Music has been around for thousands of years and changes with the times. Everyone has a different taste for music; oftentimes, it can help you understand who a person is. 

There are artists and bands who almost everyone knows, even if they don’t actually listen to them, like The Beatles, Taylor Swift, Queen, Michael Jackson, The Weeknd, and many more. Sometimes, a person’s music taste isn’t just black and white. People can listen to several very different genres and enjoy them both.

Even though music has been around for decades, it became more accessible in the 1920s with the invention of the radio, causing music to be more popular in turn. Jazz was one of the most popular genres in the 1920s. Not only has the genre changed over time, but a lot of older songs were longer – some being at least 6 minutes long. While some musicians still make long songs like that, it’s not as common.

There are many distinct differences in music from back in the 1920s, but a lot of musicians and their listeners mainly focus on love songs. There are a lot of social media posts, mainly on TikTok, where people talk about the lyrics in love songs, or more specifically, how women or love are described by male artists. An example for this can be from “Can’t Help Falling In With You” by Elvis Presley to “She’s So Nice” by Pink Guy.

Not only have musicians changed the lyrics in love songs, but also some people make songs about affairs. Going back in music history, it is rare to see songs about affairs because they were not as common as they are today.

It is interesting how music progresses; some would say it got better, others say worse. It truly depends on the song or musician. 

Music has become more controversial with people writing about their true opinions now. Some people make music to protest for their rights: LGBTQ+ individuals, people of color, and other marginalized groups. There is also music people make to hate on these groups of people, and unfortunately, that will always happen.

A lot of times older generations will hate on the newer music and vice versa. Currently, pop is the most popular type of music, but hip-hop dominates the U.S. market as of 2023, which is a big difference compared to famous 1920s jazz.

One of the most popular songs in the 1920s was Swanee by Al Jolson. Currently, a really popular song is Flowers by Miley Cyrus. These songs are very different. Cyrus’s song is about being an independent woman and loving herself, which was something that was never sung about in the 1920s.

Not only has the music itself changed from the 1920s, but so have the ways people have listened to music. The radio became widely used in the 1920s, and while it’s still a popular way of listening to music, we also now have music streaming apps on our phones, like Spotify and Apple Music. 

It is certain that music will continue to change over time, just as jazz has since the 1920s.