Was music better in the 'old days'?

[JD003]

However I think it is now likely there is a great deal less money in pure songwriting than there was twenty years ago before the advent of web based downloads. This could affect the quality.

Not exactly sure what you mean by "pure" songwriting. I think I get it.

I haven't been networking or pitching for 15 years+. But as someone who came to Nashville to pursue song writing, I learned pretty quick the landscape had changed dramatically and quickly. Over and over I heard about the days when a relatively small publishing house might have 10 to 20 writers on salary. Some hit makers, some being developed. It was common for publishers to sign someone they saw something in even if they knew it might be a few years developing them and plugging them into the co-writing scene. Those same kinds of publishers now might only have 2 or 3 writers.

I think it affects the quality of music we hear, certainly the diversity. Every heart tells a slightly different story.

The big houses and record companies that sign writers are primarily looking for those that have artist potential. In this town they used to say, "you don't play guitar that good, cant sing much better, You're a writer!" More and more everyone is looking for a writer who could be a star. Keeping more of the royalty pie.

The last meeting I had with a publisher who's attention I had managed to get actually came to my house and listened to songs. In the end he said, "you're close but I don't hear a hit, and you not outwriting the 2 guys I got" I'll have to pass. Best of luck to you."

I had to let it go. I have real job now. Still write though because I still hear voices.

 

[alf cockle]

Yes,there,s another gunslinger in every town...one Canadian ,who was,and is phenominal is Colin James....probably ,relatively unknown,globally...never got the big break in the good ole U.S.of A,I guess.Joe Bonamassa is looking awfully good..

 

[vatedome04]

In recent years, old music has sold better than new. There's a psychological reason for it: Familiar music actually feels better to audiences. In numerous scientific experiments, researchers have shown that subjects are much more likely to report positive feelings from a given piece of music if they've heard it before.

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[alf cockle]

Any time I hear Rolling Stones music,I,m happy..They,re timeless,and so good...dating back to the 60s...count on just about every big sports event opening with ..start me up..

 

[Moonshot]

I consider myself relatively young at 35 but I subscribe to Rick Beato’s reasoning that it wasn’t better per se but was more interesting in that popular music had more musically interesting arrangements with key changes, tempo changes, complicated chords…etc. things today are generally more formulaic due to changes in the industry

 

[Lax]

Honestly from my European guy point of view, I think the basic code of pop music has been roughly the same for 40 years, from reusing older songs, using ultra common chords progressions or interpolation...
Other than production sound I think what makes us think it was better is the quantity, if you hear 2000 songs that aren't innovative you'll get the feeling people were more creative in the days, because it took less songs for you to be surprised musically.

 

[rdlkgliders]

Today we have pop bands and pop culture personalities doing pop music and often it feels souless. In the 50 - 90's we had bands doing pop songs from Elvis, Beatles, stones, Zep, into the 80's with all that the 80's brought and then 90's grunge etc.
In my eyes and ears we are missing actual drummers and raw unaltered vocals that help connect us to music. Just adding those elements may help me identify with the music today. I still hear some catchy riffs and melodies but it is often empty as a whole piece. JMO

 

[eddyrox]

tough call.
the amount of music produced these days is staggering, which i agree isn't always good.
however within all of this new music, bands like Allegaeon, Bonecarver, Rings of Saturn, etc. have emerged and are accessible to way more people than under the old "model" (radio and magazines).
i have to admit i am fan of extreme metal, but also recognize that this paradigm also applies to artist like Billie Eilish, Cardi B, etc.

 

[Gio_Force_One]

I'll have to dissent. I think there's some awesome music out there. It's just harder to find. (And you have to get over all of the crappy over produced/compressed stuff in heavy rotation.)

I'm continually impressed by bands I'd never heard of.

Im with Beej on this one , there’s great music out there it just isn’t main stream anymore and a bit harder to find.

 

[alf cockle]

Agreed..guess I,m living in the past..you didn,t have to dig for good music back then..it was always out there..once again,I digress...

 

[tadawson]

"Better" is purely subjective to each of us, so no comment there . . . . But what I think is a true statement is that music was much ,more "honest" back in the old days, and likely involved more actual talent, since there we no technologies like auto tune and sampling, etc. to hide behind.

 

[Roddy P]

It’s hard to explain the state of music when I was a kid in the 70’s & 80’s. One, there was a medium called radio. Like the movie “Dazed & Confused”, in many small to mid sized “towns” or small cities, there was usually one big popular station and everyone was listening to the same song at the same moment in time. Again, hard to explain but FM had a glistening, magical feel to it.
Then you get into analog vs digital. When the process becomes so quick & easy, as digital does, IMHO the creative process loses its luster. Decisions become less important and less thought goes into each decision.
The ease in which we can record high quality music in our bedroom creates a glut of musically inferior songs.
However, there are/is some awesome music & artist out there but with the above mentioned glut, you have to REALLY dig deep!
Again, JMHO

 

[VancyJoy]

There will always be people who grumble about 'stupid kids listening to trash', but there are also people wise enough to appreciate and understand modern music while still remembering the classics.