A lot of people don’t know this, but Rick Beato invented music.

Rick Beato is right, Cheers Rick!!!

95% of us are like Beato, at least _some_ of the time: We like to justify our own tastes, sometimes by condemning what we _don't_ like. Not many of us are secure enough to simply like what we like, and do what we do, without passing judgment on the rest of the world.

Rick is a Legend,The amount i have learnt from this guy is amazing!I can't big him up enough!👊

GTA has introduced so many people to artists they would have never heard our wise and thats just GTA.

A lot of Beato's hot takes can be dismissed as 'Old man shakes fist at cloud', but if his main point is that there's a crisis in the music industry, he's right. He might not be adept at explaining the causes (it's all basically due to the progress of technology), but at least he gets people thinking and talking about music, which I guess is a good thing.

I love a lot of Rick videos and can relate to his desire to return to the glory days of rock, and we all get a little grumpy when we see the world we grew up in fading away. I was told to listen to KEXP when I wanted to hear new rock bands, and can say the current generation still makes incredible guitar based music, rooted in the old values while still taking it to new places.

Such a bruh moment. I picked up the guitar and learned it only to be able to play the theme for the last of us

"I was playing games with my kids and they asked me if I liked the music, but I didn't even notice the music, I just cared about winning! And that's when I realized, these video games are so addictive and the kids don't care about music." Soooooo, the kids like the music, but Rick didn't even notice the music, but the kids did, and thus this proves kids don't care about music? I am so confused...

The thing is, Rick Beato's correct, most of the time. The man knows what he's talking about. He understands music. He doesn't always understand generations, but he does most of the time.

The biggest difference BY FAR in my opinion is less of a focus on listening to full albums, or even learning artists names for that matter. I know this is anecdotal, but I worked with multiple people who were millennials (as am I) and couldn't even tell me a single artist they liked.The reasoning was all they listened to was Spotify EDM playlists while they played Rocket League. I still have plenty of friends and acquaintances who love music of all kinds and know tons of albums, but these are all musicians. The appreciation for music doesn't seem to be there for the general public as much as it used to, like if you look back music used to be everything to most of the youth, probably cause there was so much incredible music coming out in the 60s and 70s. I've even been told that being into music is considered cringy now by people from Gen Z. Video games definitely have replaced a lot of interest that used to be put into music, whether you want to admit it or not. It just is what it is, not shitting on the younger generation cause there's still fantastic music out there, as well as video game music (Celeste B-sides is one of my favorite soundtracks ever) and also a lot of the bands you mentioned are very artistic and fresh, like BCNR, Squid, FIDLAR, MGMT, Black Midi, Thee Oh Sees, Nolan Potter Nightmare Band, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (specifically polygondwanaland one of the best albums of the decade), just to name a few. It just feels like music has become a lot more niche, but I still love finding new masterpiece albums. sorry i got a little carried away.. i'm very passionate about music

When I started to care about music around age 11 my level of love and caring for music has not wavered higher or lower in many decades😊

I think you make many good points here. Some Rick might even agree with. To try to distill this down: people have changed and music has changed, enormously! The world has changed enormously. I’m about Ricks age and I can understand everything he says. He is very insightful from the perspective of someone coming up in the 80’s and 90’s and he is trying to understand this next generations music. Good in him, most people his age are completely checked out. He is right about the quality of music suffering at the top. Much of what we hear, by the time we get to it, is corporate garbage. But a rock guy with jazz chops is just not a thing anymore. He’s right, there’s nothing like the music of the nineties, nor should there be. I think he is most interesting when he shows us what is great about his era, not what’s bad about now. We older guys love our era, as it should be, but nothing is the same as it was and never will be. Kids get together now and show things they’ve found on the web, their knowledge of things SEEN is encyclopedic or wikipedic. It’s just a completely different way to exist. We used to be value going to places, now it is what you have seen, not where you’ve been. But it’s just what it is. Rick is a good guy, trying to help, to inform, to relate. I bet his demographic is 40+ men. He’s not really getting in genZ’s business. He’s letting old Police fans marvel at a 70-something year old Sting. It’s good for something.

To be fair. Rick has many times talked about the rediscovery of old music through games and other sources on the internet. Many old songs have gone up the charts again 30, 40 or more years after it was first released. Alot because of youtube. My son likes alot of music that I liked some 30-40 years ago and it’s not because of me. It’s through youtube and games. That’s a good thing and Rick have been saying this time and time again.

Imagine being such a boomer that you dont see the obvious fact that Gen Z is OBSESSED with video game music.

What Rick said about gen z & nowadays music was true!

I think you hit the nail on the head when you talked about Rick obssession with the concept of the "ROCK STAR". I'm Gen X, a kid in the 80s', teen in the 90's. I cannot put into words the ethos that surrounded these bands. It was such a huge part of our identity and community. But, before the internet, everything was like that. Movies, movie stars, toy fads, game fads tv shows. There was more excitement and momentum around everything, because promotion and distrubution was so much more expensive and restricted. Companies and producers had to pool their resources behind fewer projects, because there was only so much space on cable or radio. Pop culture was a more collective experience back then, and I wish my kids could have experienced more things that way. I think memes are the only thing that come close today, and that's why every generation loves memes

Ricks videos are an articulation of his experience and knowledge as a professional musican/producer. Its his point-of-view, and I have never seen him claim his observations are some infallible facts about the world, just that he sees things have changed greatly and is theorizing on why, how, and what it means for the future. His thoughts often evolve, which is a good indicator hes allowing new info to guide him more than just relying on confirmation bias. Mostly, it seems Mr. Beato mourns heavily the loss of Music as a dominate cultural force. Advancing technologies has given the power of making and distributing music to the commoner, which is both good and bad, but mostly radically shifted and unstoppable; so there's going to be a period of untethered flux before things settle into a more uniting experience again. Who knows how long that may take? Rick seems to want to preserve and communicate some aspect of music that is being lost in the shuffle. I appreciate hearing the musings of someone much older than I who sincerely loves music in both its existence and creation.

I'm 66 years old and used to play in bands. I haven't gigged since 2000. For a number of reasons, band gigs dried up starting around the mid to late 80's. Rick was a band guy who transitioned very well into other things and I like his videos. Naturally bands still exist but it's nothing like it was in the 60's, 70's and part of the 80's.

I'm 60 years old and I was in Olympia and Seattle when one of my favorite local bands became "rock stars" and were over-hyped into despair and suicide within a few short years. I'm sure you can guess which band I'm talking about. Fame is the worst drug of all, even when you don't seek it, and it can destroy art and artists. Seeing you play Psycho Killer earned my subscription!

As an old fart, I haven't enough knowledge to know if Gen Z doesn't care about music. All I know is the whole industry has changed.

I have a few criticisms of Beato too. His phenomenal understanding of music kind of outweighs that for me. I've learnt a lot from him.

Rick beato is one of the best things on youtube. I think about making a video about what is wrong this youtuber - yes, the one that speaks in the video.

As someone who lived Beato's experience and "stopped linking music" after online gaming became a thing, I agree with him. Back in the day, there were fewer ways to socialize, and one of them was through music. Music could define what you wore, who you talked with, and your other hobbies. Everyone knew at least a handful of kids who had their own band or music group. Not liking music means not having that obsessive relationship with it, akin to what it was back in the day, as music was pushed to become a secondary medium-a supporting art form for other art. Even in pop music nowadays, the spectacle is more important than the music.

What's also good about Rick is while he exchanges his ideas and opinions, he doesn't insult those opinions which oppose him.

History repeats itself. It's bizarre to think but gen-Z will soon be doing the "back in my day" schtick as well. Call it the elitism of age...

Rick Beato is a goddamn saint and of the last of his generation who does this because he’s too passionate to not do it. He’s in his 60s and he still possesses the joy and wonder everyone loses way before they’re his age. he’s one of the best interviewers I’ve ever watched, he’s humble, down to earth, and just a solid good dude. It’s there’s a problem, Rick ain’t it.

Very well done, thank you. As a boomer I am aware how my musical preferences have changed over the decades … and how I am very biased towards the what I listened to in the 50’s, 60’s & early 70’s as “the best ever”. While I have appreciated many of Beato’s interviews … I can’t stand his ‘expert’ rants that you are referring to. You are absolutely correct. And I admit that as a boomer I have no interest in exploring what younger generations are playing. It’s like … I have been there, done that … and just want to hear JJ Cale or The Allman Brothers or Joni Mitchell or Pat Metheny or some jazz or Hawaiian (not Jawaiian tho). It has to do with how one’s life slowly changes over the decades that one usually never notices … or just does not want to admit it. So think this is where Beato is … because aging is a bitch and one likes to stay relevant … when in reality … it’s ALWAYS the younger generation’s time to explore & shine, like it or not.

I have an 11 year old son that listens to music all the time and a 97 year old grandfather that couldn't care less about music. Generational gaps mean nothing.

Rick might be wrong about Gen Zs relationship with music, but you seem to be attributing a much greater attitude of criticism to the video than there actually was. He was just looking at differences in the generations without making value judgements.

"Gen Z doesn't care about music" Most users on AOTY that I know are Gen Z's who are passionate and capable of being critical about music. They even enjoy the most experimental type shit and I discovered a bunch of fascinating artists and genre from them. Gen Z is probably the only generation who can passionately talk about artists like Kendrick Lamar, Radiohead, Swans, BCNR, JPEGMAFIA, Model/Actriz, to classics like King Crimson, Charles Mingus, Chick Corea, Frank Zappa, John Cage, Morton Feldman, Black Sabbath, Velvet Underground, etc. I even learned about genres like Musique Concrète and Onkyo from these kids!

being an old geezer I totally missed this. i agree with you. very good. i had a sense of this, but until I saw your video. oh and by the way lots of geezers don't care about music too. on the other hand. I can only wish him continued success, thanks for making this

Interesting take. I watched that video and I thought he was making the point that the generation he grew up in was really into music mostly because that was the distraction of the day and Gen Z, on the other hand, might be less into music because there are other, more significant distractions surrounding them. If you look at the amount of money, time and attention that was thrown into the rock 'n roll and pop music industry in the 70's, 80's and 90's, it was HUGE and was rivalled only by the the Hollywood production machine. But since the age of the internet and the fact that it's pretty hard to make money in music anymore (at least not on the same scale) the focus is now on videogames. In fact, gaming is the top earning entertainment industry by a pretty massive margin. I don't know that Rick was criticizing Gen Z so much as he might've just been making a valid observation...which often sounds like complaining when it comes out of "old peoples" mouths and hits "young peoples" ears. Of course Gen Z isn't as into music as Gen X because media and money are no longer backing it like they used to. That said, musical performance by live bands has never been better because they can't rely on album sales to keep them going.

I've heard Rick say this and did get a little confused because I grew up playing a lot of video games and I think it went hand in hand in growing my obsession to music. I'm 19 btw

The reason why Rick has so many followers is because he talks about his passion : music. He does good analisys about things which are above my level. So, whatever you say young prick, I will click on his videos because they are objective and educative. We are lucky to have Rick Beato on KZfaq.

Rick is absolutely right. The more you love music, the more you understand his point

I am 68. Pro guitar player. Good vid. Problem is lack of venue. I caught the tail end of the Vietnam era music scene which was everywhere and was glorious even though Vietnam was horrific. If you played in cover bands and had no ear training you would be hurting to learn songs because of lack of instructional base. Beato is right about that. You could and did develop your style in all that venue. Plus, you learned how to work audiences and club owners. Yes, the present offers great access to instruction and I love studying all kinds of theory not really all that available back in the day but........where do you now play live? What gig is there worth doing and how do you string them together to make a living? I used to play 7 days a week for hire whenever I wanted to, anywhere, any town. Not now....In your house in front of the camera red light is the gig? Musical yin and yang. Knowledge now, but no gig except the virtual gig. Not much dimension there, imo. So? Beato for general knowledge, but do your own thing because there is no real music profession, not that there ever really was like other jobs but now, no venue, no promotional industry, albeit mobbed up, leaves you entirely on your own, which...has its own unique opportunities. You can go from zero to hero on the net but it used to be a steady gig complete with the musicians lifestyle.........not now nomatter how good you are or better yet, how truly bad you are. Too bad though, the stories I can tell from being a 70's touring rocker just can't be relived today. Not just about sex and drugs but mostly about avoiding "the man" and the band of brothers and unspoken language music and how it transcends. This experience is a soul blessing that never leaves you. Computer games? I wouldn't know but if you have a real pin ball machine, can I come over?

As a late Millennial, I do know and hang out with mostly GenZ people and as much as Rick's reasoning is flawed, his observations about lack of interests aren't too off in my experience. I rarely come across younger people these days who are into music.. like really into it. That number has always been small, but it's getting smaller I feel. In fact, this one time I was meeting a group of mostly new people, where one guy picked up that I played music and started talking about music. He asked everyone what they are listening to these days, and one guy just froze. Wasn't able to come up with answer. Then this other person says "you must be a podcast kinda person then". And he said yes, while many others echoed that sentiment. I think my heart broke a little that day.

Rick is right the barrier to entry is very low. Its not just music but movies and culture in general. In today's world it seems as if everything is just a remake with an agenda. It seems like the 90's were the last generation and even the youth are trying to relive it as some sort of nostalgia that they didn't experience

It’s not stupid to think as Rick explains how kids bought records and they meant more to them than some kid who can’t even make it through the first verse of a song before skipping to the next one.

He don"t say genZ utilize internet, he say GenZ GREW UP with internet, and that's a world of difference.

People dislike the video because they idealize this guy, like, I get it, Rick Beato is an accomplished musician, but being right most of the time about most things doesn't mean you can't ever make mistakes, and he's making one with this kind of videos. Online media access has made pop music shift towards a more standard format, but while that has made the top 10 songs more less diverse, that doesn't mean it has "killed" music, on the contrary, music lovers and skilled musicians have taken influence and we've seen the emergence of extremely gifted musicians and new genres, they have had access to way more material to learn and take notes from and it shows in the form of many bands that while not being in the top 10 charts, still have thousands if not millions of views and monthly listeners. The goal of industrial pop music is not musical excellence, is to be massive, and it's great at doing that. If you look to musicians whose goal is to innovate, which there are many and are more accessible than ever because of the internet, they're just as talented if not more than before. I have also seen Rick Beato make very confident claims about stuff he clearly doesn't know anything about (latin music) and it kinda annoys me every time I point that out people blindly believing him just insult me. Oh, yeah, what would I know, I'm only a "latin jazz" musician correcting another non-latin jazz musician about latin folklore and latin jazz lol (btw, I hate the denomination "latin jazz" or "latin music", it basically mixes dozens of VERY different genres in one generic term, it's like saying "american music", it basically covers everything from John Denver to Slayer)

Rick Beato is the Grandpa Simpson of Music KZfaqrs. ☁️✊🏼

- "Our coming of age thing was buying records" It also was my thing being born in 2002. I wouldn't have known about it if it weren't from both my parents and the Internet. - "You could only buy a certain amount of records" I could only buy a certain amount as well since the prices went up by $15 on average - "And you would listen to these records all the way through" I do that too because the ritual is very therapeutic for my ADHD and I tend to pay attention more to the music when I play it on my turntable - "It was different music than what your parents grew up with, this was our music" It still applies. I don't recall my parents listening to industrial hip hop, indie rock, shoegaze, etc. Granted, my parents were into The Beatles as well.

Rick has his issues with wild generalisms and era-blaming, but I got the impression on that first line that he meant that games are so enthralling and require so much attention that they have so many fun things on hand that they aren't as likely to pick up and learn an instrument.

Love ricks videos.

I think you did bring up one really good point. I'm in my late 40s now and I really only know the older way of finding new music. I don't have a clue how to find all those bands you mentioned other than searching them directly because I heard you mention them in this video. New bands are simply "off my radar" unless I get a direct reference.

I'm 10 years older than Rick, and my parents always used to tell me my music sucked. It's just an endless generation thing, don't take it seriously. Modern music is always for the young, by the young, and if it were the same as what Beato likes, then it would be extremely boring and stale.

Big rock stars like we had in the 60s, 70s, 80s and the 90s were possible only because the handful of record companies that could distribute records internationally were acting as gatekeepers. In the 80s I’ve seen bands getting rejected by record companies not because they were not good enough but because it would cannibalize the sales of one of the bands they already have in their portfolio. By doing that the bands that were signed had more space to grow to become huge. Nowadays anyone can produce a song in their bedroom and post it on social media. There’s no gatekeepers, once an artist can raise over the noise level of the pile of crap that is put online every day, they can build their audience that most of the time will be relatively small. Some of them eventually get signed but record companies no longer invest large sums of money to promote their artists, they expect their artists to already have a significant following on social media. They no longer invest to promote their artists because since there’s no gate keeping they can’t prevent another similar artist to become the flavour of the month and eclipse their expensive marketing campaign. The music industry has changed, nowadays we see more artists that have relatively small audience scattered internationally as opposed to big international stars with huge audience all over the world.

As Gen X, I can relate to what Beato is saying. Truth is though, music just doesn't have the cultural impact it did years ago. Your record collection and your musical tastes defined you as a person. It had social significance (which is why we had movements you identified with like Mods, Rockers, Punks, New Romantics, etc). These days, it's all vanished and not deemed anywhere near as important as it once was - gaming and social media has largely taken over the social interaction role.

Just came across this and 100% agree. Most of the time, it Rick demonstrating his blind spots and narrow idea of what music is/can be. Everything relates to music of the 60s to the 80s.

Ricks right. Today's society in general is watered down.

In my day (boomer here) I had to walk to guitar lessons in the snow and take my lessons with frozen fingers and hear my guitar teacher tell me how I had it easier than he did because he couldn't afford to buy records (vinyl for those wondering what I'm talking about) when he was learning. I could complain that today's guitarists (musicians) can do everything from the comfort of their own bedroom but then I would be just like Rick in some respect. It's the same story because every generation stands on the shoulders of artists that came before them and exploits contemporary technology to leap ahead of those older artists. "Generational-ism", is a type of bias or prejudice against a group of people, based on when they were born and how that generation lived their lives or achieved their success. It seems to creep into conversations about how unfair it is that younger generations didn't suffer as much while learning their craft. Sorry boomers and X-ers, what makes younger generations life easier today also makes your life easier so you can live long enough to complain about even younger generations.

I thought that video was great and on point. The icing on the cake was your video at the end and the lovely singing where you ended it. 🙂

As a musician and tail end millenial I can say without a shadow of doubt that Rick's viewpoint here is not unreasonable, it's a valid perspective and it seems to me like the video creator here may have taken a one off video too personally. The man has a passion for the art, I can relate with him. No one is saying Gen Z people don't care about music but it is less likely that the generation as a whole is as into music as older generations were. I grew up without internet, all I had were old games, CDs and eventually an iPod and PSP. And music was the biggest part of my childhood because I didn't have internet to occupy that time. I remember being blown away the first time I stuck a CD in the DVD player to find out it not only played the tracks but also displayed the album cover on screen. To be fair, can I prove that having access to internet would have changed that? Absolutely not. But as an observation it seems like kids today are less interested in just listening to music and more interested in watching TikTok videos. How we used our free time then and how they use their free time now, that's the main factor worth considering and I think Rick nailed it in this video.

Como persona de la generación de Beato pienso que hoy se escucha más música que nunca, se tiene acceso a más variedad que nunca (no depende de que una discográfica lo publique para poder escucharlo, bendita sea internet) y el aprendizaje y educación musical es más accesible que nunca. No sé si esto e una ventaja o un inconveniente, pero envidio a los jóvenes de hoy. Ojalá hubiera todo esto en cuando era niño y adolescente. As a person of Beato's generation, I think that today we listen to more music than ever, we have access to more variety than ever (it does not depend on a record company publishing it to be able to listen to it, blessed be the internet) and musical learning and education is more accessible than ever. I don't know if this is an advantage or a disadvantage, but I envy today's young people. I wish I had all this when I was a kid and teenager.

For me, born in 1965, music of the late seventies and 80's/90's was the last era in which music was a much bigger part of people's lives. I believe, and this is JMO... that it's due almost exclusively from the influence of the internet. All of a sudden, the song on the radio that made you lose yourself for a little while was no longer as much of a release it once was. Now there's more ways than anyone could imagine to connect people and release tension. Back in the day it was music that connected people. likeminded music lovers would meet at concerts and bar dances more then than is needed nowadays to meet people.

Rick is a typical example of all of us as we age. We dream of our past, we confabulate and bias, glorify the past. I was there it wasn't all good. In fact many of these rock stars cannot hold a candle to the new generations of awesome talent. The music has changed, some for better, some for worse, mostly just different and that's perfectly fine.

this was a very well argumented video-essay, and what i like the most is that it opens an intergenerational conversation between old school and new school rockers. cheers from a mexican millenial rocker.

Condescending laughter is the best way to get your point across

I'm not that much younger than Rick, but I'm trying not to close my mind and have strong opinions. In other words as we get older, it becomes harder to keep our minds open. Maybe being comfortable with not knowing about everthing and an attitude of exploration leads to a richer experience of not just music, but of life generally!

You’re doing gods work

I'm 50 I guess I'm a boomer I've been playing guitar since I was 12 and you had to listen to music and try to hear it and figure it out there was no videos to watch really I understand what he's saying

I agree with Beato. It IS much different. Is that bad? Meh, I don’t care. I’ll stick with music and I’ll continue to happily ignore video games and play guitar all by myself if I must. I love it. Peace.

I love video game music. I also love Mahler, Sibelius, Debussy and others. I think what Rick is experiencing is the sense of being overwhelmed. When you're not experienced with games, it's more difficult to take it all in. When you get used to it, then you start to notice more details, because you're not focused on playing well.

Dude, i graduated highschool a year before you were born. I was raised on rock stars. However, in the 90s, with the "Alternative" revolution, we started becoming more aware of the indie scene, much more so than before. And the technology to become a bedroom producer just went nuts from then on out, starting with portable 4 track tape studios, to recording on the first home computer based studios, to full-on DAWS and software instruments that were finally affordable to the average person if the just saved up a bit. It used to be that you HAD to be a rock star for anyone to hear your stuff, and now we have streaming and everything to spread stuff around. Rick seems to have fallen into the "back in my day" stage of his life. His parents probably told him the same thing about the bands he liked. And unfortunately, we probably will someday as well. But music, as everything, changes over time, and the gatekeepers will all eventually die off and things will progress. Rock on.

The thing that he also may have forgot is everyone’s a lot more alienated so finding band mates your age is incredibly difficult.

i remenber you, you are the youtuber that did the essay video on the beatles, great, i like you, i will stay subscribe, keep up

My goal in life right now is making sure no Gen Z person has to make a video like this about me. Solid work here, and delivered gently.

Thnx your spot on .. I like watching him but he does live in a bubble when it comes to "NEW" music .. Soooo many new and amazing Artists out there .. and with the Internet it is way easier to find .. and yes you have to look around ( Bandcamp, RPM Challenge, University Radio stations, International Radio, etc ) .. not just spotify .. You're Correct in what you're saying!!

Rick clearly isn't speaking in absolutes, he is formulating a hypothesis to the disparity of passionate musicians in mainstream society versus the decades of his youth. Clearly if he isn't a regular gamer, he's gonna be more distracted away from the music to embrace the learning curve and mechanics of modern games to engage with his family members in a meaningful way. Imagine trying to ride a bike, you block out other stimuli in order to fulfil the task at hand. Rick is a musical god and is an incredibly inspiring and remarkable teacher with a humble and likeable personality. He praises all his musical guests and gives credit to modern music all too often and sometimes just goes with a video title that is a bit more visceral representation of his thoughts to get attention.

There's not a problem with Rick Beato. There's a problem with the lack of musicality in music, and young people either not knowing the difference or not caring.

Video games introduced me to so many new artists. I remember playing need for speed games and learning a ton about new music. Hot Pursuit 2 had me jamming to Rush for the first time. Then need for speed underground came out and introduced me to Lil Jon, Snoop Dogg, and a bunch of other rappers. Of course these artists are huge and I probably would have discovered them anyways, but as a 10 year old kid, these artists were mind blowing. I had never heard anything like it. Still a huge rock and hip hop fan many years later.

Everything changes. Everything. I enjoy watching Rick's videos and others, like Daryl Hall's sessions with well known musicians, to get a dose of warm nostalgia. But it just kind of ends there for me. There is nothing wrong or bad with Gen X, Y, Z or whatever navigating a new landscape with respect to anything, including music. It's the way it is, and it's the way it will always be. I wish them the same prospects for heartfelt enjoyment and connection as I do for any other generation. The 60's, 70's, 80's, 90's are gone. They will leave a great legacy indeed. But times are different now. The potential for true enjoyment, whether through, art, games, sports, connection, whatever, is still there like it's always been and I feel we should sincerely wish that the new generations navigate towards their own happiness through it.

He does have a point about the loss of people listening through a whole album

The problem with music today is a direct result of the over-corporatization of the industry. There are plenty of great young bands out there that will never have the same opportunities as previous generations. Corporate songwriters have monopolized the market, making it extremely difficult for emerging artists to break through. But hey, that's what happens when capitalism goes unchecked. This is one of many sectors where corporate giants have crushed small businesses and workers.

Beato doesn't like Hendrix. WHAT, I think he is just jealous. Jimi was a complete GENIUS, PERIOD. A master songwriter and lyricist. Most people think of Jimi as a guitar player, yes he was but he was so much more. Just think of all the music we have lost in the last 53 years. Rest in peace and thank you so much for all your music. How could anyone not be completely blown away by the master.

A few good points here, for the most part well made. But by far my favourite part of this video is that long list of great bands you included. Particularly the 5-second clip of Mannequin Pussy, who I'd never heard of before. Those 2 chords were enough to send me on a hunt for the Audiotree Session and a nice journey into their back catalogue. Thanks for that :)

Whilst Rick dwells mostly on the musicians of earlier decades, these are the ones that have stood the test of time. It's really too early to say which of the current generation of bands will leave a lasting legacy, but I am sure that the best of them will be as revered as our current heroes, and someone like Rick will be making videos about them in 30 years time.

Well everybody has their opinions and Rick is no exception. I think he's shown a lot of enthusiasm about rock music and keeping it alive.

Ok, a lot of games are considered works of art and have beautifully composed music that people who aren't even interested in games can appreciate. I think it enhances the gameplay in some cases like the Silent Hill games, it creates atmosphere and it feels like a movie. The Final Fantasy have some of the most beautiful classical pieces i heard in my opinion.

I dunno... I am a music teacher and I ask kids "What do you listen to?" and it's always "I don't really listen to music." And they're all interested in video games, but not rock bands. And they don't know the names of bands or albums or songs. And yes, the internet obviously gives you access to the sum total of human knowledge... and guess what? People are dumber than ever, with no memory.

I think what he was trying to say, is that in the face of the addictivness of video games and Internet younger generations (or even older ones, I am from the 80) don't feel as attracted to listening to music the way he did. And I so agree with that as it mirrors my experience when I compare my youth with my 8y younger brother, or my pupils, or even my way of consuming music now.

As someone who creates original music and has been a gamer since 1982, some of my favorite all time music has been video game scores. I'm still chasing the Metroid menu theme in my writings...or a game called Columns for Genesis that had a soundtrack from the heavens..up to the modern wizardry of live orchestra scores like Skyrim and Elden Ring which are no different than modern classical composers. How a musician could play a video game and not notice the music to me would be like eating something and not noticing the flavor or taste - impossible!!!

Rick is right about a lot of things, especially about the history of music including contemporary music. You might not like what he says, but his perspective is something you can learn a lot from if you turn down your "negativity" a bit.

I think you're right but Rick also shouldn't change. I like that he's not so sensitive and doesn't try to have the perfect take that everyone can agree with.

I think I understand Rick's point of view. In past decades, going all the way back to the 50's, whenever music started to get bland something or someone came along and revolutionized it. We had things like grunge in the 90's, new wave, heavy metal and hip hop in the 80's, disco and the backlash in the 70's, all the way back to things like black sabbath, the beatles, elvis. They came along and brought with them music elements that hadn't yet existed in the mainstream, suddenly everything changed. A wide range of circumstances in culture, society, and technology have left us at a point where we have not seen a major musical shift in well over a decade, perhaps two. Instead of music expanding out and growing from new ideas, it seems to have spent the better part of two decades dumbing down. 4 chord chorus's were replaced by 3 chords, then 2, now its pretty common to hear songs where the verse or chorus are literally just riding 1 or 2 notes. We see all aspects of music from Rock, hip hop, country, pop all becoming more and more similar instead of diverging. At the same time a lot of groups are being very creative, they just never get the spotlight they used to. The shake up that bleeds into the mainstream isn't happening. All the "indy" bands you hear sound bland and similar, the pop songs are all just a beat, 2 chords, and a beautiful voice. No one is taking risks, no one is thinking about what's next. No one is diverging, and truly bringing a new form of expression. We just hear people following the safe paths that have already be laid for them, and it's very disappointing. Where are the Nirvana's, the Outkasts, the linkin parks, System of a downs, rage against the machines, think of how drastically different they all sound, and all rose up in the 90's. Here's a list of the top 100 albums of the 90's, there is some similar stuff in there, but look at the range of sounds, how varied popular music was. rateyourmusic.com/list/abyss89/the_100_biggest_selling_albums_of_the_90s__usa_/ sure there were a few dominant genres, but also plenty of popular sub genres and one off's. The amount of variation has shrunk drastically, music has become bland, and stated bland for a while. We need something to come along and shake the foundation!

My passion for video game music is what led me to become a composer myself. I have a deep appreciation for music in all its forms, from 30's swing and electronic genres like dance, trance, and house, to rock, orchestral compositions, 8-bit and 16-bit tunes, salsa, and samba. And you know what's amazing? You can find elements of all these styles within video game music. From epic themes like those in Zelda, to whimsical melodies like in Mario, or even the rock-infused soundtracks of Mega Man-X, the salsa beats of Tropico, the techno rhythms of Extreme-G, and the metal vibes of F-Zero X. You can even discover the nostalgic sounds of 30s swing and gypsy guitar in games like Mafia (PC Game from 2002). The list could go on endlessly.

Hi ! Who is the band playin at 11'50 ? Thx !

20 years from now (20 minutes from now), this opinion piece will be dissed too - and so it goes with the passage of time. The need to fight back against not just bad things, but against everything is endemic to our times. If Beato is intimidating at all its because he's older, wiser, and educated. The golden age of pop music as a showcase for people playing their own instruments, their own songs, and speaking to a collective audience is over. There are fantastic musicians living right now, and perhaps some of the most uninformed and indifferent listeners of music as a technical, historical art form. To my ear, this video sounds like someone trying to gain attention by citing someone who already has earned it. Does music appreciation ala Rick Beato add to our rich music culture? I'll argue that it does.

I love what Rick Beattos channel does, showcasing great music but I do agree entirely with these comments. There are so many great bands like Black MIdi as you mentioned that have gone under the radar in Rick's world which is very insular to his experience.

I have a GenZ daughter, who literally has vinyl LPs of her favourite video game music😂 that said, I love Rick’s videos. He is an excellent music teacher as well. Another reason why it’s so hard for Aziz to get into modern music, and particularly rock musi(because let’s face it a lot of the modern computer generated music isn’t really suitable for life consumption )is that it is so expensive to go see live music. When I was a kid in the 90s, you could spend $25 and go see Metallica. Those same tickets today would be over $500. Most GenZ’s are not in a position financially to be blowing $500 plus on one ticket to go see a band.

Excuse my ignorance but what is the song at 14:00 - I must hear more!

I think his point about the songwriters being older is that the industry is so focused on producing reliable hits that there isn't much room for creative young people. It sounds like, in the 60s and 70s that was sometimes the case as well but with outliers breaking through fairly regularly

Rick has already forgotten more about music than most KZfaqrs will ever learn.

Rick shows are phenomenal and his interviews are music magic!!!

Yes Rick has a tendency to OVER GENERALIZE when reminiscing about by-gone eras but the core of his argument rings true. Although I'm not sure it's altogether a bad thing. The advent of the internet, in many ways, has enabled so many more aspiring musicians than ever before. They can basically do it themselves now, right through to producing everything and selling their product on their own. The middleman has been effectively cut out. That's what's missing now.. the big branding and label monopolizing market of music that was so prevalent in up until the 80s and 90s. The talent still exists, but the enabling platforms have diminished.. unless you take upon yourself to learn all the tricks of getting your product out there on your own merits. There's a hell of a lot of good music out there still, but it's just not as traditionally accessible the way Mr. Beato would like it to be.. even though it's literally at one's fingertips if you care to browse just a little.

My son loves video game music. Huge industry. He seeks out that music. My son loves music so much he is always encouraging to turn the mic on and go live.

1. Music is in trouble, artist's can't make money selling recorded music anymore and have to tour and sell swag to make a living. 2. Music is in great shape, we have 500,000 songs at the tips of our fingers on streaming services, on devices we can carry everywhere. Which is true? Both? For learning musicians, I'm jealous of all the resources available now. Free lessons for literally any song on any instrument. It's fantastic. As a kid , I struggled to learn guitar and vocal, you either had a good teacher for in person lessons, or you floundered.

A very good shout mate, it’s just one man’s opinion. I’ve learnt a lot of studio production techniques from him and his channel but do t always think everything he says is gospel, it’s just his view, I’ll always make my own opinions. I’m a musician, songwriter, producer who spends most of my free time songwriting, recording, performing live. I’ve never really been a gamer but have played and enjoyed playing various games sometimes, I’ve always noticed the music in the games as it sets the mood of the game etc. In the early 1990’s the Bass guitar player in my band has a Commodore 64 while I had a ZX Spectrum 48k, there was a game on the Commodore 64 called ‘Another World’ this game, the characters and the speech of the characters inspired us to write a song years ago that we still play now called Another World’ the lyrics of the song in parts are from what the characters say in the game. Manic Miner on the spectrum had really catchy but annoying 8bit sounding music that still to this day goes round in my head! So it obviously did it’s job and stayed in my brain if 30+ years later it just starts up in my head.