Is music dying?

We’re living in a whole new era—the age of computers and MP3 players, where everything is just constant downloading and uploading. It makes you wonder: is music actually under threat? Is it losing its soul because it’s being reduced to nothing more than binary code sitting on a hard drive instead of something you can actually hold?
Has music lost its original purpose as a cultural cornerstone or a way to educate us? It feels like it’s becoming mere background noise in places like a Target or a grocery store, just there to mask the boredom. For the masses, music doesn't seem to mean much anymore, and for those who actually care about it, the community feels like it's shrinking. What do you guys think?

Traditional folk music has just become a mindless routine. At this point, the goal isn't even about making good music anymore—it's strictly about the paycheck. They’re basically just churning out low-effort, bottom-of-the-barrel tracks just to cash in.

Music is everywhere, though I suppose most people don't even realize it. It isn't going to go extinct, but since there seem to be fewer truly creative minds out there these days, the quality of original music feels like it's on a bit of a downward slide; instead, we see musicians just chasing a paycheck by churning out endless covers. I don't think new technology will ever actually threaten music itself—if anything, it might just pave the way for entirely new genres to emerge, much like how hip hop or techno once did. My real concern, though, is that the habit of listening to full albums might be dying out, leaving us in a world where nothing matters except the next big hit.
MTV is to blame for all of this!

🙏

(staying on topic: when you flood the market with the same thing, everything loses its value. music works the exact same way...)

I’m still one of those people who lives and breathes music—honestly, I don't think I could even function without it. And no, I don't think music is dying out; as long as there are humans around, there's going to be music. The real issue is the quality, though. It feels like we're being flooded with generic, cookie-cutter pop tracks while actual talented artists are getting harder to find. Plus, nobody really buys CDs anymore; you just Google a song title and hit download. So, I don't agree with the thread title that music is dying, but I definitely think true quality is becoming a rare breed.

Arthur Barnes said:(On topic: everything loses value when you flood the market with it, which means music inherently loses its worth)

How exactly are you defining "music," and just how broad is that definition for you?
The reality is that there will always be someone out there capable of producing high-quality music.
(I made a similar point back in that thread about the 80s)

When you say "music," what exactly are we talking about? Define it for me.

Back in the old school days, there weren't any digital platforms to blast music from; if you wanted to actually experience a sound, you had to show up to a LIVE show. Nowadays, musicians are basically bleeding out because they've lost that steady stream of cash from physical media sales. Honestly, I think music is just circling back to its roots—real, raw, live performance. It reminds me of when television first hit the scene; everyone was freaking out, convinced that movie theaters would go extinct overnight. Well, look at us now—theaters are still packed to the rafters even with the rise of streaming and digital downloads. There’s just nothing that can replicate the vibe of a dark cinema or the energy of a concert hall. As much as I love catching a band on my Spotify playlist, nothing beats seeing them right in front of you. That’s where the real money is for artists. At the end of the day, musicians should be making their living off the stage, not off studio recordings. Think of CDs or digital tracks as nothing more than high-end commercials for the actual live experience.

Music stays alive as long as there are people left to listen.

It’s a misconception to think music is dying; if anything, it's more vibrant than ever, and I truly believe there is something out there for everyone. While it's undeniably true that the MP3 format took a bite out of CD sales, the rise of platforms like Facebook has actually leveled the playing field, giving independent artists a chance to reach listeners they otherwise would have never found.

Jessica Flores78 said:Look, I’m one of those people who lives and breathes music—it’s basically my lifeblood. I don't think music itself is dying out; as long as there are humans around, there’s going to be music. The real issue is the quality of what's being pumped out. It feels like we're drowning in cheap, mass-produced pop garbage while actual talented artists are getting pushed to the sidelines. Plus, nobody really buys physical albums anymore; you just search for a track on Spotify or Google and hit download. So, the music isn't disappearing, but the soul and quality definitely are.

Totally agree. 👍

Paul Davis51 said:How would you actually define music? Like, how broad is your definition?
Because at the end of the day, you can always find someone out there making good music.
(kind of similar to what I was saying on the 80s thread)

To me, music is just an art form made of sound and silence moving through time. 🤷 🤷 🤷

Honestly, what are you guys even talking about? Music isn't dying—it’s thriving. 🙄

Right now, there are more bands out there and more diverse musical genres than at any other point in history. We’re seeing more albums being recorded today than ever before—and that number just keeps climbing. Music isn't going extinct; maybe bananas are, but not music. 😢

Music has shifted from an art form into a pure business model. We’re seeing this fragmentation of the audience where everything is designed to sell a specific singer or a single track. In my view, we're losing the very essence of music—the reason it exists in the first place—which is to provide a way for people to (HONESTLY) express and convey their emotions.

Between globalization and rampant consumerism, fueled by the internet and cable TV, we've entered an era of hyper-production. This massive surge in quantity inevitably forces a decline in the quality of the music we're constantly bombarded with.

With such a vast amount of music available at any given moment, it takes quite a bit of luck for a song to actually float to the surface of a sea of similar tracks and become a hit.
There isn't much point in buying full albums anymore when you can easily just grab the one hit single online. Most of the rest of the album is usually just filler meant to pad out the runtime; they aren't really worth remembering.

I don't think music will die out, but I suspect our perception of it will change fundamentally.
The concept of the "album" might actually disappear. Labels and artists will likely pivot to releasing nothing but singles accompanied by music videos, since nobody buys albums anyway—they just download them. People will pay for singles, and that'll be that. CDs will become obsolete, collected only by nostalgic hobbyists or hardcore fanatics (not even mentioning vinyl), and the industry will have found its next way to turn a profit.
That's just my two cents.

dustyviper332 said:Musicians have turned it into a routine. Their goal isn't the music; it's the money. Consequently, they produce mediocre work.

Man, you're totally missing the point with a statement like that.
You're being far too cynical. You shouldn't generalize; not everyone operates the same way.

Want an example?
Based on your avatar, Bogdan (and based on your signature, a former TDD member) whom you clearly admire, are nothing more than session musicians playing for a paycheck (a very large one, I assume) following a set routine.

Music is entirely subjective. It's impossible to use objective metrics to decide what is high quality and what isn't. It comes down to taste, which isn't really worth arguing about.

Music isn't dying... seriously, what kind of nonsense is that even supposed to be??? Just because people are streaming it or keeping it on their phones instead of buying vinyl, tapes, or CDs doesn't mean the music itself is disappearing. To me, music was never about the physical stuff anyway. The medium is just the container, right? It’s just how you store the sound.

And honestly, I'm totally with Charles Wells2 on this one. That was beautifully put!

cosmicraven2 said:It isn't just that music isn't dying; it’s more vibrant than ever. I truly believe anyone can find something they resonate with. Sure, the MP3 format took a bite out of CD sales, but the rise of Facebook actually gave a lifeline to artists who otherwise would have been buried by the gatekeepers.

I'll second that. When it comes to the mainstream? Honestly, I think the 2000s were the absolute worst decade yet—nothing quite reached this level of cookie-cutter garbage before. Just look at the US Top 40 or the Rolling Stone charts. It's basically just manufactured pop sludge, an utter nightmare. Then again, the internet and Facebook have opened the floodgates for so many niche genres and indie acts that there really is something for everyone if you look. As for those people constantly whining that "music is dead" while refusing to put in even a shred of effort to dig beneath the surface? They aren't worth having a serious conversation with about art.☕

Charles Wells2 said:Theaters are still dying out fast—even with streaming services popping up everywhere.

Which theaters? 😕

http://www.census.gov/

The number of movie theaters in America has basically been cut in half over the last five years—it's a joke. 😢

2002 - 146
2004 - 131
2006 - 87
before 1990 - well over 500

The real tragedy here is that actual, quality music is dying out, while we’re being relentlessly bombarded with nothing but low-rent garbage from MTV...

Honestly, if you actually pay attention to the music scene, there’s no way you can sit there and claim that music is dying. You can dig up so many incredible bands online that wouldn't even be able to pull a crowd in their own hometown. Take Amazon, for instance—you can listen to a clip of just about any track to decide if an album is actually worth your money (that’s how I used to do it all the time). And don't even get me started on the glory days of Facebook. Seriously, if you call yourself a true music enthusiast, you shouldn't be saying this; unless, of course, your entire idea of "enthusiasm" is limited to whatever MTV decides to play on loop.

umbrella, aaaaa, ella, ella, ella....🤣
There’s an absolute mountain of great music out there; you just have to know where to dig. In America, we mostly just mimic whatever trends are blowing up in Mexico or Canada—we import their sounds, fill our dive bars with them, and keep the pop radio spinning... It’s a trap for kids who haven't actually developed any musical taste yet and can't hear anything besides the garbage being shoved down their throats from every direction. Then, you see a world-famous band roll into a major US hub like New York City and pack 2,500 people into a venue👎 and half that crowd didn't even travel from the city itself. Meanwhile, some local political anthem rocker fills a massive stadium like MetLife😲 and that tells you everything you need to know about the current state of our music scene. Music isn't going to die, it's just becoming increasingly mediocre.

If you're asking how broad my definition of music is, I’m talking about everything—every single genre under the sun. Also, does anyone else feel like people are losing sight of the fact that making music used to require actual grit, sweat, and hours of practice? Nowadays, it feels like you can just copy-paste a drum sample eighty times and call it a song.