In with the Old: modern music has lost creativity and quality

My bedroom is set up for the sole purpose of listening to music. I have two wooden speakers on opposing sides of the room that are connected to a receiver and

record player, all from my dad’s high school days. These speakers fill my room with the organic sound of my 64 vinyl records.

Easily accessible at the top of the two-and-a-half- foot stack of records sits The Beatles’ “Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.” And always at the bottom I can find Justin Bieber’s “Purpose” album I was given three years ago as a gift. The difference between the two — besides their placement on the stack — is in their sound. Sgt. Pepper’s is filled with 41 live-recorded and raw instruments to build a beautiful, natural- sounding masterpiece of an album, and “Purpose” is stripped of any uniqueness through autotuning and pitch-perfection.

This comparison epitomizes a trend in modern popular music: since the 1960s, music has become a mass-produced product rather than an art form. Consequently, the quality, depth and creativity of music has suffered.

A 2012 study conducted by the Spanish National Research Council compared more than 450,000 songs from all genres of music over the past 50 years. The study found that music has increasingly become more homogenized — lyrics are less creative and instruments are sounding more electronic and similar across most genres.

Additionally, timbral diversity — a measure in the distinctness of different instruments and sounds in songs — has been on the downfall since the era of Sgt. Peppers. Music used to have a unique rawness that came from the variety of instruments used in the production. Nowadays, most music is built on only four instruments: a drum machine, keyboard, sampler and electronic music software — all of which could be found in almost any Soundcloud rapper’s basement, and don’t get me started on them.

Now, if you’re wondering why the homogenization of music is bad, I have one simple answer: comfort halts progression. Experience shows that anything with an extremely limited amount of diversity fails — environment, companies or communities.

Modern music is on track to do the same.

It’s not unusual to hear somebody older than 30 criticizing the lyrics of modern pop and rap songs for being as complex as a game of rock, paper, scissors. I hate to burst your Gucci Gang bubble, but they’re mostly right.

Since 2005 the most popular artists in pop and hip- hop have dropped an entire grade level (in terms of reading comprehension) in lyrical complexity according to Consequence of Sound.

While hip-hop artists like Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and Kanye West are continuing to innovate and experiment with deep and meaningful lyrics and

fresh compositions, they’re being drowned out by cookie-cutter mumble rap and pop artists like Katy Perry, Taylor Swift and The Chainsmokers — all who conform to the redundant modern style. Que up Selena Gomez’s “Same Old Love” and Camila Cabello’s “Havana” to see for yourself.

The second biggest change regarding music since the 1960s is the way in which we listen to it. Each advancement — from record players to CDs to streaming services — has made it easier to play that one song that has been stuck in your head all week forcing listeners to enjoy songs rather than liking it based on the quality.

A new study from Ohio State University found that the attention span of music listeners has been steadily decreasing. In the mid-80s the average top 10 hit had an intro that lasted 20 seconds — today the average intro is just five seconds. This development has led to catchy hooks occurring earlier on and producers using the same formula for the same copy and paste soundbite of hit singles.

Labels treat the public like fish caught on their hook. Once labels find a hook that catches the public, they don’t let go of that style.

To diminish risk that comes with straying from styles, labels have created a formula for a successful pop star: a pretty and young face with just enough talent for autotune to make up for the lack thereof. Stars in the 60’s through 70’s, such as the guitar legend Jimi Hendrix and king of swagger Mick Jagger, had irrefutable musical talent.

Consistency in production ensures consistency in the public’s feedback. This means any musician whose style may be too “different” is automatically labeled as too risky for labels to pour money into. But, this cuts off opportunity for artists to experiment, therefore killing musical advancement.

With the absence of creativity comes the absence of progression.

I urge modern artists to stop being so complacent in the homogenization of one of the few industries that historically not only allowed creativity, but encouraged it. This freedom allowed for bands like The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and The Rolling Stones to experiment with styles, further inspiring other artists to follow in their footsteps.

So maybe you can call me old-fashioned. And maybe I am a music snob. But I would rather be both of those than complacently listen to songs that, for worse, all sound the same.