In one conversation an artist says he doesn't think music means as much to people as it used to. In another a major label A&R director speaks of sales declines among even the biggest names in Smooth Jazz. On the other side of the country Brian Culbertson plays a beachside outdoor concert on a summer evening, and people spill out of the bars and come up from the beach to see what is going on. They stay and end up dancing in front of the stage, and buying CDs at the autograph table, saying "I didn't know this music was out there. I didn’t think I liked 'jazz' but I love this!"  In a book and music store a few miles away a Craig Chaquico CD begins to play on the sound system, and several people put down their books and magazines and approach the information counter asking what that wonderful music is. Their eyes light up. They leave with a CD that doesn't sound like anything they already own...

During my years in radio and retail I have seen these things happen all the time, yet at some point the seed of the idea that adults don't like or respond to new music was planted. Since then it has flourished like a weed that chokes off or covers any evidence to the contrary. So how can we bridge the gap between these traditional assumptions and experiences that contradict it.  How do we begin to look at these pockets of activity and see them as potential universals instead of aberrations?

Most of us grew up with music. When you are a teenager there is always a song playing. Some of us pushed the boundaries and explored more and different types of music than our peer group. Whatever decade we were a part of we were the music junkies. Discovering a new type of music was always a pivotal moment. You heard it then went exploring, reading reviews and scouring the stores for more of the same. During that process you would accidentally hear something else and the discovery cycle would begin all over again.

Then we grow up. The responsibilities of adulthood close in. Family commitments, work commitments,  community commitments, and a never ending stream of demands that come from living in a 24/7 culture with no downtime leave adults with very little time for themselves. There is no time to seek out new and interesting entertainment. Without access to peer groups and campus-driven word-of-mouth, and without much familiarity with music resources on the internet, adults default to the familiar songs from their formative years that they hear repeatedly on radios in their cars and offices and piped into stores. Does this mean they don't want to hear anything new, or that they just don't know what is available or how to find it?

Traditional music stores are youth culture driven. Even if you know what you are looking for there won't be anyone there to help you. Adult oriented stores like Barnes and Noble or Borders are a goldmine, and you can listen before you buy, but the amount of choices laid out in a maze of shelves and bins can intimidate a novice explorer. If you're lucky you'll hear something playing in the store that lights you up. Or you'll pick up the headphones, push the play button by an interesting looking CD cover and get the immediate "Wow". Unfortunately that doesn't always happen. Then it's easier to default to the familiar, so people often do...

Shannon West