Music and the Test of Time

Over the years we have always harkened back to days of old and fondly remembered places we enjoyed, television and movies we watched, and of course “classic” music we enjoyed among other things we recall. Concerning music our taste and/or choices may “date” us or demonstrate a stubborness to embrace new artists. Or both.

Of course there are plenty of great songs that have endured the test of time. Some artists have even spanned decades. There are bands of the past that have new fans every generation. The Beatles for example still sell a decent number of CD’s or downloads. Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones are on their 10th farewell tour.

This brings me to my overall point of emphasis. Why does the mainstream section of the music industry act as if there is a vast difference between music from the past and so called modern music?

Obviously I understand the needful process of placing songs and artists into a genre’. However that sometimes becomes a hazy boundary since many artists have various influences. Not to mention the crossover artists. In a similiar perspective the studio production of today’s music makes it sound more modern then the actual notes or structure of a songwriting has actually changed.

Take a band like Nickleback. They are really the same ballpark as 70’s rock. Frankly you can listen to music as far back as you can go and the elements of a song are common. This is not to say that nothing has changed. For example James Brown placed the emphasis on the first and the third beat of a

4 / 4 measure when many artists before accented the second and fourth note. It is still a 4 / 4 arrangement though.

So if you take comparable genre’s from past and present you sense the theme. That is why bands can last 30 – 40 years. Or why many artists do a cover version of old songs. Even so called newer music like Hip-Hop or Rap is not dramatically different from some “older” music. There is a heavy dose of R&B mixed with a cadence style lyrics. The RAP part, Rhythm And Poetry, is quite comparable to some 1950 and 1960’s coffee house rhymes.

Mixing the rhymed cadence with modern technology and putting R&B back beat was a fresh new twist of course. This is just one example.

So why is it that some bands coming up who are inspired by past artists and styles are shot down by major industry reps as being outdated? At the same time this “outdated” music is being downloaded and purchased by kids and adults. It is one thing if the band just isn’t good enough or they are trying to dircetly reproduce an artists sound that you already have under contract. Or for example we don’t need a modern day Beatles, but that doesn’t mean that a present day band can’t play in that style.