I had the thought when my parents were listening to the radio. I realized that there was more creativity to be gleaned from the music being played on average than I always remembered. Of course, the radio format is antiquated and I'm baffled as to how anyone that can afford to use anything else at all would choose to listen to it, but I digress. I realized that, either the lowest common denominator is more demanding now than ever before in my lifetime, or it was more viable to cater to niches.
Sidebar
One thing I do want to make clear before going on is that I'm not talking about the financial side of music here. I'm speaking purely on the quality and creativity of the output. Economically speaking, music is a mess, and while I believe the hate for streaming as a format is overblown and over-reliant on attention grabbing statistics than reason, it'd be hard to deny that musicians do deserve a bigger slice of the pie, both in regards to the money they share with the streaming services and the money they share with their own label. And the economics of live music is still absolutely fucked too. But you know all this, lets get back to my hot take.
My reasoning for why I believe the title's statement to be true is quite simple: I don't think we've ever had this high a quality of music on every level of popularity. Whether an artist is a no-name, a popular niche act, or a superstar, there is a good chance that they will be putting out decent music and I believe it's never been so unlikely that it is a mere vehicle for cynical monetary gain.
Point 1: Democratization of Music Creation
It would be possible to argue that the reason I find music to be so good right now is simply because there is so much more, and that generally good stuff is more likely to be heard. Although I don't believe it is as simple as "good music rises to the top", I would agree that the democratization of music plays a big role.
Some might view that cynically, as a simple case of throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks, but I view it more optimistically. I prefer to see this massive spike in music released and think of all the artists that are now able to get their ideas into the world.
Point 2: Widespread Opportunity for Exploration and Inspiration (Artists)
This is, I think, the most important point. We are now seeing artists come through who were using streaming services in their most formative years for music taste, and by extension, inspiration. That means we are currently seeing artists who, in comparison to their predecessors, are far more exposed to a larger range of musical styles, which makes them less bound to each individual one. I believe that leads to artists who are able to wield more tools to evoke an emotion within the listener far more effectively.
Point 3: Widespread Opportunity for Exploration and Inspiration (Listeners)
It's a very similar point to the last one, but it is itself significant. That being the point that audiences have a broader palette than they used to, which I believe is the biggest reason that pop music in particular has been so interesting compared to previous decades. The most popular music around isn't nearly as beholden to trends, and even when trends do exist, they are as interesting as the trends in any other time in music history.
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