The devices and media might change more often, but the important stuff -- the content -- is much more persistent than it ever was. Between 1924 and 1974 the pr

The devices and media might change more often, but the important stuff -- the content -- is much more persistent than it ever was. Between 1924 and 1974 the primary format for listening to music only underwent minor changes (78rpm to 33 1/3 rpm; 8track showed up but my understanding is that it was still generally secondary) and new hardware was at least sometimes backward compatible with older media.. Between 1974 and 2024 there have been at least three major primary format changes (vinyl to cd to mp3, four if you count cassette). But here in 2024 if someone actually wants to listen to music from 50 years earlier, it's incredibly easy. For example, per wiki fifty years ago this week "Boogie Down" by Eddie Kendricks and "Rock On" by David Essex both entered the Billboard top 10, and amazon's willing to sell me digital versions of their containing albums for, respectively, $8 and $9. In 1974 if someone actually wanted to listen to music from 50 years earlier, such as seen here: https://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/single/1924/ https://rateyourmusic.com/charts/top/single/1924/ then good luck. Maybe they were re-issued, but you'd probably have to do some legwork to discover that, maybe your grandparents kept their copy and it's still listenable, maybe you've got a really good secondhand record shop nearby, but it'll take effort, gumption, and luck.