Then, as now, almost all contemporary music was/is dross. ("Then" being
whichever period, era, or style is your preferred poison.)
For my money, the most influential and still-viable music of the last 50
years (in any style) is the Beatles, and no other music I've heard comes
close. I do not discount the possibility that contemporary styles can
produce a music of equal staying power, but I do not think they have yet.
After McCartney sang the Superbowl half-time last year, another new
generation became enthralled with the Beatles. I am continually amazed
how each successive generation rediscovers and owns them. (We boomers
may have appreciated Goodman or Ellington. I certainly have. But we
never *owned* them: they always belonged to our grandparents.)
That said, something that is fundamentally different now than just about
any previous period I can think of, especially pop music of the last 50
years, is the complete splintering of taste. My impression is that there
no longer is any music that essentially everyone knows, even within a
single demographic or age bracket. I think this makes it far more
difficult for the next Beatles or the next Beethoven to emerge. Whether
such emergence is important I leave as an exercise for the reader.
--
Robert Patterson
http://RobertGPatterson.com
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