Replacing Rock
The downturn of interest in rock music results in a new replacement for the genre
To cure her bad mood, sophomore Chloe Dyer tunes out her problems by listening to her favorite music. Dyer spends every minute of her off period walking the halls with headphones in. In securing an off period, Dyer was able to finish her homework early and be left with time to listen to all her favorite pop songs. “By listening to music, I feel like I get a break from everything school work related,” Dyer said.
In past generations, rock music has been the most popular among teenagers as alternative rock bands began to strike students’ interest through emerging trends. From the rise of rock music in the late 1950s up until the 2000s, music culture shifted. Teenagers are listening to much different music than they used to.
Rock music has proven itself to dominate the charts from as far back as the 1950s and is still a well-listened-to genre in America — just not among young people. This can definitely be considered the end of an era for rock music and its influence on younger generations.
Sophomore Chloe Dyer finds that she favors pop music the most compared to all other genres, including rock.
“I like pop music because it’s the best outlet for all of my energy,” Dyer said.
There are emotional ties to pop music that students show to hold as well. Dyer claims that pop music is “preferred for both good and bad moods” and is always capable of cheering her up.
In today’s generation of teenagers, it can be noted that rock music has been replaced entirely by pop music. This is all according to the so-called “trends” students are following when it comes to streaming songs.
In realizing she’s hearing the same songs by the same artist over and over. Dyer claims that “a lot of people are listening to the same music” and it can come off as “a sort of domino effect.” One person starts listening to a band or artist, and next thing you know, everyone else is too.
In past decades, the focal point of high school students’ music attraction was rock and roll bands and up and up-coming rock artists. Recently, pop artists have taken over this fixation.
According to Dyer, Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift and The Weeknd are all “popular artists that are perfect for singing along to.”
Although many CV students are listening to the same thing, not everyone is fixated on pop as a specific genre. Eight of the students questioned in the survey reported that they listen to pop music alongside a separate genre as well. Rock was the second lowest most listened to music at CV.
