Is music more important to the older generations?

[Ty Atkinson]

I think music plays a huge role these days,

However this is totally my personal opinion but most of todays music seems to be easily forgotten/ fades away after its hype.
But im a youngin just dont forsee the popularity of current music and bands to be anything near the great bands of the past.

 

[DraXxus1549]

I am only 19 but, with my dad being in a band I have had the opportunity recently to really broaden my horizons. In high school I was all about rap and hip hop. I can definitely see where many of you come from when saying that rap is not music, but I have a feeling many of you are judging what you hear on the radio or on tv, there are still some very respectable rappers that are not very mainstream, a that I bet you could relate too, not all of them rap about their hoes and money.

 

[4cbln3]

Great topic Steamboat, I was raised on Hard Rock, Heavy Metal and Punk Rock. I remember having a red streak down the middle and zippers on my clothes that never opened anything

Remember Def Leppard's drummer when he still had 2 arms or when Danny Elfman still sang with Oingo Boingo?

I thought that was all I ever wanted to listen to. Now, years later, I love Hawaiian music, rap, reggae, pop, top 40 and dare I say.........love songs

Is that you Barry?

I listen to techno that my oldest son loves when I jog, dance club mixes my middle daughter digs, and even Justin Bieber or the Jonas Brothers that my littlest one loves.

I can't always remember who that artist is or all the words to a popular song (lost all my memory cells from uh...um..........errr......I forgot

) but as long as my feet are a tappin', life is good to go!

In fact, I have even learned to appreciate utter silence.

 

[Sportsdls]

There is plenty of good rap today that has a message, you just aren't likely to see it on MTV or hear it on the radio. But isn't that true about most genres? For the most part mainstream music has rarely had a "message," not that not having a message is necessarily a bad thing. Ultimately music is entertainment, and most people don't need a message to be entertained. We all have times we would rather watch Dumb and Dumber than watch a movie with a message.

Music is just like cigars, listen to what you like and like what you listen to.

 

[steamboat]

This discussion took an interesting turn. I like it, but it wasn't where I was going. When I was young in a one horse town, music was all there was, other than reading, which I did a lot of back then. One of the replies mentions that every young person you see has ear buds but I wonder how much is love of music and how much is media addiction.

I was just wondering with all the other media choices, is it possible for music to be as important.

 

[ChiTown_Huck]

I would disagree that Hip Hop is not music. It may not be music that you like, but it is music. Back in the day, groups like De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and Arrested Development were very musical along with laying down positive, intelligent rhymes. I have not followed the progression of this style of hip hop, but groups that I listen to now that use hip hop style in their music include G. Love, Soul Coughing, and Galactic. Galactic is playing New Orleans Funk and having guys rap to the music.

In terms of importance of music to kids, I think it is still important, it is just different. I used to sit in my room and listen, now you can stream music from anywhere at anytime.

 

[B.L. Sims]

I would say that its quite the opposite from my experiences. Music is a pretty huge part of life as a youth, wheather its listening to it or playing it. That being said, I like music and so does my family but it wasnt a very big deal. My wife and her family are pretty fanatical about it. We are in our 20's. Everything including TV and the Internet are very centered around music.

 

[DirtyDave]

I love music, pretty much everything except for pop. For some reason I have trouble swallowing that corporate crap.

Hip hop didn't die, it just went underground. Check out subterraneous records out of MI if you want some good underground stuff. Where lyrical skills matter more than cursing and fornication. Rhymesayers is another great label out of Minneapolis. They are out there, they just don't get the press.

In college I spent a lot of time checking out any live music I could. It changed my life. There are days I drift off thinking about how much I miss it... What was I talking about? :sign:

I can't wait to see NOFX in a month!

 

[DraXxus1549]

I love music, pretty much everything except for pop. For some reason I have trouble swallowing that corporate crap.

Hip hop didn't die, it just went underground. Check out subterraneous records out of MI if you want some good underground stuff. Where lyrical skills matter more than cursing and fornication. Rhymesayers is another great label out of Minneapolis. They are out there, they just don't get the press.

In college I spent a lot of time checking out any live music I could. It changed my life. There are days I drift off thinking about how much I miss it... What was I talking about? :sign:

I can't wait to see NOFX in a month!

It's good to see another ryhmesayers fan out there. I am a huge fan, i'll have to check out subterraneous records too.

 

[Spanishcedar]

I think this is along the lines of my thoughts.

... most of todays music seems to be easily forgotten/ fades away after its hype...

This happens because there is no deliverable, strong meaning or message, to the lyrics. Unfortunately the artists that take the opposite approach to this are shut down by record companies and have to resort to recording their own songs and self promote everything.

In many cases artists wrote their songs in the past because it meant something to them and they are telling the listeners what is going on in their lives or the world through a means of artistic enhancement. Listen to Johnny cash, Bruce Springsteen, & Merle Haggard... or even Rage Against the Machine or Rancid.

"Born in the USA" - Springsteen... for example is one of the most misunderstood songs of the 80's. Reagan used it in his campain to endorse patriotism when in fact Springsteen was conveying the loss of a real sense of patriotic pride. In the song he talks about how the working class no longer had a say in the foreign policy or decisions made by the government as a whole. The chorus of “Born in the U.S.A.” was a exclamation of sorrow. It was a hollow cry of patriotism that once was, but now ceased to exist.

If the president and his campaign didn't pay attention to anything but the title of the song, how can we expect posterity to think differently.

...I think music plays a huge role these days...

The role of music of today does not play the same part as it used to play for older fellas or younger "thinkers", if you will.

Many young people today are spoon-fed meanings of things and take them for what they are told those meanings are instead of what the are truly meant to be interpreted as.

The fact of whether an artist writes their own music or not, is a direct reflection of what they are in the business for. Some people have a good voice, good looks, or they can dance; therefore, they are not in it to say "Hey! this is what I feel and think about a particular aspect of something" they are in it to display their talent, and make money off of it.

 

[DirtyDave]

It's good to see another ryhmesayers fan out there. I am a huge fan, i'll have to check out subterraneous records too.

Nice! I'm a big fan of Eyedea and Abilities and The Heiruspecs. I liked Atmosphere a bit more back in the day, but they are still pretty good. I've seen all of them quite a few times.

If you're checking out the Sub, you'll want to definitely get some stuff by One Be Lo. He used to go by OneManArmy, but changed it up a few years back. He also used to be part of a group called Binary Star. Awesome stuff. Hope you like it!

 

[DraXxus1549]

It's good to see another ryhmesayers fan out there. I am a huge fan, i'll have to check out subterraneous records too.

Nice! I'm a big fan of Eyedea and Abilities and The Heiruspecs. I liked Atmosphere a bit more back in the day, but they are still pretty good. I've seen all of them quite a few times.

If you're checking out the Sub, you'll want to definitely get some stuff by One Be Lo. He used to go by OneManArmy, but changed it up a few years back. He also used to be part of a group called Binary Star. Awesome stuff. Hope you like it!

I was a bit disappointed with Eyedea and Abilities new CD but their others are fantastic, personally I like Atmosphere newer stuff better. I'm also a huge Brother Ali fan.

I'll check out One Be Lo later as well.

 

[BlindedByScience]

I don't think that music is less important. It's just being delivered much differently than it used to be. Music is around us more than ever, in ads, malls, elevators, and anywhere else you can imagine.

Well said. I recall having to dig high and low to find albums from my favorite artists. You had to WANT IT back in the dark ages when I was a young man. Now, you simply click a button and play. That is an amazing difference from prior decades. That being said, music is just as relevant as it ever was.

Great point; perhaps the biggest difference is the delivery system, and the availability.

Many years ago, I used to work in a store that sold very high end audio equipment. In the day, folks would sit and listen to music, which is something you don't have to do anymore. I can recall on Friday nights the local AOR (album oriented rock) FM station would play both sides of a new LP, and the music started in five....four....three....(silence)...hit "record" on the ReVox reel to reel, and you had an album.... I and a bunch of buddies would sit and listen to the new album; it was more or less a Friday night regular event. I don't think people do that much, anymore. You don't see many big dollar audio-only systems; not like you used to. Hell, you can stream new music while you're out driving around, if you so choose.

So, it's hard to say if music is more or less important to the newer generation. I don't think it's less important but perhaps due to it's ease of access, it's more casually enjoyed.

One man's opinion - B.B.S.

 

[LilBastage]

So, it's hard to say if music is more or less important to the newer generation. I don't think it's less important but perhaps due to it's ease of access, it's more casually enjoyed.

One man's opinion - B.B.S.

I was actually talking about this the other day with a few people. We came to a similar conclusion that music is just as important, but may not be appreciated as much. In other words, it's taken for granted to a large degree due to the instant delivery and music's almost ubiquitous nature in American's media driven lives.

Kind of like your big toe, it's the most important toe, but not many people really appreciate it all that much until they lose it and have to relearn how to keep their balance.

This is obviously a very broad generalization and not a generalization about broads. There are tons of people who live and die by their tunes collection from every generation.

It's also a conclusion reached by 5 or 6 semi-inebriated to almost completely shart faced bar stool philosophers, so it may be pablum. However, it's reassuring to know someone else shares the thought to some degree.

 

[tsmckenney]

Good artists are paying more attention to how they distribute their music now. Reznor and Radiohead have discussed it a bit, and each are careful about releasing albums. Both groups, also, believe there is still great artistic value in releasing 'albums'.

I'm not sure where I'm at with it. I haven't purchase any music in a few months now. Nothing is really blowin my cap.

 

[tsmckenney]

I would disagree that Hip Hop is not music. It may not be music that you like, but it is music.

Listen to this guy, he knows what he's talking about.

Just because some Hip Hop doesn't have instruments you pluck by hand, doesn't mean it isn't music. You don't just press a button and wallah, there's your beat and your melody and your rhythm and your bridge. With Hip Hop and every type of music, the good stuff is still the good stuff, and the other 95% is pop music garbage. IMO.

 

[DavidRat]

I think music, using the term in its most inclusive meaning so that Rap can be included, is just as important to this generation as it has been for others. Certainly we are generalizing, but I think it holds true. What is different is what they get from music and how they listen to it. As has been said, in the past we had less distractions so we really LISTENED to it. It seems we had a different appreciation for structure and band "talent". Today it seems like music is more background to life; while jogging, working out, walking dogs, etc. It seems music today is used more to tune out than to tune in. Just a thought.

 

[claphamsa]

I dont think its that music is less important.. its just that there are differnt ways to express ones self, so if music is your thing great, but if not... then they do other things. I listen to music at work for 10 hours ever day... as soon as a comerical comes on i flip, cant take talking... some can listen to talk radio all day. to each their own

 

[Cparker]

C'mon now, don't forget RUN DMC. "Beat Box" is a classic, and their duet with Aerosmith crashed pop radio and resurrected Aerosmith to a whole new generation.

Jay-Z, Ludacris, Outkast all brought out some solid beats and rthyms in recent years.

The Black Eye Peas ??? The fact their their name is a vegetable pretty much sums it up.

 

[LilBastage]

C'mon now, don't forget RUN DMC. "Beat Box" is a classic, and their duet with Aerosmith crashed pop radio and resurrected Aerosmith to a whole new generation.

Jay-Z, Ludacris, Outkast all brought out some solid beats and rthyms in recent years.

The Black Eye Peas ??? The fact their their name is a vegetable pretty much sums it up.

You're right about Run DMC. I always forget that Run DMC isn't part of Def Jam because of their connection with Rick Rubin and Russel Simmons. Without Run DMC, there's no golden age of hip hop.