The 2000s: The end of Music Progression?
Dec 12, 2017 21:00:26 GMT 10
Post by SharksFan99 on Dec 12, 2017 21:00:26 GMT 10
I've been re-listening to a few songs from the 2000s in recent weeks and as I have been doing so, I am starting to get the impression that the 2000s were a time when society had achieved everything it had wanted to in popular culture and it wasn't clear which direction pop culture should head in. Although I believe this was mostly the case during the Early and Mid 2000s, I feel like this mindset lasted through the entire decade. What is your opinion on it?
I think there was an ongoing struggle to find a genre which truly represented the decade, much like how disco was to the '70s and new-wave was to the '80s. The garage-rock revivial was probably intended to become the next big, defining 'thing', but it never filled the void. While bands such as The Strokes and Jet achieved great success, they were never able to replicate the same widespread significance and influence on pop culture as bands before them did. The Strokes never became the "next" Nirvana.
Because of the confusion over the direction popular culture should head in, I think the quality massively suffered as a result. The aftermath of this was the birth of genres such as "ringtone rap" and "crunk", which were founded purely as a method for the record companies to make a profit from an industry which was gradually dying. I think a lot of the genres which were popular in the Y2K era (such as Latin Pop, Nu-Metal) were serious attempts to find the next new "defining" sound. It just never happened, unfortunately. That's why I personally think that the 2000s don't have as strong of an identity as the Mid-Late 20th Century decades. There's just nothing that truly represents the overall popular culture of the 2000s, in my opinion.
Also, the theme of a "lack of a direction" is present in some successful singles of the 2000s as well. The Red Hot Chili Pepper's music video for "Dani California" reflects on the history and progress of rock music since the emergence of rock 'n roll in the Mid 1950s. Matchbox 20's song "How Far We've Come" is about the significant historical events of the Mid-Late 20th Century and how far society has truly come. There's probably a few others as well which address the same theme.
All in all, the lack of direction was also a contributing factor in the shift in focus of the record labels. Most of the songs which have been released since the turn of the Millennium are 'record label inventions', IMO. I know you could say that about every song released/financed by a record company, but so many songs now are inauthentic and lack substance. It's not like Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber etc. write all of their own songs and play instruments, like most artists from the Mid-Late 20th Century decades did. They're just "products" of the record companies, and so are genres such as EDM (in it's mainstream form), trap, ringtone rap etc. They are "products" which are used to exploit people, so that record labels can earn a greater profit from what it is otherwise a dying industry (due to how diverse pop culture consumption is now).
Unfortunately, due to a lack of an idea of the direction pop culture culture should head in and other circumstances, we're now stuck in a soulless and commercialism era, where natural talent and creativity is completely forsaken for the almighty dollar. The Mid-Late 20th Century truly was a golden age and I believe it will be a very long time (if ever) for the same level of quality and progress to ever be achieved again.
I think there was an ongoing struggle to find a genre which truly represented the decade, much like how disco was to the '70s and new-wave was to the '80s. The garage-rock revivial was probably intended to become the next big, defining 'thing', but it never filled the void. While bands such as The Strokes and Jet achieved great success, they were never able to replicate the same widespread significance and influence on pop culture as bands before them did. The Strokes never became the "next" Nirvana.
Because of the confusion over the direction popular culture should head in, I think the quality massively suffered as a result. The aftermath of this was the birth of genres such as "ringtone rap" and "crunk", which were founded purely as a method for the record companies to make a profit from an industry which was gradually dying. I think a lot of the genres which were popular in the Y2K era (such as Latin Pop, Nu-Metal) were serious attempts to find the next new "defining" sound. It just never happened, unfortunately. That's why I personally think that the 2000s don't have as strong of an identity as the Mid-Late 20th Century decades. There's just nothing that truly represents the overall popular culture of the 2000s, in my opinion.
Also, the theme of a "lack of a direction" is present in some successful singles of the 2000s as well. The Red Hot Chili Pepper's music video for "Dani California" reflects on the history and progress of rock music since the emergence of rock 'n roll in the Mid 1950s. Matchbox 20's song "How Far We've Come" is about the significant historical events of the Mid-Late 20th Century and how far society has truly come. There's probably a few others as well which address the same theme.
All in all, the lack of direction was also a contributing factor in the shift in focus of the record labels. Most of the songs which have been released since the turn of the Millennium are 'record label inventions', IMO. I know you could say that about every song released/financed by a record company, but so many songs now are inauthentic and lack substance. It's not like Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber etc. write all of their own songs and play instruments, like most artists from the Mid-Late 20th Century decades did. They're just "products" of the record companies, and so are genres such as EDM (in it's mainstream form), trap, ringtone rap etc. They are "products" which are used to exploit people, so that record labels can earn a greater profit from what it is otherwise a dying industry (due to how diverse pop culture consumption is now).
Unfortunately, due to a lack of an idea of the direction pop culture culture should head in and other circumstances, we're now stuck in a soulless and commercialism era, where natural talent and creativity is completely forsaken for the almighty dollar. The Mid-Late 20th Century truly was a golden age and I believe it will be a very long time (if ever) for the same level of quality and progress to ever be achieved again.
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