The Decline of Music: Streaming or Age?

There was a time not that long ago where the prospect of new music truly excited me in ways that I cannot express through words. I can recall my college days waiting up to midnight for music from some of my favorite artists, and some not so favorite, to be released. I would even plan the occasion with drinks and snacks, but now, that feeling has dissipated and has been replaced with a sense of detachment, for the most part. Nowadays, unless there is someone special releasing new music, such as Lady Gaga or Brandy, I oftentimes wait until the next day to consume it for the first time; if not longer. I have contemplated this change for a while now. What killed the excitement I once felt the days and weeks leading up to a new album or single? Was it streaming- which has now made music much more immediate and accessible for anyone with an Apple Music or Spotify subscription; or is it my age? I’m no longer in my twenties and perhaps with age has come the realization that despite loving music and having a genuine connection to it, it’s fleeting, mostly. I am unsure which of these things killed my excitement for music, but something has changed and I don’t think this change can be taken back.

The year is 2012 and it’s February. It snowed in Louisiana that week and my University canceled classes for a few days. I had known for a few weeks that Lady Gaga’s single, “Born this Way”, was being released, but as the days drew on, I found myself becoming obsessed with what the new song would sound like and how the world was going to stop when it finally came out. I can recall being up until 3 AM because a radio station was slated to play the song for the first time- this was before Apple Music and before iTunes released new music at midnight and you had to wait until the next morning to purchase the tracks. This was a special moment for me- as was the next day and so were the months leading up to the Born This Way album. I can remember all of this because it meant something to me, but also because I had to wait for it.

I can also think back to 2013 when Beyonce surprise-released her self-titled album on a random Friday night and completely changed the industry. Not only was this an album, but it was a visual album, meaning each song had an accompanying music video. This was a truly exciting time because, no one, according to my memory and regard for music, had ever dropped a full album without any promotion beforehand, this made the music that much more exciting because there was no build-up, no long and traditional roll-out, which also meant that it was harder to be disappointed. Now- many artists try the surprise album release to varying degrees, and they work sometimes. For example, just last year, Taylor Swift surprise-released new music twice. It was cool the first time, not as cool the second, but nowhere near as groundbreaking as when Beyonce did it. Ariana Grande did the same thing last year and I have yet to listen to her full album, despite being a fan.

I experienced that feeling of immense excitement for new music last year, but only twice. The first was Lady Gaga’s Chromatica album in May, and the next was Brandy’s first album in 8 years, B7, which was released in July. Both occasions felt like pre-streaming eras when I could not contain my excitement and made a full night out of the releases. For Brandy’s album, I was literally up all night crying and celebrating along with other fans online. Months later, I am still listening to B7. The same is true for Chromatica, I am still listening to it regularly. This brings up another issue with music, even with new music that I find an attachment to, I find that I stray away from it in a matter of no time. Gone are the days where a song like Adele’s “Hello” completely takes over my life and forces me to listen to nothing else. Perhaps the issue with music is neither of the two things I mentioned before, but perhaps artists are making music that has a much shorter shelf life in order to conform to streaming, which would still blame streaming, at least to a degree, for music being less exciting. I now get bored of music far more quickly than I once did and I also find myself complaining about the sameness of the songs and artists, the vapid subject matter, and sometimes simply the music itself.

Perhaps both things are to blame- streaming and my age. Streaming has made music much less exciting because it’s always there. I don’t have to worry about going to a store to buy music or even purchasing a digital version, practically every song I want is there for the picking. There is no longer a barrier between the fans and the art, which makes it less shiny and new. I do not view this as a negative thing because I think music should be assessable for people to consume, but I do morn the feeling of exclusivity that used to come with listening to a body of work the day it was released. My age is another thing- I have gotten to a place in my life where I crave more than what most artists are creating today. My entertainment needs can’t be met as easily as they were years ago. As mentioned earlier, it sounds like many artists are creating music to get to number 1, but they don’t seem to care about creating music that withstands the test of time. I find that most new Pop music does not appeal to me, I find that most new rappers rap in an offbeat way that I can’t get behind, and it all seems formulated and not organic in the slightest. While I am not one of those people who have aged out of being into contemporary music who would discourage people from making the music they choose to, I can still say that it is not for me. I respect it and I hope that new music fans have the excitement that I once had, but music, much like most other forms of entertainment, has lost that spark that it once had.