Ultimately, in my mind, the rise of such genre-defying artists is a product of the proliferation of the idea that there are many different aspects for which a particular piece can be admired. Going further though it has become that a singular piece need not necessarily be appreciable for every aspect, but simply one or two especially compelling aspects. For example, I find that i like some artists for their particularly entertaining beats, others for their genius lyricism, and others for their overall composition and vibe.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Diversification of Music
One topic I have become more interested in lately has become the diversification of music, not just in, but mainly in the 21st century. This "diversification" is something which really started in the late 1940's and 1950's with the explosion of popular music. While music was dominated by super-bands and the British invasion in the 1960's music was still further diversifying. It continued throughout the 1970's and 1980's with the various counter culture movements, such as punk rock, prog-rock, metal, and Hip Hop as well as the introduction of new technologies leading to new genres such as techno. But then as the 1990's and 2000's the diversification truly began to flower with the rise of new genres such as Grunge, alt-rock, and Ska, as well as the continuation of the proliferation of both bubblegum-pop and Hip Hop. But now in the 2010's it seems like music has somehow managed to continue in it's diversification, producing completely original artists who simply defy definition by any preexisting genres, but seem as though they are unlikely to spawn a new one of their own.
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It is super interesting that you brought this up because this was sort of the kind of thing that I wrote my research paper on first semester for Mr. Henrick.I was questioning whether the value of music has gone down now that we can access basically any of it on the internet. So not exactly the same as what you are talking about with diversification, but I had one paragraph that relates to what you are saying. I was talking about how, with the internet, suddenly people everywhere can access music from all over the world. People in America can listen to traditional African Folk music, or Italian Operas, or Buddhist chants, or whatever they want, without having to leave their bedroom. This I believe, may be part of the inspiration for the growing variety in music you are talking about. People start mixing styles to get things like Indie-Pop, that probably would never have been created if it weren't for the rapid spreading of music via the internet. My essay had a mixed positive negative view of the internet for music; positive in that it allowed for the spread of music, and negative in that it depreciated the value and appreciation one has when listening to music being made live, but you bring up an interesting point that not only did it spread music, but indirectly, it allowed new music to be created.
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