“Haven’t I heard this somewhere before?” is a question I ask myself when searching for new music on the radio. And I’m not wrong; Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do” borrows beats from Right Said Fred’s “I’m Too Sexy.” Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” is almost exactly the same song as Kesha’s “Tik Tok.” 

“Most songs nowadays have the same beat,” said study hall teacher Marquise Rodriguez.

 How could music be original and truly creative now when most songs borrow each other’s beats? There is a difference between using artists as inspiration and blatantly copying. Bands such as The Beatles and Nirvana didn’t rely on other melodies to produce quality music. These artists did take inspiration from older artists to produce their music, but they fabricated their songs with originality. 

I’m not saying there are no talented artists today, but even considering talent, there is a lack of traditional practices among live performances, such as encores, that ultimately lead to a lack of quality in the music. Live performances will also steer towards lip syncing instead of pure live singing.

“Billie Eillish didn’t have an encore,” said Stella Mikolitch, sophomore. “It was really really sad. I was expecting her to play but then I realized she wasn’t coming back.”

As encores leave concerts, I can’t help but wonder, what other traditions of the music industry am I going to see lost as time progresses? Are all artists going to lip sync at concerts in the future?

Slowly but surely, music is losing quality and originality.