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Post by B.E. on Jan 1, 2020 17:51:25 GMT
Looking back at the 2010s, I did not listen to or acquire any new artists' music. I spent the decade basically discovering and/or catching up on old(er) artists, primarily from the 1960's, 1970's, and some 1980's. Same. I go back even further. The early 2000s is probably the last time I remember being interested in new artists and, even then, I was only attracted to a few because they had a "retro" sound. I know there is no shortage of great music to get me through to 2030 and beyond. I sometimes wonder if there's any need for new music. There's decades' worth of music out there already, more than any of us could ever have the time to fully appreciate. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting anything. But, by the time I work my way through my favorite artists' catalogs, I'm more than ready to start over. It often will have been years since I listened to albums that I love.
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Post by kds on Jan 1, 2020 18:58:52 GMT
I know I'm at the point where I no longer really care if any new artist moves the needle for me. Frankly, its not worth the effort to dig through all the shit out there to try and find something listenable while there are countless albums I own and love that I've not had the chance to play in years as well as plenty of albums from the 60s, 70s, and 80s that I've not even checked out.
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 1, 2020 19:28:06 GMT
I get your points for sure, but personally I do still find the payoff to be worth it when it comes to new music. And honestly sometimes I think focusing on deeper catalogues of old favorites ends up being an exercise in diminishing returns. So I'm happier finding the best-yet song or album by a modern, lesser artist than the dregs of some great band.
But again, I do get and to some degree agree with you all. I haven't kept track in probably 10+ years, but I'd estimate I've got about 4,000 albums or so. That would be about half a year of music ... if I played in continuously, 24 hours a day, which obviously I don't. Realistically, we're talking about several years' worth of music before I'd have to repeat anything (assuming I just went straight through the collection without repeating).
My ears aren't going hungry.
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Post by kds on Jan 1, 2020 19:52:21 GMT
I could see that approach working more if I liked more music outside of rock and roll, but I really don't. And rock's been stagnant for over a quarter century now. I found far more good music in the 2010s, going backwards than I did in the previous decade when I searched the internet and the sampler CDs I used to get from Classic Rock Magazine. I feel like I wasted so much effort in my 20s trying to find "new" music when it was already there, waiting.
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 1, 2020 19:56:09 GMT
That makes perfect sense: I think if I were specifically sticking to hard rock, I'd be coming up virtually empty. Not quite, but close.
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Post by kds on Jan 1, 2020 20:06:13 GMT
That makes perfect sense: I think if I were specifically sticking to hard rock, I'd be coming up virtually empty. Not quite, but close. Not just hard rock. After all, The Beach Boys are one of the acts I really took a deep dive into in the 10s.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Jan 1, 2020 20:09:06 GMT
When Bowie died just a few short years after I had gone down his rabbit hole, I was devastated. It was like losing a good friend, and I’m not even sure I’m over it yet. That’s one sad reality about getting into these bands and artists so late in the game. Many are already gone, and those that are still here have only a short time left. And I think that makes me appreciate them even more. Isn't that a terrible experience? I had only casually flirted with Bowie for most of my life: I had but rarely listened to Ziggy Stardust since I was about 20; probably 10 years later a friend got me to listen to (and half-like) the Berlin albums; in 2013 I fell in love with the song "Where Are We Now?" from his The Next Day album. But in that span I really started digging in again, really enjoying his music, to the point I was excited to hear Blackstar. I got it immediately, was in love immediately, and he was gone almost immediately. Blackstar is a phenomenal work of art, and also heartbreaking to listen to. I was also really excited when it was announced and pre-ordered the vinyl. My copy didn’t arrive until a few days after the album was officially released, and Bowie died while I was waiting for it to arrive. The shock and the grief made listening to it really tough. But I was eventually able to put the emotions aside long enough to hear how carefully crafted those songs are, even if on the whole it’s a challenging album. Sometimes the challenging ones are the ones that unlock more goods over time. When I’m ready to go back to Bowie, I’m looking forward to Blackstar revealing itself to me a little more. Lazarus and I Can't Give Everything Away are both absolutely killer. With him knowing he had precious little time left, he really just did whatever he wanted and I think Blackstar is a huge achievement for him. What a way to go out.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 1, 2020 20:20:06 GMT
I get your points for sure, but personally I do still find the payoff to be worth it when it comes to new music. And honestly sometimes I think focusing on deeper catalogues of old favorites ends up being an exercise in diminishing returns. So I'm happier finding the best-yet song or album by a modern, lesser artist than the dregs of some great band.
But again, I do get and to some degree agree with you all. I haven't kept track in probably 10+ years, but I'd estimate I've got about 4,000 albums or so. That would be about half a year of music ... if I played in continuously, 24 hours a day, which obviously I don't. Realistically, we're talking about several years' worth of music before I'd have to repeat anything (assuming I just went straight through the collection without repeating).
My ears aren't going hungry.
I would be interested to see how long you hang in there as you get older. I know you're (a little?) younger than some of us, and you're a songwriter and musician. That combination, especially your musicianship, should keep you interested in new music longer than the average listener/fan.
It's a funny thing. I grew up on AM radio and buying new 45s. I never envisioned the day when I would stop listening to the radio and buying new music, but I am out of touch, and have been for quite awhile (yes, bellbottoms, if I was more accurate, my lack of interest goes back further than the 2010s, too). It's just a matter of choices, almost subconscious choices. When I listen to the radio and have the choice of new music or oldies, oldies always win. If I'm budgeting my time for reading about music, and have the choice of reading about new artists or older artists, you know where I'm going. If I'm watching TV, and have the choice of tuning into a show featuring new music or watching a show featuring classic rock, well, it's a no-brainer. I used to really enjoy shows like the American Music Awards, the Grammys, the MTV Music Awards, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve. Now, when I tune into those shows, I don't know any of the artists and tune out in a couple of minutes.
Like I said, it's not a conscious decision. I didn't CHOOSE to not like new music, it just happened. I guess it's a generational thing, though I honestly think most of today's music IS inferior. I do look and listen to some - not most but some - of today's artists and admit that they are as talented as many of the artists of the 1960's and 1970's. I mean that. They can sing (especially) and dance and some of them can write and play an instrument as well as some of the artists of the past. But the final product, the songs, the records, just don't resonate with me. I wish they did. I'd like to engage in more conversations about new music and artists. I'd like to feel younger. It would sure be a lot easier fitting in instead of rejecting about 99.9% of what I hear these days.
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 1, 2020 20:30:38 GMT
I agree with you entirely, SJS. And I already find myself feeling out of touch with new music mostly. For example, that list KDS posted from Billboard for top songs of the decade, I only knew a few and liked far fewer, if any. Awards shows and such, I feel basically just like you do: mostly lost and unimpressed.
So when it goes further and further away for me, that's fine. As I said, it's not like I'm spending exhaustive hours to dig up something I like (or forcing myself to "like" things I don't). But for now, there's just still a lot of good music I'm hearing.
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bellbottoms
Pacific Coast Highway
Posts: 727
Likes: 201
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Post by bellbottoms on Jan 1, 2020 20:40:08 GMT
It's a funny thing. I grew up on AM radio and buying new 45s. I never envisioned the day when I would stop listening to the radio and buying new music, but I am out of touch, and have been for quite awhile (yes, bellbottoms, if I was more accurate, my lack of interest goes back further than the 2010s, too). It's just a matter of choices, almost subconscious choices. My mom recently reminded me that one time in my late teens/early 20’s she asked me to change the radio station in the car and I bemoaned her oldness and then I actually said something out loud to the effect of “I’m never jumping off the music train”. My mom is only 18 years older than I am so if I was 20, that means she was younger than I am now. It also means I may have jumped off it before she did. Now I think it was inevitable. I had enough early childhood exposure to the greats to lay the groundwork for would become a vintage music obsession in the future.
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Post by kds on Jan 1, 2020 20:45:20 GMT
I could be dead wrong, but I feel like there are fewer people talking about newer music. In my experience, a lot of people under 35 don't have much interest in having deep conversations about artists, albums, concerts, etc. It seems they just like having the tunes in their ear buds. I feel like music geekdom is sort of dying off. I'm not sure if that is a cause or effect of the decline in music quality.
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Jan 1, 2020 20:57:39 GMT
I could be dead wrong, but I feel like there are fewer people talking about newer music. In my experience, a lot of people under 35 don't have much interest in having deep conversations about artists, albums, concerts, etc. It seems they just like having the tunes in their ear buds. I feel like music geekdom is sort of dying off. I'm not sure if that is a cause or effect of the decline in music quality. I don't know if people are as passionate about newer music, if that's what you mean by "geekdom is sort of dying off". But I wonder if that goes deeper than just the newer music not being as good. It's a more complicated topic which might center around so many other forms of...entertainment...available today that weren't around decades earlier. You know, years/decades ago you had a TV and a record/tape/CD player. Today?
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Post by Kapitan on Jan 1, 2020 20:59:10 GMT
I can't say--I don't have enough exposure to people in the appropriate age group to test that theory--but if it's true, I wonder if it's connected to the availability of music. When something is all always freely available, I don't know that it has the same value. Diamonds would be dirt if they were everywhere.
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Post by kds on Jan 1, 2020 21:02:43 GMT
I'll admit my sample size is rather small. But, I think the fact that Viacom pulled the plug on its more music centric TV programming in favor of reality fodder backs up my theory a bit.
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