Why There Are No New Music Subcultures in the 21st Century
In the 20th century there were countless well defined and easily recognisable subcultures:
Goth; Punk; Soul; Hip-Hop; Dance; Indie; Britpop; Emo; Grunge; Heavy Metal; Hippies; Jazz; Funk; Blues ..the list goes on.
In the 21st century, not so much. In fact, so far it seems people are happy to just rehash and pick 'n' mix the fashions of the 20th century.
Why is this? Why has the originality died?
I think the reason is the Internet.
Before the Internet people lived and met and signalled their "coolness" in public (sorry, a very 20th century word there - insert whatever the modern equivalent is young reader). Music was played "in the room" - in clubs and pubs, at parties and festivals. So fashion, appearance - how you looked - was important. You went to physical places where music was played, and appearance was the primary way in which you communicated your coolness, credibility, desirability. It was your billboard of communication.
However, after the advent of the Internet, people met more online - so the online billboard became much more important. Avatars, memes, selfies, values (i.e. politics, views, likes/dislikes). Of course, selfies somewhat blend the physical appearance with the online appearance. With filters and artistry being used to enhance the ever-more-important need for online appeal. The fact that reality often doesn't match the image almost fails to matter.
So subcultures have moved away from real world physical appearance and much more towards online imagery and ideas. Subcultures aren't "in the room" anymore. They're somewhat more aethereal. Things conveyed in the abstract, in online spaces. So Goth and Punk have been replaced by Gamer, Incel, Woke, Tradwife, Alt-Right, Truther, and so forth. All these online labels and scenes. Often centred not around fashion and music, but around political values, online aesthetics and lifestyle (albeit presented-lifestyle perhaps more so than actual lifestyle).
Conversely, music has became more private. With people listening through AirPods and headphones. In their own little world as they sit on the bus. No longer in the room, but in the private space. On top of this, as views/politics (your bio) has became more important, music has been forced to take second place, as the person who shares your political identity might not necessarily like the same music you like.
So we don't group around music as much. Meaning music and physical fashion simply aren't as central to social life as they were in the 20th century. It's not that the originality has died. It's just that it's moved into a different medium.
[Art expresses itself in the technology of the era. Just as portrait painting (the original selfies) and sculpture were once the epitome of high art, only to later take a backseat as photography, radio and movies came to the fore.
A person living in the 20th century might well have asked:
Where are all the Raphaels and Michelangelos?
But it wasn't that art and creativity had died, it was just that the modern Michelangelos were making Rock 'n' Roll records and Star Wars movies by that point.]
Online Music Scenes
People may argue that there have indeed been new music subcultures in the 21st century. Things like Vaporwave and Sea-Punk spring to mind. (No doubt more clued-up people will be able to name other genres.) I'm sure this is somewhat true. There's never a hard line in the sand where one era ends completely. However, these exceptions tend to prove the rule, as:
a) they're very online
..and b) they're very derivative of 20th century fashions
Sea-Punk obviously taking some of its elements from Punk, and Vaporwave harking back to 80s and 90s aesthetics.
In fact, it reminds me of something my friend told me that always makes me laugh. He was on a course and there was a young girl in her early 20s with dyed green hair. He asked her if she had green hair because she was into Sea-Punk 😅. Of course, the girl had no idea what he was talking about and just thought he was a weirdo.
It's so funny to me that he would even ask that. The online world and the real world are not the same place.
An even better example of a modern music genre could be Bardcore - where popular songs are remade in a medieval or renaissance style. Naturally it comes with medieval visual aesthetics and avatars. However, the people listening to and making this music aren't going out and dressing in medieval garb when they get on the bus (though it might be privately playing in their headphones). So, again, it's largely tailored for an online world.
It'll be interesting to see how things go as we move further into the digital world. A world where people often see your "bio" before they ever see you in person.
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