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When do we stop finding new music?

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Re: When do we stop finding new music?

#341

Post by longdog »

mellosouls wrote: post #332

The conclusions of this study - that musical open-mindedness drops off in the late twenties - is consistent with the fact that (pop) music creators also peak in their twenties, with a rapid decline into creative insignificance afterwards. There's a lot of comforting analysis here on social and cultural development reasons why that might be, but the likely ugly truth is the same faced by creatives in some other areas…

What are those other areas which display age-based creative decline? Other creative fields I can think of off the top of my head - scientific research, animation, fiction writing, architecture - are overwhelmingly dominated by older people.

Even in pop music, I'd argue that artists are doing very little of the actual heavy lifting compared to the producers and the writers. Pop singers have a much shorter shelf life than producer/writers due to the importance of image in appealing to younger fans. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Martin for an example.

Re: When do we stop finding new music?

#342

Post by dqh »

mellosouls wrote: post #332

The conclusions of this study - that musical open-mindedness drops off in the late twenties - is consistent with the fact that (pop) music creators also peak in their twenties, with a rapid decline into creative insignificance afterwards. There's a lot of comforting analysis here on social and cultural development reasons why that might be, but the likely ugly truth is the same faced by creatives in some other areas…

I suspect that it’s not cognitive decline, but that everyone is just too tired to make music.

Re: When do we stop finding new music?

#343

Post by c22 »

Thegn wrote: post #224

One problem I've run into with the music services is with older styles. For example, I'm specifically into black musicians from the 1930s-1950s who played swing style music. I have yet to find a service that actually will play more than 2-3 songs in that style before deciding that what I really want to hear is rat pack or swing by white musicians. No matter how much I thumbs down it, I get Glenn Miller/Frank Sinatra/…

On pandora I find every channel I make eventually slides into the nearest "standard" repetive theme (often abandoning the seed content entirely). I always assumed it was nudging me towards the content with the lowest licensing costs.

Re: When do we stop finding new music?

#344

Post by BenFranklin100 »

mellosouls wrote: post #332

The conclusions of this study - that musical open-mindedness drops off in the late twenties - is consistent with the fact that (pop) music creators also peak in their twenties, with a rapid decline into creative insignificance afterwards. There's a lot of comforting analysis here on social and cultural development reasons why that might be, but the likely ugly truth is the same faced by creatives in some other areas…

I think there is developmental biological factor, but how quickly you’ve leapt to cognitive decline betrays an underlying ageism. First, cognitive abilities don’t drop suddenly at the age of 30, and crystallized intelligence continues to grow for at least couple of decades past 30. Second, you need to square your conclusions with the fact that the average age for the best work by classical composers was 40 rather than 30, and this was in a period where health outcomes were much poorer. Further, writers, working in perhaps the most creatively demanding field of all, have their best work often in their 40s, 50s, and beyond. Need I mention the great painters of the last 500 years too?

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10400419.2016.11...

Re: When do we stop finding new music?

#345

Post by trimethylpurine »

mellosouls wrote: post #332

The conclusions of this study - that musical open-mindedness drops off in the late twenties - is consistent with the fact that (pop) music creators also peak in their twenties, with a rapid decline into creative insignificance afterwards. There's a lot of comforting analysis here on social and cultural development reasons why that might be, but the likely ugly truth is the same faced by creatives in some other areas…

Pop songs are typically written by songwriters who are much older than the performer. I'm estimating, but that's probably true of most pop songs in the top 100 history. Maybe someone has the stats on that.

Re: When do we stop finding new music?

#346

Post by drones »

Most people stop making an effort to expand their taste in art at a young age because it's not useful for them. People can afford to have narrow tastes and still enjoy music. If parents made being exposed to different types of music as important to one's growth as being exposed to different types of vegetables, I doubt we would have this cultural phenomenon.

Theoretically, I should have given up trying to find new music years ago, but that hasn't happened. This is because music is the only artform that resonates with me on a spiritual level. Finding new music is important to me because it is a part of my identity. Contrast this with the fact I haven't been to a cinema since 2022. I don't broaden my taste in cinema because it has little impact on how much I enjoy films.

Re: When do we stop finding new music?

#347

Post by grugagag »

listenallyall wrote: post #177
tzs wrote: post #166

For people in their mid-30s and beyond I think a big factor in them commonly perceiving that today's popular music sucks compared to the popular music of their teens and twenties is that when they listen to music from their younger days now it is a small subset of what they were actually listening to back then. For example my teens and twenties were in the '70s and '80s. If I decide I want to listen to music from tho…

The more time passes, the fewer relics from earlier eras survive and stay relevant, like a funnel.

Or like a sieve. What’s timeless stays and the rest filters out with time.

Re: When do we stop finding new music?

#349

Post by Thegn »

anukin wrote: post #264
Thegn wrote: post #224

One problem I've run into with the music services is with older styles. For example, I'm specifically into black musicians from the 1930s-1950s who played swing style music. I have yet to find a service that actually will play more than 2-3 songs in that style before deciding that what I really want to hear is rat pack or swing by white musicians. No matter how much I thumbs down it, I get Glenn Miller/Frank Sinatra/…

Which swing tracks do you recommend to a noob who just got introduced to the swing music and dance?

I'm personally a fan of the old stuff (Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, Chick Webb, Jimmie Lunceford, Slim Gaillard, Ella Fitzgerald to name a few) but the best thing you can do is go to dances and lessons, and when you hear a song you like, go up to the DJ and ask them what it was. The best music is the music you like and that makes you want to dance, regardless of who made it.
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