Is Music Getting Worse? What Everyone Gets WRONG

[@thechairman74]

Nico, I'm pretty much the same age as you or close to it. My son is 12 this year and when I was 12 in 1986, music was completely different to my life compared to my son's. Your point about recent music having to contend with trying to be different than the past multiple decades of music is a good point. I feel like all the great music has already been written. The great riffs, licks, ans solos have all been written. What we hear now, if it's even good, is just a variation on a theme. Maybe that was always somewhat true of music over the centuries but it seems to be more so nowadays.

[@ccole27j]

Excellent video Nico. Your insight and commentary were very much appreciated.

[@33ad1]

Great video 📷

[@officialrazordave]

Excellent analysis dude! It's such a vast subject, full of nuance but you broke it down really well.

[@thyagofurtado]

Great topic! 🤘 I haven't watched Beato's video, but here's my 2 cents on yours. We ARE getring more good music, but we are getting way more bad music. The balance was affected by the democratization of the knowledge and of publishing music. THIS IS ULTIMATELY A GOOD THING THOUGH. First of all: the general population have very poor taste. That's normal, you can't be a specialist on everything. Second: everyone can go on the internet and learn some basics to create music. They can also easily publish, like Beato said. Third: social media made possible for people to promote their music too. The algorythm doesn't have AI to pick up on good music yet (hopefully coming 🤞). So it's a popularity contest. So to put it all together: people will spend a lot of time promoting their music on social media, and very little time learning music and creating it. Other people will consume that cr*p because they have bad, uneducated taste. They respect kids with lots of other kids following them, way more than someone who is good. You can take that formula and apply it to every form of art, every form of professional work too. Good quality "content" is based on entertraining more than the "content of the content" itself. Video killed the radiostar all over again. But the equal distribution of the knowledge and publishing capability also affects people with good taste, that are creating quality music! And this democratization of capabilities is hopefully also slowly changing the music industry, and that's great! It's awesome that indepent artists with determination, time and patience can get their music sounding as good as Sony or Warner, and they can also publish on the same platforms.

[@UltraPvnk]

I wish that back in my day I had Garageband instead of a tape recorder. Saving $1 or even cents daily to have enough to purchase albums was exhilarating, specially when it came to Brave New World. Do you remember when you first hit play on that album? My… gosh… Technology can be as good/detrimental as we want it to be, like any other tool/system.

[@LicksOfTheBeast]

My first metal album was Metal Health (that's why I'm holding it in the thumbnail) when I was nine years old...and then Blizzard of Ozz, Diary, Pyromania etc... And I definitely cherished those albums....still do to this day. Once I fell in love with Iron Maiden, I made a point of going to buy one Maiden cassette every few weeks until I had them all up to Seventh Son. I remember all those experiences very fondly. 😊

[@PolarisCastillo]

Oh damn I was excited I thought you guys had sat down to have a conversation based on the thumbnail! I'm a fan of his videos so I thought my two favorites had met!

[@LicksOfTheBeast]

@@PolarisCastillo Rick doesn't even know I exist so that is still a long way from even being a possibility. 😅 But...you never know what kind of weird things can happen in life 😊

[@gillesouimet2093]

A very elegant discussion, while still being respectful of Rick's perspective. Nico for Prime Minister !!

[@rcameron4091]

Very thorough vid covering a lot of interesting topics . Obviously the impact of Tech advances has always been a factor in music . But one thing I observe is , I think it's gone over the top when someone can make music without the effort it takes to learn the instruments they are portraying on their recordings . They may be skilled at computer tech and if people are fine with this then to each his own . But let's not call them musicians or artists . Great vid cheers CAMCURSE

[@RicardoVelozo]

Great analysis! Having spent hours sitting listening to albums while holding them in my hand back in the day, I understand and agree with all your points. I have discovered a band last year that got my attention. They are doing the album work, the touring and videos. The last band I got into like that was Mastodon. The band is The Warning.

[@mateuszzawocki1405]

There were true magic in buying a cassette or cd. I still buy cd, even old records that I know very well. It's just something special in collecting things and appreciating the artists through buying their records. I agree with point that we appreciate more things that comes not easy. This is why I still prefer to listen to a full album over the random songs of random artists. I do not try to know every actual metal releases. There is no way to enjoy new music because there are so many bands and so much releases, even when it comes to a big names. I tend to not dig in the newest releases and instead I listen time and again old records of bands I love and I know very much. Of course I try to be in time with new releases of the bands I love most, but the rest of them? I don't have time for it. What drives me crazy tho is that part about quantization and the overproducing in general. I don't like production on new releases in general. It drives me crazy, even when I love the band and they're trying to overcompress, overproduce their records. It sounds so bad when it is so polished 😢 There are now so little great sounding records. When I listen to metal record and there is no punch in drums, common - what do we have achieved? On the other hand there is for example Mr Andy Sneap and production from this man is amazing! He can mix old school classic bands with a touch of modern style. Judas Priest, Saxon, Accept - their last records are produced by him and they sound great. Of course music is most important so even when I don't like production I try to give a chance but I would love to hear less polished records. Another topic amp sims - I think there is nothing wrong in it. They sound great. Love to have that technology when I was a child and learned to play. Music industry have changed, people have changed, it is hard to live like in 80's, but we can listen to music like in 80's, we can create music that sounds 80's, whatever we want - we decide :)

[@corsaro0071]

Couldn't agree more. I think it's inevitable, higher volume, lower average quality

[@ddmurley]

Agree 100% with your analysis

[@bghammock]

Well done, sir!

[@Robbie28]

The bands you mentioned in the beginning of the video are bands that have become actually comforting for me to hear now as i get older. I was born in 1970 so i listed to all those bands and anyone my age that says they never liked Michael Jackson, is lying lol. I really am going to make a point to try and BUY more music that i like. It might seem old fashioned, but I actually worry about the artists that I grew up with. They are getting along in the years and as we get older, we have more med issues. The bands that are still touring cause they enjoy it, is great,, but I really worry about those older musicians that are touring because they HAVE to in order to survive depresses me. Sounds corny know, but its how I feel about it. I really make an effort to go to the shows for those "Hair Bands" that come my way and If i can afford the Meet and Greet, I do it cause i know I will enjoy it and its my way of saying thanks for making my life more tolerable. Again, great video, but you should be used to that by now haha.

[@LicksOfTheBeast]

I know exactly what you mean! And thank you! 😊

[@maccagrabme]

I believe them when they say they don't like MJ or The Beatles etc. Most people don't understand or appreciate music as an artform and get tribal about it or can't explore outside their comfort zones. I personally couldn't name a favourite artist as I like too many artists. The only music I dislike is modern mainstream and anything overproduced or autotuned.

[@hipidipi20157max]

Music got worse since late 1980s when rap started in MTV. The best music was between late 70s til 1984 to 86. The 90s sucked for Metal.

[@alessandromariani99]

90s were a great decade for (non classic) metal.

[@danbal4185]

Great analysis. I agree 100%.

[@CC-qb9sm]

As a player, I do so wish I had KZbin videos back in my teens to aid in learning to become proficient on the guitar. That said, as a listener, I do miss the days where we cherished albums and new releases much more. I still remember riding my bike to the record store with money I earned from my paper route to purchase a new record when I was a kid. I would devote time, energy, and thought to devouring the contents of the liner notes and song lyrics while becoming immersed in the music.

[@rodoherty1]

Two excellent points. Nicely said!

[@BigMikeGuitar]

The “blaming either the listener or artist” framing shifts the narrative away from the most influential element, which is always economics. Both ends of the economic spectrum are negatively affecting the music industry. At the level of ownership, corporate consolidation and the mandate to maximize profits reduces music production to statistical analysis and mechanization, while artists are reduced to visual commodities subject to monopoly platforms and contracts. Meanwhile, working musicians remain stunted by an environment afflicted by austerity, which crushes their personal, social, and local professional situation, where again, their options are funneled back into monopoly platforms that impose corporate compliance. To illustrate the stunting of human potential that is being currently imposed by corporate economics, consider the thriving diversity, creativity, and livelihoods possible through an egalitarian alternative, where populations aren’t voting in the dismal single digit approval level regarding virtually everything.

[@davidbonar5190]

damn fine diction

[@metalinsights9664]

Melodic heavy metal is timeless. For artists who chose to strive for uniqueness, good songs are still to be had. Case in point: I'm not the biggest fan of Halloween, but Helloween's "Out for the Glory" follows almost an identical chord structure as "Eagle Fly Free," and yet in terms of melodies and hooks, it is a thing of beauty, sounding nothing like the song it resembles so much. Even after some 40 years, those guys managed to come up with something interesting and amazing by virtue of their talent and hard work. Similarly, Maiden are serving up album after album that is beautiful. Senjutsu is without doubt a very strong and musically relevant album. Heavy metal has become more technical over time. The players these days play at a very high level. What has been forgotten a bit is classy harmonies, like those Iron Maiden recorded on Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. Even Maiden have been shunning twin (or triple) guitar harmonies for fear of sounding dated, but it is the harmonies that sometimes make the song, providing not only a cliched obligation, but a focal point around which the song develops. Similarly, melody has been sacrificed to rhythm. Modern metal aims to be heavy. To achieve that, it eschews harmony in favor of chord-centric songwriting.

[@hipidipi20157max]

I loved Powerslave, Somewhere in Time, Seventh Son and Brave New World but didnt like Senjutsu, Book of Souls or Final Frontier, but I liked 90s Maiden even less. Music, even metal should have melody, which is the most important part of music IMO.

[@woodreauxwoodreaux6298]

While I appreciate the convenience of easy access to tons of music over the internet, I still get visceral enjoyment from buying physical media of artists I love. Back in the day, my padnas and I made a weekly pilgrimage to our favorite music stores. It was a legit social experience; running into friends, making new acquaintances over the shared love a great band, getting in person testimony about some artist I've never heard... You paid more, for sure, but I believe value can't be adequately measured in kilobyte per dollar.

[@PolarisCastillo]

I feel the same way with cinema. People aren't valuing going to the theater anymore and just wait for things to be on streaming service to watch it in a half-assed way at home. A lot of that is the studio's fault for making people comfortable to this new system, but it seriously devalues the hard work of filmmakers since almost everything is at the fingertips of everyone, with WAY too much content, that hardly anything is really appreciated.

[@jasonlamar6347]

It's a good point. I would just add that the theater experience has changed enough to have many of us rather stay away most of the time. To me, the industry has made some miscalculations as to how people like to enjoy a 2hr+ movie. I do like the comfier chairs but almost everything else about the experience, to me, is not better.

[@mister_syre]

Anything available in great quantities at a very small price will quickly become boring and stale. Anything you must work for, wait for and care for will bring a lot more satisfaction and leave lasting memories. It's true about everything, including music.

[@stephenredmond8035]

Spot on / great takes / love your channel !

[@mattdylan664]

I'm all for healthy living , especially now that i am older, but to play Devils advocate I have to agree with Bill Hicks when he said "You see, I think drugs have done some good things for us. I really do. And if you don't believe drugs have done good things for us, do me a favor. Go home tonight. Take all your albums, all your tapes and all your CDs and burn them. 'Cause you know what, the musicians that made all that great music that's enhanced your lives throughout the years were rrreal fucking high on drugs"

[@simonslee73]

To expand on this, I think it’s that really great art comes when there is a sense of danger. This is not just music (famous artists, filmmakers, etc), the best were seen as rebels, and that brought something exciting. Metal in particular was a counter culture, and certainly expressed a sense of danger. The wild lifestyles of the musicians certainly made it feel like it was on the edge. By comparison today, everything is technically brilliant, but there is very little danger, everything seems ‘vanilla’, everyone who is clean living feels like they’re making art by formula, it never feels like it’s just about to come off the rails at any point in time, and that’s what makes it exciting.

[@LicksOfTheBeast]

But there is a big difference between creativity-enhancing substances done in moderation and downing a bottle of JD every day. 😊

[@astralcrab]

Just my 2 cents: 1) The need of artistic attitude towards music creation. When we see it as a product, when the focus gets lost on the forms and techniques. Keywords are: inspiration, having a broader appreciation of other arts and sides of life . 2) Some degree of difficulty seems to be desired for human being to appreciate/value something... Both listeners, musicans and people around the business should be aware of this. Too much easy things often leads to underestimating. 3. Focus on songwritting: Great tunes, regardless of the technique, a good song/melody is what loves most of people who aren't deep into genres! that's what makes legends.

[@danield1262]

Would like to hear your opinion on the band Icon of sin? Dude sounds 110% like Bruce in his prime

[@maidenmovies]

great band

[@mark7166]

My opinion is not so much that music is getting worse, it's more that there is so much music constantly coming out, and a lot of it is extremely shitty, so it gives the appearance that music is getting worse. At the same time, though, there is also a lot of really awesome music coming out. What becomes most popular these isn't necessarily what's best, it's what's most TikTok-able, unfortunately. But that doesn't negate the fact that there is still tons of good music being made.

[@primushimself604]

Outstanding video mate!

[@carlosjuano1125]

Perdón por el idioma 🙏 ya bastante enrevesado puede ser el tema… Totalmente de acuerdo.Creo que hoy es más sencillo hacer “música” con la tecnología que tenemos.Eso no significa que no haya buenos músicos,todo lo contrario…pero si creo que todo mal usado y en exceso no es bueno y la tecnología igual.hoy es demasiado fácil hacer “música” sobretodo en ciertos estilos. Somos una generación (80 y 90) que si sabemos lo que es disfrutar el 100% de un disco sentado y concentrado en el con la portada en la mano y en mi humilde opinión la música tiene recompensa si sale del esfuerzo,del trabajo y sobre todo del disfrute y del corazón.si no es así no dejará de ser un trabajo hecho en línea,en serie y automatizado

[@alexandrefalardeau9976]

Like ✅ Suscribe✅ Comment✅ I have to buy merch now 🤘 Thanks for the good content niko

[@LicksOfTheBeast]

Thank YOU for all of the above! 😃🤘

[@alfwalker5698]

Nice.

[@seanmiller7889]

I agree with the amount of information that young guitarist have in order to get better fast 'Standing on the shoulder of giants' Name as many guitarists from the 80s that you can. Now name as many guitarists as you can from 1990-present... I rest my case. Of course this is basing around bands that guitar is a major presence.

[@Ste2023]

Education Level at school - is dumbed Down to the lowest ...for DEi

[@asotoroxx]

💯💯💯🤘🤘🤘🤘🤘

[@roryoconnor861]

People are drawn to great songs, always have been. It's cool if you can do something new and fresh sounding but it will result in little success without great songs. Being a great guitar player technically is virtually meaningless. SRV, Gary Moore, Richie Blackmore, Dave Murray, Slash, Jimmy Paige, EVH and many more could all be accused of being 'sloppy' . The beginning of the end for guitar playing was the GIT brigade in the late 80s cleaning it up to the point of sterility. Technical prowess in not what people love about rock guitar playing. Now we're drowning in boring, overly schooled but technically 'great' guitar players.

[@ColtraneTaylor]

You can say that again! and again!

[@maccagrabme]

I honestly believe that the majority of people don't really care for or understand music, let alone the sacrifice, skills and dedication required even at hobby level. It's only a small percentage of the population that truly values it.

[@JuanCinefilo]

I follow Rick Beato and I haven't found anything wrong, maybe I don't like the fear-mongering when it comes to A.I. . We, humans who buy physical media, who play instruments, that's our job.. to keep that part of our culture alive. Musicians nowadays are very technical.. they are more technicians than creatives. One thing is breaking down the anamoty of songs and music styles, the other thing is being a freak as a guitarist or X instrument. Metal music has become a little synthetized, too much ..-the software that most musicians and producers use- , not many bands/albums sound organic..or real!! I prefer musicians who are imperfect, who are focused on the feel and the feeling(s), those whose talent don't rely on being crazy at doing something...they make you FEEL SOMETHING !! If Bob Dyan was a teen using tik tok, he would be viral for being a dull singer, because he is not precisely a gifted vocalist, he is a poet and whatever.. but he is succesful because he is a great songwriter. Physical media is still a big thing, I'm buying cds like a maniac as I used to, and it's a great experience to browse and find that album I always wanted to buy, to be around people who are doing the same thing, buying something in person, investing money in something that's gonna be mine!! I do buy used cds and it has it's charm. WIth all that said, I do use spotify but it's weird and I tend to feel overwhelmed.. most times I don't know what to listen to.. it's too much to process.. too many bands.. When you have a good amount of cds, that basically.. doesn't happen.. unless you own 15.000 cds.. maybe?!

[@ccesta1]

Respectfully, I think your point that music is getting better is similar to saying people are driving better because of Waze. It is technology making the whole process more efficient (people in theory get less lost when driving now; people are learning music faster because of resource availability), but it not improving the quality of the music overall. More technically accurate but again, where is the “feel”? Good video overall, thank you. I might be getting old because I fully agreed with Beato 😊. Thanks again, I’m a fan.

[@LicksOfTheBeast]

Well, not exactly. My idea is😮 that if you can be more efficient and get better quality recordings, better performances, etc... it makes certain aspects of the process better. Feel is a real thing but what many people call feel is actually quite subjective. Look at it this way: SRV with a Strat, Bassman and Tube Screamer did amazing things and sounded phenomenal. But it's entirely possible that he might have sounded even better through a Quad Cortex 🤷🏻😊

[@KiloGips]

Great video, thank you :)

[@Aurainmaker]

I'm not really gonna get into whether music is more generic, good or great or unique-ness.That's really about taste and for every 4/4 3 chord song I'm not happy with, it'll be someone's favourite so that's cool. I'm not overly concerned with the listening experience like Beato is, I think music is getting worse but for the artists themselves. Pros: Music discoverability has never been better. The ability to record and write music has never been more widespread and accessible. The access to learning how to play music has never been better. Cons: The ability to make a living off of music has never been worse. The streaming sites are predatory and they make it impossible to actually make a living unless you just happen to become a mega-star. Spotify is charging customers more for the same features they're used to and they continously raise the bar on when royalties come in, and those royalties are fractions to the penny per stream. I think the problem here is that people just don't really give a fuck about this kind of thing. If people can't make music as a career, we'll end up with less musicians and less music of quality. Complete albums are dying as a concept because you make infinitely more money by having a single streaming hit instead of making a great front to back album. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son wouldn't exist in 2024 writing sensibilities. Can I Play With Madness? might exist, but you'd definitely not have The Prophecy. People write songs to fit into an AI collated playlist suggested by Spotify. I love the album experience, sitting there from front to back and absorbing it, hearing the same guitars, amps, drumkit on each song, but I'm accepting of it going away. I'll just miss it when it's gone. This isn't new, but the general media only have time for very limited amount of artists. If you're not Taylor Swift or Sabrina Carpenter right now, you aren't getting press. You definitely aren't if you're heavy music. I don't even mean to knock those artists, rather, the general press only highlights people who don't need it.

[@Pincer88]

I think Beato is partially right. I see a lot of youngsters - the age of my 19 year old son - who just don't relate to music the way we did in the 1970ies and 1980ies. Having it all at your finger tips is making it too easy. And you know what they say; easy come, easy go. However, my son and a few of his friends are just as nerdy about certain bands as I used to be. And at concerts I meet quite a lot of young people to whom their taste in music isn't a fashion or identity statement; they're in it for the music, lyrics and band itself. As for bands... there's so much that is actually very good in metal at the moment. Then again, metal always has been a bit of an outlier.

[@LicksOfTheBeast]

That's why it's always about nuance. There are probably MORE people into metal now than before and the big shows are as packed as they were then. The problem is the small shows, especially the ones by local bands, tend to be poorly attended (at least that is the case here) and I don't think there are groups of metalheads hanging out together in the schoolyard or in the cafeteria the day after a show. But again, different cities, towns, countries, etc will have radically different realities... Which is a good thing! So to have an idea of the situation globally, you can only really go by the story the metrics tell.

[@Pincer88]

@@LicksOfTheBeast Spot on! I think there's always been a difference between those who immersed themselves in music and those to whom music is just a pleasant background noise. I'm pretty reassured watching my son's friends discussing their heroes and staging some kind of competitions on who knows the lyrics of their favorites best (and what they mean). Orbit Culture of Sweden is now high on their list and I must say, I'm infatuated too. Saw them in May here in Eindhoven and it was terrific! Keep up the good work! Love your videos! Cheers from the Netherlands!

[@LicksOfTheBeast]

Sounds like I'll have to check Orbit Culture out! 😊

[@jye.acoustic]

Rick was actually referencing its easy to make music nowadays wirhout knowing anything about music.. just pressing buttons and creating beats & sounds without ever playing an instrument also Ai. In other words no actual music skills whatsoever.

[@maccagrabme]

It's easy making music but it's not easy to make good quality music.

[@jye.acoustic]

@@maccagrabme Then you need to broaden your search .. plenty out there. 👍

[@eddyirons]

Fun fact, the newer the album by Maiden is, the worse the drum sound gets. They definetly could use some tech to get at least the drum sound of brave new world back

[@danielgonzaleztejedor9486]

New Maiden music is for Talimaidens.

[@IronBlimp]

It took hundreds of years of slavery and oppression to get rock n roll. It was worth it, but I don’t wanna do that again.

[@TheFriscoBassAce]

I blame Mutt Lange and his perfection of the recording of Hysteria. After that, and with the advent of ProTools, everyone sought that same type of "perfect" recordings. What's incredible is that Def Leppard did that all analog.

[@ColtraneTaylor]

Yeah. Swift likes them.

[@tedfordhyde]

Rick was right. His experience and insights prove his particular points made.

[@ColtraneTaylor]

I actually blame Rick for justifying the "songwriting" or playing on Spotify playlists. I did a blog article on that a few years ago: The Trouble With Rick Beato and Other Producers.

[@tedfordhyde]

@@ColtraneTaylor ok, I'll have to look into that. Thanks.

[@alexanderwheeler4827]

Rick beato constantly talks out his of backside. The mans just fishing for likes, thats his job as a KZbinr right.

[@twalker8020]

Music was made for worshipping God. The farther away you move away from this concept the faster the music dies.

[@samright4661]

Music will never be as good as the late 60s,70s or 80s .Nothing wrong with a guitar being slightly out of tune nothing like a real tube amp delivers the tone . All this digital modeler sounds to compressed and homogenized!! Hendrix , SRV and Paige and even Ace Frehely played from the heart and shot from a the hip

[@LicksOfTheBeast]

Hmmm I prefer things in tune but no, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the odd note that is not perfectly in tune or perfectly in time! You know what, though? I don't really hear a discernable difference when it comes to modelers vs amps. Not in a mix, anyway. I use audio plugins on literally ALL my videos, and I think they sound pretty awesome! I'm definitely happy with the guitar sounds I got on my latest Powerslave playthrough, for example 😊

[@maccagrabme]

The closest you are going to get to those decades is ironically via AI but you need to give it good meaningful lyrics and have a bit of patience trying to get the results.

[@ColtraneTaylor]

Pop of the last 15 years is crap ... compared to the pop of the late 90s and early 2000s ... which was itself humongous boyband, dance, rap and r'n'b crap! Pop today and that of the 80s and prior are different galaxies ...

[@ColtraneTaylor]

oh and ugh ... the rock of the 00s was dire too. Foo F, Avril, Creed, Green D, Bon Jovi ...