Ever since the first electronic music devices were created decades ago, they’ve created a great deal of debate amongst music fans. No matter how big or little the impact, there have always been those that wholeheartedly support the newest technology being in the music scene, and equally there are those absolute traditionalists who stand against it.
As we progress through the 2020s, however, it is becoming more and more clear that avoiding technology in music is going to become extremely hard. As machines weave themselves ever more into the music scene, what is the most likely way for the musical world to handle it?
Coexistence
The policy up until this point for the vast majority of music lovers and labels has been one of coexistence, with the newest musical technology sitting alongside traditional offerings while trying not to get too involved with each other. Until now, it has remained uncommon for genres like country music to use the same tools as EDM or similar, although there are a few scattered exceptions. The question is, will a policy of coexistence still remain feasible.
From the evidence found in other entertainment industries, it would seem that tradition and innovation are at least capable of sitting side by side. For instance, the increase in things like online slot and bingo games has yet to have a significant impact on the original casinos famous in places like Las Vegas. Much like country and EDM both being music but entirely separate, the real money sites you can find somewhere like CasinoReviews.com offer similar games and features to their brick-and-mortar cousins but both have kept their experiences very distinct.
It’s that experience that means there will always be a place for both progressive and traditional types, even if the balance would skew towards the former in time. Regardless of new tech, there will always be a section of music fans that will take a live performance over anything else.
Integration
There is a line of thought amongst some music experts that says that we’ve already reached the point where even traditional music is fundamentally linked to technology. This doesn’t mean that ‘unplugged’ performances, such as acoustic sets or orchestral concerts, use tech within the music itself. However, those performances which have been most popular of late are the ones that have harnessed technology beyond the music.
If you look at the top 100 songs on Billboard.com at any time from the last decade, you can safely say that over two-thirds of them have heavy digital work on them, and the rest certainly employed the power of social media and streaming services to become popular. These days, it isn’t uncommon for orchestral performances to have the works of Beethoven or Mozart watchable via a VR experience or simply livestreamed out to 10x the audience present in the concert hall.
This isn’t to say that there aren’t those who maintain as ‘raw’ an experience as possible. At GlideMagazine.com just recently, we covered the artist Vincent H.L who is about as old-school as it gets in the music itself. Look outside that though and you still find an Instagram and Bandcamp profile; while it’s possible to be a traditional artist, being a successful one means using the tools you are given.
Domination
There is an ongoing fear from traditional music fans that, between technology and the forces of mainstream music labels, the old ways of doing music could be pushed out in favor of sanitized digital sounds.
While indications do point to heavily-digital music being in vogue right now, this is probably the least likely scenario to actually happen. If the history of music has told us anything, it’s that every time there is a progressive push in music, it’s almost always followed by a traditionalist push a few years later. In fact, while the majority of the Billboard Hot 100 are digital tracks, several of the top tracks are ‘unplugged’ acoustic versions, indicating we may already be in the traditionalist swing back.
No one can really say what the next technology and trends will be in music, so there’s no guarantee of any of the above situations happening. With that said, it’s a safe bet to say there will always be a place for the ‘old’ music no matter what.
