Don’t look back in nostalgia: is modern music rubbish?

Battle of Ideas festival 2024, Sunday 20 October, Church House, London

Recorded at the Battle of Ideas festival 2024 on Sunday 20 October at Church House, Westminster.

ORIGINAL INTRODUCTION

One of the big stories of the summer has been the announcement of an Oasis reunion, with millions of people seemingly desperate for tickets, a website that was more subsonic than Supersonic and loud complaints about the prices. But why are so many people excited to see a band whose heyday was over 20 years ago – especially when Noel and Liam have been very active on solo projects since they split?

Clearly, there is a huge sense of nostalgia for the band – and, perhaps, for the music of the past in general. Since the days of Definitely Maybe and Morning Glory, many feel that music has been more and more commodified, from The X Factor to K-pop. The old path to success – form a band with your mates, write some songs, get a record deal – seems to be long gone. In 2022, just four new songs by groups made it into the annual Top 100 listing of singles in the UK. Just 10 bands have hit No.1 in the UK charts since 2000 – and the most recent original song by a band to top the charts was by Florence and The Machine in 2012.

But does that really mean music was better in the past? It was always the case that the most interesting musicians rarely troubled the upper reaches of the charts. Half the fun for music lovers was to find the interesting but obscure. There’s plenty of interesting music around now, by established artists and new ones, from Nick Cave to Kneecap. And if pop is now the product of songwriting teams, and much promoted solo singers and manufactured groups – well, how different is that to the glory days of Motown? The other big concert story of the year was Taylor Swift’s Eras tour, selling out stadiums around the world – starring a smart and hugely successful singer-songwriter.

What’s the story? Is the Oasis reunion just mourning glory? If the music industry is changing, can’t we just roll with it and accept there’s something out there for everyone? Is great music dead – or will it live forever?

SPEAKERS
Professor Aaqil Ahmed
director, Amplify Consulting Ltd; professor of media, University of Bolton; former head of religion, Channel 4 and BBC

Rushabh Haria
London-based policy and project professional; Living Freedom alumnus

Lysia Leal
student of City & Regional Planning, Technische Universität Berlin

Harley Richardson
chief product officer, OxEd and Assessment; organiser, AoI Education Forum; blogger, historyofeducation.net; author, The Liberating Power of Education

Leo Villa
guitarist; archivist and promotions manager, Academy of Ideas

CHAIR
Dr Andrew Calcutt
bassist; journalist; author of Arrested Development: pop culture and the erosion of adulthood