FACE OF MUSIC

If you've been around me lately, you'll probably have been subjected to one of my "conversations" (translation: I talk and you agree because I make complete sense. Just kidding) about the way music is changing. I've always thought about how quickly music changes nowadays. The reason is simple: we're in the information age now. Everything gets around so much more quickly, and people get bored easily. They got bored just as easily back during the baroque, classical, and romantic periods; they just weren't spoiled like they are today.



The advantage to the old days is clear: everything took much longer to propagate, and consequently, change was slower and more deliberate than it is now. The length of the old periods of music signify this. Most lasted about 100 years. Nowadays, music changes every year. The music of 2009 sounds nothing like the music of 2008, or 2007, or 2006, and so on.



Now, we're not following specific musical artists around. The ones who try to milk their own genre or style are left in the dust. They aren't granted the luxury than Mozart and Bach had. They can't perfect their music because of the rapid evolution of the industry. Think about it. While some people may follow specific artists around, most people are glued to the charts. And the music that is on the charts is never the same. It is constantly changing.



I used to be a person who would complain that all the music that came out nowadays was terrible; that there was no quality, that there was no love. In several ways, I'm right. But, I'm misunderstanding the reasons behind it. The artists need to keep up. They don't have time to perfect their own music thanks to the rapid evolution of communications technology. The true "artists" nowadays are no longer the people who can perfect their own medium, but the people who can adapt to the constant change, the whims of an ever-fickle population. I generally don't listen to mainstream music because I'm very picky about what I like. I'm not saying that mainstream music or the artists that supply it are inherently unartistic. It's quite the contrary. I'd be safe assuming that mainstream musicians all have their personal favorite styles, and they are just adapting o the ever-changing industry. It's just that anything I listen to that is mainstream that I genuinely like, I will listen to for years after they've fallen off the radar or grown into something that I don't enjoy on musical terms.



I respect people's tastes. What I don't respect, but tolerate, even if just barely, are the people who don't have any definable taste. For example, I personally don't like rap music. I don't hate it by any means, but I certainly would not go out of my way to listen to it unless I heard something special. People who like rap music are fine. The people who like rap because it's on the charts, then pop for the same reason, then some fusion between the genres, I can deal with. These people simply notice what's up there; there's nothing wrong with that. But people who claim that they are musical people, that music is their lifeblood, even, cannot sway their personal tastes according to the charts! I'm fine with coincidental changes in taste, but if your taste mimics the top 20 ALL THE TIME then it becomes tiresome. I find it hard to believe that their changes in taste completely copying what's "hot" are entirely coincidental.



Again, most people aren't too picky about it because music is just another part of their lives. It is not essential. But when people make it their personal business to care about music, and they don't have any definable taste, it can become obnoxious.



The byproduct of the information age: people are given the opportunity to let their bad sides show. This never occurred so blatantly before, at least in terms of music; people would patiently wait for the next symphony, opera, or concerto, content with the music they were listening to, and happy to delve into it because there was time.



I will end on a positive note, though. Not all of this is bad. These rapid evolutions and changes of music are responsible for my rigid, but eclectic taste in music. I'd be very narrow-minded if I stuck to one genre of music, just like those who stick to their charts. Once again, I can't blame most of them, because most of them find very little importance in it. But people who obstinately follow the charts, along with people who refuse to even give other genres of music a chance need to open their eyes and see that there is more to it than what they had previously assumed.

Face of Music - The Brendan Place Coffee-Corner, La CoffeeMelodie Suite - where Brendan's opinion of music has been lately
Brendan's Homepage - The Brendan Place - Blog, Music, Coffee-Corner, La CoffeeMelodie Suite
For Better of Worse - More of Brendan's view
Moving - When the family moved Brendan to University of Pittsburgh - a video and photo gallery
My Birthday - just a video that Brendan's mom put together of him. He still owes us an article about turn eighteen, and we may or may not see it
Praying - This is a paper that he wrote for a class, and, no, he did not convert
More than Student - Brendan's thoughts on psychological impact the traditional educational method
This is the moment Music Video Performed by Brendan Schatzki