How come all those old musicians make such an awful music?

1) Classical composers don't seem to age badly at all.

2) Pop music is inherently youthful, so maybe that's why 45-year-olds start to sound silly and unconvincing singing it.

Agreed. I mean, who can honestly listen to Brian Wilson sing "Smile" now and not want to cry a little bit? Anyone? Anyone?

which is a generalization for itself.
oh,today's youth are fucked up...:))

also, your taste changes. as I grow older I am more inclined to be interested in music created by older people. some stuff that meant a lot to me when i was 20 means nothing to me now. some of it means even more to me now. so i can't say all under 30-year-old songwriters have nothing to say anymore than frederick can say all over-30-year-olds have nothing to say.

and older people don't exactly have the corner on the market when it comes to making shitty/boring/pretentious music. the doors were under 30 when they recorded The End, dude.

inspired and unmatched by any youngster and recorded by 63 year-old Son House

http://www.wirz.de/music/resonat/sonhous4.jpg

http://cover6.cduniverse.com/MuzeAudioArt/140/143657.jpg

Going on this, could you also say that having a conversation with yourself on the interweb is a characteristic common among young people?

yes.am i supposed to feel shame?

FWIW, I don't think 'rock is for the young' or any stupid shit like that. I do think that a lot of people in rock get into it for extra-musical reasons (chicks, glamour, ego, fame) so that their enthusiasm for music is secondary and wanes after they've achieved chicks glamour whatever. The people interested in music qua music tend to stay good. These people who are see music as a means to an end may nevertheless have remarkable talent and achieve great things when they focus on it.

Depends. But often, an act will benefit from changing his style somewhat when he gets old. Elvis Costello would have looked silly making "This Year's Model" in 2006.

* = Okay, I do recognize that Jonathan Richman is still making Bubblegum-ish music at his advanced age (and pulling it off) but he's the exception to the rule the original poster is positing, because J. Richman is a mutant and his mutant power is the ability to remain perpetually youthful in his own mind....or somesuch.

A lot of people just get tired of looking for new challenges in their 30s, and I think a lot of musicans get older and just retreat into what they know.

In the case of Nick Cave getting boring, I think he started viewing his work as a profession. That last album was good, 'cause he stopped being tastefull ("a frappacino in my hand") and went and got a gospel choir and took a big risk on something that could have sounded like the Jesus Christ Superstar Soundtrack. Actually, it did in places, that audacity is what made it the first album by him in 15 years that I enjoy listening to.

Mark E. Smith has remained interesting by never letting himself, or anyone else get comfortable. Nor has he been dealt such success that he has to worry about the mortgage on the castle.

Wire's recent stuff shows a similar modesty- taking a break when they had nothing to say, testing the water with some EPs, rather than a long-winded full-length.

For me, the ultimate exception to the trend is when this 60-something took on the young lions

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000005H4K.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

If they Rolling Stones were willing to collaborate with, I dunno, the Gossip, they might not look like such dumbasses. Instead, they made a big deal about how they simply collaborated with each other on the latest record. Really up for the challenge there! They live in isolation, and with nothing fresh going in, nothing fresh is going to come out. I think that the case for most artist who've grown boring.

The other exception to this are the artists who have no social context whatsoever- they're just in their own little world. Like Richman. If Captain Beefheart were still active, I bet he'd be as good as ever too.

Really, what the problem is is that we have a media culture that is youth obsessed/crazed. It is an initial instinctual reaction to be drawn to that which is new, shiny, and pretty. Also, younger people have disposable incomes. They have less (or no) bills and part much more easily with their money because they are less experienced and much more desperate to "fit in". If it were the old who blew all their money on entertainment then we would have a system that was totally geared towards them.

Now for the older artist there is tremendous pressure. It is damn near a crime to get older in the first place, but if you stick to your orginal sound your a "dinosaur". If you incorporate newer sounds then you are washed up and desperate.

Saying that old musicians make crappy music is a generalization. There are plently of examples to prove otherwise. It's just for a lot them it becomes more difficult to persist at least in large respect due to the tremenous pressure and judgements leveled at them. Other arts do not have this level of bias.

Look in the end it really doesn't f'ing matter. We all get old, so what? Just enjoy music for what is and quit adding to the tremendous adversity musicians already face in doing their craft.

What really made me appreciate talent at any age was when I saw this rock group in a pub in Ireland. It was a band of younger guys but they had this tremendous drummer, 80 yrs old. People respected him and came to see this group because of him...funny I don't even remember the name of the group.