The Slow Death of Music in a Digital World
Music is dying. Not because people don’t listen to it anymore, but because we’ve forgotten what it truly is—and what it takes to create it. In our fast-moving, screen-saturated world, real music—the kind that speaks from one human soul to another—is becoming a rare and endangered thing.
Real Music Takes Real Work
True musicianship doesn’t come from an app or a plugin. It comes from years of disciplined, focused training. It takes passion. It takes patience. It takes waking up every day and choosing to struggle through failure until something beautiful is born. This level of dedication is hard to come by in a society that craves instant gratification.
But what makes this even worse is that musicians are no longer supported. Our culture often dismisses music training as a hobby, not a pursuit worth real investment. Schools cut music programs. Families prioritize convenience and entertainment over practice and perseverance. And as a result, fewer children are learning to play real instruments or experiencing the personal transformation that comes from doing so.
Machines Can’t Make Music
Let’s be clear: digitally derived "music" is not music. It may sound pleasant, it may be catchy, but it lacks the essence of music—spirit. Music is a language of the soul, a sacred act of communication that only the living can create and understand. When a machine generates sound, no matter how advanced the technology, it is not expressing emotion, story, or spirit. It is simulating it.
This matters. Because real music has healing qualities. It connects people in a way nothing else does. It brings peace, releases grief, sparks joy, and awakens the human soul. In a world that is becoming increasingly automated and emotionally disconnected, we need this more than ever.
We’re Losing Our Children
Here is the ugly truth: we are losing our children to screens. Their minds are being rewired by digital noise—endless video games, short-form videos, and social media scrolls. Their attention spans are shrinking. Their emotional depth is thinning. And their ability to sit still long enough to listen, learn, and create something meaningful—like music—is fading fast.
The smarter our technology becomes, the more vulnerable our children are. And if we do nothing, we risk raising a generation that has never known what it means to touch the infinite through a single note, to feel fully human in the act of creating something timeless.
Music Is a Way Back
There is hope, but it requires effort. We must protect and preserve real music by reintroducing our children to it. Not through apps or games, but through instruments, lessons, practice, and real connection. We must inspire them to pursue music not for fame, but for the richness it brings to the spirit.
As Nietzsche once said, “Without music, life would be a mistake.” This is not just poetic—it’s prophetic. If we allow music to die, we are not only losing art. We are losing a path back to ourselves. To save music, we must save our children from the grip of artificial experience, and reawaken their spirits to something real.
We still have a choice. Let’s make the right one.
How We're Keeping Real Music Alive
At West Coast Institute of Music & Arts, we are committed to reviving real music in the lives of children. Through in-person piano lessons, group classes, and after-school music programs held at Vancouver schools in neighborhoods like Yaletown, Downtown, and Kitsilano, we offer students a chance to experience music the way it was meant to be—live, human, and deeply personal. We’re not here to entertain—we’re here to awaken. Every child deserves the chance to create something real. That’s what we teach. That’s what we fight for.