Is the Music Industry "Dying?"
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Tristan Barker
December 14, 2025
The concern over the quality of modern music has been a heavily debated and controversial topic of present times. As pop-stars like Taylor Swift and Benson Boone rise–as well as poor attempts at alternative music like Sombr–listeners around the world have begun to question how these artists continue to dominate the charts. Many of these viral songs are seen as lacking originality or musical depth, which left even more listeners disappointed in the modern sound. The problem, however, goes beyond these few artists and reaches even further down a manufactured rabbit hole. The main factors of this quality decline in the music industry can be traced back to the growth of profit over passion, a changed sociopolitical scene, and lack of creative support.
The Problem With Record Labels
One of the most dominant forces in the modern music industry is record labels. For many beginning artists, joining a recording company is often the only realistic option to pursue a career. According to Forbes, “record labels provide artists with the resources, support, and exposure needed to succeed” Despite these benefits, record labels often come at a significant cost. To start, many artists suffer from the lack of control they are allowed in their musical endeavors as labels frequently hold the final say on whether a song can be released or not.
Additionally, record labels prioritize exploitation over a singer’s creative expression, which often results in fully recorded songs and creative ideas being turned away for “lacking marketability.” To follow that theme, Other Record Labels explains that, “In a traditional record deal, the label may take up to 80% of the revenue generated, leaving the remaining 20% to be split between the artist and any co-writers or producers.” This complete profit inequality gives record companies even more financial and creative control of an artist’s career, forcing many artists to conform and abide by the label’s unfair expectations in order to keep their own financial stability. The forced tolerance that artists endure creates a cycle of continued acceptance of extremely low earnings and limits creative control. These are despite the artist being the primary voice and creator behind their own work.
The modern music world is overrun by these wealthy record labels. Their mere influence defines what is "chart-worthy" through the consistent output of repetitively formulated songs that align with their company ideals of "profitability." The heavily controlled environment that the music industry has become is discouraging many artists from taking risks and experimenting with their artistic voices. It undeniably causes a majority of the modern industry to seem so much more manufactured and lacking of true inspiration or passion.
Social-Politics DO affect music
Over the years, music’s role as a tool to unify and incite cultural rebellion has largely weakened and faded. A majority of the blame can be placed upon the shifting sociopolitical dynamics of the world. In 1960s America, music and widespread social activism went heavily hand-in-hand with each other. ‘60s America was greatly influenced by the need for change as a younger generation began to reject ‘outdated’ cultural beliefs and political stances. Britannica describes the movement as “fueled by college students, it included protests of the Vietnam War, racial injustice and struggles for women’s rights”. This newfound sense of activism held by the young generation began to intertwine further within music in order to voice the beliefs of sociopolitical change to the masses.
Many artists who still have relevance today, like The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Jimi Hendrix, used their music as a platform to support these progressive movements. Studio Theatre illustrates that “The Beatles were vocal about social and cultural issues, from advocating for peace to rejecting racial segregation … inspiring many to become more politically and socially active." The Beatles, as well as many other 1960s artists, used their music as a countercultural platform to advocate for new growth and change. Although impending war risks and social injustice fueled America’s tense environment, the music created in response greatly served as a bridge to help unify those with shared struggles and ideas, further building the foundation for music’s future.
This pattern of musical resistance continued into the 1970s with the rise of the U.K. Punk Movement, although this time with more focus toward anti-establishment beliefs and rejection of the mainstream. The leading artists of the punk movement include: The Ramones, The Clash, Siouxsie and The Banshees, and Patti Smith. Museum of Your Culture notes that punk was presented to be the opposite of traditionality. That essentially means punk-culture was created to both defy and challenge political and social-norms that many people shared the belief against. This trend carried into the 1980s and 1990s with people now unified under the communities of alternative rock and Seattle-based grunge, the bands most notable including: Nirvana, Soundgarden, Hole, and Alice In Chains. YellowBrick notes that this counterculture scene was heavily influenced by anti-globalization efforts (meaning the rejection of big corporation’s interests or gentrifying standards), and the opposition of both mainstream and polished punk-standards. Across these decades, music has consistently functioned as one of the main responses to sociopolitical pressures, used in order to promote self expression in shared communities and voice change through creative activism.
While sociopolitical issues still exist in modern times, music’s ability to unify people to the extent of how it once formerly had in the past has noticeably faded. This lack of inspirational impact is partially due to the shortage of people feeling the shared need to unify in support of common causes. Do note: the rise of more dividing individual beliefs through modern social-media causes lack of unity as well. Although the music industry still continues to create and expose new artists, this loss of shared purpose and community that formerly defined the industry does make the modern music era seem a lot more like it’s “dying” culturally.
Artists Are Lacking Support for Their Creativity
In today’s musical world, artists are constantly discouraged from ever challenging the mainstream or creating a platform that’s built upon their genuine passion. As creativity becomes consistently undervalued and thrown out, online harassment and the increased amount of content needed to maintain viral-image is a critical issue for the musical industry. MIdiA Research argues that an artist’s genuine passion and skill for music holds much less weight in this new age of industry dominated by modern social media. If artists wish to achieve income and recognition, they must cater to ever-changing audiences, and specifically manufacture their songs in order to fit in with these modern trends. This system is creating a hostile environment where artists are forced to be piggy banks, not trailblazers. The industry punishes artists who dare break the mold of modern industry ideals and reward those who conform.Altogether creating and almost enforcing a culture of toxicity that is surrounding modern music.
Conclusion
To finish, the music industry isn’t dying in the same sense that new music has stopped being created and produced. The modern age pushed away from its traditional music roots and instead prioritized the focus toward profits and consumerism. The “death” of musical culture is caused by the extreme loss of shared community, experimentation, and creative expression that had been once critical to both the industry and America’s core values.
Despite these losses, the industry is very likely going to continue evolving as trends naturally rise and fall. This is why we must make sure it doesn’t evolve into even worse territory. The innovation, rediscovery, and continued push for these old creative-centered values needs to be followed. If change is to occur that will bring artistic passion back to music, we must continue and voice our support. Don’t “gatekeep” small artists, encourage them so we can bring more authenticity and experimentation back to art and push away from money-hungry, manufactured ideals in music.
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