From funk and soul in the 50's and the progressive rocking of the 2000's, to the bass-filled electronic melodies of the 2010's, music is a beautiful thing. There are few things in this world loved more than music; it can be thought of as a bridge between people, or a connecting force that spans decades and continents to bring humanity together. While musical taste varies greatly between people, you will be hard-pressed to find an individual who dislikes music altogether.

One of music's greatest strengths lies in its ability to evolve and change over the years. Time not only allows people to expand on what we can do and implement with our music, but also offers the advantage of hindsight. We do not just move on from jazz and ditch its lessons; we weave it into current musical genres to create a more diverse and satisfying musical experience.

It is for this reason that I am a firm believer that music never regresses. Sure, certain genres in every decade are not for everyone by any means, but each genre offers a unique musical element that it emphasizes above all others: soul's passion-filled lyrics, rock's drum and electric guitar melodies, rap's stories of the struggle of inner-city living, and country's signature twang. As time goes on, composers and producers learn how to fuse more and more of these elements together by learning how to properly used them from examining other's work that's come before them. Music truly is a group effort. Even the most isolated basement DJ learns by listening to others, whether it be through tutorial videos, their friend's opinion of their song, or a collaborating artist's take on the piece in question.

My point is this, whether you enjoy a certain modern style of music or not often has nothing to do with its musical merit. Alternative, indie, EDM, and pop all are built on the previous generation's understanding of musical elements. Without rock's masterful display of drum driven melodies, trap, grime, house, and dubstep could have never come about. It is totally fine to say you dislike a certain song, hell, even a majority of songs in a specific genre, but to diss any genre as a whole shows a lack of understanding and appreciation for the way sound is manipulated. If you don't like steak, you don't say a perfectly cooked medium-rare steak is terrible and that the cook should be shot, you say "it's not for me".

The same applies to music.