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Why we listen to new music

pitchfork.com

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Re: Why we listen to new music

#61

Post by maze-le »

readarticle wrote: post #26
l33tbro wrote: post #15

This from the website that built an empire on discovering and promoting new music - but today reviews Tik Tok videos [1] and treat Taylor Swift and Beiber like they are Richard D. James. [1] https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/tiktok-report-benees-supalone...

Methods of discovering and promoting new music change over time, especially compared to the peak days of a niche electronic music artist in the 90s. Tik Tok is an absolutely massive recent source of new music growth [0], Taylor Swift and Beiber are absolutely massive artists with almost unparalleled influence across multiple genres, their riding of new vibes throws off tsunami wave effects. They’re doing their job, a…

So... you think Aphex Twin is a niche electronic music artist of the 90s and at the same time claim Taylor Swift and Beiber have "almost unparalleled influence".

I mean... musical taste has its variations and I am cool with that but this is objectively an exaggeration.

Re: Why we listen to new music

#62

Post by smoe »

tayo42 wrote: post #12
superpermutat0r wrote: post #9

I can no longer enjoy the music the way I did as a teenager. I automatically picked up the lyrics, I still remember them to this day. I sought new music, new bands. There was a peak when I was around 18-19 and after that I listened to music less and less. Similar thing happened with movies. I followed sites like pitchfork but today I'm just not interested. I started noticing that music on my hard drive would get bigg…

Funny I'm the same way I think. I used to be so into music, I was always listening to something. I had a massive collection of pirated music lol. Always looking for something new to check out. When edm and dubstep blew up I was always out at shows, festivals, random dj nights. Tried writing a lot of my own music, even had small release Then idk I got my first job out of college around 24 and stopped searching or even…

> I think part of it is there is no scene for music any more?

There are plenty of music scenes, but I do think they are not as big and influential on overall youth culture anymore.

What subcultures revolve around changes over time and we might have had an oddity in the 80s, 90s and early 2000s were the subject was primarily the music genres that evolved during that time? When I was a teenager, pretty much everyone that was in a scene, associated themselves strongly to one music genre with basically no overlap. You were either into Techno, Metal, Hip Hop, Goth or Punk and the life/fashion styles that come with it.

But when I asked my mother, who was a teenager partying hard in the 60s/70s when bands definitely were big on the radio, what the subcultures revolved around, from her perspective it wasn't music, but political and socio-economical stances. For example hippies: Music definitively played a big role in that scene and many iconic songs came from it, but it was not the main thing the scene was about.

And I think it could be the same thing these days. Music is still important to people and evokes a lot of emotions, but it is not the main thing the youth cultures are build around.

Re: Why we listen to new music

#63

Post by tartoran »

nemo44x wrote: post #54

As I’ve aged I’ve discovered that new pop music tends to be a reflection of the current youth culture and it’s something I’m not interested in. I still listen to new music produced by artists that were in their prime when I was younger though. They aren’t culturally relevant but either am I any longer. I’ve also found that I enjoy digging into older music And genres I would have never considered when I was younger. R…

Yeah, theres lots of great old music that it’s new at the same time. And it comes with the perspective of time, one has the ability to see how it aged. The most im impressed with is forgotten music that has aged very well and feels ever more relevant; that is music with essence. Sometimes despite being a bad recording it still moves the needle in the positive direction. In modern music the newness factor sometimes obscures the essence and one is not able to fully asses it at the present moment.

Re: Why we listen to new music

#64

Post by l33tbro »

readarticle wrote: post #26
l33tbro wrote: post #15

This from the website that built an empire on discovering and promoting new music - but today reviews Tik Tok videos [1] and treat Taylor Swift and Beiber like they are Richard D. James. [1] https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/tiktok-report-benees-supalone...

Methods of discovering and promoting new music change over time, especially compared to the peak days of a niche electronic music artist in the 90s. Tik Tok is an absolutely massive recent source of new music growth [0], Taylor Swift and Beiber are absolutely massive artists with almost unparalleled influence across multiple genres, their riding of new vibes throws off tsunami wave effects. They’re doing their job, a…

> Taylor Swift and Beiber are absolutely massive artists with almost unparalleled influence across multiple genres.

Massive like Rick Astley? Hootie and the Blowfish? Your argument attributes artistic quality with an artist and their machine's size and reach. I'm sorry, but this doesn't justify critical notice or attention.

As for their influence - I'm at a loss for what you mean here. What genres are these two artists influencing - other than pop? Maaaybe hip-hop with their use of the millenial whoop [1] - but even that is a stretch.

> their riding of new vibes throws off tsunami wave effects.

This is what Madonna, MJ and basically every mainstream artist has done for eons - co-opting genres and trends to remain relevant (Kenny Rogers even did disco).

> you’re just not the target.

Thanks for the patronizing tone. As a DJ, signed artist and music nerd of more than 20 years, I think I understand a little about the nuances of this stuff. I actually used Aphex as I thought it may be relatable to a tech crowd, but I could have said a number of artists (new or old) from many different genres to make the point.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennial_whoop

Re: Why we listen to new music

#65

Post by readarticle »

maze-le wrote: post #61
readarticle wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Methods of discovering and promoting new music change over time, especially compared to the peak days of a niche electronic music artist in the 90s. Tik Tok is an absolutely massive recent source of new music growth [0], Taylor Swift and Beiber are absolutely massive artists with almost unparalleled influence across multiple genres, their riding of new vibes throws off tsunami wave effects. They’re doing their job, a…

So... you think Aphex Twin is a niche electronic music artist of the 90s and at the same time claim Taylor Swift and Beiber have "almost unparalleled influence". I mean... musical taste has its variations and I am cool with that but this is objectively an exaggeration.

In general, they’re niche. Their peak was in the 90s but they’re not of the 90s, I’m not trying to call them Sugar Ray.

This is all in terms of listeners and quantity, not taste and quality, in line with Pitchfork’s target moving.

And it’s definitely exaggerated, but mostly because Taylor Swift and Beiber were the slightly dated examples given. Nicely emblematic though.

Re: Why we listen to new music

#66

Post by smoe »

mattkevan wrote: post #25

Listening to new music is one of my favourite activities. Don't understand how people are happy to listen to the same old stuff - it must get so dull. There's so much good stuff out there, and it's so exciting to find an artist, genre or new combinations of sounds I've not heard before. Bandcamp is great for this – better than Spotify or Apple Music. You can explore by artist, genre tag, label, and by people who have…

I spend significant time looking for new music and exploring genres and regions new to me. I love doing that and sharing discoveries with friends.

But I also think, whether music gets dull, has more to do with ones consumption behavior than whether it is fresh or not. Do you have headphones on every waking hour, constantly being exposed to music no matter what you are doing, or do you deliberately take time out of the day to sit down and listen to a musical work and not do anything else.

Personally I do both to a degree. But while it is easy to find "good enough" music for the former listening mode, I find it extremely rare to find music, no matter the genre, new or old, able to fully capture my attention and emotions for extended periods of time. That are the works I value most highly and that never get dull.

Re: Why we listen to new music

#68

Post by chris_st »

If you'd like to be adventurous, I highly recommend the Nief-Norf folks[0] who are streaming live music in support of modern chamber music, and having old streams available. Some really great music here. They're raising money there, but encourage people to listen for free if you can't support them. Full disclosure: I'm acquainted with Megan Ihnen, one of the people who run Nief-Norf... you should check out her singing, her voice is a force of nature, for example here[1] (where the recording doesn't do her any favors, alas, but it's better than nothing).

[0] https://dots.livemusicproject.org/virtual-norf-space/

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb4OYwDurWo

Re: Why we listen to new music

#69

Post by nimajneb »

mattkevan wrote: post #25

Listening to new music is one of my favourite activities. Don't understand how people are happy to listen to the same old stuff - it must get so dull. There's so much good stuff out there, and it's so exciting to find an artist, genre or new combinations of sounds I've not heard before. Bandcamp is great for this – better than Spotify or Apple Music. You can explore by artist, genre tag, label, and by people who have…

>Don't understand how people are happy to listen to the same old stuff - it must get so dull.

I've learned over time that music I actually like I like forever. Music I'm infatuated with I eventually forget about and don't go back to listen after a while. I've been listening to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and a few others since middle school. Over time bands have been added to that list and always enjoy listening to. For example The Clash, Sex Pistols, Bright Eyes, Nas, Biggie, etc.

There is a lot of music I like for a while and is exciting, but doesn't make it onto my forever list. Others get added to that last.

Everyone is different though, enjoy music the way you enjoy. Live your own life.

Re: Why we listen to new music

#70

Post by readarticle »

l33tbro wrote: post #64
readarticle wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Methods of discovering and promoting new music change over time, especially compared to the peak days of a niche electronic music artist in the 90s. Tik Tok is an absolutely massive recent source of new music growth [0], Taylor Swift and Beiber are absolutely massive artists with almost unparalleled influence across multiple genres, their riding of new vibes throws off tsunami wave effects. They’re doing their job, a…

> Taylor Swift and Beiber are absolutely massive artists with almost unparalleled influence across multiple genres. Massive like Rick Astley? Hootie and the Blowfish? Your argument attributes artistic quality with an artist and their machine's size and reach. I'm sorry, but this doesn't justify critical notice or attention. As for their influence - I'm at a loss for what you mean here. What genres are these two artis…

Your argument attributes artistic quality with an artist and their machine's size and reach.

I didn’t mention or consider artistic quality in my comment, and didn’t mean to suggest popularity is quality.

This from the website that built an empire on discovering and promoting new music...

Is what I originally replied to, if “new music” implied quality music, than this is a miscommunication.

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