What music are you listening to right now? What genre? What year?

It could be anything. Because music is an endless artform; one of the most thriving industries in today’s world.

Music never really gets old because it never stops producing new sound, new faces and new gossip. Reinventing itself throughout the decades, advancing with the technology, the music industry today has endless products at hand, more so than ever before. But know each generation of music share their sound with the next, inspiring artists to come.

Throughout the years there have been waves of music that have influenced entire generations, producing some of the most iconic individuals of our time.

The 1920’s gave us Robert Johnson. The original father of lead guitar, rumored to have sold his soul to the devil for the ability to play, he brought the beginning of rock and roll to life. Alongside him was Bessie Smith in the 30’s, an African American singer who was openly bisexual and single handedly saved Columbia Records during the great depression. These two paved the road for artists like Janis Joplin, Muddy Waters and Rolling Stones.

In the 60’s, JFK was in office, met his untimely end only a few years in, and then there was a war that left the U.S. in civil shambles. The country was tense and people needed something to take the edge off.

Elvis Presley did just that.

He sent a shockwave through culture and music changed in a way no expected. Artists like the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys, Sonny and Cher and Jimi Hendrix followed. They all became household names and the future of music. Starting what would be a long list of amazing artists to surface in this era. The following generation was a kind of continuation of the 60’s; hippie culture was in full swing, and music only got better, the artists got edgier.

By the 80’s, an actor was in the white house, civil rights activists were on every corner, and if you didn’t pick a side they did it for you. Counterculture in the 80’s was considered one of the best decades for music, introducing a whole new twist, taking it to a new level. It covered almost all genres with some of the best artists of the time. Michael Jackson dominated pop culture, Aerosmith hit notes no one knew possible, Madonna was the “It Girl”; and Billy Joel gave us all a “New York State of Mind”.

The music of this era is still considered some of the best music of all time. It expressed a different kind of view on life; it showed a world where there was more than iOS updates and FOMO. There was love. There was loss. There was joy. There was sorrow. There was still substance, and the industry was still focused on making the “best” music, rather than the “most sold” album.

There was still an innocence in the music business, but only in the sense that artists were still just trying to make music. It was one of the last decades before technology took over and musicians and their sound became products of the industry. They were human beings before they were faces with bold print splashed across the front page of tabloids or they were verified celebrities on social media platforms.

There are countless artists today that have maintained their sound and focus on strictly making music. Yet too often in order to make the music they must sell their souls and all the rights to it as well. Many fall into the hype and forget why the started, overcome by their fame. Being the face of a major campaign or getting a perfume named after you is nice, good for business, but if you want to make music what’s the point?

Today, we “know” everything there is to know about anyone and as music suffers sales skyrocket. The music industry likes to pride itself on its ability to produce an unfiltered art form, however today it’s more focused on the placement of a decimal point.