Discussion Title: Was the music of the past better than it is today?

1. The music of the past was better than music generated more recently \(i.e. post-90s/00s\).
1.1. Con: Music of today takes interesting and unique twists compared to music of the past.
1.2. Pro: Technology has made music [less authentic](https://pudding.cool/2018/05/similarity/) and more manufactured and fake due to the fact that its not 100% human \(so not all of the music is coming directly from the artist, which makes it lesser quality\).
1.2.1. Pro: Being invented in [1997](https://soundstudiesblog.com/2014/04/21/its-about-time-auto-tune/), a lot \(about [99%](https://soundstudiesblog.com/2014/04/21/its-about-time-auto-tune/) as of 2010\) of commercial music now utilizes [auto-tune](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-Tune). So new music, for the most part, is not 'real'.
1.2.1.1. Con: Auto-tune leads to the production of better music.
1.2.1.1.1. Pro: [Auto-Tune](https://edition.cnn.com/2015/05/26/tech/autotune-inventor-mci/index.html) alters the pitch of a singing voice to make everyone sound perfectly in tune.
1.2.1.1.1.1. Con: Although it keeps singers from being [annoyingly off-key](https://soundstudiesblog.com/2014/04/21/its-about-time-auto-tune/), the misuse causes voices to sound robotic, which is considered [irritating and annoying](https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/articles/a3274bec-978e-4400-90fc-36b170c19df5).
1.2.1.1.1.1.1. Con: Misuse is subjective. The robotic sound of autotune \(as well as [similar/resultant technologies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXIApugIuqk)\) have been used [with clear intention](https://youtu.be/FGBhQbmPwH8) and to great musical effect [since their inception](https://youtu.be/nZXRV4MezEw).
1.2.1.1.1.1.2. Con: Nothing prevents singers from choosing not to use autotune. Having an extra tool which they can choose to use cannot possibly be a negative to artistic expression.
1.2.1.1.2. Pro: Autotune is a tool in the arsenal of a musician, and since its' invention has been used for interesting artistic effects. To decry its' use, one might as well decry the use of amplification, or guitar effects pedals. 'Realness' in this sense is poorly-defined.
1.2.1.2. Con: Outside of the pop sphere, far more modern music is made without auto-tune than is made with it. Ergo, this criticism of a lack of 'realness' or genuineness applies only to a tiny fraction of music being produced.
1.2.1.3. Pro: It's [ubiquitous](https://www.stuffyoushouldknow.com/podcasts/how-auto-tune-works.htm) since its creation and especially when the [patent expired](https://soundstudiesblog.com/2014/04/21/its-about-time-auto-tune/) and was put into the public domain. So now [anyone](http://www.upvenue.com/music-news/blog-headline/1091/tuym-auto-tune-or-how-anyone-can-sing.html) could [download for free](https://qpdownload.com/antares-autotune-vst/) and sing with a perfect pitch, without needing much talent/expertise \(causing a [devaluing](https://soundstudiesblog.com/2014/04/21/its-about-time-auto-tune/) of it\).
1.2.1.3.1. Con: Increasing accessibility to effective music-making is surely a good thing, when it comes to artistic expression.
1.2.1.3.2. Pro: This devaluing has led to the [homogenization](https://soundstudiesblog.com/2014/04/21/its-about-time-auto-tune/) of new music by [taking the emotion out](https://wcuquad.com/6003179/entertainment/auto-tune-harms-music-industry/) of it \(through correcting to the 'perfect' pitch\).
1.2.2. Con: With autotune, the focus is more on spending hours on edits than about the meaning and purpose behind the songs.
1.2.3. Con: Without technology, many songs would either [not come out](https://goodmenproject.com/arts/the-future-of-music-the-rise-of-technology-and-global-music/) or capture what the musician is trying to convey. So overall, it's more authentic and experimental/creative, as there's both more quality \(i.e. [variety and unnatural possibility](https://goodmenproject.com/arts/the-future-of-music-the-rise-of-technology-and-global-music/)\) and [quantity](https://goodmenproject.com/arts/the-future-of-music-the-rise-of-technology-and-global-music/) coming to the listener.
1.2.4. Pro: [Authenticity keeps the layers of emotion](https://www.popmatters.com/auto-tune-in-or-out-2495479522.html) and [prevents an inauthentic "feel" of music](https://cogsci.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Thesis2018Venkatesan.pdf) \(pg 8\), which is [more enjoyable](https://www.quantumrun.com/article/auto-tuned).
1.2.5. Con: Technology has made artists [more able to express themselves creatively](https://www.recordingconnection.com/reference-library/recording-entrepreneurs/how-the-internet-changed-music/) through their music \(and made access to that musical expression more available\). It has also increased the fidelity of the listening experience compared to what the artist created in-studio.
1.3. Pro: Newer [pop music](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_music) is troublesome.
1.3.1. Pro: Pop music is heard to be [boring](https://www.wired.com/2012/07/pop-music-is-boring/) and actually is [designed](https://www.mic.com/articles/104764/the-music-industry-is-less-of-a-democracy-than-ever) that way. That's not good, as pop music, by name, is supposed to be popular, and being boring causes the opposite to happen.
1.3.1.1. Pro: Attention spans are [shorter today and there are so many distractions shouting for our attention that pop music has to become ever simpler](http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/the-attention-span-gap/) and more [immediately accessible](https://www.studyfinds.org/pop-music-hits-shorter-attention-span/).
1.3.1.2. Pro: Newer pop music tries to 'play it [safe](https://youtubemusicsucks.com/why-pop-music-is-so-unoriginal-and-bad/)' instead of being experimental to be and stay popular by playing what people are used to and comfortable with, which is something that's been perfected over time. So newer pop music is less experimental than in the past.
1.3.1.3. Pro: Pop songs have been [losing sound diversity](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jul/27/pop-music-sounds-same-survey-reveals) to where it ventures less on being [art](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/music) and more towards [noise](https://www.dictionary.com/browse/noise?s=t). So the past is better, because there's more of it and varied too than now.
1.3.1.3.1. Con: -> See 1.2.3.
1.3.1.3.2. Pro: To compensate for what's missing, art is replaced with noise like making the volume [loud and with beeps/bloops](https://www.inquisitr.com/285841/pop-music-homogenized-study-finds-kids-these-days-dont-understand-good-music/). These take away form the quality to make songs all sound similar.
1.3.1.4. Con: Some of the older music is boring too, telling of stories in ballads that anyone with an internet could look the history of.
1.3.2. Pro: Newer pop music is more annoying than in the past and is getting worse.
1.3.2.1. Pro: The [millennial whoop](https://qz.com/767812/millennial-whoop/) makes songs annoying in a new way that didn't occur in the past.
1.3.2.1.1. Con: Annoyance is subjective. If most people found it annoying, they would not spend money on songs containing it.
1.3.2.1.1.1. Pro: Since people have varied interests and tastes, it makes it difficult to ascertain what the vast majority of people find annoying.
1.3.2.2. Pro: Since there are more people in this world than ever, [more people are going to be annoyed by annoying songs](https://watchmojo.com/suggest/Top+ten+most+hated+songs) when released to the public \(i.e. pop songs\) that ever before.
1.3.2.2.1. Con: By this logic, since there are more people in this world than ever before, more people are going to greatly enjoy enjoyable songs when released to the public that ever before. This is precisely why raw numbers are irrelevant to a discussion about prevalence and trends. We need to talk about percentages.
1.3.2.3. Pro: Because Rebecca Black's Friday song went viral for being 'bad' \(i.e. an annoying song that happens to be catchy\), it [influenced](https://junkee.com/rebecca-black-friday/231813) other songs that came after it to follow its 'formula' or even be worse than \(i.e. more viral from being even more annoying\).
1.3.2.4. Pro: There is a trend in pop music that shows how songs are becoming [more repetitive](https://www.inverse.com/article/31541-pop-music-repetition-earworms-psychology) \(which creates an annoyance\) and will continue to do so in the future.
1.3.2.5. Pro: ["Pop music fads are being created and spreading faster than ever"](https://www.idolator.com/7618008/pop-trends-fads-2015-retire-year-end-2016?adblock=1&chrome=1), thereby creating an increased risk for disliked annoying trends to appear now more than ever and replace the good ones that fade out faster too.
1.3.2.6. Pro: All of the [Top 10 Most Annoying Songs Ever](https://www.thetoptens.com/most-annoying-songs/) songs voted upon were created recently \(90s or higher\).
1.3.3. Pro: Newer pop music is ethically problematic.
1.3.3.1. Pro: Pop songs are sexist.
1.3.3.1.1. Pro: Nearly [one-third](https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2019-03/uom-nsf030619.php) of popular songs have lyrics that degrade or women by portraying them as sexual objects.
1.3.3.1.1.1. Con: Sexism was far more ubiquitous in the past. Depending on how far back one goes, nearly all songs would be sexist.
1.3.3.1.1.1.1. Pro: Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's ['Hymn to Him'](https://lyrics.fandom.com/wiki/Alan_Jay_Lerner_%26_Frederick_Loewe:A_Hymn_To_Him) \(1956\) painted women as irrational, stupid, vapid, exasperating, irritating, vacillating, calculating, agitating, maddening, infuriating, easily offended, quick to anger, unreasonable, silly, illogical, incapable of thought, vain, and a 'mess \[...\] inside'. They contrast this against men, who they praise as honest, noble, fair, pleasant, easy to please, calming, friendly, good natured, kind, decent, and helpful.
1.3.3.1.1.1.2. Pro: Gary Puckett and the Union Gap's ['Young Girl'](https://genius.com/Gary-puckett-and-the-union-gap-young-girl-lyrics) \(1968\) painted the picture of a man feeling that he deserves praise for having the self control not to have sex with an underage woman, and concluded with the line "get out of here before I have the time to change my mind”.
1.3.3.1.1.1.3. Pro: The Crystals' ['He Hit Me \(and It Felt Like a Kiss\)'](https://genius.com/The-crystals-he-hit-me-it-felt-like-a-kiss-lyrics) \(1962\) romanticised domestic abuse through lyrics like “He hit me and it felt like a kiss, \[...\] he hit me and I knew he loved me. If he didn’t care for me, I could have never made him mad, but he hit me and I was glad.”
1.3.3.1.1.1.4. Pro: The Beatles' ['Run For Your Life'](https://genius.com/The-beatles-run-for-your-life-lyrics) \(1965\) displayed murder of the woman as an appropriate response to infidelity. This is especially troubling given John Lennon's [history](https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/john-lennons-dark-side-domestic-6481985) of violence against women.
1.3.3.1.1.1.5. Pro: Joe Tex's ['I Ain’t Gonna Bump No More \(With No Big Fat Woman\)'](https://genius.com/Joe-tex-aint-gonna-bump-no-more-lyrics) \(1977\) was body-negative, and objectified women.
1.3.3.1.1.1.6. Pro: Jack Jones/Frank Sinatra's ['Wives and Lovers'](https://lyrics.fandom.com/wiki/Jack_Jones:Wives_And_Lovers) \(1963\) reinforced harmful gender roles, placing the onus of relationship-maintenance solely on the woman, and painting men as inherently infidelitous.
1.3.3.1.1.1.7. Pro: The Four Tops' ['Ain’t No Woman'](https://genius.com/The-four-tops-aint-no-woman-like-the-one-ive-got-lyrics) \(1972\) assumed obedience on the woman's part as a necessary part of a relationship, and painted it as the only basis for male affection towards women.
1.3.3.1.1.1.8. Pro: Jimmy Soul's ['If You Wanna Be Happy'](https://www.songfacts.com/lyrics/jimmy-soul/if-you-wanna-be-happy) \(1963\) painted husbands and wives as intrinsically antagonistic towards each other, placing the blame solely on the wife, inferring that such antagonism always stems from her looks, and objectifying women as only valuable for the household labour they provide.
1.3.3.1.1.1.9. Pro: The Rolling Stones' ['Stray Cat Blues'](https://genius.com/The-rolling-stones-stray-cat-blues-lyrics) \(1968\) provided an uncritical account of a man willfully and knowingly having sex with an underage woman.
1.3.3.1.1.1.10. Pro: The Beastie Boys' ['Girls'](https://genius.com/Beastie-boys-girls-lyrics) \(1986\) objectified women as trophies and portrayed their primary value to be as household servants.
1.3.3.1.1.1.11. Pro: Tammy Wynette's ['Stand by Your Man'](https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/tammywynette/standbyyourman.html) \(1968\) suggested that men will invariably cheat on women, and that women should accept this without question or criticism.
1.3.3.1.1.1.12. Pro: Ray Charles' ['I Got a Woman'](https://genius.com/Ray-charles-i-got-a-woman-lyrics) \(1954\) reinforced harmful gender roles, saying that "a woman's place is right there now in her home."
1.3.3.1.1.1.13. Pro: Billy Holliday's ['My Man'](https://www.metrolyrics.com/my-man-lyrics-billie-holiday.html) \(1970\) painted an uncritical picture of a woman whose life is driven to despair because her man cheats on her and beats her, with the moral being that love transcends her need for safety or security, and that she should continue loving him to her own detriment.
1.3.3.1.1.1.14. Pro: Rogers & Hart's ['Mountain Greenery'](https://genius.com/Rodgers-and-hart-mountain-greenery-lyrics) \(1926\) portrayed having a husband standing and watching while his wife cooks the family meal as a reward for the woman.
1.3.3.1.2. Con: Beyonce's "[Who run the world](https://sites.psu.edu/shaicross/who-run-the-world-girls-analysis/)" has multiple lyrics which reference female empowerment.
1.3.3.2. Con: Pop songs of the past have also been problematic, sexist, and undiverse too, usually far more so than today.
1.3.3.2.1. Pro: Many pop songs in the ['80s](https://www.scarymommy.com/80s-songs-that-are-problematic-af/) were problematic.
1.3.3.3. Pro: They are secretly becoming more [influenced by marketers as a platform to advertise products](https://www.mic.com/articles/118974/pop-music-is-more-about-advertising-now-than-before-and-nobody-realizes-it) than just be solely focused on what is being sung can run into ethical issues.
1.3.3.3.1. Pro: Advertising in music can be deemed [deceptive](https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/advertising-marketing-internet-rules-road#general) to those who expect to just hear music and not be advertised products to.
1.3.3.3.2. Pro: Undisclosed \(i.e. not "[clear and conspicuous](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blogs/business-blog/2014/09/full-disclosure)"\) influence marketing, especially [endorsements](https://loadtest.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/plain-language/1001a-influencer-guide-508_1.pdf), is [illegal](https://contentmarketinginstitute.com/cco-digital/april-2019/influencer-marketing-non-disclosure/).
1.3.4. Pro: Pop music is, by name, supposed to be popular. However, pop music might release songs that [intended listeners don't like](https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop-shop/6634332/take-that-america-analysis-boy-band-week), so then they can't become as popular as they are designed to be. This makes the [entire industry suffer](https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/pdominguez/taylor-swift-katy-perry-boring-risk-taking-pop-music) and [lose money they can't recoup](https://tonedeaf.thebrag.com/11-biggest-album-flops-time/) faster and more now than ever before, due to commercialization.
1.3.4.1. Pro: Nowadays people have to produce many songs before they get a hit because of how little thought they put into it.
1.4. Con: Quantitatively, more music is being produced now than ever before. [Ceteris paribus](https://www.thebalance.com/ceteris-paribus-definition-pronunciation-and-examples-3305723), this would mean that more good music is being produced.
1.5. Con: There are many songs from the past that were not great.
1.5.1. Pro: We generally look upon the music of the past more favourably because less of the poorer-quality music filtered through to us in the modern era such that we are widely aware of it.
1.6. Con: The nature of the progression of the music industry allows new music to be better than the past.
1.6.1. Pro: Music is continuously building on the past and constantly changing styles and working towards getting better. New music has all the ideas and influences of the past to work from to create better, so by this trend, new music should inherently be better than what came before it.
1.6.1.1. Con: When the best record is made, it creates the challenge to beat \(as it is now known/possible to achieve\), yet difficult to top \(as by definition, it is the best\). With an extremely high bar set, new music may not be able to reach that once-in-history potential and cross it, even with expectations for it to, as they may not be able to in reality.
1.6.2. Pro: Because of the [reduced profit](https://qz.com/quartzy/1438412/the-reason-why-your-favorite-pop-songs-are-getting-shorter/) made by artists per individual customer due to streaming services, artists now need to appeal to a wider audience to generate the same profit as before. Thus, they need to produce better music now to reach a higher level of engagement to achieve the same success as their previous music releases.
1.6.2.1. Con: Streaming services [squeeze the artist's'/label's' profit](https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/26/how-spotify-apple-music-can-pay-musicians-more-commentary.html), so they can't continue their momentum if their music is successful. This leads to less and lower quality music coming out.
1.6.3. Pro: In the past, a person couldn't really get to enjoy music on-demand in the past \(due to high costs and waiting to listen\), so they missed out on the experience and meaning of the immediate moment when it's needed to listen to. Now, people can appreciate songs and understand its context better now, because of greater, faster, and easier access to songs.
1.6.3.1. Pro: In the past, people would need to pay money and it usually wasn't what was desired \(like an entire album for one or two songs or [Hit Clips](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HitClips) for just a minute of a new song\). Now, people can listen for free online \(like on YouTube\) just what they want to hear to be able appreciate it better.
1.6.3.2. Pro: To be able to know about new songs, people would need to locate. not feasibly replay, and trudge through unwanted songs to get to what they wanted to hear \(like [watching MTV](https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mtv-launches) or going to a place like [Chuck E Cheese](https://theweeklings.com/ksharp/2013/09/09/walking-on-sunshine/) for the youth to\). Now replay is possible and songs could be heard immediately when released without leaving one's home.
1.6.4. Pro: There are still really great songs being made today, mainstream music is not all modern music.
1.7. Pro: There was more experimentation and push to put out something interesting and new with the older music.
1.7.1. Con: Music by such singer-songwriters as Buddy Holly, Bob Dylan, The Beatles all had duplicate numbers.
1.7.2. Pro: Newer music is unoriginal, as it tends to be a [regurgitation of old music](https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/periods-genres/modern/classical-music-pop-songs/s-club-7-faure/) \(the original\) to a newer audience \(like remixes\). The reason is that the older music has more variety \(one reason is from experimentation\), which the newer music lacks and decides to rip off of older music instead of create something new.
1.7.2.1. Con: Most popular music is a repeat of each other \(in terms of [chords](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pidokakU4I)\), new or old. So saying the new music repeats the past doesn't account for the fact songs of the past repeated each other too.
1.7.2.2. Con: Music young and old are unoriginal, as both had [covers](https://www.buzzfeed.com/jemimaskelley/song-covers) of songs that didn't make it.
1.7.2.3. Pro: The 'Nightcore' genre of music is just [sped-up, high-pitched](https://www.dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/nightcore/) rendition that can turn respected songs of the past into nuisances \(in [various ways](https://www.thetoptens.com/reasons-nightcore-is-terrible/)\).
1.7.2.4. Con: Sometimes working on songs to regurgitate them could lead to older songs being remastered in high quality to allow one to hear them better and with a greater appreciation.
1.7.2.4.1. Con: It's the music medium that leads to worse quality than the songs themselves when heard, due to compression of digital music. However, the original recording, if listened to, is just as good as the past.
1.7.2.5. Con: Sometimes the song that's released sounds fine, but editing can make some parts sound better. This could lead one to hear what was previously overlooked in a new way to gain a better understanding, connection, and appreciation to older songs - like 'breathing new life into it."
1.7.3. Pro: -> See 1.3.1.2.
1.7.4. Con: -> See 1.2.3.
1.7.5. Pro: Music today has a similar pattern with the [millennial whoop](https://qz.com/767812/millennial-whoop/).
1.7.5.1. Con: Repeated cultural signifiers have always been a part of music, from the lament bass of the Baroque era to 'The Licc' of modern Jazz. This indicates nothing of that music's quality.
1.7.5.1.1. Pro: It could in fact be argued that all of music is repeated cultural signifiers. For example, we have a grammar and syntax to all aspects of music - Surely the reason so many songs use minor triads \(for example\) can only be because of the cultural significance that pitch-collection comes loaded with.
1.7.6. Pro: The 60s was even called '[too experimental](http://www.articlemyriad.com/influence-60s-psychedelic-music-culture-modern-society/)' compared with today's music saying it [lacks creativity](https://www.thetoptens.com/reasons-why-pop-music-is-awful/).
1.7.6.1. Con: That 60s music was called 'too experimental' by critics may well be an argument against its quality, rather than for it.
1.7.6.2. Con: Older generations believe modern music lacks creativity only because they don't have the tech savvy to find the majority of music being created. They are only aware of the existence of music found on old formats like TV and Radio and thus make pre-judgments without actually listening to the newer songs.
1.7.7. Pro: With the [70s](https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/9940-music-technology-of-the-1970s-a-timeline/) came new instruments, forms of storage, methods to listen, and formats \(like karaoke\).
1.7.7.1. Con: Formats, forms of storage, methods to listen are [constantly evolving](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_audio_formats), this is not special to the 70's.
1.7.8. Pro: Experimental rock was [started in the 60s](http://bensommer.com/blog/funny-history-of-experimental-rock/), and faded out after the 70s.
1.7.8.1. Con: 'Fading out' in this sense relates only to cultural relevancy and popularity. Experimental rock is still being produced today, as are dozens of [entirely new experimental subgenres](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_rock#Late_1970s%E2%80%93present).
1.7.9. Con: The push to replay mediocre content until it's liked happened in ['60s-'80s](https://www.mic.com/articles/95260/how-the-music-industry-is-brainwashing-you-to-like-bad-pop-songs), just like today.
1.7.10. Con: There is a huge amount of experimentation today. Entirely new genre's are being created every year. It is increasingly difficult to even put some music into genres anymore.
1.7.10.1. Pro: If one were only to consider popular music, then it would appear that experimentation is less prominent now than in the past. However, when all genres are taken into consideration, especially the new genres, one would see greater experimentation in new music.
1.8. Con: It's not possible to make an objective comparison of the two at this time \(or possibly ever\) to be able to say the music of the past is better than now.
1.8.1. Pro: New music hasn't been fully developed yet to adequately enough to compare the two \(new and old\) accurately.
1.8.1.1. Pro: Quantitatively, there are more songs written in all of the history of the past than now \(even if there are more songs written per decade than ever\). So it's really easy to find a lot of great songs and say they're the best when maybe they're written many decades apart when at most new music only has 2-3 decades to choose from.
1.8.2. Pro: It's hard to argue an opinion like which songs are better. Yes there are facts to the superiority to some songs but art appeals to emotions and emotions are not facts, they're opinions, specific to one person.
1.8.2.1. Pro: Like beauty in music such that a perception is ''in the eye \(ear\) of the beholder."
1.8.2.2. Pro: Many cultures have different views as to what makes music good. Because of this there is no single universal objective measure of good music.
1.8.2.3. Pro: It's a matter of knowing where and how to look for good, likable songs through better research outside of commercial music to pick the best of every decade, as the issues are the same, but the songs themselves are not.
1.8.3. Pro: -> See 1.7.2.4.1.
1.8.4. Pro: We were all born in different eras, so it is impossible to objectively say whether new music is better than old music.
1.8.5. Pro: Music of the past is only better through biased beliefs, rather than through an objective evaluation of both sides.
1.8.5.1. Pro: Bad and good music always existed in any time, but due to a psychological phenomenon called [rosy retrospective](https://online.seu.edu/articles/rosy-retrospection-a-look-at-the-psychological-phenomenon/), people tend to think that [things were better in the past.](https://www.wbs.ac.uk/news/why-we-think-life-was-better-in-the-good-old-days/)
1.8.5.2. Pro: Most people who lived through the older music \(and vice versa\) base their beliefs on a closed mind \(as they don't listen to much new music\) and justify their beliefs through bias \(like cherry-picking songs, which anyone can do - even those who say new music's better\). However, this is a opinionated viewpoint, as when looking at all the songs objectively, they would see that each side has about equal quality.
1.8.5.3. Pro: It's not that it's better, but just [more familiar](https://www.mic.com/articles/96880/science-explains-why-we-like-old-music-better-than-everything-else) \(i.e. nostalgic\).
1.8.5.3.1. Pro: People can listen to all generations of music now when they couldn't before. So maybe it's possible to get stuck on thinking it's the best, when it was the best at the time and that's all one knows. It's harder to beat the best now when competing against music from all of history.
1.8.5.4. Con: Music is intrinsically a visceral and emotional art form reflective of its generation and can not be evaluated with total objectivity.
1.9. Pro: A lot of old rap music is better and thought out than today’s.
1.9.1. Pro: Most of today’s rap is not as uplifting as 90s music.
1.9.1.1. Pro: Many '[Turn Up](https://www.knightcrier.org/entertainment/2016/12/16/a-look-at-rap-music-then-and-now/)' rappers like Kodak Black, Lil Yachty and Lil Uzi Vert are not motivational rappers or storyteller rappers that inspire people.
1.9.1.1.1. Con: We cannot meaningfully quantify how inspirational or motivational a rapper is, or how well their rap tells a story.
1.9.2. Pro: All rap today just sounds repeated, which [doesn't take as much effort and thought](http://www.dailytoreador.com/opinion/opinion---modern-rap-music-rapidly-losing-artistic-authenticity/article_659266fc-8537-11e6-ae94-c7d7343bb60b.html) than the rap music of the past that had variety. This also makes it less interesting.
1.10. Pro: When music gets released online, people can see it immediately. Yet, people crave content and artists need to keep people's attention spans going until they release more content before they go away. These days, artists have less time than ever to prepare and create new music before they lose their audience, which leads could lead to lack of depth \(deep meaning and details\) form valuing commercialization more.
1.10.1. Pro: -> See 1.3.4.1.
1.11. Con: A lot of good songs have come out of new music.
1.12. Pro: Music from the past had good meaning and had good beat, which isn't present in today's music.
1.12.1. Pro: Older Music is happier and more joyful. Newer music is depressing and sad
1.12.2. Pro: Music of the past were inspired by major movements, like the civil rights movement. Music spoke of the struggle, hope and dreams of those who felt invisible at the time. The music now tries to achieve the same, however, it does not come close.