July 2025
Last month’s print edition of The Atlantic included a noteworthy article by Spencer Kornhaber, a staff writer for the magazine. The piece, entitled “Is This the Worst-Ever Era of American Pop Culture?,” also appeared on the magazine’s website. Kornhaber’s article included conversations he’d had with several critics about the state of contemporary culture. He took a lengthy look at the visual arts and made a few quick references to film and television, but the bulk of the article was about pop music.
One of the critics he talked to was Ted Gioia, who created a stir three years ago when The Atlantic reposted his article “Is Old Music Killing New Music?” The piece had originally appeared on Gioia’s Substack blog, The Honest Broker. Kornhaber visited Gioia in Texas, and he spends the first section of his article talking about Gioia’s dark overall view of pop culture.
Kornhaber also talked to art critic Dean Kissick and musician and writer Jaime Brooks about their respective fields of interest. Neither has hopeful views about the current state of art and music, and neither anticipates positive changes any time soon. Gioia shares their pessimism, at least as Kornhaber presents his views in the article. Gioia posted two responses to Kornhaber’s article, and the first one took exception to some of what Kornhaber wrote about him.
I’ve read a couple of Gioia’s books. The History of Jazz is an excellent single-volume overview, and he’s written other books on jazz, blues, and popular songs. I read his blog, so I understand his feeling that Kornhaber’s picture of him as a cultural curmudgeon is a bit narrow.
Since I read Gioia’s blog often, though, I know Kornhaber’s not completely wrong. Yes, Gioia does look for and regularly recommend good new music, films, and television. But he returns often to the current poor state of culture, especially music. And I usually think he’s on the money.
Derek Thompson, another staff writer for The Atlantic, interviewed Kornhaber for his podcast, Plain English. That interview and Kornhaber’s article cover a lot of territory, but by way of summary Thompson posted an overview on X of what he says Kornhaber “. . . identified as the four horsemen of the pop culture apocalypse.” Thompson summarized them as:
- 1. Stagnation: the economics of pop-culture nostalgia, the staggering challenges of making big original movies, and the algorithmic and private-equity dynamics elevating old music over new music
- 2. Cynicism: how an obsession with identity has flattened creativity in the visual arts and beyond
- 3. Isolation: e.g., bands and bars slowly being replaced by music that people make alone in their rooms with computers for an audience of . . . people listening alone in their rooms with computers
- 4. Attention rot: it’s not easy aiming for quality in a world where ppl are losing the capacity to pay attention to anything for more than a few seconds
I’d like to take a closer look at three of these phenomena, especially as they apply to music. The second one, cynicism, mainly addresses the visual arts, perhaps because of Kornhaber’s interview with Dean Kissick. I don’t have the background or qualifications to write with any authority about that subject, and I sure don’t want to go anywhere near the culture-war quagmire of an “obsession with identity.”
As for the rest, let’s start with stagnation. Again, I’m limiting my comments to music. Gioia and Kornhaber believe the sale of publishing and recording catalogs by musicians to private-equity firms and conglomerates is “elevating old music over new music.” Gioia’s post on Substack and his article in The Atlantic give the predominance of classic rock some historical context, but he only mentions in passing the factor most responsible for creating it.
There are several rock stations in my area, and nearly all of them are devoted to classic rock. Two of them lean towards slightly heavier music. Lots of AC/DC, Metallica, Ted Nugent, and so on. Some tracks are lighter fare, such as Journey or Styx.
I listened to one of these stations recently, and it was playing the same songs I’d heard when I last tuned in—maybe ten years ago. Some of the groups receiving airplay had released newer music, but everything I heard was from long-available releases. If I tuned in today or five years from now, I’m certain they’d be playing the same tunes I heard a few months ago, very likely in the same order.
On the 2024 Labor Day weekend, my wife and I went camping with my sister and her husband. They were listening to a classic-rock station that plays a broader selection of music, and even plays songs recorded in the 2000s. It was a holiday weekend, so the station played blocks of music by Fleetwood Mac, U2, John Mellencamp, Bruce Springsteen, the Who, and so on. It even played some REM.
The music by U2 and REM was from the 1990s, except for U2’s “Beautiful Day,” which is from 2000. The Mellencamp selections were all from the ’80s; same with Springsteen. The Who and Fleetwood Mac songs were from their two or three most popular albums in the ’70s. No deep catalog dives.
FM rock radio has limited its focus for a long time. In 2007, John Mellencamp released Freedom’s Road, his 19th studio album. He licensed one of its songs, “Our Country,” to Chevrolet for use in TV commercials. A reporter from Rolling Stone asked Mellencamp why he decided to let Chevy use the song, and the singer pointed out that he, Tom Petty, and Bruce Springsteen had all released new albums in the previous year, and that none had received radio play.
In other words, stagnation has been part of rock music for a while, even before streaming became so established. Sony and other conglomerates purchased song and recording catalogs by Springsteen, Dylan, Neil Young, and the rest because they hoped to cash in on work those songwriters did in the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s.
It’s possible that newer songs by any of those songwriters could also be moneymakers, but only devoted fans know them. If you follow a musician closely, you’ll know if they have a new album out. If you want to hear songs from it, however, you’ll have to buy it or stream it. While I think it’s possible the stodginess of rock stations is the result of listener choices, I think it’s just as likely that many rock fans have a small frame of reference because of radio-station programming.
Let’s have a look at isolation, which Kornhaber/Thompson describe as “bands and bars slowly being replaced by music that people make alone in their rooms with computers for an audience of . . . people listening alone in their rooms with computers.”
My kids are in their 20s and seem to find music from a variety of sources, the internet among them. They probably listen to songs made “by people alone in their rooms.” Recording technology has been within reach of the average person for some time. But perhaps because my kids grew up in a house filled with music, they expand their searches beyond the usual sources—though I get the impression many of their friends do the same.
Much of the new music I hear when I’m in a drugstore or eatery sounds manufactured. I wish it had been the product of someone alone at a computer, but it often requires a lot of people to create something so bland. At least a musician in their room is reaching out for a human connection. Could the ever-declining sales of pop music be explained by the fact that listeners can hear that it’s soulless?
I routinely check the new releases on AllMusic, but there are other places to keep up with what’s going on in music, such as Pitchfork, Consequence (formerly Consequence of Sound), or Stereogum. People share their passion for bands and singers on social media. There’s new music out there that isn’t made in isolation, but you may have to dig a little. Things weren’t really that different for me when I was young. I didn’t hear Captain Beefheart on the radio. I read about him in Rolling Stone and Crawdaddy.
Kornhaber and Thompson are correct about bands and bars. Fewer and fewer places book live music, and when they do it’s usually a solo act or a duo. There are lots of screens in bars, from the countless TVs showing sporting events to phones customers are glued to, and music could be too distracting.
The number of bars willing to host bands was already shrinking when COVID-19 brought things to a halt. Lots of places just didn’t return to live music when restrictions lifted. Bands don’t develop if they don’t play live. Solo acts only improve when they can read how an audience responds to what they’re doing.
Live music is healthier in some places than others. My daughter lives in Boston and goes to shows often. My son goes to hear bands here in Central Pennsylvania. Boston has lots of live music, while Central PA has less. In smaller markets, you’ll have to do some work to find out where things are happening. My son is a musician and so are many of his friends. He often attends shows to support his fellow musicians, but there are other people there who just want to hear live music.
The last item on the Kornhaber/Thompson list is “attention rot.” On the podcast, they talk about the quick dopamine hit that the computer and smartphone revolutions have created. Gioia also talks about that fact and its impact in many of his essays. Time is compressed now. News reporting happens at a quicker pace, and the result is stories that lack background and research. Those stories are soon replaced by other similarly rushed news reports.
Things are easier to find and experience now. A movie or song is a click away. If your attention wanes, you just move to the next thing. That nearby screen invites your attention to wander. I’ve started to leave my phone in another room if I’m listening to music or watching a movie.
Do I really need to know more about Stanley Kubrick if I’m watching one of his movies? Or the exact recording date of the Art Pepper album I’m playing and what he was going through at the time? It’s nice to be able to pull that information up quickly, but I noticed I was tending to reach the end of an LP side without having really listened. I knew more about the producer or the record label, but I wasn’t plugged into the music.
Small changes in how we use technology can mitigate the things that worry Kornhaber, Gioia, and me. I can leave my phone in another room. I can keep an eye out for new music instead of letting Spotify or Amazon decide for me. And so on.
Things aren’t really so dire. Gioia is always on the lookout for fresh and unusual music and is successful in finding it and bringing it to our attention. Kornhaber makes sure in his article to point out signs of life in pop culture. He gives generous space to an interview he did with critic Kieran Press-Reynolds, who has praise for a lot of current music.
For all the negative aspects of technology and its effects on culture, there’s an upside. If all you want to hear is John Mellencamp’s ’80s recordings, you can find them on streaming services. You’ll also find the rest of his catalog there. You can find obscure bands, such as Pere Ubu, or you can listen to Taylor Swift.
You are your own curator. I miss the communal aspects of radio, just as I miss the shared experiences my friends and I had when we watched the same TV shows. Yes, a lot of mass culture is repetitive and boring. Always has been. The difference now is that you can find challenging music, movies, and TV shows easily. Look around and you’ll find them.
. . . Joseph Taylor
josepht@soundstagenetwork.com
