IMO, we usually like the music that’s exposed to us during our lifetime. So, the music that we grew up with interests us. This is a reason why some people might miss the “good old days” when the music was great (to them)
Now, I’ll admit that some old songs are pretty good, but imagine if millennials and Gen Z people grew up listening to what our past generations listened to? We would’ve like the music that they listened to.
I also understand that some of today’s songs can be sexual or inappropriate, but it’s just the nature of music in today’s world. I can’t tell you how big music is apart of people’s lives, including mine. I mean, I feel great when I like a new song that just came out or a song from the past that I really like. I admire people and how hard they work to create such great music. Even if some people may criticize autotuning and certain noises in today’s music, it sounds great to me and they should feel proud that they created something that people like.
On an extra note, they also don’t seem to care if their music is viewed as inappropriate. That’s because it’s a business to them, so whatever works for them is good enough in their own opinion.
Good music is subjective, and people can find their idea of great music if they look hard enough, IMO. There are modern bands with old sounds, and as they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Keep in mind that every generation to come along in the past century or so has moaned and groaned about the musical choices of the generation to follow.
Well, depending on how you define the generations I’m either a young Millennial or an old Gen Z’er and I’m not a huge fan of “today’s music”. My issue with it is that all of the music in a given genre sounds very similar, and the most popular music is generally overproduced. In this, the era of social media et al., mainstream music often seems generated out of those pieces of subject matter that make it popular, rather than thoughtfully written as a piece of art that involves some commentary, which makes it sound like it was written by a committee. Those artists and groups that do produce powerful, artistic, good music (I’m in no way saying that no good music gets made anymore!) tend to exist in niche markets rather than the mainstream, which has been the case for a while.
You definitely have a point about how being raised on a particular kind of music informs one’s music preferences, but you have to remember that despite the fact that we often use the same words to express our preferences and our judgments of a product’s quality, these two ideas shouldn’t be equated.
The problems I have with most pop music is they really become extremely annoying when you listen to them over and over (and they all sound alike, to me at lest).
As in my case, I had to endure them during my gym classes, when the instructors are good, they choose the music with the beats that match the spins of the cycle you should be in, but the music itself still is not interesting.
Which is why Bach is so great, you never get tied of his music. Never.
I’m not sure what “today’s music” refers to, since there are many genres. I’m middle aged, but I do enjoy many of today’s rap artists, like Khalid, Migos, Post Malone, Big Sean, etc. I’ve even been to a few rap concerts. And I also enjoy other popular artists from the pop and alternative genres. Excellent tunes for working out in the gym or on the commute. So bottom line, I like today’s music alot. :-bd
I’m a fan of '80’s New Wave - that was the soundtrack of my high school/college years. My son is into alternative music - and we’ve found quite a bit of common ground. Even to the point where some of the bands he likes are remaking songs from groups like the Smiths or the Cure.
In any given generation there is not one genre - you’ve got metal, rock, rap,hip hop, alternative, country, folk, bluegrass, easy listening, and so much more. You should be able to find some common ground between nostalgia and current hits.
@makemesmart, I couldn’t agree more! I often embarrass my daughter by playing ear-splitting baroque in the car, lol.
Being a very tail-end boomer, I liked the folksy bards of that era (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, James Taylor before it became elevator music). I spent much of the '80s in the Peace Corps and similar work overseas and in D.C., so my young-adult nostalgia is for thumping West African and Latin rhythms, not the new wave or pop music of that era. (Anyone heard of the old Kilimanjaro Club off Columbia Road in D.C before it closed down? ) But Talking Heads was fun. So many memories…must be older than I thought!
I like today’s popular music as much as I liked the pop music I grew up listening to. I also liked the popular music of the 50’s and 60’s that my parents like to play.
I wish I liked classical music (since Bach was mentioned) just so I could pretend to be really sophisticated and classy but it bores me to no end and all sounds the same to me.
@mom22girls I find some classical music boring too…lots of the 19th century and later romantic music (except for ballet music) just seems to run on and on to me… but the structured renaissance to baroque period music does something to my brain…serotonin explosion, lol…that I seem to crave. (Weird, as I am otherwise not a structured or formal person in my other tastes and no one would ever consider me sophisticated! ) Maybe there’s a particular type of classical music you could resonate with more easily than some others.
I also love blues, cajun and zydeco…from the “New Orleans” period of my life in the 90s…I guess my tastes have more to do with place memories than with popular styles in their time period.
Right now I’ve been binge-watching a Netflix series… “Kurt Seyit ve Sura” set in Russia/Turkey during WW1 and the Russian Revolution… some of that plaintive Turkish music will have me running to find more of its kind to listen to…
I have Sirius satellite and I listen to AltNation most of the time. I’m sure I’m older than their demographic! I liked Van Halen, U2, INXS, Queen no rap or country when I was high school/college age. I can see the appeal in Pop music, Shawn Mendes was live on the Today Show last week, great voice. And if anyone wants a laugh, look for the Mendes, James Corden subway skit.
As a Gen Z’er (or very late millennial??) I like a lot of Swedish pop/alternative. Tove Styrke and Lykke Li are particular favorites right now. Also like CHVRCHES, Lorde, James Bay, and Bishop Briggs. I don’t care for most American/British pop but some of it is fun to listen to once in a while. I can’t stand country for the most part, which is difficult when you live in a rural farm town :)) and I’m not partial to rap either but Run the Jewels performed as an opening act at a concert I went to and I really enjoyed them. My parents made sure I was introduced to Billy Joel, AC DC, and Aerosmith at a young age so I enjoy those too. And being the band geek that I am, I love modern movie scores, modern concert band composers, and classical composers.
Don’t ask me about my music taste ever. I’ll talk for way too long about it :))
