Episode 2268: David Rowell on how new technology is making us dislike new music

Yesterday, we featured a conversation with Jonathan Taplin about the dearth of high quality contemporary music and movies. The music writer, David Rowell, agrees with Taplin, but goes one step further, suggesting that we no longer even like new music. In his new book, The Endless Refrain, Rowell the rise of music streaming and the consolidation of digital platforms has so decimated the musical landscape that all we want to listen to now are the old hits of our youth. New music then, for Rowell, is being destroyed by new technology. The internet has frozen culture into a nostalgic mixtape of greatest hits.

David Rowell grew up in North Carolina and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For nearly 25 years he was an editor at The Washington Post Magazine and has taught literary journalism in the MFA department at American University. He is currently a senior editor at the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. His books include the novel The Train of Small Mercies, Wherever the Sound Takes You: Heroics and Heartbreak in Music Making and The Endless Refrain: Memory, Nostalgia, and the Threat to New Music. He lives with his wife just outside of Chapel Hill.

Named as one of the "100 most connected men" by GQ magazine, Andrew Keen is amongst the world's best known broadcasters and commentators. In addition to presenting KEEN ON, he is the host of the long-running How To Fix Democracy show. He is also the author of four prescient books about digital technology: CULT OF THE AMATEUR, DIGITAL VERTIGO, THE INTERNET IS NOT THE ANSWER and HOW TO FIX THE FUTURE. Andrew lives in San Francisco, is married to Cassandra Knight, Google's VP of Litigation & Discovery, and has two grown children.

Keen On is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit keenon.substack.com/subscribe