Anti-Modern-Radio Me

When I was young, I remember being bored to death whenever my parents switched radio channels to listen to oldies. Songs they listened to growing up. They would tell me that they don’t make songs like they used to anymore. I would fervently disagree with them, defending my tastes in Limp Bizkit and Eminem. I assumed they didn’t know better.

Now that I’m older, I don’t listen to the radio anymore – mostly because they mostly play songs I dislike, have terrible DJs and too many advertisements. When I have to (because I’m driving someone else’s car), I tune into Light and Easy – a channel that mostly plays oldies because I can enjoy them, unironically. I enjoy listening to songs that I heard growing up even though I wasn’t a big fan of them back in the day because, amongst the cesspool of modern radio, they sound euphonious.

It can’t be that music has gotten worse – there must be a reason why these artists on modern radio are getting airtime and making new records. There is a demand for them even though I might not like their music. It’s just not for me.

But why do I not enjoy a lot of current music? I think it comes down to a few factors:

• I’m listening to the wrong stations – maybe, but I can’t be bothered to give other radio stations a shot. It’s not worth the time, so I stick with what I know and enjoy.
• My tastes have already developed and I’m rejecting what’s new and unfamiliar. I have noticed that it doesn’t apply to a lot of new music I discover that’s not on the radio, so probably not the case.
• Mainstream radio has always been trash and the only reason I enjoy old pop hits now is that I grew up listening to them – the nostalgia and singalong factor is what draws me to them. This seems like the most likely reason.

Is this what my parents were experiencing when I was growing up? As kids did they face the same chagrin for their music tastes from their parents? I’ll have to ask them to find out.

On the other hand, if you think I’m just some whiney old boomer who is wrong about modern music, feel free to share some songs to change my mind. I’m open to listening to new songs and artists. I know there’s a lot of good stuff out there I have yet to discover.