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Not really an argument against but perhaps something to consider: more and more people seem to be listening to old music instead of the latest and greatest [1],

Not really an argument against but perhaps something to consider: more and more people seem to be listening to old music instead of the latest and greatest [1], the why is difficult but it might indicate that it becomes harder and harder to find true quality through the noise, but then again art generation does make it easy for someone like me to make something pretty even though it might not be a masterpiece. [1] https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/old-music-killing-new-music/621339/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/old-music-... Edit: added source for the statement of old vs new music

wingerlang 4y ago
> more and more people seem to be listening to old music instead of the latest and greatest I doubt this, what do you base this on?
- hetspookjee 4y ago
  I added the link to my comment but I took it from this article from the Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/old-music-killing-new-music/621339/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/old-music-...
jason-phillips 4y ago
> more and more people seem to be listening to old music instead of the latest and greatest Simple explanation? Sounds like your peer group is getting old.
- garbagetime 4y ago
  Also, there's more and more old music. Although it gets complicated because it's getting easier and easier to make music.
- Qworg 4y ago
  I recommend you read the article - unless Gen Z is abandoning streaming, the numbers are pretty shocking. While "new" is considered less than 18 months old, the shift is enormous.
  - jason-phillips 4y ago
    Thanks, will do. That link was added with an edit after my comment. Looks like a great article.
- pnut 4y ago
  Pretty sure that getting old is a universal problem
kyriakos 4y ago
I believe this is a case of the grass is greener on the other side. It applies to music, movies even food. People look back at the highest quality pieces of an older age and say "look how awesome work was done back then compared to now". The reason though is that we compare an average sample of our currently available experiences to the top ones from the past. Bad music was released back then too, we just no longer listen to it.
webmaven 4y ago
> perhaps something to consider: more and more people seem to be listening to old music instead of the latest and greatest. The most likely explanation is survivorship bias. That is, the old music that people listen to is the better stuff that has stood the test of time, and the very latest tunes... haven't. Yet. Eleven years ago the latest popular tunes included the gem "Friday" by Rebecca Black. 21 years ago it included "Who Let the Dogs Out?". 29 years ago it included the Macarena.
- nitrogen 4y ago
  I can see Who Let The Dogs Out and The Macarena making periodic comebacks, getting future reboots/covers/remixes, etc.
  - webmaven 4y ago
    Hmm. You say you can see it, but have we seen that to date? Perhaps I'm assuming too much from your use of "periodic", but I don't think it's too much to expect that if it was going to happen, it would have, after nearly three decades. 20-30 years is usually considered a human generation. For comparison to 1993's Macarena, consider Sting's "Fields of Gold", which is the most covered song released that same year, with 234 versions to date. So, I'm not saying that old music is worse or better, I'm just saying that we forget the bad stuff, and the good stuff keeps accumulating (which goes for genres as well as individual bands or songs). Every year the new good stuff has to compete with a larger pile of old good stuff (or if you keep the pile size constant, the average quality goes up), and absent a radical change of musical tastes in the general public, that competition is just going to keep getting tougher. Once streaming on demand broke the tastemaking power of radio (ie. the "Top 40" format), the fact that the best old music has proved to be quite popular shouldn't really be that surprising.

wingerlang 4y ago

> more and more people seem to be listening to old music instead of the latest and greatest I doubt this, what do you base this on?

hetspookjee 4y ago
I added the link to my comment but I took it from this article from the Atlantic https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/old-music-killing-new-music/621339/ https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/01/old-music-...

jason-phillips 4y ago

> more and more people seem to be listening to old music instead of the latest and greatest Simple explanation? Sounds like your peer group is getting old.

garbagetime 4y ago
Also, there's more and more old music. Although it gets complicated because it's getting easier and easier to make music.
Qworg 4y ago
I recommend you read the article - unless Gen Z is abandoning streaming, the numbers are pretty shocking. While "new" is considered less than 18 months old, the shift is enormous.
- jason-phillips 4y ago
  Thanks, will do. That link was added with an edit after my comment. Looks like a great article.
pnut 4y ago
Pretty sure that getting old is a universal problem

kyriakos 4y ago

I believe this is a case of the grass is greener on the other side. It applies to music, movies even food. People look back at the highest quality pieces of an older age and say "look how awesome work was done back then compared to now". The reason though is that we compare an average sample of our currently available experiences to the top ones from the past. Bad music was released back then too, we just no longer listen to it.

webmaven 4y ago

> perhaps something to consider: more and more people seem to be listening to old music instead of the latest and greatest. The most likely explanation is survivorship bias. That is, the old music that people listen to is the better stuff that has stood the test of time, and the very latest tunes... haven't. Yet. Eleven years ago the latest popular tunes included the gem "Friday" by Rebecca Black. 21 years ago it included "Who Let the Dogs Out?". 29 years ago it included the Macarena.

nitrogen 4y ago
I can see Who Let The Dogs Out and The Macarena making periodic comebacks, getting future reboots/covers/remixes, etc.
- webmaven 4y ago
  Hmm. You say you can see it, but have we seen that to date? Perhaps I'm assuming too much from your use of "periodic", but I don't think it's too much to expect that if it was going to happen, it would have, after nearly three decades. 20-30 years is usually considered a human generation. For comparison to 1993's Macarena, consider Sting's "Fields of Gold", which is the most covered song released that same year, with 234 versions to date. So, I'm not saying that old music is worse or better, I'm just saying that we forget the bad stuff, and the good stuff keeps accumulating (which goes for genres as well as individual bands or songs). Every year the new good stuff has to compete with a larger pile of old good stuff (or if you keep the pile size constant, the average quality goes up), and absent a radical change of musical tastes in the general public, that competition is just going to keep getting tougher. Once streaming on demand broke the tastemaking power of radio (ie. the "Top 40" format), the fact that the best old music has proved to be quite popular shouldn't really be that surprising.