My daughter lately turned ten. At her age, I’d simply acquired a Saisho midi system as a present. It had a radio, twin cassette decks, and a graphic equaliser that ambitiously recommended you may be capable to magic affordable audio from the factor. Not that high quality sound mattered again then. This was the period of the cassette tape, which made your favorite band sound like they had been performing in your backyard. From the within of a bin.
On the time, I used to be lucky sufficient to get a small sum of weekly pocket cash. If I saved up, I might often purchase a brand new album – much better than listening to songs recorded off the radio, ruined by DJs speaking over them. My assortment was subsequently small. It was additionally terrible. However then I used to be ten – and ten-year-olds don’t have any style.
Or, extra precisely, had no style. As a result of streaming modified music ceaselessly, and children hearken to every kind of nice stuff – outdated and new – lately. My daughter is a working example. Her set-up may be very totally different from what I had. She has an outdated iPhone (with no SIM), a HomePod mini and entry to our household’s Apple Music subscription. She owns exactly no music, and but has entry to over 100 million songs.
At all times consider in your soul
Proper now, she’s obsessive about exactly one in all them: Gold, by Spandau Ballet. She finds it hilarious to blast that tune out earlier than bedtime. Or every other time I’m round. After which we sing it collectively. I’ll someday look again on these moments fondly, as soon as I’ve recovered from the trauma of Tony Hadley residing in my head 24/7.
Nevertheless, I discover it unusual to recollect when that observe first appeared. My daughter dancing round her room to an ’80s pop hit is the tough equal to 10-year-old me getting enthusiastic about music from 1945. Which didn’t occur. And never simply because 1945 wasn’t awash with pop music, but in addition as a result of after I was youthful, all the things was about what was occurring proper now. Against this, lots of right this moment’s youngsters seem to have a extra relaxed strategy to when music they eat was launched. Briefly, they don’t care. My very own youngling is simply as blissful listening to Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Kraftwerk, Blur or, effectively, Spandau Ballet. Her buddies are a lot the identical.
This sense of not having to ‘be’ one sort of music fan, limiting your self to what’s widespread right this moment and some accepted classics, extends to youngsters who grew up within the early days of streaming. Chatting with folks in bands who’ve been round for a few years, they are saying you’ll usually see folks of their 40s and 50s at gigs, watching artists of their 50s and past, surrounded by folks aged something from 18 to 80.
You’re indestructible – all the time believing
I discover this facet of how streaming modified music thrilling. It’s upended listening habits, irrevocably. It’s damaged down boundaries. And wanting each streaming service collapsing into the identical state as TV, the place every label takes its ball house, folks will lengthy have entry to hundreds of thousands of tracks, for a similar month-to-month value as a single new album.
However they’re not going to purchase albums. And that makes it tougher for artists to make a residing. Spotify final yr stated it will rework the way it pays artists, lopping off these it thought-about generated minimal streams. And it’s not like streaming paid effectively within the first place. I’ve misplaced depend of what number of bands have stated they want they might flip the clock again. As a result of though 95% of individuals would pirate their songs, 5% would purchase them, which offered a much bigger reduce than something streaming provides.
There are methods to combat again. Patreon. Bandcamp. However they’re too usually the protect of the devoted – or outdated farts like me who can’t let go of proudly owning music. My concern is when you by no means get into the behavior of shopping for music within the first place, you by no means will. And which will go away youthful generations with a diminishing pool of recent creators who can absolutely dedicate their lives to their artwork – particularly if AI firms additional hole out the market by changing human tracks with personalised mechanically generated garbage.
Nonetheless, a minimum of we’ll all the time have Spandau Ballet.