They say that music is the universal language. They say that music is inclusive of everyone. But here’s the truth: whoever you are, there are some genres where you are not wanted. And there are some genres where all are welcome.
Of course there are exceptions to every rule, but for the most part you’re not welcome in some genres, unless of course you stay hidden. But I am also going to suggest that there’s hope, because there are some genres that have become more inclusive.
I’m going to start with my own demographic – 59 year old, married, slightly overweight. What kind of music am I allowed to put out? The formula is simple – music that people like me might listen to. Modern Rock? Too old. Jazz? Yup. Blues? Probably.
Bluegrass? Sure. Modern Country? Nope, I don’t have the looks or the age, but I could theoretically write a song for someone who does. Pop? Hell no. No chance. But again, they might let me co-write a song for someone young and pretty. Progressive Rock? Absolutely.
Again, there are exceptions, but go look at the pop charts and tell me how many 60 year old dudes you see.
Or flip it around. Say you’re a 16 year old boy. You’re going to be excluded from the same genres as me, and you have a shot at being accepted in the same genres as me. If you can play really well, you’re welcome in jazz, progressive rock, probably blues, bluegrass, and any genre that really values being a great musician. And you’ll be excluded from the genres where image is super important.
Am I trying to make the argument that genres which value image over musicianship are not as good as genres that don’t care as much about image? I mean, that might be a conclusion that some people draw. I don’t want to get into the game of saying “my genre is better than yours,” because music isn’t a competition. Or at least it shouldn’t be. I’m just making observations.
But there are always people who push back against a genre that doesn’t appeal to want them. When I was a teenager, there were no female guitar players in metal. There were no metal female singers that I knew about. There were female singers in rock, but not metal. Now there are lots.
These days, if you are a woman, and you want to play guitar in rock or metal, you will still have to deal with sexism, but you won’t have to trailblaze.
But AI is now presenting us with some interesting possibilities, at least behind the scenes. Is it possible that someone in their 50s could write a song, sung by an AI singer, that makes it into the Top 40? I think it is possible. There have been plenty of hit songs written by older men and women, and performed by someone young and good looking.
Let’s say you’re a 50 year old dude and you play guitar and you write songs, but you don’t play any other instruments. In Logic Pro, you can input a chord progression and have an AI drummer, bass player, and keyboard player put down tracks while you record guitar, and you can have an AI female singer sing your lead vocal.
Come up with a band name, stick the thing on Spotify, use social media to promote it, and you’ve got a shot at gaining fans. IF the track is great, that is.
Is that a good thing, or a bad thing? I don’t know.
As a musician who took the time to learn how to play all the different rock instruments, the idea that a computer could just jump in and do all that stuff automatically is depressing. As a music fan, I find those types of automated tracks to be boring.
But if I didn’t already play drums, bass, and keyboards, I might say “good enough.” A great song could succeed with mediocre computer parts. Great songs have succeeded with mediocre human parts, for sure.
So you have the ability to use technology to democratize music making. And you also have the trailblazers who succeed despite being different. I think these are good things. But let’s get back to the whole “age” thing.
I’ve been friends with a lot of songwriters, including songwriters my age or older. Old dudes tend to write songs that sound like what they liked when they were, say, between the ages of 15 and 23. My last album, “Attack of the 80s Synths,” was very much like that – I graduated high school in 1983.
So part of the ageism problem is that older people tend to write songs that don’t incorporate the latest trends in lyrics, vocal melodies, chord progressions, and arrangements. Another part is that young people want their own artists, people who look like what they dream of being. And no 17 year old girl dreams of being a 59 year old overweight computer programmer.
Old people are allowed to be songwriters behind the scenes, but most of us either can’t write modern-sounding music because we don’t know how, or because we are unwilling to learn. We look down our noses at it. I mean, there are pop hits with two chords, where the verses and the choruses are close to identical. Kids these days, am I right?
But it’s all BS. Of course an older person could write a song for a modern superstar. Case in point – the song “Say Don’t Go” was a hit in 2023 for Taylor Swift and it hit number 5 on the charts. It was co-written by Swift and Diane Warren. Diane Warren had hits in the 80s. Diane Warren was 66 years old in 2023.
Any style, any genre can be studied and learned. It takes talent to write a hit song in any genre. I’ve often wondered if I could write a modern pop song good enough to make it on a Taylor Swift album. The truth is, I probably couldn’t.
I could learn the modern trends, and it wouldn’t be too hard to analyze hit vocal melodies over the past 5 years and use some of the same phrases. But I don’t think I could write the lyrics that would resonate with young people.
Put another way, Justin Bieber had a hit where the lyrics to the chorus were “Girl you got that yummy yum, that yummy yum.” I mean, honestly, I could never write anything that stupid.
I don’t think of myself as an old man yelling at the clouds. As a computer programmer, I’m always looking for ways to make a system do what I want it to do. If you’re an old dude, you’re never going to be a pop star. You don’t have the image.
So your options are to write pop songs for someone younger and better looking than you, or to write music in a genre that values musicianship over image. Personally, I love the idea of some old dude creating a modern AI pop star and getting rich. Talk about hacking the system.
And I’ve saved the best for last – because of the Internet, there are now virtual music scenes for almost everything, and it’s bringing people together. The people who are into the Vocaloid scene are really into it. So are the fans of Snarky Puppy, and the fans of Vulfpeck. Do know about The Fearless Flyers? When they do gigs, the crowd sings the bass lines. You might be the only person in your town who likes something, but online there are thousands of you.
Make whatever music you want! Your small town might not care, but there’s an online community for pretty much everything.
Thanks for listening to my video essay. I think there’s never been a better time to write and record and release your own music, as long as you understand you won’t make any serious money at it. Is that depressing? Not to me! To me, it’s always been about the music. No one can stop you from making music and having fun.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to write the next big AI pop hit, called “Yummy Tummy love.”
