No songwriter in history ever had to compete with Brahms, The Beatles, James Brown, and Beyoncé all at the same time until now.

Because we all have easy, instant access to every song ever recorded, and that also means every new song released now walks into a room already packed with all the best and worst music ever, and has to earn its place right next to it.

All this is new. Every new song used to enter a world with a short memory. Now it enters a world with a perfect one.

That’s why new music doesn’t hit the way it used to. The competition has never been harsher.

What do you think about new music? Do you connect to it as well as you do to older songs?

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