My son is gen z and also fairly tribal - he likes contemporary hip hop, for the most part, but his favorite albums are In An Aeroplane Over the Sea (released 8 years before he was born and Songs In the Key Of Life (released 30 years before he was born.) He will call something crap as much if not more than I will. I know he's an outlier, he's told me most of his friends like a few songs here and there, but definitely don't listen to full albums, nor do they worship any recording artists, like the McCartney fans and the Swifties here. My daughter (same age) is a casual listener. She has her playlists, but doesn't play whole albums and doesn't have "favorite artists," just favorite songs.
Well, my two cents is that the idea behind the OP, in my experience isn't true at all. The tribalism is just different. For context, this is America. Firstly, among gen z the default is hiphop. Any gen z not doing hip hop is either A) a right winger whose political identity will allow pop country, classic rock or metal, only or B) someone who is marked immediately as different or even odd in today's America, a concept they may have once been known as intellectually curious. We know longer have live music, no local or regional bands, no young rebels with something to say, not through music anyway -- so the other part of it, music in America is no longer culturally relevant beyond where a top selling celebrity might stand politically. So it's tribal, all the way down. In today's America, what hasn't been enshittified by capitalism has been by politics.
I use this site to look up stats when I'm bored: Most streamed tracks on Spotify - ChartMasters There are other filter options at the bottom of the page.
I'd have to disagree with that, at least based on my experience. They appear to have abandoned all forms of tribalism except one; everyone liking the same thing. : ) I think there's a generally accepted list of what is cool and everyone likes all the cool things on that list. Very much identikit. There are exceptions of course.
Gen Z appears to have rejected the musical tribalism of Gen X To which the warrior replies... "So What?"
Some of you guys act as though 45 rpm singles weren’t the thing that drove the music biz for decades. The idea that playlists (people have been making comps as long as consumer tape machines have been available) and people liking single songs sure isn’t a product of the internet.
Not to mention K-Tel Hits comps and later That's What I Call Music - they sold big! People have always wanted round-ups of hit songs.
Dismissing playlists or single songs as ways for serious fans to listen to music is pretty tribal to begin with.
It never bothered me. I just thought it was stupid because the people using it didn't know what it meant. It's like coming back at a black guy with the quip: "Ok, white guy."
It was tough during the waning years of the rock era for a record company to market a good band who doesn't check a singular rock subgenre box. Such a band might draw on influences from various genres including blues, gothic, country, psychedelic rock, new romantic rock, synth pop, etc. Even though the music is of great quality, the band's focus isn't sharp enough to market to a niche audience to develop support. Hopefully that has changed for rock bands with an opportunity to play good music commercially rather than tailoring their sound to match a specific rock subgenre.
Anytime we have a thread that goes into the territory of "_____ don't listen\like new music" as if it's an intentional thing or almost some sort of attack, I think of how most of what I listen to is before my time, so I didn't have a problem with any other generation's music. I wasn't deciding based on it being "my" music. I just like what I like. For one thing I like the sound and production better. I feel the same thing about movies and TV. I've always been this way. (New movies seem more fake to me.) I'm pretty sure if I ask my friends they would all agree that the generation ahead of us had better music. So, I don't get this "you guys are stuck on your music and won't listen to anything new;" no, I check out all sorts of things, but mostly like old to really old stuff.
You're wrong about that, just because you're not seeing it doesn't mean it is gone. At least where I live the hardcore and metal scenes are thriving and the youth are fully engaged. There are local bands, touring bands from other locales, and more all ages venues having shows that are packed. And the other great thing is the audience is more varied and diverse than when I started going to shows nearly 35 years ago. You may not be seeing it, but it is there, just like every other time old folks have called something dead or non-existent.
I'm curious why you think that’s true for a “right winger “. Would you mind clarifying/expanding on that, please? Thanks.
I mean, I love albums too, but as a lifelong 45 collector (and someone who made mixtapes starting when I was around 7 years old), this whole modern premise of judging how people enjoy music is just perplexing. I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that a teenager listening to a favorite new song on streaming has a very similar emotional reaction to how I feel when I spin a soul 45. Or enjoy a new song on streaming.
I believe that to be true because I live here and that's what they tell me. However, before we begin our debate, I concede there are very obvious exceptions to the rule as certainly plenty of right wing folks like hip hop, some of them probably even unironically. And ofc there is plenty of punk to please any right winger.
