Won't Somebody Please Think of the Children?

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
http://www.theguardian.com/commenti...ty-young-people-debt-jogging-drinking-fitness

I've scanned this article while at work so I've not ascertained to what extent it's a load of cobblers, but it interests me to consider if this phenomenon (if such a phenomenon exists) has had an effect on 'pop' music, which should really be produced by and consumed by the yoof.

Yesterday I saw David Drake (the rap journalist) deriding the notion that a certain rapper was the voice of a new generation, and implying that this was just a PR tactic. Whether or not he was OTM here is besides the point; what interested me was the realisation that I don't have any idea what the youth of today ARE into.

It strikes me that this forum is mostly made up of people (and mostly men) in their thirties. What I'm angling for is a PR campaign to lure the young to Dissensus, thereby reviving our ailing discussions and increasing inability to finger a pulse.
 

rubberdingyrapids

Well-known member
crowleys still a young whippersnapper i thought

so from the article, we are deducing that:

jogging = poor inspiration for music
drinking = good inspiration for music

kids are more into vloggers now than music right? actually i think they are into the things we think they are: taylor swift videos, drake, kanye, vine videos, snapchat, the hunger games/j-law, etc. no real surprises tbh.

one thing im always surprised by is when i read reviews of gigs by artists i never heard of but they are playing at biggish venues, all under the radar, more or less. all cos of the internet.
 
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sadmanbarty

Well-known member
what interested me was the realisation that I don't have any idea what the youth of today ARE into.

It strikes me that this forum is mostly made up of people (and mostly men) in their thirties. What I'm angling for is a PR campaign to lure the young to Dissensus, thereby reviving our ailing discussions and increasing inability to finger a pulse.

I'm twenty. There's nothing I know of that people my age are listening to which is somehow elusive to dissensians. Young Thug and Future are the two biggest artists amongst people I know in the last couple of years.

As for the voice of a generation, look no further:

 

rubberdingyrapids

Well-known member
maybe

cant help wondering if thats something someone older than the youth of today would say though, 'ah kids today, theyre not really into music like our generation was'. then again, i think theres less in most modern music to really make someone that passionate about music, beyond there being some banging beats or a nice tune. though that might just be my age talking again.

prob some truth to it though.

maybe sadmanbarty can tell us. although, as he is young, he prob doesnt know about anything. j/k.
 

Corpsey

bandz ahoy
Obviously the problem with this thread is that we won't get any evidence to proceed on, but surely the internet has changed the way young people consume music even more than it's changed how us old farts consume it?

I think I was actually prompted to think about all this first by luka saying that kids don't create music scenes as much now cos they've got constant access to all their friends, wherever they are, not to mention an endless stream of entertainment. Maybe he didn't say that but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the impetus for creating art HAS been taken away by 24 hour rolling cat memes.

Re: the jogging thing, I perceive a link between gym culture and all this new wave of house/urban music. Maybe that's just cos that's what they play in gyms? Mind you, there were plenty of gym rats at my school while me and the other weirdos spent our time smoking weed, skateboarding, etc...

Spuriouser and spuriouser
 

luka

Well-known member
Thing is in the olden days I could turn on the radio and find out what was happening but that's no longer possible.
 

rubberdingyrapids

Well-known member
the net has changed how people think and feel about music, as a product of how they consume it (music is just 'content' now isnt it, like films and writing and everything else, just there to make up the numbers). i think music will always be important and play a role just cos of what music is, but i think the net has made kids look for new things that are of their generation, things that could only exist on the internet. no one is looking to music to learn about anything, and few people in music are tipping kids off to anything. social media etc etc is the leader, music is just a follower. like, i dont even know how important it is when you hear a 'new sound' in music, cos no one really cares about it in the wider sense, cos music doesnt occupy that cultural centre position anymore.

this is prob just old-man depressive talk though.
 
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Corpsey

bandz ahoy
That's interesting, too. The idea that music has lost its previous role/function in society. Is this why there's hardly any political music of note? Or is that just a general apathy towards politics?
 

rubberdingyrapids

Well-known member
apart from apathy/jadedness about politics, i think thats about -

artists worrying about being shut down immediately on the internet for what they say and the reaction of social media/groupthink
jadedness about political music
cluelessness/disengagement from popular political movements (or political movements failing to have wider/populist engagement)
general tepidness/safeness of whats deemed acceptable in popular culture and careerism at work - most artists know music is trickier to navigate in terms of a way to make money, so why rock the boat unless youre starting out in a lucky position (which few are)
the internet/social media encourages people to 'play along' and not rock the boat, few people want to upset that

but mostly its just that social media gets there first (and theres obv a lot of causes social media has helped debate) - theres nothing to say after that (though i think music can still make politics more enduring and powerful than a tweet)
 
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