In the early fifteenth century, Europe was very dull. The Greek and Roman empires had declined or fallen by around the year 500, giving way to about 1000 years of church-dominated monotony. Most musicians were singers, and if you sang, it was a tribute to God. Then came the legendary Italian Renaissance, and the past millennium of ‘purity’ was cast aside for what had preceded it. Artists looked to the Greeks and Romans for inspiration, feeling that classical forms of expression were far better than the constricted ones offered by the church. Music as we know it began to take shape during the Renaissance, and continued to do so for a couple of hundred years. In fact, things were going great until the 21st century, when we seemed to lose every bit of progress we had made.
Before we discuss what caused this, we need to touch on change. Good music can not exist without change. Whenever people start to settle into the way things are, someone else arrives with a new idea that throws the old out the window. Typically, a young person does this so that young people can listen to exciting, new music instead of outdated, boring, music. That is musical change in a nutshell. Now, back to our story; it begins with the blues.
The blues underwent its upheaval when people like Sister Rosetta Tharpe started to play it on an electric guitar. Electric blues marinated for a bit, and soon rock n’ roll was born. From there, stuff got really crazy: rock n’ roll split into a million different sub-genres.
Music found new forms of expression in The Grateful Dead’s lengthy, psychedelic jams and Michael Jackson’s flamboyant performances. Each new movement was an exciting departure from the last, and the musical spectrum grew wider while still maintaining a cohesive spirit—a grunginess or edge; a push against authority, tradition and white picket-fences. The edge was unmistakable in the classic rock of the 70s, the funk-infused pop of the 80s and the grunge movement of the 90s.
So where did it go? People used to flock to Michael Jackson concerts to see the man slide all over the stage in his signature fedora. Now, arenas fill to the brim with fans clamoring to see Taylor Swift, who has literally repeated the same chord progression in 21 of her songs (yes, this is common, but for the most popular artist in America?). Music is, of course, subjective, but one has only to listen to “Thriller” once through to recognize a marked disparity between the superstars of the past and those of today, most evident in levels of musical variation, technical ability and creativity.
Close on Swift’s heels are artists like Drake, who uses an offensive amount of autotune and rarely writes his own songs. Again, this music is not necessarily bad, but loses effort points when lined up against the Stevie Wonders, Marvin Gayes and Michael Jacksons of the 20th century.
It seems that musicians just do not care about their music anymore, and it is understandable. In 2026, being a musician is harder than ever: streaming platforms pay a third of a penny per stream and skyrocketing travel prices combined with picky audiences have made touring less profitable. It has become risky to take music in new directions—if your album does not sell, you could be in serious financial trouble. Musicians are more likely to profit by writing that tried-and-true chord progression for the 21st time. When accounting for the economics of it all, musicians like Taylor Swift begin to seem less like artists and more like businesspeople—they know what sells.
It seems we may be in another musical Dark Age. However, there is hope. All contemporary music needs is a punch in the gut from a group of artists who care about what they release, something reminiscent of what Nirvana delivered with “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” People want something new, exciting and raw—something that will change the way we think about music forever. Our generation might be content with the “good enough” music because we don’t know any better. We were not there when Bob Dylan went electric, or when other leaps of faith were taken in mainstream music. It is necessary to take that leap of faith.
In the 15th century, Europeans looked to the past to rediscover lost beautiful art. Now we in the 21st century have lost this art once more, and the stage is set for musicians willing to take the risk to rediscover it. Instead of looking back 1000 years, they need only look back 50. Personally I just want to be excited for an album release again. Outside of my selfish wants, new great music could give us something to come together about, especially with how rampant division is in our society.
