Humans have been making music for thousands of years to express ourselves, for ceremony, and for worship. The earliest music is thought to rely on voice, chant, and other sounds produced by clapping or rudimentary instruments, such as bones and stones. The advent of modern instruments, including the guitar, piano, drum machine, and digital audio workspace have yielded a boundless multidimensional space of possible sounds, genres, and subgenres. The past century has been populated with new artistic explorations that has moved music to occupy new spaces, shaped culture, and made new art forms that we recognize as music today.
"There's no new music at all." – Ozzy Osbourne
A recent headline from Ozzy Osbourne caught my eye – “There’s no new music at all – it’s all fucking rehashed.” With a god-sized cornucopia of music available at our fingertips on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, and other outlets in our homes, cars, and pockets, this proposition gave me pause.
The headline was take from an interview with Tenacious D during which Ozzy reflected on his youth, saying, the song “ ’You Really Got Me’, I bought the single and I played it to fucking death. I couldn’t stop listening to it. I don’t get that anymore with music that I hear.”
This resonated with me. In my youth, I played the same cassettes until the ribbon split, at which time I would reseal it with a small piece of tape and play it until it snapped again. This doesn’t happen anymore, and I think the reason is in our brains and the historical context in which we live.
Brain Function, Familiarity, and Novelty
One of the brain’s most basic functions is to receive and categorize input – such as patterns of sounds – so we can recognize and generalize. This brain function is intertwined with learning processes that impact where and for how long we direct our attention. I believe these processes influence how we experience music over the course of our life and are inseparable from the historical context in which we live.
The brain is drawn toward novel stimuli in the environment with the goal of assimilating new information into knowledge. The implication is that we are drawn to those patterns of notes and sounds that have never been heard before, but as we hear them repeatedly, they become familiar, and something new is more likely to attract and hold our attention.
The earliest songs we as individuals really connect with will hold our attention, but as we listen to more and more music, we build categories of the sounds, melodies, vibes, emotions elicited, and so on. When we hear sounds that are new yet similar to these categories, our brain begins to treat it as somewhat familiar from the onset. Its holding power is diminished before we even hear it.
The historical context in which we live matters as well. When we are living impacts what we are exposed to, what we are willing to accept as music, and what sounds are possible to produce. Today, the capacity to make music and push the boundaries of sound is greater than ever. There are more artists producing music than ever before, and the ability to make music available for others to hear has never been easier. It has recently been estimated that about 100,000 songs are uploaded to Spotify every day.
Three Implications of Accessibility
There are at least three implications accessibility to massive quantities of music has on the listening experience. First, we are cognizant there are many listening options at our fingertips. This contrasts with those who were teens 30, 40, or 50 years ago. As a youth in the early 90’s, it’s hard to imagine I wouldn’t have been looking elsewhere for artists that sounded like my favorites if they were available to me instead of playing out the few cassettes I had on hand. The more music that is accessible, the less likely we are to spend with any one song, album, or artist. It is plausible that as history marches on, attentional processes in our brain are being trained to turn away from what is even somewhat familiar more quickly to explore what is new.
Second, the massive quantities of music that we are exposed to may alter what we accept as music, expand the range of our tastes, and change our perception. A dramatic example is the tritone that makes up the devil’s interval, which was once heard as dissonant in the 14th century, but now quite acceptable, even crossing into the mainstream on songs such as “Enter Sandman” by Metallica.
“Cutting-edge music often can’t sustain long-term interest if it doesn’t also have some timeless quality.” – Mike Langlie
Third, access to millions of albums means creating a sound that stands out and will hold a listener’s attention is more difficult than ever. New music that is difficult to categorize stands the best chance of sticking out. I sought input form Mike Langlie of Cat Temper while writing this piece. Mike is an artist that seeks to push the boundaries within a genre, such as synthwave, bucking the trends and making his own rules – a punk attitude, if you will. He said, “I’ve always sought out challenging music. Stuff that excites me sonically and requires a bit of decoding to keep up with, sometimes causing me to reevaluate the meaning of music itself.” He added, “However, the novelty of a disruptive genre wears off when it becomes familiar enough for casual passive listening, and especially when it’s co-opted and watered down by the mainstream. Cutting-edge music often can’t sustain long-term interest if it doesn’t also have some timeless quality. It’s a never-ending cycle chasing down the next level of extreme sounds.”
As Mike hinted, the idea that as sounds become familiar means that our brain begins to seek novel sounds isn’t the whole story. Familiarity with those timeless qualities, sounds, and emotions they elicit is what enables us to seek out the music that matches our mood, tastes, or personality. Why we seek out specific types of music is poorly understood, but research on the topic is underway. In this way, a new flavor of the formulaic often hits the spot. In describing his own interest in music, Mike said, “Despite my interest in “difficult” music I also really enjoy formulaic, synthetic Pop. Certain sounds and song structures are like ice cream, who can resist them?“ I think we all can relate.
Innovation in Music
While visiting the Museum of Pop Culture in Seattle, Washington, I was struck by a quote from Krist Novoselic, bass player in Nirvana. It read, “Music is an artform that thrives on reinvention.” This got me thinking, “What keeps those new sounds coming?”
“I think that innovation is a byproduct of millions of artists following their hearts.”- Angel Marcloid
I have long thought of independent artists as on the frontier of sound and expanding the boundaries of music. I sought input from Angel Marcloid, the mastermind behind the Fire Toolz project and who creates music that fuses genres as diverse as metal and vaporwave into a melodic, emotionally raw, and contemplative whole. I asked her where she thinks innovation comes from. She said, “I think that innovation happens naturally as artists stay true to themselves and create music that means something to them.” She added, “I think that innovation is a byproduct of millions of artists following their hearts.” This is a profound idea.
I also asked Angel if she approaches her own songwriting with innovation in mind. She responded, “I do not consciously think about innovating at all! I just make what comes natural to me. I understand why people say it is innovative, though. I haven’t heard very much music like mine. I think parts of my songs may sound like other artists, but the way everything is synthesized seems to be quite unique. But this is not something I care about.”
I also sought input from the artist Seersha while doing research for this piece. I wanted to get her thoughts on major breakthroughs in music history, and I felt she was a perfect person to ask because she does deep dives into the making of ‘80s hits and hidden gems, which you can watch on her Instagram feed. When asked where innovation in music comes from, she said, “Grounding in some classical training, music theory, lots of performance experience, or at the very least, they had an in-depth understanding of the musical landscape that came before them and the musical context they were creating in.” This, she said, gives them a jumping-off point to innovate.
Seersha told me she felt most iconic songs embody authenticity and imagination, and that an innovative sound emerges from “talent combined with education, context and musicianship, coupled with inspired writing.” She went onto say many of the artists she has studied use a combination established methods and new technology.
Technology has always played a role in creating new dimensions of sound, such as when Charlie Cristian attached a pick-up to his acoustic guitar, effectively making the guitar a solo instrument or when Giorgio Moroder brought the synthesizer together with the voice of Donna Summers on “I Feel Love”, something so magical and groundbreaking happened that Brian Eno is rumored to have told David Bowie that he heard the sound of the future in the song.
I was struck by an interview with James Brown who emphasized the role technology can play in capturing the creative moment. He said, “technology is a great thing if you use it right.” Brown went on to emphasize the importance of access to recording equipment. He explained that when he was writing hits, he always had access to a studio. He felt this was important to capture the unique electrical flow in his body that depends on the moment. He said it can be a little different each day, even if you are playing the same song with the same instruments.
“No matter what your goal with music, if it’s not emotionally connecting with a listener, it’s not working, no matter how “innovative” it may be.” – Seersha
The ability to capture unique moments of electrical flow is greater today than ever before with the advent of affordable home recording equipment. Too much reliance on technology might inhibit an authentic sound, though. Seersha explained, “I think one of the struggles with innovation in today’s landscape is that we have practically no boundaries, and I think the technological boundaries of making music in the past actually focused the creative process in some ways. For example, now that we have unlimited tracks to work with in a DAW, it can be harder to be really intentional or know when to stop.” Seersha added, “No matter what your goal with music, if it’s not emotionally connecting with a listener, it’s not working, no matter how “innovative” it may be.”
People make music for many reasons. As a novice musician, I often ask myself, do I want to push the boundaries of an existing sound, create solid examples of a sound I like in others, or just play in the family room for fun for my family?
Seersha said, “Music can be made for fun, for expression, for therapeutic purposes; it can be made with the goal of generating income, it can be made with the goal of pushing the art form forward.”