I’d definitely disagree on that front. Though I do think there’s been a bit of a logarithmic curve, the difference in what was possible in 2000 vs 2022 is pretty huge. Like, listen to Animal Collective’s Merriweather Post Pavilion (2009) or any of James Blake, Jamie XX or Burial’s stuff from the past decade. Not all of that was impossible before 2000, but you’d have a hard time finding people making music with those timbres (outside maybe some really cutting edge IDM).

Oh and don’t forget auto-tune ;) Although there are a few examples of it being used for pitch correction before 2000 (+ that Cher song), it wasn’t until the 2000’s that it got ratcheted up to T-Pain levels.