Hear Me Out: The phrase “isn’t dead” is killing the music industry
We are living through a creative epidemic. As constant technological developments are made and artificial intelligence begins to creep further and further into the arts, the creativity inside exceptional human beings needs to be enhanced and given space to run. It’s never been more crucial that the music industry has no hurdles for those who wish to make tracks, and one the biggest that people don’t seem to be aware of but that keeps tripping musicians up is the phrase “isn’t dead”.
The history of music has been filled with mind-blowing, exciting moments that both stand as a testament to creativity and the human spirit. The development of jazz has been one laced with innovative rebellion. As musicians abandoned standard rhythm and melody, they expressed their dissatisfaction with society through sonic chaos. It was a creative way to protest.
In the Bronx, DJ Kool Herc would take a break from a disco song and loop it, creating an alternative party atmosphere to that in Manhattan. People eventually started rapping over those beats, and that’s how we ultimately got rap music, one of the most versatile genres in the world that can be used both for parties and protests, a sound styled for some of the most creative musical minds in the world.
In the 1980s in Britain, as the wealth divide grew larger and larger, Sex Pistols took the reigns as musicians with something to say about the injustices throughout the country. They created a sound that riled up the country, prompting plenty of other young people to do the same. They made authentic music that spoke on behalf of those whose voices otherwise wouldn’t be heard.
The point is that innovation is littered throughout all of music, and the best way for the art form to continue to develop is to harness the untapped creativity of others. The issue we have is noted above, as there are so many examples of exceptional movements in music that people grow fixated on them, unwilling to let go, and so obsessed with their idols that they can’t separate their potential from what has already been made. This manifests as “[Insert genre here] isn’t dead”.
People who use this phrase don’t realise that that genre has left a stamp on music. A song within that style could be made a million times over or never again; it has left its mark and contributed to what we have today. In that sense, nothing ever really dies; its impact is present in every aspect of sound made since its creation.
When people become fixated on a particular style of music, they start trying to replicate it, keen on showing others that that style of music isn’t dead. How can it be when someone is playing it right now? People don’t realise when they take this approach that all they are doing is delaying innovation, as they repeat the past, desperate for nostalgia, as opposed to trying to be the next iteration of what made that genre great.
The fact is, the phrase “isn’t dead” is ironically killing the music industry, and the sooner we stop using it, the better. Once that is stripped from our vocabulary and people continuously look forward, we can stop this beloved art form from going backwards.
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