On the fifth floor of the renovated Tae-Joon Park Library, a space to study with music is provided, and the music played there gives pleasure to many Postechians who are tired of studying. Although there are many different genres of music being played in that place, it is difficult to listen to certain genres, especially rock music. Maybe it is natural that rock music, which is often loud enough to interrupt students’ concentration, is not played at the library. However, even soft rock, the relatively calm and quiet subgenre of rock music, is difficult to hear in the library too.
The Tae-Joon Park Library is not the only place where rock music cannot be heard. Rock music is often judged as being in a crisis not only in Korea but also around the world. It is hard to find rock band music on music charts in Korea. Pop singers who seem far from rock dominate the world-leading charts such as Billboard. Under these circumstances, some critics declare that rock music a dead. This stagnation of rock music is prominent when compared with the 1960s to 1990s, considered to be “The Golden Age” of rock music. These days, it seems that there is no “super-band” like the Beatles or the Rolling Stones from the 60s, Led Zeppelin or Queen from the 70s, U2 or Guns N’ Roses from the 80s, and Nirvana or Oasis from the 90s.
Until the 2000s, most people used to listen to music mainly through speakers. When listening to music using speakers, the sound of strong and impactful instruments in rock music would have been able to fascinate many people. However, since MP3 players and smartphone music applications became predominant, many people started to use headsets, and band music put too much stress on the ears. For this reason, more and more people are looking for pop music for easy listening, which places focus on the human voice rather than the instrument. Therefore, we can call today the “Pop Era for Easy-Listening”.
Can rock music be seen as obsolete and dead? My conclusion is that it is hard to be so certain. Of course, the standard band composition, like music centered on guitar and bass drum sounds, may have been stagnant. But the methodologies suggested by rock music are still valid. For example, the Korean ballad can be considered as a subgenre in which vocals are more central than in rock music. And the pop can be considered as a subgenre with a more diversified instrument composition than in rock music. After all, whether you are a band music listener or not, you are inseparable from rock music. In other words, rock music has evolved into various forms beyond those already tried in the past. Therefore, it is more appropriate to say that it has been incorporated into more diverse music genres than to declare rock music dead.
Today’s music trends tend to give rock music listeners the impression that they are unable to lead popular music. But why not try to see how rock is still alive, even if it is not in the same form as in the past? Also, for those unfamiliar with rock music, how about paying attention to authentic rock music, one of the thick roots of the music we can often hear today?