You Are Wrong if You Think Music Today Isn’t Good Anymore

“Today’s music is terrible. Music used to mean something. They don’t make ‘em like they used to.”

If you’re like me, you’ve heard this oft-repeated trope from music fans of all ages. And if you’re really like me, you’ll smile and nod your head awkwardly while screaming internally upon hearing it in conversation.

So let me get it out in the open: this isn’t just a lazy sentiment. It’s wrong.

In fact, it’s more wrong now than ever before.

While every decade had its fair share of great music, the crappy music from those decades is forgotten in due time. You can’t ignore the bad music you hear today, but quality always rises to the top eventually. And that’s the stuff people remember.

If you want proof of that, when was the last time you heard A Taste of Honey or The Osmonds? How about Fabian or The Cowsills? Have you been rocking out to Winger or The Baha Men recently?

It’s never been so easy to find good music in today’s day and age than there ever was before. Top 40 radio is practically irrelevant at this point. It’s too corporate, too safe. Such legacy tastemakers are now stuck playing the same rotation of fifty or so songs, which is a big reason for radio’s demise in influence.

Meanwhile, it’s easier than ever for musicians to get their music out to the world. Gone are the days when musicians needed a record label to sign you, pay for a studio, a producer, an engineer, and the like. Nowadays, anyone with a computer and a microphone can record music and post it on places like YouTube and SoundCloud. They can share their music on social media, essentially making themselves more than just talent, but their own agent, manager, and PR person.

Due to the relative ease of recording music and online platforms where musicians can share and promote their work, there’s more good music out there than ever before. You can find countless unknown talents who have plenty of interesting things to say. And for every musician like that, there are even more music fans—dare I say music aficionados?—who are more than willing to help you find some great music. They’re the new DJs, the new kingpins, the new tastemakers.

In other words, the internet changed everything.

While an argument can be made that there’s more bad music out there as well, that’s beside the point. After all, the quality rises to the top and everything else is eventually forgotten. The onus is now on you to do the grunt work yourself and find what you like.

There’s plenty great music out there, and a plethora of ways to find it.

Happy hunting.