Originally Posted by
DerekTheGreat
Watched the video. Of course, the title has nothing to do with the video's content but is of the typical click bait variety.
I, like Mary Spender am a Millennial although I do not subscribe to the label's definition. From my experience I'd say music was better back then, as was how it was mastered. I do not appreciate her dismissal of older generations who say new music sucks with the whole, "What else was there for them to do?" remark she makes around the 2:50 mark, alluding to boomers and earlier not having very many options to pass time outside of listening to music. Ignorance. She's struck me as yet another person who wasn't there, yet thanks to a bit of self-ability, TV, magazines and the internet she is a self-elected expert complete with smug facial expressions during the whole video. I think what she missed there is that her generation and those after her take for granted all of the different things available to them to pass time. However, it wasn't like there weren't things to do back then, that's just an uneducated thing to say.
With that I feel there is a certain degree of ADHD associated with everything available to the younger crowd, they expect instant gratification with practically everything they do. Few Millennials and even fewer Z's "just" listen to music. It is something most of them do passively, it accompanies their 101 other distractions like Tick-tock (I refuse to spell it like an illiterate person), Facebook, Twitter and whatever else they've got on their handheld pacifier. People seem to be taken aback when I tell them that I can simply sit and listen to music and just music for hours. No pacifier in my hand, no other thing pressing at me except just my thoughts and the music lifting my spirit and taking me places within my mind no other medium can. She starts to touch on that around the 4:30 mark when she refers to her "options" for getting/finding music. I'll say firsthand that as someone who has done "crate digging" that the satisfaction from finding a likeable new artist is akin to striking gold. But in her world of instant gratification, that's a bogus way of finding new music. She goes on to say that video game and movie soundtracks are where young people are getting their material from, as if that's some novel concept.. Yet, it's no surprise that with their ADHD, that's one way to get through to millennials and beyond. Again, nothing new. We all remember jingles, don't we? Some were so stupid, yet boy did they help move or create awareness of a product. But yes, when I was young and played "Legend of Zelda" or "Battletoads" or "Comix Zone" or "Sonic the Hedgehog 1 & 2" for the first time I took notice. Probably why I enjoy The Cars, Prince or Michael Jackson. However, how is injecting music into a medium not everyone uses any different than the limited methods of discovering music she bashes early on? So those who aren't playing or playing the right titles aren't being exposed to this "great" music. It's all flying under the radar much like those vinyl gems tucked away in a milk crate somewhere that she dismissed.
It's also no surprise that what's popular isn't necessarily a best seller either. I suspect the younger crowd doesn't want to pay for it. The amount of views of a given track/artist on YouTube support that with modern artists; Millions of views, yet not necessarily millions of sales. Since they're probably listening through computer speakers or headphones, why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? Doesn't cut it for me, but for most of them, YouTube "quality" is good enough. But none of that actually speaks to "why new music [doesn't] suck," least not in my opinion. It has the potential not to, but despite all of the technology available, it isn't utilized or appreciated on a large scale. However, good music is still out there and being made, it just seems so much harder to find and is only appreciated on the Sundance Film Festival level by comparison to what is thrown in your face. "The message you hear isn't necessarily the right message, it is just most likely the loudest." So, unless you are in those certain circles new or refreshing music is hard to find, much like it was back then. Again, music imbedded within the realm of something else, ie a video game, isn't going to reach everybody.
She then goes on to say, "In my very humble opinion.. ..because just over a decade ago I was told my music tastes suck, however, as I keep broadening my horizons I'm excited to take some responsibility educating [people of all ages] to [things they wouldn't be exposed to] as my audience ranges from teenagers to people sixty-five and older.. ..Gen Z's are knowledgeable, self-aware and socially conscious.." LoL! Humble my ass, because that's why she shamelessly plugs all of her BS at the end of her video.. Gen Z'ers in my experience have been some of the most self-serving, impatient and entitled people I have ever had the misfortune to come across and work with, let alone share the road with. Bleepers couldn't even sit still for ten minutes with just a stick to entertain themselves. I'll be damned when I find one who doesn't do something for someone else unless it was already going to help them in some way. It's happens every once and while, but I've noticed I have far more complaints with peoples' behavior & inconsideration than I did ten years ago. But it doesn't stop there, "..[gen Z'ers] have instant access to ALL the information in the world, they're making some of the most formally inventive and experimental music of any generation and they don't need anyone's permission to do so.. ..We haven't had the gen Z Sgt. Peppers equivalent.." Smug YouTuber confirmed. Spoiler alert, you will NEVER hear a gen Z or later gen Sgt. Peppers equivalent because there will be no equal. Oasis, anyone? Yeah, weren't they supposed to be the next Beatles? Again, that crowd can't sit still for ten minutes, let alone be bothered to enjoy a thirty-five minute or more album. "The most formally inventive and experimental music of any generation?" What that F...? Laugh my butt off.. Clearly she has never listened to the likes of early Pink Floyd or King Crimson. Because yeah, when I'm out in public and subjected to popular music or what is currently being played, it all sounds the same to me: vocals mastered higher than everything else, unimaginative, in your face lyrics, optional gang-banger wanna-be or ghetto dialect, no creative use of the stereo dimension, some sort of format that is shared between the current and next song (The most irritating being the songs that have this "step-up" synth drum beat in the middle of them, ugh.) Then there's the handclap, finger snap, sprinkler sound effects, boom-boom bass beat and/or what sounds like someone stomping on the floor. I'm supposed to walk away from her video convinced that type of garbage is formally inventive and experimental? When it can all be done by one clown with a keyboard and a computer???
So ok, Mary never actually answers the question in her video's title but I will: It's repetitive, mindless, forgettable and non-engaging. That's why new music sucks. Despite all of the techniques available, artists to listen to & be inspired by and the history to learn and glean from, this is what we've got to show for it all. Trash like Billie Ellish and her stumbling & mumbling into the microphone wins awards and gains popularity but talented acts like Joe Bonamassa or Billy Strings grow old and stay hidden in the shadows by comparison. Bunch of rubbish. Cool she plays guitar, but that's about it. She covered "Sultans of Swing" like she'd just heard the song thirty minutes before doing it with Josh Turner, who was actually enjoyable to watch.