaze (actually I recommended him to my kids) are but a few examples. (As a family we are also really into vgm jazz because The Consouls are local to us)
It's also isolating because nobody else listens to or even is aware of the things you like. We all live in our own respective bubbles. Carefully curated for us by the amoral tech bros that now run the world.
I'm 57, with 3 daughters in their 20's. We are a music family. They appreciate everything from 1920's/30's blues, to jazz, to rock to electronic and everything in between. In turn, I appreciate the stuff they are listening to these days; they have turned me on to some great, new stuff. There are a lot of great bands these days making really great "real" music. I have noticed something happening over the last 5 years. There is a really strong punk resurgence happening, with kids making raw, politically and socially charged music. And clubs are filled with young kids dancing and moshing. It fills me with joy. There are also bands and singer/songwriters like Waxahatchee, Courtney Barnett, M.J. Lenderman, Kurt Vile, and many, many others. They're out there, it just takes a little effort to find them. Lastly, there are a lot of bands flying under the radar with incredibly strong followings of young fans. One in particular is The Garden. This audience may not like or appreciate their sound but they have a rabid fan base spanning generations. Go to one of their shows and the level of energy is incredible. I love seeing kids lining the sidewalk before their shows, all decked out in makeup and homemade outfits. It feels pure and it gives me hope that live music lives on. I feel we're about to see a change, maybe as an by product of the current political and social environment.
Yeah a big part of the appeal is a collective movement right. If you want that, find your local underground scene. You can still listen to and love anything. Where I am there's a resurgence in inde electronica and punk influenced movements. We call it the "Manawatu Renaissance" that has everyone doing the "slow mosh" haha
We're basically curating our own echo chamber - not just music but movies, TV series, news, politics, people we follow and many other aspects of our lives. It's why everything has become so divisive and distant from people in our own families and people sitting side by side on the bus or at work.
We're just in a content era now. Everything competes for attention. Streamers, Video Makers, Musicians, Gaming, Makers, Educators, Vloggers, Writers, Films, and even old media like Television and Radio (remember them?)
The entire music experience and consumption is so different now than when I was a teen in the 80’s. My young adult children never listed to the radio and they never watched MTV. That gives them the benefit of not bring force fed whatever the current musical fad is. They listen to diverse styles and aren’t really influenced by mass media and record company driven marketing and radio air time
Yes, content era. Amazing that someone could get 100 million TH-cam views, but nobody will remember individual videos that got this many hits 2 years from now because other content comes along & replaces it
This fits in with the increasing withdrawal of people, living linked to their mobile phones or gaming computer/console. It is about individualism rather than the communal experience as experienced by earlier decades where “genre” music and joint experiences were enjoyed together (community). It conjured a feeling shared struggles and not being the only one having growing pains. A lot of teens also sought comfort/meaning/refuge in lyrics. You could argue that this has also played a part in mental health where people no longer feel part of a group sharing the same issues and concerns. A problem shared is a problem halved.
Yeah, you're wrong. If gaming was so directly linked to withdrawal, then the Nintendo era would have been the driving force behind changes. Associating the changes with mental health struggles is really just tone deaf and idiotic. Before you say something stupid, I'm Gen X and came of age during the grunge movement.
@@stevenholderby6354 Fair enough, your opinion, just like I have mine. I am highly aware that mine is a generalisation, but does not mean it does not hold some truth. There are also other factors that should be taken into account, but i am not going to write an essay/critique on culture and society on TH-cam.
Gamer here, you are right, and the people saying that you are wrong are taking it the completely wrong way. Our society has become quite individualistic and social media has completely isolated young adults and even kids.
A friend in need is a pest. I’m an introvert, I love solitude. Look at all the genius people, now and in the past, music, science, technology, all these people have one thing in common.
As a musical artist, I love the thought of a galaxy of possibilities My songwriting style is all over the place. It is nice to not have to be put into a box. It is a blessing to be able to express myself on my terms
It seems that we're in the Discovery Era. Kids are listening to their parent's and grandparent's music. If the #1 album this year is Rumours by Fleetwood Mac, that says it all.
Great songs are great songs, my daughter got into FM about 10 years ago she is 26 now, and my youngest is 16 loves FM now,. It was the first album I bought with my own money in 1980 ( I was six, used cassettes, rumours and queen- jazz, still have them), . Real music, real instruments, and great songs can't be beat.
It seems you refer to the year-end Billboard 200 list, and Rumours is not the #1 best selling album on it by a long shot. It is number 34 and was reported as the _highest-ranking rock_ album within that list (which apparently features only 29 rock albums in total). The highest sellers are pop, hip hop, R&B and country from the last few years. Although I see some higher ranking albums are categorized as rock or its derivatives on Wikipedia, but I don't listen to those and don't know if that's accurate. For example, at number 12 there is an album called Guts by Olivia Rodrigo and Wikipedia categorizes it as "rock, pop, alternative rock, power pop". EDIT: Also, Rumours itself is basically a soft rock album. Not wrapped in an electronic production like new "rock inspired" stuff, but it's still on the so-to-speak more approachable end of rock to people who won't listen to lots of distortion and heavy riffs.
You are right. I was surprised by my kids making a 50s Crooners list on Spotify (grandparents music) and then really enjoying eg. Stevie Wonder, Toto, Steely Dan and Jamiroquai etc (my era) but also recommending Laufey to me (NOT Swift) amd J-pop. They discover past music but also wider contemporary music.
Kids were, already, gravitating towards: "their parents' music" (or things similar in style & demeanor) in the 1990s. ...and, let's face it🤷🤷: if you had older siblings (in any era from the '50s through the '90s, at least!)??: THEIR music, their tastes and their friends' tastes were what younger siblings/kids, first: learned from and gravitated towards! (OR!: became SO OFFENDED by that they, purposely, sought out "the exact opposite," BECAUSE of what those older siblings/that age group was listening to/invested in!)
"Discovery is personalised rather than collective". Spot on comment Rick! TV shows, movies etc are also in the same boat. Remember when the blockbuster Sunday night movie was watched by the whole family and discussed on monday by everyone at work and at school.
TV shows like MASH, Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends, or with me being young in the early 2000s, new episodes of Dragon Ball Z. A new episode would air on a specific dat at a specific time, and would be all the talk the next day. These days, people watch at their own convenience on demand, rather than tune in on schedule. Remember when Tiger King was on Netflix during lockdown, and half of everybody watched it, but all at their own pace and when they heard about it? Thats kind of the difference there
but at the same time there are millions who autmatically jump on the next "big" series.I feel like it started with Lost. that series was hyped out of existence. Of course later there was Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. Everybody was hyping these things up. I feel like I am the only one who never watched any of that :D
We're simply experiencing the chaos and depression of overabundance. Saturation. Satiety. When Elvis or the Beatles appeared seemingly out of nowhere, there was a relative scarcity of artists offering music and breaking social barriers, and the world was hungry for this. 6 or 7 decades of technological revolution and mass consumerism later, there seem to be almost more artists than listeners and most doors and ceilings have been broken and flung wide open. Where we go from here is anyone's guess...
I agree. I think it’s the same with television and movies. We are so over saturated now with streaming choices and within each streaming company there are hundreds of shows and movies to choose from. We are a long way from the days of 4 tv stations: abc, nbc, cbs, and pbs. Sometimes it takes me so long to choose what I want to watch, I am too tired to watch it! 😂
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To a degree but also current quality controls lack so the current stuff is an ocean of mediocrity to find one grain of sand.
we live in the golden era of music production. musical instruments are accessible, recording is accessible and ppl still love making and listening to music. it's like when the printing press was invented and publishing became accessible to 'ordinary writers'. but it takes a second for the good stuff to get distilled... record companies were 'pushing' garbage then just like the 'algorithm' is pushing it now. because some artists/albums became classics we're under the impression they came down from heaven when in reality they just managed to flood the market... not saying the music was bad but not all was that great either :). there's great and terrible music now just as it always was.
I thought I was locked in with my favorite music as well, until a couple years ago I looked up my estranged nephew on Facebook and he liked a band I never heard of, "Muse.' Needless to say, I now have 5 of their CDs.
I’m a child of the 70’s (my high school years) and still listen to the artists you mentioned but also like discovering current artists such as Doves, Elbow, Stereophonics, Johnny Marr.
I am 17. Trust me, in most karaoke parties, the hardest thing is to choose a song that everybody knows and loves by heart. There is no particular piece of music that gives everyone shivers. There's no particular style of a band/artist in a music gig or a video that everybody wants to copy. Even on internet, people fight over a song being typed as a wrong sub-sub-subgenre of a subgenre; I literally saw big fanbases splitting into pieces because of it. Post-genre era sounds cool and free, but I don't think it is as cool as music being the way of unity for the generation living in a particular era. In a short span of time, I got to discover lots of music, genres and movements happened before me, and I am quite jealous that I cannot see how music can provided a sense of union now as much as they did back then. What hurts the most is there's not many people of my generation that agree with me.
@emeraldina_music Good observations! I used to think that the genres were marketing terms invented by the advertising agencies. Then, I noticed that fans were trying to create their own genre terminology. I have trouble trying to categorize music any longer. Now I just use words to describe the instrumentation, such as acoustic piano or electric pianos or synthesizers; real drummer or samples or electronic; how many guitars; are the guitar acoustic or electric; guitar solos or not - - stuff like that. When we use words like "party music" it really means "whatever you like to listen to at a party", whatever that may be...?
"Influencer, I hate that word..." Spot on, as I said to an artist earlier today who had their entire visual concept stolen by an influencer who reached millions when they only reached maybe hundreds of thousands, if that; "Fuck influencers, why? Because FUCK influencers." They are literal artistic thieves, in the past going through traditional media channels the stealing of intellectual property outright wasn't possible because it could get a channel or station shut down. Now that threat is conveniently placed behind months of arbitration behind lawyers, and ONLY if the artist can outspend the influencer. Diabolical. But that's 2024.... Keep addressing these issues Rick, you're one of the last of the Mohicans in this fight.
Rick is an influencer without trying to be one. He influenced me into caring who Steely Dan is, for example. Also, I can tolerate higher levels of dissonance nowadays. I started following Rick when he was still doing jazz theory and some of those chords were spicy!
@@WayneKitching Rick is a voice of the people like Nardwuar, if Nardwuar is considered an influencer these days, then I'm in the wrong timeline... Love and Peace - Tyler
@@WayneKitchingI don’t see Rick as an “influencer”. I see him as “influential” because he loves sharing his knowledge and views of music. I’m not splitting hairs here. Rick loves music, an “influencer” loves “clicks” and “likes”.
Any "visual concept" can now be instantly stolen by an AI agent. Here's how you'd do it. Have an agent that monitors visual content. When agent notices that a visual idea is getting attention, it immediately steals is, makes a website with a payments portal or whatever (Zero code), markets it on instagram and tiktok, and makes a ton of money. All of that can be done automatically, without human intervention.
What I like about Rick's observations is above all what a fine community is showing up here in the comments section! Always interesting and mostly following the netiquette without strain.Thank you.
I really like the era we’re in. When you said “forced shared experience “ that word forced really stuck out to me. I imagine a kid growing up during the 80s pop era potentially being miserable because they may not like that sound but it’s everywhere during that era. Now kids can find what they like and find thousands of artists they also like and have their own mini community of people that like the same thing. Pretty Frikkin cool.
I do NOT like the era we are in. Very little to none of the "music" made these days is worth a damn, regardless of genre or type. It's all quantized and autotuned, and sounds like crap. All the "music" is assembled by soulless dirtbags with laptops and expensive software who drag isolated tracks off of some secure server, throw them into a program and arrange and align the bits. All of it is "perfect" and that takes the humanity out of the whole experience. I don't care if it's pop, rap, country, or rock, that's meaningless when it's all made to sound like what a computer thinks music is...and AI will only make it worse.
I was in high school and college in the 80s. There were a variety of radio stations that you would flip around- Top 40 pop, mainstream rock, Classic Rock (96 Rock in Atlanta!), Indie rock/college stations, and of course, MTV. Everyone knew the same popular songs and could sing along together to the latest REO Speedwagon, Journey, or Police song at a party, but then the music you actually purchased reflected your own taste. I enjoyed a lot of the popular songs, but bought mostly classic rock albums (Beatles, etc.) and indie rock (REM, etc.) to dive deeper into. It was a pretty cool time for music, IMO.
@@kirkmooneyham if your argument is "electronic music is not real music" then thats an argument you're going to lose pretty fast. I mostly listen electronic music consisting of idm, ambient, psybient and dubstep and not a single one has autotune used. I dare you to listen This Binary Universe and come back to and say how that requires no talent. Also comparing it to AI males it sound like you lack deep understanding how the genres or methodology works
I think forced is the wrong word. Record labels definitely pulled the strings but there was nothing forced about it besides social classes maybe influencing you. The 80's were an amazing time for me musically and I did know every word to every song in my favorite genre but nothing was forced. I listened to hair metal one day, rap the next day and maybe the next day was something r&b and pop. A lot of people didn't because they were what you might call genre snobs, which there were a lot of, but open minded people loved the 80's as well as every decade since. I love the fact that I hear a lot more lesser known artist now which is a true gift to todays music listeners. People always say this thing I love is better than this thing you love, they did it back then and they still do it today. I think the only "forced" part is trying to fit in with whatever clique your drawn to if you're that type of person.
When I was teenager coming of age in the 70s, music was a shared experience. You'd be somewhere, and someone would have music playing, whether it was the radio, or an album playing on someone's stereo or a guy playing Foghat on his car 8-track. It seems like we experienced music communally. Now, in the streaming era, music is a lot more private. We tend to listen alone now. That shared experience is part of what made the music so good. There were no cell phones in the 70s, so if you were at a concert, your attention was concentrated on the people on stage, not getting photos of yourself with the band as your backdrop. So when you hear those old songs, you not only think about the music, but the people you enjoyed it with and the places you heard it. On a jukebox in your favorite pizza place, where you and your friends hang out. Music today seems devoid of emotion.
I have come to understand that music -- some are imperfect - but at least in the 60s, 70s, 80s, you had music with amazing tunes, long musical pauses, beats that excited your body. Music with great lyrics and good messages. Today, you walk outside to wash your car or to grill your food; or you walk out of the grocery store, and there's an out of sync, awful sounds of rapping swears and other genres. Why can't we enjoy some fun and excellent music in the community without the eerking of autotuned, out of sync, crazy lyrics that make no sense? Perhaps because everyone has evolved into enjoying different genres that suit their lifestyle only, and sadly, it's not for everyone. Sadly, my ears bleed whenever I hear certain music at max while someone drives around with speakers at 200%. I understand that's their lifestyle. We must be kind. But again, it is not for everyone.
This applies to the comments as well. Most comments sections are f***ing excruciating. Rick tends to attract the type of person who actually has thoughtful things to say.
@@fclefjefff4041 To be fair, the comment sections on this channel can sometimes be full of musical elitists, blindly hating on any new music, but on this video, it seems quite balanced.
There is more intellect available at our fingertips than ever, you just gotta know how to find it. If you're not seeing enough of it, that's on you for not seeking it out :) Ironically, it's exactly the same with the subject of this video -- plenty of very good music being created nowadays, just harder to find it.
In the 90’s, it was difficult to get music. It took me weeks to find Robert Johnson and Eno’s Music for airports cassettes. Now it easier to hear all the music from the past. This is a good thing.
yeah it's good but it's a double-edged sword. when you have everything on a plate, it can be hard to appreciate stuff in the same way, as weird as that sounds
@@pickles224 Rick's a broken record that makes the same video every 2 weeks to get views. I'm pretty sure he doesn't really mean most of what he says, at least I hope so.
@@santaclaus3175 I don’t think so either. I just think he’s cantering to an audience he knows will agree with him. Like how he claims there haven’t been any recognizable trends past the 90’s. He HAS to know that’s not true, but he knows his audience of Boomers, who haven’t listened to popular music past the 90’s, will believe it.
"Post-Genre" World or "Openly blending genres" is actually the key. I discovered one band who likes the band i like the most and he takes small details from each band and blend it perfectly so its mixture of many things but still unique. I think thats the future! I cant stop listening this band.
Pulling up to the gas station, I heard someone blasting their stereo. When I got out I heard The Cars playing. While I dislike the "sharing" of music at loud levels, it was actually refreshing, considering what I usually hear. They were only in their 20's. Made me chuckle a bit.
Old music used to be pushed out of the way so new music could be heard. MTV could only play 1 song at a time. Maybe you had 3-4 radio stations in your area worth listening to. It was a zero sum game. Now everyone can listing to anything whenever they want. Stuff is never "uncool" now and never goes out of style because no one has to make choices about what to listen to anymore.
To add, the internet itself makes things timeless. You can discover things that have been around and have conversations with ghosts- reply to old comments, read old threads about something and peoples theories- the method of joining in a fandom of sorts is completely different than meeting people at a concert or in a record store.
@@vaderladylno beauty in that. No anticipation, no forethought, no expectation... Just endless possibilities creating both choice paralysis and diminishing the worth of music further. Human beings are just not designed to have it all always and whenever at disposal
@@darkogst It's FOMO. I find great music all the damn time - it's not even hard. Do I miss things? Of course. I don't care - there is SO MUCH good stuff that I don't need to worry about it.
“The problem with TV and entertainment isn’t that it’s evil-it’s that it’s addictive. It gives us what we want, but not what we need, leaving us empty and craving more.” - David Foster Wallace Now apply that with personal data collection & self referential silos
Remember listening to 1 album and being *all good* after that? Or a weekend party where you rocked for hours with your friends or went to a show and you were all good to go for the week. Cathartic.
I remember having listening parties for new albums back in the 70s and 80s. There would be a dozen people showing up, no partying. Just friends sitting quietly enjoying the entire album and then playing back parts and talking about it. The last album we listened to was Roger Waters - The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking. Amazing sound, and it was a long format album.
Sounds healthy to me. All kinds of music to listen to. No one trying to put themselves in a genre, just making the kind of music they want to make. Wonderful!
In a way, yes. Though I would encourage people to find their music community based on the songs they listen to. With that, we are still able to recreate that sense of shared music taste. And it's even more possible to do that now globally.
100 years ago, a person listened to whatever music was coming from a neighbors front porch. No other options- unless you played an instrument yourself.
💯. I have about 900 songs on an Apple Music playlist that I really like. The overwhelming majority of the bands are at most five or eight years old. It does take some time and dedication, but it’s totally worth it. And I’m an old guy who still loves 60s through 2000s music.
@@kenmarvin370 Well, 150 years ago, for those who couln't afford the opera house/ concert hall, there was the music hall. Can't speak for the States though.
We’re in the experimental era, no one is trying to copy each other like they were trying to less than 10 years ago. We’re now in a time where mainstream artists, underground, and artists who are loved but not popular try to do their own thing, trying to sound like themself whether the music is good or bad.
There was something so special about going to a record store or even Borders or Best Buy to look through the CD's. Loved seeing if an artist had a new CD out. Ever since CD's became a thing of the past I haven't kept up with any new releases from my favorite artist. I so miss the days of the LP jackets with the lyrics and even the images on the CD inserts.
Imagine my era in the 70s and 80s going to a record store, (the infamous Tower Records) sifting through actual ALBUMS, buying them, taking them home, getting so excited about ripping the plastic off, admiring the cool cover art and lyrics on the front and backs of the albums, placing a needle on the record. Then..., sitting back and enjoy those moments over and over again every time a new album came out from your fav artist/s.
You never really see the scale of the mountain when you’re climbing it. Once a decade passes we might look back at the 2020s for what it is. I think the 2 years of increased consumption during the pandemic will have played a big part in the amount of nostalgia present in modern sub genres and playlists
This is really brilliant. I'm 62 and have a clear understanding of what genres I prefer. But when I talk to younger generations, they also recognize that no new music movements have been created since the early 2000s. In our talks, we don't know why. We sometimes think corporate control. Maybe its the impacts of algorithms and streaming.
I'm sorry, but saying that there have been no new music movements since the "early 2000's" is absolutely absurd, and couldn't be farther from the truth if actually are willing to look beyond just the mainstream.
When I was growing up in the 60s 70s, half of our conversations would be the new song that just came out from insert artist here. But I was listening to the likes of Hendrix, Trower, Zepplin, and everybody would be excited about it. Now I mostly hung out with musicians as I was a budding drummer then, but it was a high point in everybody’s day when a specific song would drop and everybody would love it, or even hate it. I miss immensely those experiences. I do, however, love today, especially with this channel that I am able to discover people from all over the world with the taste of mine that I never would’ve been able to. So kind of a Catch-22 there. Keep them coming Rick you’re doing a great job.
I love these videos. My oldest son (23) is obsessed with discovering 80s and 70s music. Every week he’ll say something like “Dad, do you know who Asia is?” or the like. He had his friends are thinking about starting a podcast for Gen Z about the merits of older rock/pop.
I'm 24 and I started off being obsessed with the Beatles as a teenager and have been working my way through the 70's , 80's, and 90's through various artists like David Bowie whose work spanned those decades. Right now I'm kind of on an early 80s new wave kick.
Show him some Gary Moore, Motörhead, Alice Cooper, Bon-Scott-era AC/DC, Scorpions, Judas Priest, ZZ Top, Camel, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Frank Zappa and (especially Peter Gabriel and early Phil Collins) Genesis.😃
I won't watch any Rick's long videos in one sitting. This video was short so I was able to do it. His videos are so concise and quality-densed. I hope he can keep thriving as long as he can to stir up the senses of recognising and abandoning superficiality in music, audio-visual aesthetic and medias.
Musicians will answer this question honestly. I, honestly, miss the culture and gave up quite a while ago. Kind of a "you had to be there" moment everyday. I'm glad I was there. Happy holidays Rick. Best.
I like how neutral you were about this topic. There are advantages and disadvantages for everything. I’m a 22 year old girl who feels like she was born in the wrong era because most of the music I listen to is from the 70s. But at the same time, I love listening to a little bit of today’s pop. I understand how those who don’t belong to this gen feels because things have changed dramatically. And none of this is familiar. But it isn’t familiar to us either. We’re learning as we’re living. But on the other hand, it feels refreshing and exciting everyday to wake up and be like.. I feel like listening to indie rock. The next day.. bedroom pop. The next… maybe some Jazz pop. I go to music school where my classmates have completely different tastes and I’m taught to respect that. I think that’s what the current trend in music teaches us. And I love that for us and the future generations
Great to hear that you are open to new styles. While it's a LOT easier to gain access to different genres of music/art now, that doesn't mean no one had access before. 50, 60, 70 years ago there were record stores with a wide variety of genres, different radio stations, clubs with different types of bands ... Of course there was a lot more choice if you lived in a big city, or could travel to a different city or even another country, but sometimes you could make up for that by listening to shortwave radio or sending away for records or maybe you had a friend or older sibling who traveled. So yes, you could still all listen to the same mainstream radio or TV shows but those with a curious mind could usually find ways to hear more interesting music and the challenge to do so made it more exciting.
I've been saying this for years. I also remember a time in 1983 or so - stationed in England - sitting around with my friends after a recording session we did on my Tascam Porta-Studio 4-track, and talking about what the future of distribution would look like. We already had access to some very early computer networking capabilities in the military (MILNET spun off ARPANET in 1983), and that coupled with an imagination fueled by Star Trek and Star Wars, we came up with the idea that corporations would try to control things - but people having direct access to a public network - would have direct access to creators of music, eliminating the middleman. We saw it as very egalitarian, and an opportunity for relatively small costs for creators. That is absolutely true today; the internet is ubiquitous and with a bit of knowledge and programming skill, anyone can establish nodes on the network that can serve up music (or whatever you want). However, corporations managed to maintain their place as a mediator between the creators and consumers and are poor curators. I think we need quality curation going forward that AI, as good as it may be in other areas, is not up to the task.
Great analysis Rick. I think the recursive personalization of what we all listen to makes a difference how we relate to other people. An example of how this manifests is how we all need to resort to hits and oldies type track if we are in a situation where disparate groups of people are gathered together for a celebration, such as a New Year's Eve fireworks display, or a wedding. How much harder will this be in the future when algorithms do personalized re-mixes of tracks we like, which are will be different to someone else's re-mix? How could we all dance together? It could be very isolating, rather than a consensus.
I just rewatched Running on Empty with River Phoenix, set in the late ’80s, and there’s this great scene where a music teacher compares Brahms and Madonna. Brahms is all about melody and complexity, while Madonna is driven by rhythm-easy to dance to and instantly “get.” It made me think about how today’s shorter attention spans, easy access to digital tools, and quick uploads to streaming platforms have pushed music even further in that direction.
Good point. Streaming and choice broke the song-length barrier, but consumers are choosing shorter content now so we may see a return to the "not longer than 3 minutes" song. Or maybe even something that is only 30 seconds long.
@ “Algorithms are the opiate of the masses by design.” Big Tech knows exactly what they’re doing. They work closely with behavioral researchers-like those at Stanford-who study how to make people addicted. They’ve even borrowed tricks from slot machines to keep us hooked. This kind of social engineering is a fascist government’s dream come true. Keep that in mind for the next four years…
@@joshuagodinez5867 “Algorithms are the opiate of the masses by design.” Big Tech knows exactly what they’re doing. They work closely with behavioral researchers-like those at Stanford-who study how to make people addicted. They’ve even borrowed tricks from slot machines to keep us hooked. This kind of social engineering is a fascist government’s dream come true.
I get where the fear is coming from, but it is not correct. Maybe rap isn't your thing, but both Tyler the Creator and Kendrick Lamar (two of the most prominent artists nowadays) came out with albums this year that need to be listened start to finish. At Tyler's album release concert there were thousands of people who were singing along with every single word (of a rap album!), which already kinda disproves the attention span point
Ive always had very diverse tastes. Im 50. I feel like music today matches how i have always consumed music. Making my own mix taps that are genre bending. Mix tapes that shifted from rock to pop to country to classical that made perfect sense to me.
That's the other difference now. You don't have to listen to what's new like you did back in the day. You can spend your whole life listening to Hendrix and Led Zeppelin and the Stones if that's what you wanna do. And if you want to throw in some Latin, country, hip hop, classical, Gregorian Chant, whatever... it's all just a click away. Everything's a giant mix tape now.
@@erics7992 id get bored just listening to the same ol same ol. I used to poor through record store collections, and ‘zines. Now its following the rabbit-hole of ‘similar artists’. I love discovery.
What I listen to instead of shifting, my playlist just got bigger and bigger. I guess the internet helps me discover a new thing (especially Shazam, best thing ever invented). But listening multiple genre in one session often drives me nut. Like, first track Taylor Swift, next Iron Maiden, next Jhonny Cash, next BrunuhVille; Ruining the vibe! 😆 I wish Spotify were able to jump into a song with similar genre whenever I shuffling my giant collection.
As a 24 year old musician, I love this age. So many people I know are into the grunge stuff, into the psychedelic rock of the 60s, into 80s pop, and are discovering new artists everyday. Removing the idea of a mass collective experience of music really makes you appreciate a person who has a similar music taste to you. I think there is a bunch of nostalgia for older heads who liked the shared experience of music, and I get it and would love to see what it was like back then, I personally love that I can be inspired by the artists of old and new with just a click of a button. It is transforming new musicians into something that Rick described above. My generation probably has the most musical influences of any generation because of this, and if you look deeper you’ll see how it manifests. I look at mk.gee as the perfect example of this.
I'm 44 and love the post genre music experience. There's so much good music coming out in nearly every genre and it's instantly accessible. It's never been a better time to be a music listener.
I agree with Rob. The whole “djent is a not a genre” discussion has been so fun and funny and self-deprecating that it makes me appreciate the bands and fans even more. The bottom line for me is that I’ve found a ton of my new favorite bands by searching for “djent” so I think that genres are still alive and doing what they need to do but I get that it’s way harder to fit bands into genres nowadays and that’s OK. I often find new artists through collaborations. If a band I like is working with an artist I don’t know I immediately look up that artist to check out their stuff. It’s a super exciting time of discovery.
We are in a post rock era. Rock music now occupies the same cultural space as jazz did post 1970. One silver lining is that bands that were important to me in my youth are by and large free of commercial pressure to appeal to a wide audience which allows them the creativity to release albums like The Cure's latest album.
@@tmage23 you are talking about mainstream audiences, that play music casually. I am talking about real, long time fans that go with the hardcore stuff or go off the side of mainstream.
Interesting how you didn't mention the 70s as a particular era. The 70s were interesting because several genres were really strong - punk came and went, trad rock was very strong, heavy metal was strong, pop was strong and disco was strong. What an era.
Agreed, I came of age in the 70s, just missed the Beatles. Biggest genre for me was country rock/pop like the Eagles and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, what we call Americana now. Alongside those were some niche groups doing everything from jug band, like goose creek, etc. to folk/rock like Cohen, CSN, and Young. Crazy to think there was also heavy metal, r and b, and disco all sharing the bandwidth, sometimes even on the same radio stations.
I love this comment! It’s so true! Rick and all of TH-cam would be a vast wasteland without algorithms playing the part of the “DJ”. I certainly would not be here without TH-cam saying “Hey you like music stuff, give this Rick guy a try” and I was hooked. Without that, I would be forever searching for Rick to enlighten my musical life.
It seems like the present system (algorithmic) closes off new experiences. Everyone creates their own musical echo chamber which self-reinforces. The aim of this seems to be isolation and alienation. Given unlimited choices, one tends to choose only what they already like.
I'm 65, so I grew up through the 60s and 70s heyday of pop and rock (and even then, realized that a lot of it was crap: bubblegum in the 60s, disco in the 70s, etc.). Early on, when I was 13 or so, I started "rebelling" against the "dominant sound" that you'd hear on radio--I searched for the "alternative" FM stations, sought refuge by listening to jazz (Jarrett, Davis, Corea) and classical. Ever since then, I've hardly given whatever's "popular" or "trending" a second thought. The "post-genre" phenomenon that Beato talks about--I think it's great! We're also living in a "post-fashion" world--does anyone really give a crap any more about what the fashion designers are coming up with, and what everyone else is wearing? Same thing's true in the art world--just ask yourself what the "dominant trend" is. There isn't one, unless you break the timeline down into 10 minute intervals. I think this is all incredibly liberating.
post Fashion? You’ve got to be kidding. Tell that to a woman. There might’ve been a lot of crap in the 60s 70s but there was a hell of a lot of good stuff that wasn’t main stream.
@@TaraTara-ld2xb Exactly. I'm 57 and I find myself searching and listening to lower charting song of popular artists of the 60s and 70s. I have found quite a few songs I like, that I have never heard, or heard of before.
I'm 70 and I don't care anymore about fashion either--but I'm pretty sure the kids do. Also, like what you like, but there was a lot of good disco out there (it was badly maligned mostly because it became a multi-racial, multi-sexual genre and the world wasn't quite ready for that). Donna Summer, Chic, the Headhunters (Herbie Hancock, et al) and even Quincy Jones dabbled in disco--and were all pretty good. As with all genres, there was crap too. But I like to gravitate toward the good stuff.
I have been relegated to finding the unheard acts that fit my ear. This means, since I am 65, that new stuff is hard to find, but it is out there. You just have to dig for it.
MusicGunn...couldn't agree with you more. But my concern is the amount of digging you have to do. It can be very time-consuming and yield just a nugget. I'm 60 (compared to your 65) and find it quite discouraging. Good music is tough to find.
And we no longer have record stores (or even CD shops) to browse racks to spot that interesting cover that pulls you in. I’ve also gone back to re-assess music I discounted back in the day (we had so much to choose from in the 60s, 70s and 80s), that I ignored because there was other stuff I liked.
@@RidgeRunner10 Yes, I understand. I am pretty open to different genres but like Rick says, there are no genres anymore and I am not a fan of what is presented as mainstream anymore. You gotta go back and listen to the stuff you didn't pay attention to, or find new artists that do fit into the genres you are looking for. I for one found Porcupine Tree, but they are no longer producing new music anymore. But there is a lot of very good Progressive music out there still being produced. I like some of the Prog Metal, but not all of it. It used to be that the great musicians were making Jazz Fusion, but there aren't many new artists making that. I think the really great NEW musicians starting now are doing Prog because the range is very open. I'm someone who thinks the original Prog band was the Beatles. Look where they went in just a few short years. From I Want To Hold Your Hand to I Am The Walrus. That is the definition of progressive.
I was a "skater" & a drummer in high school. All my friends listened to Misfits, Penny wise, the sex pistols & Ramones. I listened to Van Halen, Bon Jovi & Poison. Then day I came home from being out skating, turned on MTV & saw the video for One by Metallica. This is the greatest thing ever... as Butthead would say on Bevis & Butthead. I was hooked. I went & bought Kill Em All, Ride The Lightning & Master of Puppets. I would put on my headphones & play the drilums to all of it.
As a FORMER piano teacher, from my perspective, since 2008 we entered a post-MUSIC age. With the collapse of economic living standards due to the mortgage loan banking crisis of that year and the release of the smart phones both happening in that year, I saw an immediate drop in students being able to study music. Within five years, even interest in music itself seemed to collapse. Students started showing up in my studio that knew NO music at all (not even American folk tunes, as the schools stopped teaching them) other than one one two 10-15 note ditties they heard in the video games they were actually spending all their free time playing. I loved teaching, but finally had to just give up. There's nothing there to work with. And now in my area, pianos that sold for $35,000 25 years ago can't be given away and are going into landfills. Nobody wants them. Nobody wants to learn to play them anymore. Folks today no longer have the spare time, money, nor passion to commit to a lifetime endeavor like music any more. What happened to clothes and ice cream has now happened to music. They went from being a pleasure that folks actually made themselves to just another commodity you buy and care little about. In 2008, our old, post American Civil War culture snapped. It's been collapsing since, sadly...taking the passion for getting together with others and making/enjoying music and the resulting music genres with it.
@@dprice81 Agreed. I am starting to see some glimmers of hope that there may be the beginnings of a turnaround in interest in the arts and culture among current teens. I do hope so, for their sake; for everyone's sake.
Our whole economy is just based on more and more consumption of media. While back before Internet you had a few TV and radio stations, nowadays you have gazillion options to consume media plus the never ending influx of content on social media. You have millions of people watching craft content but probably only a small minority of them will ever attempt to do what they see. And what’s worse for attention economy companies than people figuring out, you can entertain yourself without hanging out there all day long.
Rick, I have played in all types of bands since the 70’s, (semi professional)still had a full time job. Today those bands the venues are scarce to none. It’s variety or no work. The song “The day the Music Died” takes on a new meaning. Play on !!
I think what's missing from our days of radio/mtv, that is truly vital to the integrity of music as a whole, is the aperture of showcase. Todays kids need a place and a way to find what interests them, beyond their own self-aware likes/dislikes. What they have instead is an endless echo chamber; not good.
Been saying this for almost 10 years now. When I saw “country” artist running around on stage waving a towel like it was a hip hop concert I knew things were changing. The first time I heard Linkin Park I knew it was over.
@@pol9938 worst band ever. Utterly forgeable, soulless and overproduced to boot. Awful music. Absolutely dreadful. The first time I heard them I literally thought my local active rock station changed formats to pop.
i remember Dubstep coming out and thinking '' this is the last original genre of music, everything after this will just be a combination of what has been''
The disruption is freedom of choice , I remember when we had to tape record some live shows bands we like because they didn’t have the opportunity to record their musics, so today I can listen whatever I want and not being conditioned by the great recording companies , don’t miss the old days
Something interesting I'm seeing among the students in the school I teach at: They are collectively gravitating to older music. Individually they have their own playlists and whatnot, but when they seek some kind of collective musical experience, it seems to be around music from 20 years ago...or older. I have no explanation for this yet, but it somehow seems connected to what you're saying here.
I commented a few minutes ago something quite into this topic. I am a volunteer at a school and a homeless shelter. I heard Credence Clearwater Revival, Dolly Parton, Steps -pop and another artist. It seems like there are people craving more and more uniqueness. We have had older music with excellent tunes, quality in sounds, and lyrism. The new generation wants that not the crazy autotuned, out of sync, slurs, and crazy non-sensical music that is given to us through trashy-trendy music. Thankfully, there are a few independent artists who still record and sing without autotune or use it but very lightly. Have a Wonderful and Blessed Holiday!
Rick in most videos: "how has this person never heard of this band?!?" Also Rick: Puts out a video explaining exactly why people haven't heard of such and such band. As a person who has grown up in the internet age, it's so annoying hearing the older generations be so surprised about us not having heard of a band, but like Rick just said, we've grown up in an algorithm/curated age where we can listen to hundreds of bands and never once come across a band that was popular in the 90's and earlier, or heck, never come across modern popular bands/artists.
This is the era of the New Jersey Drone Genre, Rick. Everything is based around a buzzing sound like that of a bee and everybody cranes their heads upward as they bounce to the beat.
Ironically I listen to bands like this and none of them are from New Jersey (except Hath but they kinda suck at it, not enough drone, too much clean vocals)
Very informative Rick (but aren't all your videos?). 😊 I'm 57, and I only listen to my favorites from the 60s, 70s, and 80s on Sirius or my playlists from TH-cam Music. I don't have a clue about artists of today. Not saying that there isn't good music out there today, I'm just happy to stick with the three best decades of music. 😁 Keep up the awesome interviews, they're fantastic!!!
It’s not just in the music world the establishment dominates narratives. What’s happening in the musical landscape is a beautiful picture of what is happening politically in the grassroots populist push against the establishment backed globalist forces. I think that’s why independent media is surging so much and legacy media such as CNN MSNBC Fox News C-SPAN and others are losing viewers significantly. Just like independent artists are growing more and more prevalent and the mainstream record labels are losing their footing. It’s a good thing.
💥 You are absolutely right, Rick. I worked as a radio DJ starting in 1973, and have never experienced such a “mish-mash” of music possessing no definable genre to speak of. Not a lot of Superstar singers or bands, either. Could it be because almost everything musically has already been done? 🤔🤔
I’m in my ninth decade, so I have been through all of the eras you’ve described. I’ve enjoyed them all. The greatest part of today’s “era” is the creative freedom that artists feel and the resulting music isn’t locked into the control of a label or a DJ. The worst part, as you mentioned, is having fewer opportunities to become aware of the newest good stuff. Listening to you, Rick, helps a lot, though. Keep it up.
Thank you, sir. I am much younger than you but I have been beating this drum for a while. Music is better than it has ever been, but like you said it's harder to just go around and hear different stuff. You have to go find it by yourself.
It's definitely a fascinating era whatever it is. The amount of sub genres, most of them I've never heard of, that are being discussed amazes me. They'd never have existed in the old times, or at least would never have had so many fans. My son listens to a lot of my old favourites (mainly heavy rock, prog metal etc) but at the same time finds tons of tunes and genres himself. It's certainly not all doom and gloom but a very different reality for musicians.
You're absolutely right-internet streaming has completely transformed everything. Growing up in the '80s and living in Seattle in the '90s, I’m really enjoying the freshness and vibrancy of today’s music. I’ve experienced the evolution from records to cassettes, then CDs, and eventually MP3s. Now, I exclusively stream music on TH-cam Music. Through streaming, I’ve discovered incredible music I never would have encountered before. If I’m feeling nostalgic, I can easily revisit those cherished music memories. It’s also been a wonderful way to connect with my kids. Do I think this new streaming model is fair to artists? No-but that’s a whole other conversation.
I was one of those kids that started with the industry dictating what I heard and then had the whole world of music open up when napster and kazaa exploded. I still go on exploratory missions to find stuff that's different from what I've ever heard away from the influencers who are really just a new kind of main stream. You still have to put in the effort to look for it but it's there. I also have discovered total bangers from way before my time that have been largely left in the past but can now find new life. Finding out there was all this hidden stuff inspired me to make my own music and today we incorporate ideas from tons of genres in my own band.
My thoughts: One of the things that allowed bands like The Beatles and Pink Floyd to grow was a solid foundation of playing genre tunes that built up their musical sensibility allowing them to later experiment much more successfully. The idea that we're sold is that with this personalization we'll get what we want. But it doesn't actually allow us to develop the language and skills needed to take ourselves further. It's like training, but now instead of going in depth on one thing you have to go very broad. Jack of all trades, master of none kind of thing
@@Tubeoid121 I think I wasn't clear about what I was saying. They started off as a skiffle band and developed their chops and musical understanding playing A LOT of music in that genre (and others). This training gave them the ability to be really innovative and genre busting later. It's with that strong foundation they could be so successful when they were experimental
It might sound crazy but I really wish new wave didn’t die out , it was so interesting and even bizarre at some points but it really captures your ear ; I wasn’t alive in the 80’s but whenever I hear a new wave song it always captivates my attention
Man I really enjoyed this video. Mostly because I haven‘t given a thought about what musical era we could be in. I agree with your eraly ideas on what this stage could be referred to but to truly identify it we will just have to wait until a clearer cut in music history presents itself.
You make some really interesting points about how our media consumption has become so personalized. It makes sense that the idea of a collective "zeitgeist" is harder to pin down when we're not all watching the same shows, listening to the same music, or even experiencing those things at the same time. Your examples are spot on: TV: We used to gather around the TV for must-see events, creating water cooler moments the next day. Now, we binge at our own pace, and those shared viewing experiences are rarer. Music: Albums used to be a cohesive artistic statement we'd absorb as a whole. Now, it's more about individual tracks and playlists, often shuffled. Movies: The theatrical experience used to be the way to see a film. Now, with streaming, that communal excitement of a packed theater is becoming less central. Given how personalized everything has become, it's hard to imagine a scenario where those large-scale shared experiences make a full comeback. We're so used to on-demand content and curated algorithms that cater to our individual tastes, it's unlikely we'll revert back to a more homogenous media landscape. This shift definitely has implications for how culture is shaped and shared. It'll be interesting to see how artists, creators, and the entertainment industry as a whole adapt to this new reality.
This is an era when good hard rock and indie rock can thankfully be found in Japan. Band-Maid and Yonige, for example, have brought me a lot of joy. Both caused a rare event after many years: the purchase of physical media. So after a long time, I have also started buying records and live Blu-ray discs again.
Rick, don't forget ' American Bandstand' and 'Soul Train'. Also Casey Casion( sp) for the count down to #1 for that week, on radio of. course. Always have loved music, and boy, you bring it home!
The internet allows a higher level of decentralization in comparison to the music industry of the 2000s and back. The days of specific genres such as grunge or hip-hop dominating the music industry are over. People can freely rally around different sounds and genres and develop following around niche and varied genres like never before. This is also leading to a lot of bands not fitting in a specific genre like Sleep Token. It amazes me how many people listen to bands or musicians I've never heard of or vice versa, then to see that this unheard of band had millions of fans. I'm a music junky that listens to a ton of different genres and artists from every decade to music coming out today, but I'm always amazed how many amazing artists i run across everyday I've never heard of. It's a golden age of music if you can get past analysis paralysis.
The sad thing about how we consume (stream) music, TV, movies is we're all listening and watching something different...Watching the same shows & listening to the same music used to give us something we would have in common... I was born in the 70's but listened to music my dad listened to from the 50's and we always had that bond over his music...Now it feels like a big disconnect between everyone and the stuff we're watching & listening to.
Now it's more organic. We have to actively share our experiences with others, which is also great because we're not pigeonholed into what the corpos feed us.
people still connect today. Just because you don't know how to in this day and age, doesn't mean others don't know how to. And the big difference is we get to choose. You and your dad didn't.
@@prunelle9068 You think algorithms let you choose what you're listening too?...We had less choices but better quality cause the garbage was weeded out!...And being pulled in a thousand different directions every day is the reason why no one has an attention span longer than a minute these days!
I can't remember the phrase, but we are living in an era where there are too many choices. As you have said, 10,000 songs added to streaming service each day!? So I, a boomer born in 1949 discover new music thru YOU. The only streaming service I use is youtube or I can listen, via the internet to my hometown(Chicago) radio station thru the internet or I play the records/cds that I have purchased in the past. If I were a teen today what is my music. First of all, your kids started listening to what you listen. Mine was Big band that my parents loved. I still like it! Then, in my era, radio. And radio expanded from AM to Fm and in FM anything goes. When it came out Led Zepplin was originally in top 40 radio. In my area there was a Sunday night program for that music(Zep, Sabbath...) to out there for top 40, even on FM. Where is that experience today? Somewhere in today's 10,000 songs uploaded to streaming - impossible.
"Future Shock" is the book by Alvin Toffler in the late 60s that said we wouldn't be crushed and controlled by authoritarianism but would be paralyzed by the overabundance of choices in the future. I don't know why the expression went out of vogue but it was a very prophetic book.
0:39 My grandmas brother Creed Taylor produced this record and brought up a lot of young talent from Brazil and helped popularize bossa nova he even produced a lot of fusion guys later on
He produced some great music. Did he collaborate with Quincy Jones on an album incorporating jazz guitar evolution featuring greats like Eric Gale, Jim Hall, etc….? Peace.
I'm a 53 year old gen Xer. I can't say this is a bad thing. There's a plethora of great music out there to be found, both old and new. That said I myself mostly ignore the algorithm generated playlists and look for my own stuff.
Same. I've never spent more money on music than I do now, there's so much good stuff out there to find, both new and old. More than I could ever listen to. The tricky part is keeping new discoveries in rotation when they get displaced by more new stuff, and getting enough plays of the kind of challenging albums that need several listens to really cement themselves as truely great rather than just interesting oddities.
I’m from the same era (52), but feel the downside is that there’s less music that’s universally shared in common that can be talked about. I can’t really look back less than 10 years ago and find many songs to share in discussions.
Some of us have always curated our own music. I was a teenager in the 80s, but I was listening to The Beatles, The Who, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Small Faces, Sex Pistols, T Rex, Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, The Jam, The Doors, The Specials, Selecter, The Beach Boys...
I love that music is not only more personalized but more diverse than ever. I like to hear different genres mixing together too as it allows for more creativity for the artist. They don't have to stick to a specific formula anymore to make it on the radio.
It's not really the algorithm that's "destroying" music (and by music, I mean mainstream music specifically), it's really the industry heads who are curating who appears in the mainstream algorithm, hence significantly lowering the chances of talented new artists to be discovered by the general public.
My wife and I ‘click’ on music references constantly. I can’t imagine if we didn’t have all of these awesome little moments of shared knowledge of a huge set of music.
I'm not at all surprise that an 11 years old girl knows Laufey. But i'm not surprise at all that she doesn't know bossa nova, either. And i know why i know Laufey and the bossa nova genre, also. It's because young people are more interested with "people" and less with the "cultural and artistic" side of things, within music. And i totally agree with the 5:36 "transitional phase" theory of Rick.
I think artists like Laufey are a great way to get into the world of jazz/bossa nova music. Not many will dare to do so, but this is important for the preservation of modern jazz as a musical genre.
@superzocki4433 To me Laufey is, without a doubt, the next star that will be known by a big audience. She's really smart and has mastered the way of using social media to get attention. Plus she has created a new genre that i would call "jazz pop" (i use that term in a good way). And she already got a huge fan base. So is it good for jazz ? Probably. I've made comments on Rick's channel about the whole situation. To me, the classical genre belongs now to the Pantheon (the history of mankind). Jazz has become the "new classical" and rock the "new jazz" (less artists, less records sales, still a big fan base).
Jaron Lanier has a similar but slightly different take on this phenomenon - that we don't see such distinct and unique styles of (popular) music emerge anymore because they need time and isolation to develop, and that is almost impossible now. Basically there needs to be a small local scene with a limited set of influences and players that has the time to develop and grow organically into something unique to end up with a sound so different that eventually gets discovered and has a huge impact. Think Seattle and the grunge scene in the late 80s to early 90s. It's the isolation of a smaller group of musicians (and their fans) that provide the conditions for something new to develop, and once everybody has instantaneous access to everything everyone else is doing almost as soon as they do it those conditions are lost.
@@nilsnilsnilsify I don’t think it works like that. I argue trends usually have like a “trigger”, y’know like the artists that kick the trend off. Like, grunge didn’t become mainstream just because it had a scene. It got that way because Nirvana blew up, and then everyone started listening to stuff that sounded like that, and so then grunge blew up. So it’s like A: an artist blows up. B: people start listening to other stuff in that same genre. C: that genre becomes a trend.
I like that the media and record labels don’t get to decide what we should be listening to, but I do miss the shared experience we used to have 🤷♂️
You can definitely still have that if you join the (still existing) mainstream. Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, etc are all ubiquitous. However, if you're lucky enough to find someone who enjoys similar stuff while choosing freely instead of having the choice made for them, I'd say there's potential for higher quality and deeper bonding
Yes 100% agree, it's a weird time. Not bad entirely but not good, and despite the opportunities technology now offers young artists to produce and share their music worldwide in an instant, the power of the algorhythm is still massively skewed by the major labels dollars. Hopefully, that will change but it's hard to see the new era emerging when we are in the fog of whatever this era is called, if indeed it has a name? One era I think Rick missed was the "Emo" genre of the mid 00s which was pretty big worldwide, but after that I'd agree it's hard to point to any genre or "era" that has been dominant or groundbreaking; that has created, as you say, "the shared experience". The closest I can think of is Taylor Swift and her insanely passionate fanbase, but I would hardly call it a genre. Strange times indeed, but I am sure that music will find a way to continue to delight and inspire us until the sun burns out 😎
Right on , I remember bringing a new album over to a friend's place to share it !
@@FredPriest-ud6cu That was an amazing time. Seems crazy now, even to me, but whoever got hold of the "latest" big album, we'd all head to theirs or someone elses house to check it out together. It was an event - usually with some beer and weed to enhance of course lol.
Closest I get to that these days, and it's almost as exciting, is if a friend sends me a spotify or TH-cam link and says "Check this out" and that's how I have discovered some of my favourite new bands of today.
it's fine, but its not the same ya know.
Yeah, but can you still get 12 CD's for .01 cent a piece, plus 3 free bonus CD's, just for signing up? At 12 years old ....😅
It's not just music. It's everything around us that lacks a discernible era. I went into a grocery store the other day that I first walked into 20 years when it was brand new. They have never refurbished or renovated it, yet it looks exactly like every modern grocery store today, even brand new ones. Now think about the difference between a grocery store in the 70's vs. just ten years later into the 80's. A complete change in appearance. This is why I think "vintage" eras are so cherished now. Because they were distinctive and I think people hunger for that.
Nailed it!
There's clothing as well. Watch a tv show from the early 2000s. The fashion is very similar and it's because you no longer have an organic growth of individual styles that slowly marches across the country in waves. Now you can see what everyone is wearing instantly.
@@rheeslane9529 💯! I have noticed this as well. Clothing changed dramatically each decade from the 1940’s through the 1990’s, but for the past 25 years fashion has been basically the same. It’s a weird phenomenon.
@@OriginalGrasshoppercapitalism
@@BurntheErn We've had capitalism for 250 years in the USA. Try again.
Rick - I’m 73 years old and have lived through many of the genres you mentioned. I find your videos and your introspective look at the music industry so fascinating. Always enjoy listening to your insights and your wonderful interviews.
I first got into pop music as a 5th grader in 1963, when my school bus driver in suburban New Jersey always played AM top forty - either WABC or WMCA in New York City. Four years later, living in New Mexico, I was listening to clear-channel KOMA from Oklahoma City every night. I think those format radio stations (and even the concept of AM clear channels) are long gone.
Except a lot of his insights are wrong
I'm 53 and couldn't agree more!
@@pickles224 wow, you are really going to say 'a lot of his insights are wrong', and then just duck out instead of giving data... examples... proof? wouldn't you find that behavior cowardly (or at least lazy) if you saw others exhibiting it? give us an example of where his insight is 'wrong', and back it up with your own thoughts.
As for me, I find Rick's commentary to be thoughtful, educated, and passionate. Even if his facts aren't 100.000% correct, I'll take his insights over mean-spirited, any time!
@@lofomuses And Rick knows a lot about music.
Rick. Thank you for all of your hard work and helpful lessons, interviews and perspectives. You have enriched my life. May God bless you and yours this Christmas and always.
I am of two minds here: The ability to curate your own individual playlists is very cool and feels freeing. HOWEVER, the sense of a shared experience and cohesion that we all felt in the 60's and 70's, where all of us knew the words to those songs....that was something special and important. I don't think young people can really know what that felt like....to feel like you were all connected and joined together by a common experience. It created a sense of "generational cohesion". It felt right....and comforting. Perhaps "Swifties" have that now..
I think people still have the shared experiences that generate cohesion you speak of. However, they are an order of magnitude more niche while also evolving incredibly rapidly. You might share an incredibly memorable experience but as part of one of a billion online communities. There will always be things that break through, but even those are very short-lived now.
Culture has almost become individualised.
Yes, this is the main take away. We can be fans of many types of music, but the genres were cornerstones of shared youth culture. It doesn't exist Iike that anymore with my teenagers and their friends.
Witness that Spotify has over 6,000 genres competing for the ears of its listening/subscribed audience. During my 30+ years in the music business interests in artists and songs was generated by radio and labels run by people with a musical knowledge and a vested interest in the success of their product. For better or worse that changed with the advent of downloading and streaming that, in my mind, changed music and listening patterns inexorably.
All very well, but……if you don’t like the dominant music it can lead to feeling intense isolation. or as in my case while I was growing up simply believing “I don’t like music”.
Yeah right 👍it was the radio era...nothing like hanging out with your buddies and pals and everyone would sing along to the songs in the radio 📻...everyone knew the same songs 🎵
Now we are in the “playlist” era, and the music genres now are like “shower music” “funeral music” “music to drink” “music to listen at the gym” etc…
😭
...and i just read an article accusing Spotify of loading up its official playlists with pieces composed/performed by "ghosts" that are packaged by third party companies. This is designed to lower Spotify's royalty pmts. Just friggin sick
I agree. We are in the "playlist" phase were algorisms, need it now, and instant gratification rule the music world. Something that came of it this, good or bad, is musical acts can no longer be put into a category, they just are.
didn`t they describe Lou Reed as `music to slit your wrists to`? ;)
One of my playlists is indeed named 'shower'; how did you know?
I miss the old days. I grew up in the 90s and I miss the new album buzz. I miss going to record stores. Change is inevitable but I'm old enough to have some serious nostalgia.
That's not old yet~! It gets worse! :)
Hey I’m a kid today, growing up through the 2010s and there’s still great music being released and there’s still tons of hype around albums and singles, if you wanna check out the website ‘albumoftheyear’ it’s a really good way to find popular albums/artists that are good today!
Record stores still exist my guy
@@TheNinjapancake14 They do for sure but they are few and far between, not like in the 90s when every town had at least one, if not more.
There are now multiple options to purchase and absorb music. Back then the record store was the only way to buy the latest new album or even singles - unless you managed to time it just right to tape it off the radio broadcast😁😁.
Some great 90's alternative Bands were Veruca Salt, Elastica, Dandy Warhols , Blur, Ocean Blue, and many others.
As a younger person who listens to basically anything, I’ve found that you can kind of teach yourself to like a genre. My dad always played rock songs when i was younger, and it is my go to genre, but most of my friends listen to rap and hip hop. I didn’t really get it at first, but there were a couple of songs that i enjoyed and started listening to. Now I can appreciate rap as much as i can appreciate other things, but if i was just listening on the radio or mtv I would’ve never expanded what i listen to. The main playlist I listen to now has everything from reggae to irish drinking songs, hip hop to Mongolian throat singing rock.
@@Silv3rleaf213 ah…but what you’re not appreciating is, especially when FM radio came onto its own in the late 60’s, you could hear every type of genre on that platform. If you wanted country or top 40 hits, you got that on AM radio. But on “underground” or “college” radio, which was FM, you would get folk, soul, R&B, rock ( both blues based and prog).
You have been introduced to other genres through your friends. So were we. We bought albums. We went to each other’s houses or dorm rooms and listened to them. Although there was allot of overlap because some albums EVERYBODY had, there was also variety, so we heard that too. The thing is, unless you ”silo’d” yourself to a country or jazz station, you got exposed to pretty much every genre that was out there. So your experience now, which I think might be the exception, was the experience of most of us back then. It’s just that we had ALLOT of music in common that we all knew. That was the cohesive part. We also had the variety if you wanted it.
I'd suggest focusing on irish traditional music like planxty rather than that paddywhackery about getting drunk
@ I’m kind of joking when i say irish drinking songs, since most of it is traditional irish folk
@@Silv3rleaf213 that being said "seven drunken nights" is a classic haha, check out planxty live in the olympia 1980 if you haven't already, it's great
@ As i went home on a monday night, as drunk as drunk could beeee…
Rick, you should start a series where you dissect different genres of music and discuss their histories, key bands, etc. Would be very interesting
maybe after a macca interview
I'd follow that for sure!!!!
💯
Yeah but that would mean dissecting genres made without physical instruments (i.e. EDM, hip-hop) and that wouldn’t pander to his following of Beatles-worshipping music purists.
@bemmiu you might enjoy the "Trash Theory" channel - it does something a bit like that. Lot of UK stuff but not exclusively.
I was ready to say, "we're not in a musical era, it's now a musical error". But you are correct - just like your "post-genre" idea, I find myself exploring all kinds of music on the internet that I simply can't find on the radio. It's both refreshing and freeing.
Yes. Good for you but I’m really set in my ways and cannot get myself to listen to new music cause I HATE auto-tune and my love for old music is too strong and there is still so much old music I haven’t heard. So the urge to do so is not present.
Rumors should be album of the year every couple years when it's not Welcome to the Machine or Zeppelin 2
@@Funkybassplayer Can I recommend J-pop? My kids recommended it and the basslines are insane as are the vocals. It might not be everyone's cup of tea but the musicianship is off the charts compared with the 'dumbed down' stuff that passes itself off as Western pop these days. Yoasobi, Zutomayo and Fujii Kaze (actually I recommended him to my kids) are but a few examples. (As a family we are also really into vgm jazz because The Consouls are local to us)
It's also isolating because nobody else listens to or even is aware of the things you like. We all live in our own respective bubbles. Carefully curated for us by the amoral tech bros that now run the world.
Enjoy your bubble and limited conversations.
I'm 57, with 3 daughters in their 20's. We are a music family. They appreciate everything from 1920's/30's blues, to jazz, to rock to electronic and everything in between. In turn, I appreciate the stuff they are listening to these days; they have turned me on to some great, new stuff.
There are a lot of great bands these days making really great "real" music. I have noticed something happening over the last 5 years. There is a really strong punk resurgence happening, with kids making raw, politically and socially charged music. And clubs are filled with young kids dancing and moshing. It fills me with joy. There are also bands and singer/songwriters like Waxahatchee, Courtney Barnett, M.J. Lenderman, Kurt Vile, and many, many others. They're out there, it just takes a little effort to find them. Lastly, there are a lot of bands flying under the radar with incredibly strong followings of young fans. One in particular is The Garden. This audience may not like or appreciate their sound but they have a rabid fan base spanning generations. Go to one of their shows and the level of energy is incredible. I love seeing kids lining the sidewalk before their shows, all decked out in makeup and homemade outfits. It feels pure and it gives me hope that live music lives on.
I feel we're about to see a change, maybe as an by product of the current political and social environment.
Yeah a big part of the appeal is a collective movement right. If you want that, find your local underground scene. You can still listen to and love anything.
Where I am there's a resurgence in inde electronica and punk influenced movements. We call it the "Manawatu Renaissance" that has everyone doing the "slow mosh" haha
It pays to read the comments. I just learned about the Garden and am really liking what I hear. Thank you from Zimbabwe.
Thank you 🏝️❤️🇩🇪
We're basically curating our own echo chamber - not just music but movies, TV series, news, politics, people we follow and many other aspects of our lives. It's why everything has become so divisive and distant from people in our own families and people sitting side by side on the bus or at work.
Learned this from my kids in 7th grade literature class. "You cannot know what ers you are in while living it. Eras are assigned after they are over."
🤯
I guess this era is lasting longer than the others, because it's been 25 years, and still going.
I think they came up with Grunge pretty early during Grunge.
@@PincoPallino-zh8wm maybe because everything has been invented already? No more original stuff?
@@vaderladyl Likely. In fact, there are more covers and "sampling" going on now than ever before.
We're just in a content era now. Everything competes for attention. Streamers, Video Makers, Musicians, Gaming, Makers, Educators, Vloggers, Writers, Films, and even old media like Television and Radio (remember them?)
hunting camping fishing chess
As it has been, for ever. Its just the scale that has changed, its massive.
Pay attention to the newest shiny object every 10 seconds then forget it era
The entire music experience and consumption is so different now than when I was a teen in the 80’s.
My young adult children never listed to the radio and they never watched MTV. That gives them the benefit of not bring force fed whatever the current musical fad is. They listen to diverse styles and aren’t really influenced by mass media and record company driven marketing and radio air time
Yes, content era. Amazing that someone could get 100 million TH-cam views, but nobody will remember individual videos that got this many hits 2 years from now because other content comes along & replaces it
This fits in with the increasing withdrawal of people, living linked to their mobile phones or gaming computer/console. It is about individualism rather than the communal experience as experienced by earlier decades where “genre” music and joint experiences were enjoyed together (community). It conjured a feeling shared struggles and not being the only one having growing pains. A lot of teens also sought comfort/meaning/refuge in lyrics.
You could argue that this has also played a part in mental health where people no longer feel part of a group sharing the same issues and concerns. A problem shared is a problem halved.
No.
Yeah, you're wrong. If gaming was so directly linked to withdrawal, then the Nintendo era would have been the driving force behind changes. Associating the changes with mental health struggles is really just tone deaf and idiotic. Before you say something stupid, I'm Gen X and came of age during the grunge movement.
@@stevenholderby6354 Fair enough, your opinion, just like I have mine. I am highly aware that mine is a generalisation, but does not mean it does not hold some truth. There are also other factors that should be taken into account, but i am not going to write an essay/critique on culture and society on TH-cam.
Gamer here, you are right, and the people saying that you are wrong are taking it the completely wrong way. Our society has become quite individualistic and social media has completely isolated young adults and even kids.
A friend in need is a pest. I’m an introvert, I love solitude. Look at all the genius people, now and in the past, music, science, technology, all these people have one thing in common.
As a musical artist, I love the thought of a galaxy of possibilities My songwriting style is all over the place. It is nice to not have to be put into a box. It is a blessing to be able to express myself on my terms
It seems that we're in the Discovery Era. Kids are listening to their parent's and grandparent's music. If the #1 album this year is Rumours by Fleetwood Mac, that says it all.
Great songs are great songs, my daughter got into FM about 10 years ago she is 26 now, and my youngest is 16 loves FM now,. It was the first album I bought with my own money in 1980 ( I was six, used cassettes, rumours and queen- jazz, still have them), . Real music, real instruments, and great songs can't be beat.
It seems you refer to the year-end Billboard 200 list, and Rumours is not the #1 best selling album on it by a long shot. It is number 34 and was reported as the _highest-ranking rock_ album within that list (which apparently features only 29 rock albums in total).
The highest sellers are pop, hip hop, R&B and country from the last few years.
Although I see some higher ranking albums are categorized as rock or its derivatives on Wikipedia, but I don't listen to those and don't know if that's accurate. For example, at number 12 there is an album called Guts by Olivia Rodrigo and Wikipedia categorizes it as "rock, pop, alternative rock, power pop".
EDIT: Also, Rumours itself is basically a soft rock album. Not wrapped in an electronic production like new "rock inspired" stuff, but it's still on the so-to-speak more approachable end of rock to people who won't listen to lots of distortion and heavy riffs.
You are right. I was surprised by my kids making a 50s Crooners list on Spotify (grandparents music) and then really enjoying eg. Stevie Wonder, Toto, Steely Dan and Jamiroquai etc (my era) but also recommending Laufey to me (NOT Swift) amd J-pop. They discover past music but also wider contemporary music.
Kids were, already, gravitating towards: "their parents' music" (or things similar in style & demeanor) in the 1990s.
...and, let's face it🤷🤷: if you had older siblings (in any era from the '50s through the '90s, at least!)??: THEIR music, their tastes and their friends' tastes were what younger siblings/kids, first: learned from and gravitated towards!
(OR!: became SO OFFENDED by that they, purposely, sought out "the exact opposite," BECAUSE of what those older siblings/that age group was listening to/invested in!)
@@melian9999 FM? What the soundtrack to the movie??
"Discovery is personalised rather than collective". Spot on comment Rick! TV shows, movies etc are also in the same boat. Remember when the blockbuster Sunday night movie was watched by the whole family and discussed on monday by everyone at work and at school.
Gee, I remember waiting with my buddies for the premier of Thriller.
TV shows like MASH, Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends, or with me being young in the early 2000s, new episodes of Dragon Ball Z. A new episode would air on a specific dat at a specific time, and would be all the talk the next day. These days, people watch at their own convenience on demand, rather than tune in on schedule. Remember when Tiger King was on Netflix during lockdown, and half of everybody watched it, but all at their own pace and when they heard about it? Thats kind of the difference there
but at the same time there are millions who autmatically jump on the next "big" series.I feel like it started with Lost. that series was hyped out of existence. Of course later there was Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad. Everybody was hyping these things up. I feel like I am the only one who never watched any of that :D
We're simply experiencing the chaos and depression of overabundance. Saturation. Satiety. When Elvis or the Beatles appeared seemingly out of nowhere, there was a relative scarcity of artists offering music and breaking social barriers, and the world was hungry for this. 6 or 7 decades of technological revolution and mass consumerism later, there seem to be almost more artists than listeners and most doors and ceilings have been broken and flung wide open. Where we go from here is anyone's guess...
I agree. I think it’s the same with television and movies. We are so over saturated now with streaming choices and within each streaming company there are hundreds of shows and movies to choose from. We are a long way from the days of 4 tv stations: abc, nbc, cbs, and pbs. Sometimes it takes me so long to choose what I want to watch, I am too tired to watch it! 😂
To a degree but also current quality controls lack so the current stuff is an ocean of mediocrity to find one grain of sand.
Nail on the head!...And anyone can put out an album, with most of it is not worth listening to.
@@kellieh6798 😂 So true!
we live in the golden era of music production. musical instruments are accessible, recording is accessible and ppl still love making and listening to music. it's like when the printing press was invented and publishing became accessible to 'ordinary writers'. but it takes a second for the good stuff to get distilled... record companies were 'pushing' garbage then just like the 'algorithm' is pushing it now.
because some artists/albums became classics we're under the impression they came down from heaven when in reality they just managed to flood the market... not saying the music was bad but not all was that great either :). there's great and terrible music now just as it always was.
I'm still in the 70's with Floyd, Yes, Rush, LZ, etc. Y'all have fun in 2024!
I'm still looking through the glass into the 90's with Pantera, Alice in Chains, and Weezer. Screw modernity return to grunge and groove metal.
I thought I was locked in with my favorite music as well, until a couple years ago I looked up my estranged nephew on Facebook and he liked a band I never heard of, "Muse.' Needless to say, I now have 5 of their CDs.
@@BradJames878 If you like Muse then you should check out Radiohead if you haven’t already.
I’m a child of the 70’s (my high school years) and still listen to the artists you mentioned but also like discovering current artists such as Doves, Elbow, Stereophonics, Johnny Marr.
I'm sorry for you, @ziff_1
I am 17. Trust me, in most karaoke parties, the hardest thing is to choose a song that everybody knows and loves by heart. There is no particular piece of music that gives everyone shivers. There's no particular style of a band/artist in a music gig or a video that everybody wants to copy. Even on internet, people fight over a song being typed as a wrong sub-sub-subgenre of a subgenre; I literally saw big fanbases splitting into pieces because of it.
Post-genre era sounds cool and free, but I don't think it is as cool as music being the way of unity for the generation living in a particular era. In a short span of time, I got to discover lots of music, genres and movements happened before me, and I am quite jealous that I cannot see how music can provided a sense of union now as much as they did back then. What hurts the most is there's not many people of my generation that agree with me.
You have pretty mature thoughts for a 17 👍
@emeraldina_music Good observations! I used to think that the genres were marketing terms invented by the advertising agencies. Then, I noticed that fans were trying to create their own genre terminology. I have trouble trying to categorize music any longer. Now I just use words to describe the instrumentation, such as acoustic piano or electric pianos or synthesizers; real drummer or samples or electronic; how many guitars; are the guitar acoustic or electric; guitar solos or not - - stuff like that. When we use words like "party music" it really means "whatever you like to listen to at a party", whatever that may be...?
"Influencer, I hate that word..." Spot on, as I said to an artist earlier today who had their entire visual concept stolen by an influencer who reached millions when they only reached maybe hundreds of thousands, if that;
"Fuck influencers, why? Because FUCK influencers."
They are literal artistic thieves, in the past going through traditional media channels the stealing of intellectual property outright wasn't possible because it could get a channel or station shut down. Now that threat is conveniently placed behind months of arbitration behind lawyers, and ONLY if the artist can outspend the influencer. Diabolical. But that's 2024.... Keep addressing these issues Rick, you're one of the last of the Mohicans in this fight.
Rick is an influencer without trying to be one. He influenced me into caring who Steely Dan is, for example. Also, I can tolerate higher levels of dissonance nowadays. I started following Rick when he was still doing jazz theory and some of those chords were spicy!
@@WayneKitching Rick is a voice of the people like Nardwuar, if Nardwuar is considered an influencer these days, then I'm in the wrong timeline...
Love and Peace - Tyler
Influencers are the snake-oil salesmen of the internet. They’ll push *anything* if it gets them paid.
@@WayneKitchingI don’t see Rick as an “influencer”. I see him as “influential” because he loves sharing his knowledge and views of music. I’m not splitting hairs here. Rick loves music, an “influencer” loves “clicks” and “likes”.
Any "visual concept" can now be instantly stolen by an AI agent. Here's how you'd do it. Have an agent that monitors visual content. When agent notices that a visual idea is getting attention, it immediately steals is, makes a website with a payments portal or whatever (Zero code), markets it on instagram and tiktok, and makes a ton of money. All of that can be done automatically, without human intervention.
What I like about Rick's observations is above all what a fine community is showing up here in the comments section! Always interesting and mostly following the netiquette without strain.Thank you.
Almost like we're having some sort of defining, collective experience.
I really like the era we’re in. When you said “forced shared experience “ that word forced really stuck out to me. I imagine a kid growing up during the 80s pop era potentially being miserable because they may not like that sound but it’s everywhere during that era. Now kids can find what they like and find thousands of artists they also like and have their own mini community of people that like the same thing. Pretty Frikkin cool.
I do NOT like the era we are in. Very little to none of the "music" made these days is worth a damn, regardless of genre or type. It's all quantized and autotuned, and sounds like crap. All the "music" is assembled by soulless dirtbags with laptops and expensive software who drag isolated tracks off of some secure server, throw them into a program and arrange and align the bits. All of it is "perfect" and that takes the humanity out of the whole experience. I don't care if it's pop, rap, country, or rock, that's meaningless when it's all made to sound like what a computer thinks music is...and AI will only make it worse.
Exactly ! "Forced" always sounds wrong !
I was in high school and college in the 80s. There were a variety of radio stations that you would flip around- Top 40 pop, mainstream rock, Classic Rock (96 Rock in Atlanta!), Indie rock/college stations, and of course, MTV. Everyone knew the same popular songs and could sing along together to the latest REO Speedwagon, Journey, or Police song at a party, but then the music you actually purchased reflected your own taste. I enjoyed a lot of the popular songs, but bought mostly classic rock albums (Beatles, etc.) and indie rock (REM, etc.) to dive deeper into. It was a pretty cool time for music, IMO.
@@kirkmooneyham if your argument is "electronic music is not real music" then thats an argument you're going to lose pretty fast. I mostly listen electronic music consisting of idm, ambient, psybient and dubstep and not a single one has autotune used.
I dare you to listen This Binary Universe and come back to and say how that requires no talent.
Also comparing it to AI males it sound like you lack deep understanding how the genres or methodology works
I think forced is the wrong word. Record labels definitely pulled the strings but there was nothing forced about it besides social classes maybe influencing you. The 80's were an amazing time for me musically and I did know every word to every song in my favorite genre but nothing was forced. I listened to hair metal one day, rap the next day and maybe the next day was something r&b and pop. A lot of people didn't because they were what you might call genre snobs, which there were a lot of, but open minded people loved the 80's as well as every decade since. I love the fact that I hear a lot more lesser known artist now which is a true gift to todays music listeners. People always say this thing I love is better than this thing you love, they did it back then and they still do it today. I think the only "forced" part is trying to fit in with whatever clique your drawn to if you're that type of person.
When I was teenager coming of age in the 70s, music was a shared experience. You'd be somewhere, and someone would have music playing, whether it was the radio, or an album playing on someone's stereo or a guy playing Foghat on his car 8-track. It seems like we experienced music communally. Now, in the streaming era, music is a lot more private. We tend to listen alone now. That shared experience is part of what made the music so good. There were no cell phones in the 70s, so if you were at a concert, your attention was concentrated on the people on stage, not getting photos of yourself with the band as your backdrop. So when you hear those old songs, you not only think about the music, but the people you enjoyed it with and the places you heard it. On a jukebox in your favorite pizza place, where you and your friends hang out. Music today seems devoid of emotion.
Such a good point
Excellent post, shared musical experience created cherished life long memories.
Absolutely true....now it is very far from communal.
Foghat on my 8-track in my Mustang....I'll be over in that corner crying.
I have come to understand that music -- some are imperfect - but at least in the 60s, 70s, 80s, you had music with amazing tunes, long musical pauses, beats that excited your body. Music with great lyrics and good messages. Today, you walk outside to wash your car or to grill your food; or you walk out of the grocery store, and there's an out of sync, awful sounds of rapping swears and other genres.
Why can't we enjoy some fun and excellent music in the community without the eerking of autotuned, out of sync, crazy lyrics that make no sense? Perhaps because everyone has evolved into enjoying different genres that suit their lifestyle only, and sadly, it's not for everyone.
Sadly, my ears bleed whenever I hear certain music at max while someone drives around with speakers at 200%. I understand that's their lifestyle. We must be kind. But again, it is not for everyone.
Always nice to see some intellect still left on the internet. Rick keep doing what you are doing. You are very well appreciated!
This applies to the comments as well. Most comments sections are f***ing excruciating. Rick tends to attract the type of person who actually has thoughtful things to say.
@@fclefjefff4041 To be fair, the comment sections on this channel can sometimes be full of musical elitists, blindly hating on any new music, but on this video, it seems quite balanced.
There is more intellect available at our fingertips than ever, you just gotta know how to find it. If you're not seeing enough of it, that's on you for not seeking it out :)
Ironically, it's exactly the same with the subject of this video -- plenty of very good music being created nowadays, just harder to find it.
In the 90’s, it was difficult to get music. It took me weeks to find Robert Johnson and Eno’s Music for airports cassettes. Now it easier to hear all the music from the past. This is a good thing.
yeah it's good but it's a double-edged sword. when you have everything on a plate, it can be hard to appreciate stuff in the same way, as weird as that sounds
@@thepostapocalyptictrio4762 yeah but in Rick’s view, something being easier to get or create is a bad thing.
@@pickles224 Rick's a broken record that makes the same video every 2 weeks to get views. I'm pretty sure he doesn't really mean most of what he says, at least I hope so.
@@santaclaus3175 I don’t think so either. I just think he’s cantering to an audience he knows will agree with him. Like how he claims there haven’t been any recognizable trends past the 90’s. He HAS to know that’s not true, but he knows his audience of Boomers, who haven’t listened to popular music past the 90’s, will believe it.
It literally took 2 months for my local record store to order and ship me a copy of “Music for Airports”. That’s not a better system than today.
"Post-Genre" World or "Openly blending genres" is actually the key. I discovered one band who likes the band i like the most and he takes small details from each band and blend it perfectly so its mixture of many things but still unique. I think thats the future! I cant stop listening this band.
Pulling up to the gas station, I heard someone blasting their stereo. When I got out I heard The Cars playing.
While I dislike the "sharing" of music at loud levels, it was actually refreshing, considering what I usually hear. They were only in their 20's. Made me chuckle a bit.
There is hope for us yet!😂
Techno house bee boop is fun music
Old music used to be pushed out of the way so new music could be heard. MTV could only play 1 song at a time. Maybe you had 3-4 radio stations in your area worth listening to. It was a zero sum game. Now everyone can listing to anything whenever they want. Stuff is never "uncool" now and never goes out of style because no one has to make choices about what to listen to anymore.
Excellent point.
and that is beautiful. Every single style at your disposition, any time, anywhere.
To add, the internet itself makes things timeless. You can discover things that have been around and have conversations with ghosts- reply to old comments, read old threads about something and peoples theories- the method of joining in a fandom of sorts is completely different than meeting people at a concert or in a record store.
@@vaderladylno beauty in that. No anticipation, no forethought, no expectation... Just endless possibilities creating both choice paralysis and diminishing the worth of music further.
Human beings are just not designed to have it all always and whenever at disposal
@@darkogst It's FOMO. I find great music all the damn time - it's not even hard. Do I miss things? Of course. I don't care - there is SO MUCH good stuff that I don't need to worry about it.
“The problem with TV and entertainment isn’t that it’s evil-it’s that it’s addictive. It gives us what we want, but not what we need, leaving us empty and craving more.”
- David Foster Wallace
Now apply that with personal data collection & self referential silos
every one has an opinion
A profound statement made by a musical monster ! How great he is.
@@FredPriest-ud6cu *Writer
Remember listening to 1 album and being *all good* after that? Or a weekend party where you rocked for hours with your friends or went to a show and you were all good to go for the week. Cathartic.
The medium is the message!
I remember having listening parties for new albums back in the 70s and 80s. There would be a dozen people showing up, no partying. Just friends sitting quietly enjoying the entire album and then playing back parts and talking about it. The last album we listened to was Roger Waters - The Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking. Amazing sound, and it was a long format album.
Sounds healthy to me. All kinds of music to listen to. No one trying to put themselves in a genre, just making the kind of music they want to make. Wonderful!
In a way, yes. Though I would encourage people to find their music community based on the songs they listen to. With that, we are still able to recreate that sense of shared music taste. And it's even more possible to do that now globally.
100 years ago, a person listened to whatever music was coming from a neighbors front porch. No other options- unless you played an instrument yourself.
💯. I have about 900 songs on an Apple Music playlist that I really like. The overwhelming majority of the bands are at most five or eight years old. It does take some time and dedication, but it’s totally worth it. And I’m an old guy who still loves 60s through 2000s music.
@@kenmarvin370 Well, 150 years ago, for those who couln't afford the opera house/ concert hall, there was the music hall. Can't speak for the States though.
You will like nothing and be happy
We’re in the experimental era, no one is trying to copy each other like they were trying to less than 10 years ago. We’re now in a time where mainstream artists, underground, and artists who are loved but not popular try to do their own thing, trying to sound like themself whether the music is good or bad.
There was something so special about going to a record store or even Borders or Best Buy to look through the CD's. Loved seeing if an artist had a new CD out. Ever since CD's became a thing of the past I haven't kept up with any new releases from my favorite artist. I so miss the days of the LP jackets with the lyrics and even the images on the CD inserts.
Yeah watching $80 disappear for maybe 9 decent songs across three albums was awesome!
Yes the physical artifact of a record album was part of the experience of music.. Rich has talked about that in the past.
Imagine my era in the 70s and 80s going to a record store, (the infamous Tower Records) sifting through actual ALBUMS, buying them, taking them home, getting so excited about ripping the plastic off, admiring the cool cover art and lyrics on the front and backs of the albums, placing a needle on the record. Then..., sitting back and enjoy those moments over and over again every time a new album came out from your fav artist/s.
@@tribzman3977 Yep, I'm also in the 60's era. My first albums were The Monkees and The Association.
@@genestone4951 I so regret giving all my albums from the 60's and 70's away without a thought because a turntable didn't fit my decor. Doh!
You never really see the scale of the mountain when you’re climbing it. Once a decade passes we might look back at the 2020s for what it is. I think the 2 years of increased consumption during the pandemic will have played a big part in the amount of nostalgia present in modern sub genres and playlists
This is really brilliant. I'm 62 and have a clear understanding of what genres I prefer. But when I talk to younger generations, they also recognize that no new music movements have been created since the early 2000s. In our talks, we don't know why. We sometimes think corporate control. Maybe its the impacts of algorithms and streaming.
and the ADD attention spans.
I'm sorry, but saying that there have been no new music movements since the "early 2000's" is absolutely absurd, and couldn't be farther from the truth if actually are willing to look beyond just the mainstream.
TECHNO HOYSE beeboop Folk acustical jazz rock Is real Grampaa
Cultural dilution.
When I was growing up in the 60s 70s, half of our conversations would be the new song that just came out from insert artist here. But I was listening to the likes of Hendrix, Trower, Zepplin, and everybody would be excited about it. Now I mostly hung out with musicians as I was a budding drummer then, but it was a high point in everybody’s day when a specific song would drop and everybody would love it, or even hate it. I miss immensely those experiences. I do, however, love today, especially with this channel that I am able to discover people from all over the world with the taste of mine that I never would’ve been able to. So kind of a Catch-22 there. Keep them coming Rick you’re doing a great job.
I love these videos. My oldest son (23) is obsessed with discovering 80s and 70s music. Every week he’ll say something like “Dad, do you know who Asia is?” or the like. He had his friends are thinking about starting a podcast for Gen Z about the merits of older rock/pop.
I'm 24 and I started off being obsessed with the Beatles as a teenager and have been working my way through the 70's , 80's, and 90's through various artists like David Bowie whose work spanned those decades. Right now I'm kind of on an early 80s new wave kick.
I have a 10 year old daughter and all she wants to listen to is 80s music. She doesn't want any modern stuff, which suits me just fine!
Show him some Gary Moore, Motörhead, Alice Cooper, Bon-Scott-era AC/DC, Scorpions, Judas Priest, ZZ Top, Camel, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Frank Zappa and (especially Peter Gabriel and early Phil Collins) Genesis.😃
@HeavyMetalNerd I wish my son would ask....😂
@@HeavyMetalNerd
I have seen 5 of those, some more than once: Motörhead, AC/DC , Judas Priest, ZZ Top, and Iron Maiden!
I won't watch any Rick's long videos in one sitting. This video was short so I was able to do it. His videos are so concise and quality-densed. I hope he can keep thriving as long as he can to stir up the senses of recognising and abandoning superficiality in music, audio-visual aesthetic and medias.
Musicians will answer this question honestly.
I, honestly, miss the culture and gave up quite a while ago.
Kind of a "you had to be there" moment everyday.
I'm glad I was there.
Happy holidays Rick.
Best.
I like how neutral you were about this topic. There are advantages and disadvantages for everything. I’m a 22 year old girl who feels like she was born in the wrong era because most of the music I listen to is from the 70s. But at the same time, I love listening to a little bit of today’s pop. I understand how those who don’t belong to this gen feels because things have changed dramatically. And none of this is familiar. But it isn’t familiar to us either. We’re learning as we’re living. But on the other hand, it feels refreshing and exciting everyday to wake up and be like.. I feel like listening to indie rock. The next day.. bedroom pop. The next… maybe some Jazz pop. I go to music school where my classmates have completely different tastes and I’m taught to respect that. I think that’s what the current trend in music teaches us. And I love that for us and the future generations
Great to hear that you are open to new styles. While it's a LOT easier to gain access to different genres of music/art now, that doesn't mean no one had access before. 50, 60, 70 years ago there were record stores with a wide variety of genres, different radio stations, clubs with different types of bands ...
Of course there was a lot more choice if you lived in a big city, or could travel to a different city or even another country, but sometimes you could make up for that by listening to shortwave radio or sending away for records or maybe you had a friend or older sibling who traveled. So yes, you could still all listen to the same mainstream radio or TV shows but those with a curious mind could usually find ways to hear more interesting music and the challenge to do so made it more exciting.
I've been saying this for years. I also remember a time in 1983 or so - stationed in England - sitting around with my friends after a recording session we did on my Tascam Porta-Studio 4-track, and talking about what the future of distribution would look like. We already had access to some very early computer networking capabilities in the military (MILNET spun off ARPANET in 1983), and that coupled with an imagination fueled by Star Trek and Star Wars, we came up with the idea that corporations would try to control things - but people having direct access to a public network - would have direct access to creators of music, eliminating the middleman. We saw it as very egalitarian, and an opportunity for relatively small costs for creators.
That is absolutely true today; the internet is ubiquitous and with a bit of knowledge and programming skill, anyone can establish nodes on the network that can serve up music (or whatever you want). However, corporations managed to maintain their place as a mediator between the creators and consumers and are poor curators. I think we need quality curation going forward that AI, as good as it may be in other areas, is not up to the task.
Great analysis Rick. I think the recursive personalization of what we all listen to makes a difference how we relate to other people. An example of how this manifests is how we all need to resort to hits and oldies type track if we are in a situation where disparate groups of people are gathered together for a celebration, such as a New Year's Eve fireworks display, or a wedding. How much harder will this be in the future when algorithms do personalized re-mixes of tracks we like, which are will be different to someone else's re-mix? How could we all dance together? It could be very isolating, rather than a consensus.
I just rewatched Running on Empty with River Phoenix, set in the late ’80s, and there’s this great scene where a music teacher compares Brahms and Madonna. Brahms is all about melody and complexity, while Madonna is driven by rhythm-easy to dance to and instantly “get.” It made me think about how today’s shorter attention spans, easy access to digital tools, and quick uploads to streaming platforms have pushed music even further in that direction.
Good point. Streaming and choice broke the song-length barrier, but consumers are choosing shorter content now so we may see a return to the "not longer than 3 minutes" song. Or maybe even something that is only 30 seconds long.
@ “Algorithms are the opiate of the masses by design.”
Big Tech knows exactly what they’re doing. They work closely with behavioral researchers-like those at Stanford-who study how to make people addicted. They’ve even borrowed tricks from slot machines to keep us hooked. This kind of social engineering is a fascist government’s dream come true. Keep that in mind for the next four years…
@@joshuagodinez5867 “Algorithms are the opiate of the masses by design.”
Big Tech knows exactly what they’re doing. They work closely with behavioral researchers-like those at Stanford-who study how to make people addicted. They’ve even borrowed tricks from slot machines to keep us hooked. This kind of social engineering is a fascist government’s dream come true.
Ever seen the Demolition Man?
🎶My bologna has a first name...🎶 😢
I get where the fear is coming from, but it is not correct. Maybe rap isn't your thing, but both Tyler the Creator and Kendrick Lamar (two of the most prominent artists nowadays) came out with albums this year that need to be listened start to finish. At Tyler's album release concert there were thousands of people who were singing along with every single word (of a rap album!), which already kinda disproves the attention span point
Ive always had very diverse tastes. Im 50. I feel like music today matches how i have always consumed music. Making my own mix taps that are genre bending. Mix tapes that shifted from rock to pop to country to classical that made perfect sense to me.
That's the other difference now. You don't have to listen to what's new like you did back in the day. You can spend your whole life listening to Hendrix and Led Zeppelin and the Stones if that's what you wanna do. And if you want to throw in some Latin, country, hip hop, classical, Gregorian Chant, whatever... it's all just a click away. Everything's a giant mix tape now.
I also have diverse tastes and enjoy music more than ever in this current era, so easy to make playlists with a mix of genres.
@@erics7992 id get bored just listening to the same ol same ol. I used to poor through record store collections, and ‘zines. Now its following the rabbit-hole of ‘similar artists’. I love discovery.
What I listen to instead of shifting, my playlist just got bigger and bigger. I guess the internet helps me discover a new thing (especially Shazam, best thing ever invented). But listening multiple genre in one session often drives me nut. Like, first track Taylor Swift, next Iron Maiden, next Jhonny Cash, next BrunuhVille; Ruining the vibe! 😆
I wish Spotify were able to jump into a song with similar genre whenever I shuffling my giant collection.
As a 24 year old musician, I love this age. So many people I know are into the grunge stuff, into the psychedelic rock of the 60s, into 80s pop, and are discovering new artists everyday.
Removing the idea of a mass collective experience of music really makes you appreciate a person who has a similar music taste to you.
I think there is a bunch of nostalgia for older heads who liked the shared experience of music, and I get it and would love to see what it was like back then, I personally love that I can be inspired by the artists of old and new with just a click of a button.
It is transforming new musicians into something that Rick described above.
My generation probably has the most musical influences of any generation because of this, and if you look deeper you’ll see how it manifests. I look at mk.gee as the perfect example of this.
Great to know there are people of your age following Rick and reacting to his videos
Im 23 and I think this musical era is butt
I'm 44 and love the post genre music experience. There's so much good music coming out in nearly every genre and it's instantly accessible. It's never been a better time to be a music listener.
I agree with Rob. The whole “djent is a not a genre” discussion has been so fun and funny and self-deprecating that it makes me appreciate the bands and fans even more. The bottom line for me is that I’ve found a ton of my new favorite bands by searching for “djent” so I think that genres are still alive and doing what they need to do but I get that it’s way harder to fit bands into genres nowadays and that’s OK. I often find new artists through collaborations. If a band I like is working with an artist I don’t know I immediately look up that artist to check out their stuff. It’s a super exciting time of discovery.
Yeah but its also harder to talk about music with others precisely because of the diverse tastes today.
Love the way you put it. What a great time to be alive, I guess. 🤩
We are in a post rock era. Rock music now occupies the same cultural space as jazz did post 1970.
One silver lining is that bands that were important to me in my youth are by and large free of commercial pressure to appeal to a wide audience which allows them the creativity to release albums like The Cure's latest album.
I don't know. There has always been a fan base dedicated to rock since rock came out, not like Jazz
@@vaderladyl The best selling Rock album this year is a 47 year old Fleetwood Mac album and it barely cracked the top 40.
This is true, but interestingly, in many countries (such as Japan), metal is bigger than ever.
@@tmage23 you are talking about mainstream audiences, that play music casually. I am talking about real, long time fans that go with the hardcore stuff or go off the side of mainstream.
@SeabassGoose exactly my point!
Interesting how you didn't mention the 70s as a particular era. The 70s were interesting because several genres were really strong - punk came and went, trad rock was very strong, heavy metal was strong, pop was strong and disco was strong. What an era.
Amen!! The 70's pop music and songwriting had the largest variety in history!! Several music genres were invented then, also.
Oh yes! And it was also a great era for prog rock, art rock, jazz fusion, and funk.
The "Pink Floyd" era imo which would lead into the 80's which is its own genre with MTV and music videos.
Agreed, I came of age in the 70s, just missed the Beatles. Biggest genre for me was country rock/pop like the Eagles and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, what we call Americana now. Alongside those were some niche groups doing everything from jug band, like goose creek, etc. to folk/rock like Cohen, CSN, and Young. Crazy to think there was also heavy metal, r and b, and disco all sharing the bandwidth, sometimes even on the same radio stations.
Most people refer to it as the "Album Era".
Fun fact: The algorithm is the reason why I'm watching this video.
both a great thing and a horrible thing at the exact same time.
No fun in that fact.
Lets pause for a while for the hard work Al Go Rythm is doing for us
I love this comment! It’s so true! Rick and all of TH-cam would be a vast wasteland without algorithms playing the part of the “DJ”. I certainly would not be here without TH-cam saying “Hey you like music stuff, give this Rick guy a try” and I was hooked. Without that, I would be forever searching for Rick to enlighten my musical life.
When te algorithm learns how to prank on people.
It seems like the present system (algorithmic) closes off new experiences. Everyone creates their own musical echo chamber which self-reinforces. The aim of this seems to be isolation and alienation. Given unlimited choices, one tends to choose only what they already like.
If you actually want to find new music, you will find it
@@VarsityAthlete04 We were talking about algorithms and their influence. How does your reply relate?
@@BlueBuffelow You can choose not to be in a echo chamber
‘I hate the word Influencer’
- Rick Beato 🤣
what is it?
This made my day =)
Yet, Rick himself is an influencer of music history 🤔
"I hate the word Influencer"
-Rick Beato, influencer 🤣
It’s a bit on the nose but I like Rick & his content (even if he is an ‘influencer’ 🤫 but don’t tell him) 🤣
I'm 65, so I grew up through the 60s and 70s heyday of pop and rock (and even then, realized that a lot of it was crap: bubblegum in the 60s, disco in the 70s, etc.). Early on, when I was 13 or so, I started "rebelling" against the "dominant sound" that you'd hear on radio--I searched for the "alternative" FM stations, sought refuge by listening to jazz (Jarrett, Davis, Corea) and classical. Ever since then, I've hardly given whatever's "popular" or "trending" a second thought. The "post-genre" phenomenon that Beato talks about--I think it's great! We're also living in a "post-fashion" world--does anyone really give a crap any more about what the fashion designers are coming up with, and what everyone else is wearing? Same thing's true in the art world--just ask yourself what the "dominant trend" is. There isn't one, unless you break the timeline down into 10 minute intervals. I think this is all incredibly liberating.
post Fashion? You’ve got to be kidding. Tell that to a woman. There might’ve been a lot of crap in the 60s 70s but there was a hell of a lot of good stuff that wasn’t main stream.
I get what you're saying, but I'm sure that bubblegum of the 60's was better than a lot of the music out now.
@@TaraTara-ld2xb Exactly. I'm 57 and I find myself searching and listening to lower charting song of popular artists of the 60s and 70s. I have found quite a few songs I like, that I have never heard, or heard of before.
@@TaraTara-ld2xbi don’t think that was his point at all
I'm 70 and I don't care anymore about fashion either--but I'm pretty sure the kids do.
Also, like what you like, but there was a lot of good disco out there (it was badly maligned mostly because it became a multi-racial, multi-sexual genre and the world wasn't quite ready for that). Donna Summer, Chic, the Headhunters (Herbie Hancock, et al) and even Quincy Jones dabbled in disco--and were all pretty good. As with all genres, there was crap too. But I like to gravitate toward the good stuff.
I have been relegated to finding the unheard acts that fit my ear. This means, since I am 65, that new stuff is hard to find, but it is out there. You just have to dig for it.
MusicGunn...couldn't agree with you more. But my concern is the amount of digging you have to do. It can be very time-consuming and yield just a nugget. I'm 60 (compared to your 65) and find it quite discouraging. Good music is tough to find.
And we no longer have record stores (or even CD shops) to browse racks to spot that interesting cover that pulls you in. I’ve also gone back to re-assess music I discounted back in the day (we had so much to choose from in the 60s, 70s and 80s), that I ignored because there was other stuff I liked.
@@RidgeRunner10
Yes, I understand. I am pretty open to different genres but like Rick says, there are no genres anymore and I am not a fan of what is presented as mainstream anymore. You gotta go back and listen to the stuff you didn't pay attention to, or find new artists that do fit into the genres you are looking for. I for one found Porcupine Tree, but they are no longer producing new music anymore. But there is a lot of very good Progressive music out there still being produced. I like some of the Prog Metal, but not all of it. It used to be that the great musicians were making Jazz Fusion, but there aren't many new artists making that. I think the really great NEW musicians starting now are doing Prog because the range is very open. I'm someone who thinks the original Prog band was the Beatles. Look where they went in just a few short years. From I Want To Hold Your Hand to I Am The Walrus. That is the definition of progressive.
@@wessleymcgrath9768
I have found the suggestions YT gives when you listen to something you like, is a pretty good source for finding new stuff.
Yall go check out consistent yellow
Dude you are my hero straight up. Don’t ever stop
I was a "skater" & a drummer in high school. All my friends listened to Misfits, Penny wise, the sex pistols & Ramones. I listened to Van Halen, Bon Jovi & Poison. Then day I came home from being out skating, turned on MTV & saw the video for One by Metallica. This is the greatest thing ever... as Butthead would say on Bevis & Butthead. I was hooked. I went & bought Kill Em All, Ride The Lightning & Master of Puppets. I would put on my headphones & play the drilums to all of it.
As a FORMER piano teacher, from my perspective, since 2008 we entered a post-MUSIC age. With the collapse of economic living standards due to the mortgage loan banking crisis of that year and the release of the smart phones both happening in that year, I saw an immediate drop in students being able to study music. Within five years, even interest in music itself seemed to collapse. Students started showing up in my studio that knew NO music at all (not even American folk tunes, as the schools stopped teaching them) other than one one two 10-15 note ditties they heard in the video games they were actually spending all their free time playing. I loved teaching, but finally had to just give up. There's nothing there to work with. And now in my area, pianos that sold for $35,000 25 years ago can't be given away and are going into landfills. Nobody wants them. Nobody wants to learn to play them anymore. Folks today no longer have the spare time, money, nor passion to commit to a lifetime endeavor like music any more. What happened to clothes and ice cream has now happened to music. They went from being a pleasure that folks actually made themselves to just another commodity you buy and care little about. In 2008, our old, post American Civil War culture snapped. It's been collapsing since, sadly...taking the passion for getting together with others and making/enjoying music and the resulting music genres with it.
2024 was an incredible year for music. Like nothing I've seen in quite awhile.
Very interesting perspective and very telling if you've been playing any or multiple instruments for a long time.
@@dprice81 Agreed. I am starting to see some glimmers of hope that there may be the beginnings of a turnaround in interest in the arts and culture among current teens. I do hope so, for their sake; for everyone's sake.
Our whole economy is just based on more and more consumption of media. While back before Internet you had a few TV and radio stations, nowadays you have gazillion options to consume media plus the never ending influx of content on social media. You have millions of people watching craft content but probably only a small minority of them will ever attempt to do what they see. And what’s worse for attention economy companies than people figuring out, you can entertain yourself without hanging out there all day long.
Yours is yet another perspective of the music illiteracy that has overtaken the modern world.
Rick, I have played in all types of bands since the 70’s, (semi professional)still had a full time job. Today those bands the venues are scarce to none. It’s variety or no work. The song “The day the Music Died” takes on a new meaning. Play on !!
I think what's missing from our days of radio/mtv, that is truly vital to the integrity of music as a whole, is the aperture of showcase. Todays kids need a place and a way to find what interests them, beyond their own self-aware likes/dislikes. What they have instead is an endless echo chamber; not good.
Been saying this for almost 10 years now. When I saw “country” artist running around on stage waving a towel like it was a hip hop concert I knew things were changing. The first time I heard Linkin Park I knew it was over.
Linkin Park destroyed rock and metal for future generations. Not sorry.
I always thought the fusion of hip hop and metal tantalising, LP are perhaps one of the most successful in my opinion.
@@joeylummox7330 wtf you talking about, LP its awesome
@@pol9938 worst band ever. Utterly forgeable, soulless and overproduced to boot. Awful music. Absolutely dreadful. The first time I heard them I literally thought my local active rock station changed formats to pop.
@@joeylummox7330 uhhh ok
i remember Dubstep coming out and thinking '' this is the last original genre of music, everything after this will just be a combination of what has been''
spot on. I love EDM but almost every modern EDM genre is really just a mix of techno, dubstep and house
“We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.” ~ DJ Bee Franklin ~
The disruption is freedom of choice , I remember when we had to tape record some live shows bands we like because they didn’t have the opportunity to record their musics, so today I can listen whatever I want and not being conditioned by the great recording companies , don’t miss the old days
We're in the "anything goes" era. An eclectic mix of everything with no definite focus.
Which I think is fantastic
Reminds me of the art scene
We just finished the hip-hop decade. Every genre became hip-hop, as demonstrated by Rick’s surveys of the top songs.
I have been a metal head and hard rock guy since early teens. I never changed. Lol. Hip hop has always been garbage to me.
Hip hop's been here for 40+ years.
Hip hop is one of the lamest forms of music. It don't make me want to go hippity hop 😤
Calling a whole genre lame is crazy@@Psalmist6693
@@saintrobski Yes, but hip hop was never as big/popular as it has been in the last 10-15 years.
Something interesting I'm seeing among the students in the school I teach at: They are collectively gravitating to older music. Individually they have their own playlists and whatnot, but when they seek some kind of collective musical experience, it seems to be around music from 20 years ago...or older. I have no explanation for this yet, but it somehow seems connected to what you're saying here.
Its because older music has more spul and "reality" to it that speaks to us so much as humans, not robots...
I commented a few minutes ago something quite into this topic. I am a volunteer at a school and a homeless shelter. I heard Credence Clearwater Revival, Dolly Parton, Steps -pop and another artist.
It seems like there are people craving more and more uniqueness. We have had older music with excellent tunes, quality in sounds, and lyrism. The new generation wants that not the crazy autotuned, out of sync, slurs, and crazy non-sensical music that is given to us through trashy-trendy music.
Thankfully, there are a few independent artists who still record and sing without autotune or use it but very lightly.
Have a Wonderful and Blessed Holiday!
Because people have given up on finding new stuff when you do that noone thinks for themselves and is open to finding it through or with you
Rick in most videos: "how has this person never heard of this band?!?"
Also Rick: Puts out a video explaining exactly why people haven't heard of such and such band.
As a person who has grown up in the internet age, it's so annoying hearing the older generations be so surprised about us not having heard of a band, but like Rick just said, we've grown up in an algorithm/curated age where we can listen to hundreds of bands and never once come across a band that was popular in the 90's and earlier, or heck, never come across modern popular bands/artists.
This is the era of the New Jersey Drone Genre, Rick. Everything is based around a buzzing sound like that of a bee and everybody cranes their heads upward as they bounce to the beat.
This made me burst out laughing, I don't know why.
@@matt_garrett_ Success!
Ironically I listen to bands like this and none of them are from New Jersey (except Hath but they kinda suck at it, not enough drone, too much clean vocals)
Very informative Rick (but aren't all your videos?). 😊 I'm 57, and I only listen to my favorites from the 60s, 70s, and 80s on Sirius or my playlists from TH-cam Music. I don't have a clue about artists of today. Not saying that there isn't good music out there today, I'm just happy to stick with the three best decades of music. 😁 Keep up the awesome interviews, they're fantastic!!!
It doesn't make you any cooler that you dont listen to that stuff.
Hilarious video today Rick. Especially at 1:04 when out of the blue, you suddenly start shouting passionately about who controls the music world 😂
It’s not just in the music world the establishment dominates narratives. What’s happening in the musical landscape is a beautiful picture of what is happening politically in the grassroots populist push against the establishment backed globalist forces. I think that’s why independent media is surging so much and legacy media such as CNN MSNBC Fox News C-SPAN and others are losing viewers significantly. Just like independent artists are growing more and more prevalent and the mainstream record labels are losing their footing. It’s a good thing.
💥 You are absolutely right, Rick. I worked as a radio DJ starting in 1973, and have never experienced such a “mish-mash” of music possessing no definable genre to speak of. Not a lot of Superstar singers or bands, either. Could it be because almost everything musically has already been done? 🤔🤔
I’m in my ninth decade, so I have been through all of the eras you’ve described. I’ve enjoyed them all. The greatest part of today’s “era” is the creative freedom that artists feel and the resulting music isn’t locked into the control of a label or a DJ. The worst part, as you mentioned, is having fewer opportunities to become aware of the newest good stuff. Listening to you, Rick, helps a lot, though. Keep it up.
Are you William shatner
Thank you, sir. I am much younger than you but I have been beating this drum for a while. Music is better than it has ever been, but like you said it's harder to just go around and hear different stuff. You have to go find it by yourself.
The 200 most popular new tracks now regularly account for less than 5 percent of total streams.
It's definitely a fascinating era whatever it is. The amount of sub genres, most of them I've never heard of, that are being discussed amazes me. They'd never have existed in the old times, or at least would never have had so many fans. My son listens to a lot of my old favourites (mainly heavy rock, prog metal etc) but at the same time finds tons of tunes and genres himself. It's certainly not all doom and gloom but a very different reality for musicians.
You're absolutely right-internet streaming has completely transformed everything. Growing up in the '80s and living in Seattle in the '90s, I’m really enjoying the freshness and vibrancy of today’s music. I’ve experienced the evolution from records to cassettes, then CDs, and eventually MP3s. Now, I exclusively stream music on TH-cam Music.
Through streaming, I’ve discovered incredible music I never would have encountered before. If I’m feeling nostalgic, I can easily revisit those cherished music memories. It’s also been a wonderful way to connect with my kids.
Do I think this new streaming model is fair to artists? No-but that’s a whole other conversation.
I was one of those kids that started with the industry dictating what I heard and then had the whole world of music open up when napster and kazaa exploded. I still go on exploratory missions to find stuff that's different from what I've ever heard away from the influencers who are really just a new kind of main stream. You still have to put in the effort to look for it but it's there. I also have discovered total bangers from way before my time that have been largely left in the past but can now find new life. Finding out there was all this hidden stuff inspired me to make my own music and today we incorporate ideas from tons of genres in my own band.
My thoughts: One of the things that allowed bands like The Beatles and Pink Floyd to grow was a solid foundation of playing genre tunes that built up their musical sensibility allowing them to later experiment much more successfully. The idea that we're sold is that with this personalization we'll get what we want. But it doesn't actually allow us to develop the language and skills needed to take ourselves further. It's like training, but now instead of going in depth on one thing you have to go very broad. Jack of all trades, master of none kind of thing
I think the Beatles would hate being labelled genre music. I always felt their music was innovative and genre-busting.
@@Tubeoid121 I think I wasn't clear about what I was saying. They started off as a skiffle band and developed their chops and musical understanding playing A LOT of music in that genre (and others). This training gave them the ability to be really innovative and genre busting later. It's with that strong foundation they could be so successful when they were experimental
The copy and paste era,
Not even... at this point its the "write an AI prompt, wait for the program to spit something out and then post it online" era
Does anyone believe that it is actually better now than say in the nineteen seventies????
@@johnnycarson67honestly never been better, more diverse, more available.
Or recycling era
I'm sure there is a postmodern critique to be had: simulacrum, pastiche, a change in temporal modes of consumption and consumer capitalism.
It might sound crazy but I really wish new wave didn’t die out , it was so interesting and even bizarre at some points but it really captures your ear ; I wasn’t alive in the 80’s but whenever I hear a new wave song it always captivates my attention
Man I really enjoyed this video. Mostly because I haven‘t given a thought about what musical era we could be in. I agree with your eraly ideas on what this stage could be referred to but to truly identify it we will just have to wait until a clearer cut in music history presents itself.
You make some really interesting points about how our media consumption has become so personalized. It makes sense that the idea of a collective "zeitgeist" is harder to pin down when we're not all watching the same shows, listening to the same music, or even experiencing those things at the same time.
Your examples are spot on:
TV: We used to gather around the TV for must-see events, creating water cooler moments the next day. Now, we binge at our own pace, and those shared viewing experiences are rarer.
Music: Albums used to be a cohesive artistic statement we'd absorb as a whole. Now, it's more about individual tracks and playlists, often shuffled.
Movies: The theatrical experience used to be the way to see a film. Now, with streaming, that communal excitement of a packed theater is becoming less central.
Given how personalized everything has become, it's hard to imagine a scenario where those large-scale shared experiences make a full comeback. We're so used to on-demand content and curated algorithms that cater to our individual tastes, it's unlikely we'll revert back to a more homogenous media landscape.
This shift definitely has implications for how culture is shaped and shared. It'll be interesting to see how artists, creators, and the entertainment industry as a whole adapt to this new reality.
This is an era when good hard rock and indie rock can thankfully be found in Japan. Band-Maid and Yonige, for example, have brought me a lot of joy. Both caused a rare event after many years: the purchase of physical media. So after a long time, I have also started buying records and live Blu-ray discs again.
Digital is good but you just can't beat physical media. A least you 'own' it.
There is still good music being made. Its just not going to be mainstream.
There’s also a pretty big Shoegaze scene there. I work at a Japanese company so the exposure is right in front of me.
Good hard rock....search The Warning!
@@joeyoungs8426 RAY!!! ❤😊❤
Rick, don't forget ' American Bandstand' and 'Soul Train'. Also Casey Casion( sp) for the count down to #1 for that week, on radio of. course. Always have loved music, and boy, you bring it home!
Casey Kasem. American Top 40 and also the voice of Shaggy from Scooby Doo cartoons (that one blew my mind when I found out).
@@joshuagodinez5867 Now my mind is blown!
The internet allows a higher level of decentralization in comparison to the music industry of the 2000s and back. The days of specific genres such as grunge or hip-hop dominating the music industry are over. People can freely rally around different sounds and genres and develop following around niche and varied genres like never before. This is also leading to a lot of bands not fitting in a specific genre like Sleep Token. It amazes me how many people listen to bands or musicians I've never heard of or vice versa, then to see that this unheard of band had millions of fans. I'm a music junky that listens to a ton of different genres and artists from every decade to music coming out today, but I'm always amazed how many amazing artists i run across everyday I've never heard of. It's a golden age of music if you can get past analysis paralysis.
The sad thing about how we consume (stream) music, TV, movies is we're all listening and watching something different...Watching the same shows & listening to the same music used to give us something we would have in common... I was born in the 70's but listened to music my dad listened to from the 50's and we always had that bond over his music...Now it feels like a big disconnect between everyone and the stuff we're watching & listening to.
Yes spot on. Been thinking this for ages
Now it's more organic. We have to actively share our experiences with others, which is also great because we're not pigeonholed into what the corpos feed us.
WWWWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
people still connect today. Just because you don't know how to in this day and age, doesn't mean others don't know how to. And the big difference is we get to choose. You and your dad didn't.
@@prunelle9068 You think algorithms let you choose what you're listening too?...We had less choices but better quality cause the garbage was weeded out!...And being pulled in a thousand different directions every day is the reason why no one has an attention span longer than a minute these days!
I can't remember the phrase, but we are living in an era where there are too many choices. As you have said, 10,000 songs added to streaming service each day!? So I, a boomer born in 1949 discover new music thru YOU. The only streaming service I use is youtube or I can listen, via the internet to my hometown(Chicago) radio station thru the internet or I play the records/cds that I have purchased in the past. If I were a teen today what is my music. First of all, your kids started listening to what you listen. Mine was Big band that my parents loved. I still like it! Then, in my era, radio. And radio expanded from AM to Fm and in FM anything goes. When it came out Led Zepplin was originally in top 40 radio. In my area there was a Sunday night program for that music(Zep, Sabbath...) to out there for top 40, even on FM. Where is that experience today? Somewhere in today's 10,000 songs uploaded to streaming - impossible.
Remember when everyone told us that music piracy would kill music and nobody would make music if they couldn't sell $18 cds.
@@empathogen75 Making music and making a living from making music are two different things.
"Future Shock" is the book by Alvin Toffler in the late 60s that said we wouldn't be crushed and controlled by authoritarianism but would be paralyzed by the overabundance of choices in the future. I don't know why the expression went out of vogue but it was a very prophetic book.
I would argue that the genre-based world was a 20th Century aberration. We’ve returned to 😢more like a
people don’t listen to music based off a specific genre anymore, but based off their favourite artists that may vary
0:39 My grandmas brother Creed Taylor produced this record and brought up a lot of young talent from Brazil and helped popularize bossa nova he even produced a lot of fusion guys later on
Nice! Creed Taylor was the man
He produced some great music. Did he collaborate with Quincy Jones on an album incorporating jazz guitar evolution featuring greats like Eric Gale, Jim Hall, etc….? Peace.
Wow! Creed Taylor! You are music royalty! 👍👍👍
@@GARRY3754 I believe so
@@toomuchkool-aid7975 yes it was red color jacket. I am going back to 1977 …….
Absolutely love Laufey, she has made one of the most interesting blends of modern and old music we have in mainstream music today
I'm a 53 year old gen Xer. I can't say this is a bad thing. There's a plethora of great music out there to be found, both old and new. That said I myself mostly ignore the algorithm generated playlists and look for my own stuff.
Agree. Do a little research folks. New, good music is out there. It's just pushed down because of the "algorithm".
Yes, I agree. So much great music. This such a great time to life in.
I am here. 💫
Same. I've never spent more money on music than I do now, there's so much good stuff out there to find, both new and old. More than I could ever listen to. The tricky part is keeping new discoveries in rotation when they get displaced by more new stuff, and getting enough plays of the kind of challenging albums that need several listens to really cement themselves as truely great rather than just interesting oddities.
I’m from the same era (52), but feel the downside is that there’s less music that’s universally shared in common that can be talked about. I can’t really look back less than 10 years ago and find many songs to share in discussions.
It’s one of those things that have gotten better with time. I’ve always been like this even in 99. It’s all about personal taste and I love it ❤
Some of us have always curated our own music. I was a teenager in the 80s, but I was listening to The Beatles, The Who, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Small Faces, Sex Pistols, T Rex, Led Zeppelin, King Crimson, The Jam, The Doors, The Specials, Selecter, The Beach Boys...
I love that music is not only more personalized but more diverse than ever. I like to hear different genres mixing together too as it allows for more creativity for the artist. They don't have to stick to a specific formula anymore to make it on the radio.
It's not really the algorithm that's "destroying" music (and by music, I mean mainstream music specifically), it's really the industry heads who are curating who appears in the mainstream algorithm, hence significantly lowering the chances of talented new artists to be discovered by the general public.
Yep, they're still in control like they always have been.
My wife and I ‘click’ on music references constantly. I can’t imagine if we didn’t have all of these awesome little moments of shared knowledge of a huge set of music.
Sampler era..?
I didn't know Laufey, but now I will. Thank you everything Rick!
The best chanel is yours!
I hadn't heard of Laufey before either.... and, wow, she's flippin' great!
I'm not at all surprise that an 11 years old girl knows Laufey. But i'm not surprise at all that she doesn't know bossa nova, either. And i know why i know Laufey and the bossa nova genre, also. It's because young people are more interested with "people" and less with the "cultural and artistic" side of things, within music. And i totally agree with the 5:36 "transitional phase" theory of Rick.
I think artists like Laufey are a great way to get into the world of jazz/bossa nova music. Not many will dare to do so, but this is important for the preservation of modern jazz as a musical genre.
@superzocki4433 To me Laufey is, without a doubt, the next star that will be known by a big audience. She's really smart and has mastered the way of using social media to get attention. Plus she has created a new genre that i would call "jazz pop" (i use that term in a good way). And she already got a huge fan base. So is it good for jazz ? Probably. I've made comments on Rick's channel about the whole situation. To me, the classical genre belongs now to the Pantheon (the history of mankind). Jazz has become the "new classical" and rock the "new jazz" (less artists, less records sales, still a big fan base).
@@carl13220 By the way, she is not the only star of this type, there will be more.
@@Olkam-w5u Yep probably.
Jaron Lanier has a similar but slightly different take on this phenomenon - that we don't see such distinct and unique styles of (popular) music emerge anymore because they need time and isolation to develop, and that is almost impossible now. Basically there needs to be a small local scene with a limited set of influences and players that has the time to develop and grow organically into something unique to end up with a sound so different that eventually gets discovered and has a huge impact. Think Seattle and the grunge scene in the late 80s to early 90s. It's the isolation of a smaller group of musicians (and their fans) that provide the conditions for something new to develop, and once everybody has instantaneous access to everything everyone else is doing almost as soon as they do it those conditions are lost.
@@nilsnilsnilsify I don’t think it works like that. I argue trends usually have like a “trigger”, y’know like the artists that kick the trend off. Like, grunge didn’t become mainstream just because it had a scene. It got that way because Nirvana blew up, and then everyone started listening to stuff that sounded like that, and so then grunge blew up.
So it’s like A: an artist blows up. B: people start listening to other stuff in that same genre. C: that genre becomes a trend.
no matter how much you hate the word "influencer" you'll never hate it enough to stop being one