You ought to recognize that music discovery has been made easier than ever, that it has reached a point where it can be a quest to cut through the noise of streambait hits designed to reach instant superstardom and garner millions of Spotify streams to find the great ones. Anyone who is actively listening to and discovering new music would recognize the feeling of being ambushed by so much materials, rapidly mushrooming in your FYP and algorithm-driven playlists. It’s bad enough that we barely have enough time to listen to music recommended by our friends; now the big corporations think we need to listen to music recommended by their algorithm. What once was recommended monthly or weekly (Spotify’s Discover Weekly) has turned into thrice a day predictions of music that suits your mood (Spotify’s Daylist). In the minds of tech bros and Elon Musk’s fanboys, this is supposed to be the most trusted recommendations, just because the computers try to suit our tastes as precise as possible. Inevitably, this results in our music taste being cocooned by our self-deluded perception of what’s the greatest music ever.

So why do we still have conversations about how music back then used to be way better than today’s music? Every time this conversation rises in mainstream media op-eds, I instantly question if the authors are actively scouring for great new music and are disappointed in not finding any, leading them to write the piece. But I doubt this is the case. The articles share the same essentials: they start with the big statement of how today’s music is bad, then proceed to name The Greatest Artists Of Their Generation (think: M. Nasir) without naming examples of bad modern artists that are supposedly ruining music. They claim these modern artists write soulless songs with no deeper meanings and have awful vocals, as if these new singers are ignorant of the existence of vocal coaches. There are rarely examples of “bad modern music” given, just a whole list of legends versus unnamed pop stars who have yet to prove their game in the long run.

Since these articles often use the ploy of this very conscious bias and deliberately leave the modern bad music unnamed, I’d assume the authors pigeonholed today’s state of music merely by looking at top hits, which is an unfair paradigm to begin with. Should popular, monopolistic radios dictate what modern music essentially is? If the authors meant chart-topping songs in popular Malay-language radios that are mostly Malay pop ballads, the question here is: Did Malay pop ballads with lackluster lyricism about heartbreak and impressive yet same-old vocal range appear just a few years ago? I’d tolerate the opinion that today’s modern music is bad if the mainstream music has exponentially changed to a point of no recognition — imagine 100 gecs-type of music dominating Carta Muzik Muzik, but we are nowhere near ready for such evolution — but the reality is that today’s mainstream (Malay) pop hits are essentially replicas, a steady stream of doppelgangers molded from yesterday’s popular hits. Is it the artists’ fault that the mainstream audience is never not flat-footed, arrogantly rejecting music beyond the usual ballads? Most of today’s mainstream Malaysian music is sooooooo similar to what was offered around 20 to 30 years ago, yet you’re fussing about the lack of quality. Shouldn’t the conversation be shifted to how Malaysian mainstream music suffers from a lack of evolution rather than why there is less variety of good music?

We can all admit that the state of the music industry is more erratic than ever. But until we (who’s We?) figure it out, it’s unfair to lament modern music just because you couldn’t find the extraordinary talents. There is so much good music out there. Off the top of my head, I could name Mafidz, Bayangan, Monoloque, Leaism, Satwo, Lunadira and so many more (Side note: I’m recommending possibly mainstream-friendly artists just to be fair to the game, I think these critics would lose their mind if I tried to recommend Shelhiel, Note/Void, VIONA and others.) To meddle in surface-level nostalgia and reminisce about The Greatest Artists Of Your Generation while not making any attempt to open yourself to modern music is a boring and lazy perspective to have as a music fan. It reeks of generationism, which helps nothing but your shallow point of view.

I understand the frustration pointed towards today’s music that’s bombarded with marketing-first-music-second tactics, the eagerness to sell out under the facade of alternative or indie, the bogusly poetic, one-dimensional songwriting that desperately wants to be taken seriously. There are a lot more issues with modern music that I couldn’t even begin to exhaustively list here. But if your forage for great music ceases the moment you skim through TikTok viral hits and settle yourself with a shallow conclusion of “modern music is bad and will never be as good as my generation’s music,” then your argument, sorry to say, should be placed in the corner until it figures out what to fairly say about modern music. But again, it’s your opinion. I just think it’s a waste to head-nod into such a conclusion when music discovery, a joyful, hyper-personal experience, should be a long-term effort, even when it has been proven that most people stop discovering music once they enter their 30s (Could this be the reason of your judgment? You tell me).

As much as you think you’ve heard it all — then again, how much music could you have discovered? — there are so many recent gems waiting to be uncovered, monstrous talents sharpening their skills or perhaps the next M. Nasir is still stuck in their insecurity, never good enough, imposter syndrome phase — the usual mess artists catch themselves in when trying to navigate through the dreads of existential crisis.

This year, I’ve been caught off guard by how much good music has been released — there’s S. Razali, whose Kembang Mas EP has been an astronomical arrival to the scene that I still couldn’t believe we have been lucky enough to witness such greatness. There’s Mafidz, whose debut album I wasn’t a fan of, but they later turned me into a super fan with their sophomore album Teleportasi. There’s Hawa’s excellent attempt to revive the riot grrrl sound and spirit whose debut project is my most-anticipated music of the year and so many more. And it’s only July! Imagine the amount of great music waiting for their turn to surprise us. Music discovery is so, so fun. But it’s only fun when you leave judgment outside the door and welcome yourself into a space of endless surprises.