Is interest in music waning?

BrianJD

In the modern digital age of being able to download an album on your phone over 3G and iTunes have we become less selective and less patient in music that doesn't grab you immediately. If we think back to our parents time when an album was more expensive and harder to get, I wonder is there less of a love for albums.

I had albums in my teens which mean much more to me than anything in the last 10 years and I wonder is it because I played them to death. I haven't done that to an album in ages yet would still think I listen to alot of music.

listermint

Ive im honest i firmly believe that you tend to have a deeper connection with Music within certain times of your life. The teenage years are most certainly one of those times due to change etc and having available times to put into really listening to music.

So im not convinced its a generational thing

bullpost

Technology has meant that you have less a relationship with an album than you did in the pre-digital age. Then you paid quite a bit for it and if you wanted to hear it you had to physically engage with it to the exclusion of all other music. Now with instant availablilty and everyone having tons of tracks to shuffle from, that album gets lost in the noise, so to speak.
Also nothing has happened in a while that's had the seismic impact of something like punk.

maccored

i wish the interest in music by people who have no interest in music would wane ... then the crap top 40 would disappear.

NIMAN

Do they still do a 'Top 40'.

Haven't heard it on the radio in years, and probably out of the public mind since the death of TOTP.

Cosmicfox

^MTV music channels still do a chart countdown from 40

No I don't think so. Its just easier to access than it was.

I heard on QI that once you get over the age of 25 you start to lose interest in new music. Not sure if it's true now, but it would explain why older people don't 'get' new music, regardless of how good it is.

NIMAN

I'm past 40 and still like some new music.

But find most of it pure cack.;)

kunst nugget

Cosmicfox wrote: »

^MTV music channels still do a chart countdown from 40

No I don't think so. Its just easier to access than it was.

I heard on QI that once you get over the age of 25 you start to lose interest in new music. Not sure if it's true now, but it would explain why older people don't 'get' new music, regardless of how good it is.

It's to do with dopamine. Here's a good explanation of it.

http://www.cracked.com/article_19722_7-scientific-reasons-youll-turn-out-just-like-your-parents.html

karaokeman

Cosmicfox wrote: »

I heard on QI that once you get over the age of 25 you start to lose interest in new music. Not sure if it's true now, but it would explain why older people don't 'get' new music, regardless of how good it is.

I was actually talking with my cousin about this recently and we reckon you get more interested as you get older, because most people when they start listening to music will listen to something simple, but the more you listen to more basic music the more you realise its limitations, so you search for bands with more complicated song structures and more in-depth lyrics.

A person who initially loved Nirvana will then go on to find guitar bands who play more complex music, you also tend to appreciate better lyrics as you get older I used to think Darren Hayes was a genius for love songs that was until I heard lets say Never Be Mine by Kate Bush that I realise the songs he's wrote can be succeeded in quality.

I don't buy albums now mostly because I can't afford to be spending all my money on them with college and that, so I download more music so I can hear a greater quantity over a shorter space of time and at a lower cost. I do try and get back to listening to certain albums from time to time, not just hearing one album and simply moving on to another. I think its harder to appreciate albums if you listen to them once to say you've heard them and never come back to them.

Great discussion OP.

Pauvre Con

As you get older your priorites tend to shift. Suddenly that band/album you once loved becomes less significant compared to earning a living and raising a family etc. It's part of growing up. I guess I would say I still love music - generally speaking. It's surely the greatest artform. But I don't take individual bands/artist's own music seriously anymore. And yeah, every generation has its own music that's important to it. So good luck to the 16 year olds today. I'm not interested in what they're listening to but I know full well if I was their age I'd be listening to it too.

leggo

Nah, I have to agree with the majority here: it's an age thing. I look at my little sister and see how she relates to music and it's very similar to how I did (except I was a bit more obsessive and nerdy about it; hence me becoming a DJ later in life). She has the world at her feet today yet chooses to listen to the same 5-6 songs over and over on the radio, on YouTube, on the music channels etc.

Music is a very important part of building your identity during your younger years, so you connect with it on a much deeper level. I can see how that would slip in later years as you become more secure in yourself, and would prefer to just live in nostalgia. You have to work hard to keep your appreciation for new music up, and most just don't have the time with greater responsibilities taking preference. You also have experiences and stories of your own to tell...so don't need to necessarily identify yourself through someone else's lyrics or compositions.

But the reality is that, the same way I think a lot of what my sister listens to is cack, my mam thought the same about my music, and her mam thought the same about hers. And so on. Music doesn't change, we do. The cycle just continues and eventually we all decide to get off and leave the newer stuff to the kids.

Blisterman

I would disagree that people's interests in music are becoming any less, but that their interest is spread over a wider variety of music.

In fact, I'd argue that people are becoming more discerning, and finding music they personally like, rather than stuff that's in the top 40.

syklops

Yes there is a less of a love for albums but lets face it how many albums in the history of the world have their been where you loved every single song on the album? Probably quite few in the grand scheme of things. Considering the cost of albums, that can be wasteful.

As a young teen and teenager, I spent great massive sums of money on albums both first and second hand, in some cases for albums with only one or two songs i wanted. I remember a few singles which they took off the shelves to boost album sales. Well when you have saved up for the 4 quid for a single only to be told, sorry, its not available, but the album has been released for only 15 quid, it can leave a bad taste in the mouth. I dont think I am the only one who remembers this. Now I can hear a song on the radio, and buy just that song. No fuss, no wastage.

The music industry needs to evolve or it will go the way of the doo doo.

smokedeels

There might be an argument to be made that it's less precious because of mass-availability and the mentality some people have of never paying for it.

Blisterman

I'd agree for individual songs or albums, their worth has been diminished. I still think that "music" as a whole isn't. People are still more than willing to pay for Spotify and the likes. Whereas before they may have spent the same money on buying an album a month.