Where did all the good music go?

[indis]

I’m listening to absolute radio, as I always do, it just pumped out God put a smile on my face by Coldplay, followed by Uviversally speaking by Red Hot Chillies THEN Song 2 by Blur.

It got me thinking, these years were truly special for deep and meaning music, and I don’t think we really appreciated it at the time..

Ive heard a couple of good ones recently, one by Djo ‘End of the beginning’ and I another called ‘I Care’ by Turnstile (love that one).

But still, they’re very few and far between these days. Anyone else mourn those days?

We live in dark times, Gen Z goes to Glastonbury to watch their granddads bands.

There is as much great music now as there ever was, but you’re not going to find it on the radio (at least before 6pm). The main problem is that most people’s listening tastes are very private and niche, and people don’t tend to share their tastes the way they used to.

My DD19 was fascinated by a recent anecdote I told her, when I went into the huge Virgin Records store in our city in October 1995 to buy some dance 12” I don’t recall the name of.

I noticed that it was full of young men walking out with what looked like the same album, proudly displaying it without a bag. As I went up the escalator the opening bars of Champagne Supernova started and I realised they were all buying the new Oasis album. I loved the song so much I bought it too.

Years later I realised that I was probably part of a cultural moment that’s really not going to happen anymore. It’s sad but it’s just different times now.

Lots of new music about. Try listening to a different radio station.

Because bands were given a massive advance, loads of intoxication and sent away for months on end to write and record.

It’s all produced so quickly these days.

PP is correct about streaming killing the income stream for artists. My DP sells his music online and overseas. He says the UK music scene has been hijacked by the BBC. He makes an ok living from it. He’s not famous but is respected by peers.

All the music from my teens (so mid/late 90s and early 2000s) was amazing because it meant so much to me! I'm just not that attached to music now! I still love music but when I hear something from my teens it takes me right back to fancying someone but not knowing if they like me, having an argument with my parents, a mix tape given to me... there isn't really an album to put on that matches the mood of forgetting to book the after school club!

I hear lots of good stuff now and am a fan of Yard Act, Amyl and the Sniffers, Nothing But Theives. And some old bands have done some really good new music rather than slipping into nostalgia - Pulp's More for instance.

There is great new music out there

anything played from decades ago will be the best of those times and it takes you back to when things were more surprising because you were younger

radio - you always had to listen to the late night shows for things like John peel or Alan robson to find new exiting stuff

mel how has the bbc hijacked the music scene? I would have thought they were desperately trying to keep new music alive, they moved the new music show to 6pm on R1. Admittedly they did scrap TOTP though.

Streaming and listening to music in a silo has done a lot of damage.

I swore I wasn’t going to be an oldie who didn’t like current music but I’m now in my 50s and it has come to pass. I do try to listen to my DD’s music but it’s all dreary and the same. She does actually spend a lot of time listening to 80s stuff and musicals and knows the words to my noughties rock classics better than I do.

They’re everywhere now. All the festivals, etc. There is no money in it compared to 30-40 years ago.

I don’t like any of the artists
you've listed @indisyet I believe that I Iisten to great music.

I’ve started listening to BBC Radio 6 - there’s some interesting stuff there mixed in with old school indie stuff.

In some ways I wish I listened to more radio, but I just don't. But I think even in the days when I listened to a fair bit of radio, it wasn't my prime source of 'new' music, that was more likely to be random recommendations from friends or online. Lots of people say, listen to 6 Music, it's great, and I half-heartedly give it go, but I am damaged by the confirmation bias that too much of it sounds like the tasteful sound-track to the latest Scandi Noir. 😀

I hate Coldplay as much as the next person but their first album was objectively (well, you know, as much as is possible in music) a decent album and God put a smile on… objectively a decent song. Second album was alright. Then it all went Pete Tong.