Pop Music Nostalgia’s Obsession by K. Townsend, et al

Pop Music Nostalgia’s Obsession by K. Townsend, et al

Pop Music’s Nostalgia Obsession

Why do older sounds seem to dominate music lately?

By Kevin Townsend, Shirley Li, Spencer Kornhaber, and Hannah Giorgis
April 8, 2022

… It’s not just the Grammys though. Modern music as a whole is going through a nostalgic phase.

What explains our love of throwback sounds right now? Are we comfort-listening through hard times? Or is the industry just finally able to see (and monetize) a type of listening we’ve always done?

Spencer Kornhaber, Shirley Li, and Hannah Giorgis assess the state of pop music following the Grammys on an episode of The Atlantic’s culture podcast, The Review.

Listen to their conversation here:

Kornhaber: And so this year’s Grammys were expected to be a kind of victory lap for Rodrigo. And they were, sort of. She won Best New Artist, which is a big prize.

But she didn’t win Record of the Year, Song of the Year, or Album of the Year.

Those prizes went to artists who make pleasant, throwback, wedding-ready soul music.

Continue reading “Pop Music Nostalgia’s Obsession by K. Townsend, et al”

‘The Phil Collins Effect’: Older Pop Stars Given Hope by Former Genesis Singer’s Cultural Resurrection

‘The Phil Collins Effect’: Older Pop Stars Given Hope by Former Genesis Singer’s Cultural Resurrection

Before I get to the links and excerpts, I wanted to say how strange I find it that today’s teens and college kids apparently do not seek out older music!

When I was a teen in the 1980s, I would’ve given my right arm to have technology such as You Tube or Spotify, which would allow me to listen to all genres of music from any year FOR FREE.

But no! Back then, if I wanted to hear different genres, older music, and so on, I had to borrow the cassette tapes or vinyl albums of friends and family.

Buying a new album back then was around $9.00 or so, which to me at that time, was a lot of money.

But today’s kids don’t seem to be using You Tube and streaming services to sit and look up music from the 1940s onwards – they all seem to be listening to the non-melodic, entirely forgettable bilge that today’s 20-something bands and singers keep pumping out.

If you have the availability of something like You Tube, which allows you to look up and listen to many types of older bands and singers for free, why not use it?

‘The Phil Collins Effect’: Older pop stars given hope by former Genesis singer’s cultural resurrection

How Phil Collins became cool (no, really)

Why the Phil Collins Effect gives older stars hope 
by Mark Bridge
May 31, 2021

He was hailed in the Eighties as a breath of fresh air but derided in the Nineties as naff personified.

Phil Collins has found favour, however, with a younger generation of music lovers transfixed by the drum fill that lifts In The Air Tonight.

The rapid trajectories of the former Genesis drummer’s popularity have led academics to refer to the Phil Collins Effect (PCE) as a phenomenon worthy of study that can apply to other veteran recording artists.

‘The Phil Collins Effect’: Older Pop Stars Given Hope by Former Genesis Singer’s Cultural Resurrection

May 31, 2021

The “Phil Collins Effect” has been identified by academics after a return to popularity for the former Genesis drummer and frontman.

The highly-influential musician, who appears to attract equal levels of admiration and derision, became one of the best-selling artists of all time during a hugely successful solo career in the eighties.

Continue reading “‘The Phil Collins Effect’: Older Pop Stars Given Hope by Former Genesis Singer’s Cultural Resurrection”

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