> People still buy millions of classic albums from the 70's and 80's, in 30 years time very few artists will have that same comfort.

We are only listening to the best stuff from the 70s and 80s, and in 30 years people will only listen to the best stuff from today.

Now, I think a major difference will be the "best" music people will be listening to will be very different from each other. 30+ years ago the popular music people listened to on the radio or MTV was much more broadly known and shared than music today, whereas today different demographics have increasingly siloed music tastes.

I hear a lot of good stuff my teenage sons play on Spotify that I would never hear if it wasn't for them.

Also don't forget that what you saw at MTV and your local record store was heavily manipulated by the big music labels.

I agree with this. There's definitely way more available today, and in many more niche genres than there was available in the 70s and 80s. Arguably there is also a higher proportion of trash because of the ease of entry, but because the fanbases can be so segmented people can find stuff they really like that's more geared toward their specific tastes. Plus, there are greater search tools than before, like Spotify.

If you think modern music is bad you should listen to more music.

There are artists that can publish work now, thanks to the internet, that publishers wouldn't even dream of going near let alone giving them deals. I really like microtonal electronic music for example, not exactly radio friendly.

Ah yes, the "new music sucks" argument. I've definitely never heard this one before. Please tell me how Metallica is relevant right now.

People still listen to Metallica's music, and their music still ends up in movies.

I don't really think all new music is bad, just most of it. The same could be said for back in the day though. Metallica is a bad example for you to use cause they are still widespread because they are really good. There are other bands you haven't heard of from the 70s and 80s.

Unless you're really, really into music, your taste in music essentially stops developing by the time you hit your 30s. If you're listening to Metallica today, it's because you were listening to Metallica when you were 15 (I was, and I still do).

This "all new music is dross" argument is repeated every generation as new music out-ages the outgoing generation.

Everything you said is either false or inapplicable.

I like Metallica just as much as the next guy, but they're not relevant anymore. They've been laughed out of the music industry ever since they got upset about their music being pirated - which is actually a great example of how the music industry has changed and left them in the dust. Do they still sell records? Sure. But that's not what I'm talking about. Would I listen to their opinions on modern music industry trends? Absolutely not.

Of course there are bands I haven't heard of from the 70s and 80s. That doesn't mean the ones I have heard of are relevant. It means they're memorable.

unrelated but I love your username.

> Do they still sell records? Sure. But that's not what I'm talking about. Would I listen to their opinions on modern music industry trends? Absolutely not.

I bet they feel just terrible to only be making money off of people buying their music, but not paying attention to their opinions.

People not caring about your opinions is nearly the definition of irrelevance, so I don't see how I'm wrong here.

every generation has older people thinking the new generation of music is bad :)

Well, maybe they had a point. We went from Bach to 50 cent…

You’re not from the generation that produced Bach though.

Hopefully, we'll soon have the means to ask an AI-based Bach model what it thinks of 50 cent!