Is Music Dead

The world is filled with great music, created by great musicians who reside absolutely everywhere. So why is it that so many feel the need to say that rock is dead or hip-hop is dead, or any other genre is dead? Can there actually be some merit to these coffee shop philosophers and doomsday nay-sayers?

History has shown us, time and time again, that every era of music has been both touched by greatness, and tainted by the terrible; and yet people still insist on arguing the point that none of today’s music sounds as good as yesterdays, that it lacks the soul, the complexity, and the obvious songwriting talents of the good ole days. It is as if every avid music listener simultaneously traded in their love of everything current for a trendy hipster-latte drinking-fedora wearing opinion. I get it, we all want to be a part of what makes this all great. We all want to feel as though we ourselves have some history, even if we are still just young humans learning how to trust our own intuition and thoughts; but still, where is this wave of new-music-hostility coming from exactly?

In order to dig deeper into this, you need to know that some people are not programmed to like what was once popular, or to love what others have loved; and for those people, my people, we are constantly at odds with our more music history savvy counterparts. There are some things you cannot say out loud in the music industry, some words that are far too damning to utter amongst even your closest friends, and because of this, many music fans cannot offer their honest opinion on why they do not think that music is dead; at all.

I know that you are wondering what these taboo words might be, and trust me, I want to say them, but first I have to ask myself “how much drama do I want to accept today? Good thing for you, I am feeling rather unmoved by popular opinion on this fine day, so I will speak those forbidden words.
The truth is, not everyone likes The Beatles. No everyone thinks that they are the cornerstone of every great song today.
Not everyone thinks that Jimi Hendrix was, or is, the best guitarist in the world.
Not everyone regards Pink Floyds “The Wall” as the single best album of all time, or even close to it.

 

I know, a hush has fallen over the crowd, a great rebuttal is rising up through the angered souls of the many, and I might have lost all credibility by now, but that is what this article is about, it is about having an opinion that does not follow the status quo, it is about being both honest and respectful of your fellow musicians, and acknowledging that there is always greatness around us, and yes, just like every era of music, there is always a lot of soulless, talentless, garbage as well.

 

I understand that we must all respect the ones that came before, and I very much do.
We must all acknowledge talent, untouchable and unreal talent, a talent that seems to be almost otherworldly; and we must honor that talent by reminding every future generation of its incredible existence. This is why we revere The Beatles, why we still call Jimi Hendrix the best guitarist of all time, and why even the ones that have only ever heard one track off The Wall, will tell you that Pink Floyd has no equal. It is our way of keeping our history, and our way of protecting it; but, we are making the grave mistake of looking into the rearview mirror far too long, and we are forgetting that the future history makers are living alongside us right now.

 

It is a truly great disservice to the entire music community to speak as if all new music is dead. When you do this you only validate an ignorant opinion, and you invalidate true talent.
Listening to music on your iPod, your phone, or wherever you can quickly find it is a great way to find what you like, but what about the orchestra’s that play live in massive beautiful concert halls, the actress alone on stage that can hit notes that bring the audience to tears, or the garage band that is currently creating the worlds next best rock song?
What about all the music you have not heard yet?
The truth is, the marketing machine never sleeps.
The Beatles were marketed in a typical pop star fashion (much like Bieber). They were sold as much for their adorable look as they were for their music.
Jimi Hendrix was sold as the bad boy on the block, and he lived up to his revolutionary name. He was all things American, with a hint of something truly new.
Pink Floyd, even to this day, is pushed in such a way that you better know who they are, or you know nothing about music.
This is, and has always been, the way of the industry.

For those bands that you have never heard of, you probably believe that if they were good enough, you would have heard of them by now; well, I challenge you to spend a day on Soundcloud or YouTube following the musical breadcrumbs to bands that you have never heard before, and I guarantee you will find at least one band or musician so good that you will be sharing it with your friends as if you discovered fire for the first time.

Music is not dead, not even close, and we have an eternal well of proof.
Walking among us are some of the most talented people we have ever, and never, heard.
Right now there is a guitarist out there that is creating sounds with his/her axe that the world has never heard before.
At this very moment, one of the world’s greatest voices is most likely getting up for his/her regular job, already daydreaming of one day singing for you.
Right now there is an army of independent musicians ready to unleash their unique sound into the world, so that we can be moved into motion through their intense musical passion.
Right now, we are living with some of the future greats.
There is no harm in loving the past so deeply that you mourn its passing still.
David Bowie left us, and he will never be replaced.
Scott Weiland left us, and there is no denying the world lost a great and powerful voice.
Lemmy left us, and it will take one ass-kicking pair of shit-kicking feet to fill his renegade boots.
But that isn’t the point, the point is that no one is ever meant to replace another one, and there is no best, there is only your belief of what that might be.

This is not an article meant to deny anyone their love of music, or for the great history that music has. It is meant to challenge you, to force you to see that music is always happening, that great artists are always among us, and that there will never be a day where the world can collectively say that “music is dead”.
I say may we never forget the past.
I say may we always support the present.
I say may we never deny the future.

 

For all you disenchanted listeners out there, keep your hearts open, your ears listening, and your opinions about music “being dead” on mute.
Searching for something that cannot be found does not mean that it does not exist, it simply means that you need to keep searching; and with that I ask that you do just that; keep searching, and always remember, its just as cool to be current.

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