Music has an amazing power of recall- listening to one song can transport you back to a particular time in your life, indeed, music and songs can shape your life, they can teach you about the world around you and amazing emotions can be conveyed through a single note.
I then thought about how music has been made, how back in the past at the time of classicist musicians, it was such an honour to make music and what makes music last and be remembered today. Of today’s music what will last into the future……?
Today music is all around us, it fills empty silences in houses, it blasts in our ears as we run or walk; it controls some people’s lives, at the detriment to the peaceful sounds of ‘natural’ music – birds singing, rain falling, wind howling. This free availability of music possibly accounts for the huge outpouring of music that now exists.
To a degree, COVID has expanded the net of music production as everyone is now on the same level, the same playing field… with no music concerts going ahead there is no longer the division between those who’ve ‘made it’ and those ‘who haven’t’- music is a creative outlet available to anyone and everyone. There is certainly still the materialistic desire to make money which motivates many modern music creators, most it seems except Rodriguez who’s words from his song “I wonder” my Dad regales us with most evenings! Certainly, the monetary success in today’s world far exceeds the levels composers achieved in the past which is maybe a reason for the fluctuating levels of success- a fear of failure and/or poverty is certainly a driving force in making one want to achieve in your chosen field.
The free access to music making is great in that it gives lots of people the opportunity to create music, together or on their own, but is the quality of the music reduced? I’m not sure that it is, I think you just have to sift a bit harder around to find nuggets of music that fill your heart and soul (and remember to take time to listen to the birds music too- as they have been making music for far longer than any of us.)
