“I DON’T KEEP UP WITH NEW MUSIC ANYMORE”
Cosmo at Invisible Oranges, whose pieces are becoming ever more introspective in his last days running the blog, posted a really interesting article last week. “I don’t keep up with new music anymore.” How many times have you heard this from old friends of yours, many of whom you grew up listening to music with? Cosmo wants to know why people tend to lose interest in new music as they age; is it the loss of the teenage need to rebel? the presence of other obligations in life? the feeling that new music just doesn’t carry the same rush it used to? Here are two quotes from the editorial:
This phenomenon has bothered me for years. A good number of friends with whom I first bonded with through music don’t share that passion anymore. They always cite things like family, work, and time. But that doesn’t stop them from watching movies or TV. That makes sense. Watching movies or TV is often more passive than listening to music. Movies and TV come at you through your television set (and, increasingly, your computer screen). Outside of radio, one has to go to music. Music also doesn’t hand people visuals like movies and TV do.
What interests me more, however, is the conscious choice to stop seeking new music. People draw lines in the sand: there’s no good music now, music was better when I was young, and so on. I don’t hear people saying, “I don’t want to travel to any more countries” or “I don’t want to try any more kinds of food”. But they’ll say that they are not interested in hearing new music. Why do people seek out new experiences as they age – except for music?
Great questions, all of them, and I’ve often wondered these things myself. I’d love to hear the opinions of MS readers on the matter, and I’d also like to take things one step further: “I don’t keep up with new metal anymore.” Is metal a movement of the youth, inapplicable in its rebellion and ferocity to us olds? Does new metal pale in comparison to old metal? Chime in below.
Props to Cosmo for not dismissing djent, and recognizing that the subgenre’s existence “has merit;” “Uneven Structure, 7 Horns 7 Eyes, and Chimp Spanner caught my ear,” from a sampler posted by Basick Records.
-VN
