Why New Music is SO BAD 😔

A 2012 article measured the evolution of contemporary Western popular music using the Million Song Dataset, containing metadata and audio analysis for a million songs.

• Pitch variation • Timbre variation • Dynamic range

Data came from the Econest, a musical intelligence platform that analyzes songs.

The study claimed pop music is getting worse, supporting the narrative that modern music quality has declined.

Dynamic range has little or nothing to do with song quality and is a problematic measure to use.

An experiment with drum loops showed that most people preferred tracks with less dynamic range, contradicting the assumption that more dynamic range equals better quality.

Enjoyment of music with different dynamic ranges varies by listener preference, making dynamic range unsuitable as an objective quality metric.

This parameter should be dismissed from the quality analysis entirely.

The timbre parameter measures the frequency response of each discrete segment, creating frequency response curves for each track section.

A single parameter alone is too limited to accurately define the timbre of a song, as identical-looking frequency responses can sound completely different.

Modern songs are actually richer in timbre because producers have access to endless instrument libraries and can add a million different sounds, impossible 40 years ago.

This part of the research is misleading and should be dismissed from the analysis.

The model for pitch and harmony is more solid compared to the other parameters and aligns with the observation that harmonic content has become simpler.

Song quality is not determined by its level of complexity. Both minimalism and maximalism are valid artistic approaches that fluctuate throughout music history.

Craftsmanship can be achieved by any means regardless of harmonic complexity, making simplicity in harmony not inherently worse.

Arguing that simpler harmony makes a song worse is ignorant and dismisses this metric from the analysis.

After reading research papers and considering extensive data, three scientific reasons explain why people believe music was better in the past.

• Research on neural representation of musical harmony shows that older people have lower ability to identify dissonant chords • As you get older, more things start to sound similar to you • This explains why older people complain that everything sounds the same

Studies comparing groups older and younger than 40 years old found that older listeners rated dissonant chords as less unpleasant than younger listeners.

The aging process affects how the brain processes musical harmony, making it harder to distinguish between different harmonic structures.

• Few recording artists due to high cost of recording studios and gear • Gatekeepers (record labels) filtered tracks to identify best songs and artists • Radio and TV provided additional filtering, ensuring only quality music reached listeners

Despite gatekeeping ensuring quality, many good tracks were left behind and never reached listeners because they didn't pass through all industry filters.

• Millions of songs ready for release due to easier recording without expensive gear • Gatekeepers are mostly gone, allowing most tracks to be released • Social media and algorithms replaced radio and TV as the main distribution driver

While more music is accessible, listeners are exposed to both high-quality and low-quality tracks, and many focus only on algorithm-promoted content.

Openness to Experience is an academic term describing a person's willingness to explore new music, genres, and artistic styles.

• Young people have higher openness, going out of their way to explore new songs and genres • Older people have lower openness and find it harder to seek out new music and genres • Exploring new music requires more effort as people age

Making new friends becomes harder with age, requiring more effort, and new friendships are less strong than those made when younger. The same principle applies to musical exploration.

Connections made when listening to music for the first time are much stronger. Repeating these same connections and feelings is harder as people age, making past music feel more meaningful.

The 2012 article used data from the Econest, a music analysis platform. By 2016, Econest had over 30 million songs tagged with advanced algorithms.

In 2014, Spotify acquired Econest for 50 million euros, making it a key component of Spotify's recommendation systems.

• Personalized playlists listeners encounter are driven by Econest algorithms • Discovery Weekly is created using Econest technology • Trufflepig, an internal Spotify tool, uses Econest to create playlists by mood or occasion

Editor-created playlists like Coffeehouse and Tenga Friday are also available thanks to Econest and Trufflepig technologies.