The other night, someone who had never heard me before asked me to sing. I sang them a verse of “Ribbon in the Sky,” we talked for a while, and walked away. Then, I started wondering, “Why do I always sing old songs?” The simplest answer came, I don’t really like much of the current songs, but that sparked another question: why don’t I like current pop songs? The truth is I do like some songs, but they don’t stick with me like the older music does. Recent music means so little because we now treat music like it’s disposable.
Artists crank out “hits” that follow trends created by others. Executives pick songs that think will sell, based on those same trends, as the singles they push to radio and television. Radio and TV play the songs until they’re engrained into our subconscious and we buy them and play them until we grow sick of them and begin looking for new music.
This isn’t to say that none of this happened in the past, but artists were a little more focused on creating an album, or a cohesive large-scale work, than they are now. Artist were more intent on creating the music they wanted to hear, not on what everyone else was doing.
Take a look at the song catalog of Michael Jackson: music he recorded decades ago still sounds fresh to us. A whole new generation is hearing his songs for the first time and are falling in love with the songs their parents listened to. I remembered when his album “Invincible” was released. I was so confused, because it sounded so much like music he had done in the past. I wanted something fresh and different, but it wasn’t until his passing and DJs began mixing his music together that I realized what he was doing: he was making the music he wanted to make—a cohesive, timeless sound. A person can play his last recorded material next to songs from “Off the Wall” or “Bad” and none of it sounds out of place. It all sounds like Michael.
I often wonder, twenty years from now, will anyone remember the music that’s being played on the radio now? Will there still be memories attached to songs? Will someone want to do a remake of a “classic” Rihanna song? Will there be Britney Spears tributes? Time will tell, but a large part of me is doubtful.