Postmodernism and Modern Music

If the era of postmodernity can be traced back to the mid 20th century, then it coincides nearly perfectly with the conception of the modern music industry.

Modern music is a paradox - artists strive to create a niche, a new sound that will set them apart from thousands of other aspiring musicians. In creating a new sound, they inevitably employ sounds that have been used before. As music has existed for hundreds of years, this reuse is merely the nature of the art form. In this respect, modern music and the postmodern era are products of one another. Now, more than ever, artists are employing the technique of 'sampling' - using (with permission) anywhere from a single bar of a song to an entire chorus. Hip hop music was conceived from the sampling of existing songs.

I find this paradox extremely challenging when I'm at work, scouring blogs and websites in hopes of finding new musical talent. To find an artist who makes great music is not difficult. to find an artist who employs new techniques to reinvent a familiar sound and create something compelling, catchy, marketable and groundbreaking is nearly impossible. Additionally, finding new talent does not mean finding what will be popular now. Rather, predicting what WILL be popular 2,3 or 5 years from now.

Perhaps the only aspect of music that is creating and employing the new, rather than adjusting the existing, is the technological (aspect). The advent of synthesizers, vocoders, MIDI keyboards and programs like Logic 8 and Protools allow musicians and producers to create and arrange sounds in a way never before possible. As with all technologies, however, it is only a matter of time before such platforms are obsolete and technological simulation of instruments is so close to reality that they are one and the same.

The future of music and the era into which we will eventually (if we have not already) enter will only be evident in retrospect. Given the current cool climate within the music industry due to lackluster album sales, a cynical attitude and outlook towards the future prevails. Cynicism is a product of quarters and quarters of being in the red, but is also a quintessential quality of the postmodernist era.