Why does new music sound old⁇ - 16th October 2023

Do you think many songs sound the same these days? You may be right. A quarter of the UK's top songs are using older songs, a method which is called 'sampling'.

It's been common for musicians to sample earlier songs since the 1980s. For example, 'I'll be Missing You' by Puff Daddy (1997) uses the 1980 song, 'Every Breath You Take', by The Police.

Humans enjoy listening to music they've heard before, especially from their teenage years. Today's sampling of older songs may just be a wish to remember the past.

But there could be another reason.

In the past 20 years, music companies have begun buying up musicians' old songs. This year, the record company Hipgnosis paid $200 million for Justin Bieber's past work. Companies then employ new young musicians. Those new artists are encouraged to use the company's old collections.

According to music journalist Jayson Greene, if businesses own these songs, it stops creativity. That's because the collections of songs aren't shared. New, young musicians are prevented from sampling older songs. Meanwhile, as people love older tunes, songs which don't include sampling may not reach the top.

In the end, people might get tired of hearing the same old songs again and again.