Music in a diminuendo of quality
September 2, 2022
The quality of modern music dwindles as creativity, authenticity and uniqueness leave the music industry. Modern pop and rap artists keep repeating the same uncreative music and reusing a lot of the same lyrics. Artists like Harry Styles or Taylor Swift stand as examples of creativity leaving the industry. Modern music becomes more homogeneous as time goes on, and other modern artists’ music captures that perfectly. Their music lacks soul and flare.
As artists release new music sounds, music seems recycled. Older music can also appeal to several age groups and people. The nostalgia from older songs triggers happy moments within older audiences. Reporters such as Tom Barnes say that music listeners enjoy older music rather than newer music.
“Newer music is not as good as older music because they reuse old sounds or trends, but they don’t add their own personal twist that makes it diverse and original. Artists aren’t getting creative with what they make and they keep similar lyrics and vibes throughout the albums, making them boring and repetitive,” sophomore Kaydence Malcom said.
New album covers also lack creativity. For instance, Swift’s album covers feature her face on them with no diversity in the designs on her album covers. In contrast to older albums such as Nirvana’s “Nevermind” of a naked baby swimming for a dollar on a hook, Swift’s albums look boring and artificial. Several popular modern artists copy album covers and logos. The artist Tech N9ne stole Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album cover on his album “Killer”. Trippie Redd stole Def Leppard’s logo so that the cover will attract older audiences. Older lyrics, in contrast to today’s lyrics, felt important, genuine and meaningful. For instance, Tupac rapped about more relatable and tougher subjects in his song Changes, or God Bless the Dead in comparison to modern rappers. Rap used to feel poetic and include meaningful lyrics, now rappers swear, and rap about violence, sex and drugs. Playboi Carti’s ILoveUIHateU stands as a perfect example of how modern rappers rap. “Older music is better than new music, because it has a more vintage sound, and more people can listen to songs, and be able to recognize them, even from different age groups. The diversity in older songs outdoes new music because of how similar it all is,” sophomore Josephine Green said.