There’s certainly a much larger catalog of “old music” than new, and that will always be the case, but it seems that industry onlookers are starting to take note of how increasingly popular older songs have become. In the US, some 70 percent of the market is comprised of old music sales, and it’s old music that’s driving growth due to a reported decline in makers of new music, per MusicTech.
One way that newer music makers of all eras have tapped into the nostalgia that’s always driven a large portion of the music industry is through sampling. It’s also a more clear-cut way to find a beat or rhythm that’ll connect with the masses. Even the indomitable Beyoncé has sampled copiously on her massive new album, Renaissance, including Foremost Poets, Right Said Fred, Teena Marie, Robin S, Danube Dance, and Moi Renee, to name a few.With older tracks being dominant and artists not wanting to be too similar to what’s hot, perhaps it’ll force a move that’ll take sampling to a whole new level.
Sampling older and older music
As noted, sampling isn’t anything new. At any given time, you can probably find at least two songs in the top 50 that have overtly sampled from an older track. It’s certainly not a contemporary method, but it’s certainly very noticeable. Doja Cat’s Say So samples Olivia Newton-John’s Physical, Kanye West – a master sampler in its own right – drew from Bell Head by Liquid Liquid for God Breathed, and David Guetta recently surged up the charts with I’m Good (Blue).
Some artists sample from even further back than these relatively modern songs. Several have drawn in samples that age several centuries. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) has been sampled by Billy Joel, The Beatles, and Nas, while Lady Gaga’s hit Alejandro was sampled from the Hungarian folk-inspired Csárdás by Vittorio Monti in 1904. Essentially, many tracks played by Classic FM can be found in much more modern tracks.
So, how about going even further back and getting an original-yet-sampled track that derives from even older forms of music? While very much a niche in modern music, some groups are doing this in a way.
Allures of ancient world themes
The ancient world continues to fascinate and inspire. It’s why countless books on history and mythology continue to be published, and why much more contemporary entertainment products lean so heavily into it as a theme. You only have to look as far as the Fire Blaze slots and their extensive ancient themes to see this in action. It’s a new way to play online slots – which are very modern in themselves – featuring four-tiered network jackpots and the Hold and Re-spin feature. To sell them upon release, most were made with an ancient theme.
Celtic Charm, Green Wizard, Blue Wizard, Red Wizard, Khonsu: Good of Moon, Tsai Shen’s Gift, and Pharaoh’s Daughter are all clear examples of creatives seeing the popularity of the ancient world among modern consumers. Even platform Peacock looks to tap into this with an entertainment angle rather than a documentarian one, with comedy-drama Cleo in the works.As for music, some bands are picking up steam around the world for their connections to ancient roots and ability to both play and twist ancient instruments. One of the biggest in this regard has to be The Hu. The Mongolian folk metal band uses traditional Mongolian instruments, throat singing, war cries, ancient poetry, and is said to be Hünnü- inspired. Heilung is doing something similar with replicas of ancient instruments to deliver a metal version of Viking music.
Perhaps it won’t be long before the more inventive mainstream artists begin to track back further to ancient ways in order to get a uniquely sampled sound in a time when the commonly sampled old tracks are jostling them for chart positions.