"I Love the [INSERT DECADE HERE]s!"

I shudder to think of what people will say about the music released during my teenage years. Those years would of course be from between the late 1990s and the early 2000s. I am not necessarily saying that all of the music released during this time period was bad; on the contrary, there has been quite a lot of good music released. However, very little of it has filtered over into the mainstream media. The music which has crossed over onto television and radio, however, has been mostly crass, vapid, and commercialized. People 20s years from now will generalize the time period between the late 1990s and the early 2000s to be almost an update of the 1980s generalization: good music will be overlooked by the mainstream, music with very little substance will be remembered (and mocked), and the pop songs of today will be used to market future products because of their nostalgic and/or ironic value.

People often generalize musical trends. More specifically, they remember the things which were either the most renowned or the easiest to mock. This is certainly true of the 1980s, where synth pop, pop metal, and bad hair are what most people remember from that decade. There is no mention of bands like the Talking Heads, R.E.M., the Smiths, the Cure, X, or even the “Biggest Band of the 80s”, U2. All of these bands fight the 80s stereotype (except for maybe the bad hair part), but they are very rarely brought into the mainstream consciousness. Even a band as big as U2 is separated from the decade, and they have sold millions of albums! The same will most likely apply to today’s music. People typically revere such artists as Bob Dylan and the Beatles for their art, integrity, and message, and some of these people also claim that there is no longer any music being made that is socially conscious or artistically profound. This is, of course, not true. Artists like Mos Def, Bright Eyes, Ani DiFranco, and Guster have all showcased a social awareness, and also a musical ambition that is both enjoyable and admirable. These artists will continue to make good music, and they will be remembered by people 20 years from now. However, they will not be part of the mainstream American consciousness.

Although the advent of the Internet has helped to splinter music trends, there still remains a market for mainstream pop/hip-hop. I am of course referring to such artists as Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Lil Jon, and Jessica Simpson. These artists have saturated pop culture to such an extent that is impossible to remove them from one’s mind. I do not own a single CD put out by any of these artists, nor do I actively pursue to listen to their music, but I still know practically all of the words to songs like “Oops, I Did It Again.” This music will most likely not be enjoyed by people in the future, aside from maybe the top of the pop charts, like Britney Spears or *N’Sync. This music, although of little interest to me, still has proven to be capable of stable market dominance. Going further, this music, because of its renown, is therefore easy to parody. Pop culture has grown increasingly narcissistic in the past few years, and it loves to both exult and mock itself. If this trend continues, pop music will be perpetuated for years. Meanwhile, other music trends which have been successful for a time (nu-metal, pop punk) will most likely fade into obscurity, with only well-known bands like Blink-182, Limp Bizkit, and Korn remaining known to a select few, if at all.

Going further with the now inherent narcissism in pop culture, the songs which have come out over the last few years will, inevitably, become the themes to countless disposable commercials in the future. Much like “I Melt With You” for Burger King, these songs will be turned into ads. The result will spark nostalgia in some, but most likely will be sneeringly ironic. This is another growing trend perpetuated by MTV and VH1. I predict that pop culture, although it will remain very much as small minded and forgetful as ever, will continue to grow self-obsessed and will use the past to market the present. Pop culture will become self-perpetuating.

The mainstream is incredibly fickle, but it also grows nostalgic very easily. The popularized songs of today will fade from people’s memories, but they will also be rediscovered within 20 years time. At the same time, music which exists outside of the mainstream will flourish and be remembered. Thanks to the Internet and the rise of independent labels, it is possible to make a decent living off of music without signing to a major label or getting heavy rotation on MTV or the radio. The mainstream pop culture discussed here will always have a market and people to keep it afloat, of course. But subcultures are gaining prominence, and will continue to do so. It will be interesting to see what happens to the musical landscape in the coming years, because I feel that the mainstream music industry will be in for a few surprises.