Why Music Has Lost Its Magic
“Music cleanses the understanding; inspires it, and lifts it into a realm which it would not reach if it were left to itself.” — Henry Ward Beecher
I readily admit I do not listen to much mainstream music these days. But every so often I will become acquainted with a current pop song that gets played in restaurants, stores, or television and film. Sometimes it will even catch my ear and I will think, “Gee, this sounds like something I might like.” Perhaps it seems inspired by music I’ve enjoyed from the past, so I will use an app like Shazam or Soundhound to detect the artist and song title so I can check it out later. But often I find the song is missing some key ingredient that keeps it from being added to my regular rotation of music. It sounds good enough, but it just doesn’t stick for some reason.
In contemplating the reason for this I’ve come to the conclusion that what seems to be missing from a lot of music these days, specifically mainstream music, is not necessarily sonic appeal, but soul. Like fancy CGI effects in a movie that lacks character development, the production is slick and impressive, but it doesn’t move. It just ends up feeling as manufactured as AI Art as opposed to being an organic result that arises from a long creative session to make a great piece of art born from conviction. A look at the lengthy songwriting credits may make one wonder if perhaps it’s a case of too many cooks in a kitchen, but what I find even more curious is how lacking the lyrics are in actual heart.
This never seemed to be an issue in mainstream music of the past, but hints of this change began to take place in the late 90s. In fact, most of us didn’t even have fancy sound equipment to listen to music on (remember AM radio??), but it rocked our world and shaped who we are. Because the one thing music didn’t lack from the beginning of sound recordings all the way up to the 80s, was heart. Pop and rock were still poetic, romantic, inspiring, and spiritual…at times, almost magical. Music made you want to hop in the car on a Friday night and drive until you found whatever great promise life had to offer. Sometimes we even found it.
That magic started to fade as the pendulum began to swing and the music business made a major shift from an emphasis on talent to marketability. I could go into depth on how that came about, as there are many factors that contributed to it, but I think the most significant change that took place, as a result, is the true motivation behind why music is even made. Here’s a hint: it isn’t for music’s sake. Sure, talent might still be present to some degree, but it matters little. Instead, it increasingly became about creating celebrities, which meant upping the wild antics and promoting the carefully-cultivated personality more than their art. The biggest audience draw was no longer found in musical performance, but in performing for people like Oprah Winfrey, Barbara Walters, and Howard Stern along with other celebrity gossip shows and publications. And it’s only getting worse with time.
While one could argue that the entertainment industry has never been short on glorifying deplorable behavior, the need to top what has been done before in such a public way took time to bear out (in fact, they used to try to hide it). The advent of the internet and social media certainly helped it along, but this also fed the greed of the record executives (ie non-artists). And the output has been nothing short of empty. This result is something the Bible predicted, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.” (Matt 24:12). These changes didn’t take place overnight, but rather happened gradually as every aspect of the industry became more self-centered, self-indulgent, and self-interested. Despite their claim, love is the furthest thing from their mind.
The message we hear in mainstream music rarely promotes the greater good. Most of what I hear on the radio is ego-centric, about some perceived entitlement, objectifying other humans, or celebrating every conceivable vice. There is a shamelessness in music today that leaves a sensitive listener feeling cold and disconnected. Never has that been more evident than the acts we see booked for big annual events such as The Super Bowl, The Grammys, or New Year’s Eve broadcasts. These once highly anticipated performances now make my stomach turn, as it should any decent person.
I suspect many of these artists are simply doing what they’re told in an effort to maintain their fame, but authentic or not, mainstream music has influence over the current generation, and that too is bearing out in our behavior and attitudes toward one another. But ultimately, there is no satisfaction to be found in it. Values derived from attributes such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are timeless and will echo throughout eternity. It touches the human soul.
Do you consider yourself a true artist? Do you want to create something that is authentically magical that lasts past the next trending topic on Twitter? Then know this, it is the artist’s job to elevate the human experience, not degrade it. So that is what we are tasked with. And it begins not with slick musical production, great vocal runs, or kooky fashion sense (while those things are all fine and good), but with the message we communicate. What do you value?
