#my creative output is the lowest it's ever been and I've been in some level of depressive funk since like early january

[tearlessrain]

seriously can catastrophes stop happening for five minutes my brain is already fried from the ones we're already experiencing

#I fucking. missed d&d tonight by accident #I straight up forgot #and just didn't show up to the session #my sleep schedule is absolutely fucked #I should be sleeping now but brain won't shut up #my creative output is the lowest it's ever been and I've been in some level of depressive funk since like early january #I am just deeply unfathomably exhausted #like mentally and spiritually #all the time #my memory and sense of time are both shit #my spelling is worse than it used to be for some reason?? #I really don't know what to do to make my brain start functioning again it's frankly worrying me #I couldn't even handle college so it should come as no surprise that I'm reacting poorly to the world being a perpetual screaming trash fir #and yet #idk it's been hitting again lately that I have never succeeded at anything in my life and just keep tripping and falling up for some reason #fucking everyone is in hell right now and with my overall success rate I should be dead in a ditch but I'm actually doing spectacularly #due to a series of improbable accidents and weird circumstances that happened to turn out in my favor instead of completely fucking me #aside from the looming spectre of my various failed attempts to have some kind of life trajectory #it just doesn't feel like this can keep up forever #like surely at some point the luck has got to run out I can't just keep living like some kind of folkloric trickster archetype #but my motivation and sense of purpose kind of died after the last failed attempt so I'm still just here #doing whatever this is #maybe I should drive out to the coast #maybe staring at the ocean would fix me I've been away from it for too long #I mean it can't make me worse #I should wait until further into summer though so I don't have to drive back in the dark #everyone around here has trucks with those goddamn LED headlights and I've got a little sedan that's directly in their blast zone

[chaosincurate]

We are living in the best time for music since it became commodified.

I've been working on a big ol' post for the last few weeks, but I like to get out at least two posts a month here, so I thought I'd make a quick post about a bold claim, but a positive one, that I've been thinking about for a little while now: we are living in the best time for music since it became commodified.

I initially thought this when my parents were listening to the radio and I realized that there was more creativity to be gleaned from the music being played on average than I always remembered. Of course, the format is antiquated and I'm baffled as to how anyone that can afford to use anything else at all would choose to listen to the radio, but I digress. I realized that, either the lowest common denominator is more demanding now than ever before in my lifetime, or it was more viable to cater to niches.

One thing I do want to make clear before going on (tangent in green) is that I'm not talking about the financial side of music here. I'm speaking purely on the quality and creativity of the output. Economically speaking, music is a mess, and while I believe the hate for streaming as a format is overblown and over-reliant on attention grabbing statistics than reason, it'd be hard to deny that musicians do deserve a bigger slice of the pie, both in regards to the money they share with the streaming services and the money they share with their own label. And the economics of live music is still absolutely fucked too. But you know all this, lets get back to my hot take.

My reasoning for why I believe the title's statement to be true is quite simple: I don't think we've ever had this high a quality of music on every level of popularity. Whether an artist is a no-name, a popular niche act, or a superstar, there is a good chance that they will be putting out decent music and I believe it's never been so unlikely that it is a mere vehicle for cynical monetary gain.

Point 1: Democratization of Music Creation

It would be possible to argue that the reason I find music to be so good right now is simply because there is so much more, and that generally good stuff is more likely to be heard. Although I don't believe it is as simple as "good music rises to the top", I would agree that the democratization of music plays a big role.

Some might view that cynically, as a simple case of throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks, but I view it more optimistically. I prefer to see this massive spike in music released and think of all the artists that are now able to get their ideas into the world.

Point 2: Widespread Opportunity for Exploration and Inspiration (Artists)

This is, I think, the most important point. We are now seeing artists come through who were using streaming services in their most formative years for music taste, and by extension, inspiration. That means we are currently seeing artists who, in comparison to their predecessors, are far more exposed to a larger range of musical styles, which makes them less bound to each individual one. I believe that leads to artists who are able to wield more tools to evoke an emotion within the listener far more effectively.

Point 3: Widespread Opportunity for Exploration and Inspiration (Listeners)

It's a very similar point to the last one, but it is itself significant. That being the point that audiences have a broader palette than they used to, which I believe is the biggest reason that pop music in particular has been so interesting compared to previous decades. The most popular music around isn't nearly as beholden to trends, and even when trends do exist, they are as interesting as the trends in any other time in music history.

So those are my general thoughts on how music has become what I believe to be the best it's been since it became commodified. Just a quick one to satiate that part of my brain that was telling me to get another post out. What do you think? Am I delusional? Do you agree? Why? I'd love to hear people's thoughts.

#chaosincurate #music