[shadowerm]

This had always happened. Metallica is a great example of music that was once underground becoming huge and popular.

What changed is there is no new "underground" culture to take the place of what had become popular and mainstream.

Witch house in 2009 or so I think was the last gasp of the underground before shortly running out of air.

Now young people just doomscroll tiktok instead.

[082349872349872]

That may be true, but I'd be willing to bet that in 2038 we'll be able to go on whatever the successor to YouTube might be, and find someone commenting, somewhere, that a particular clip "was the last of the real ${ADJ} ${NOUN} genre" and that the young people don't realise that what they call music can't hold a candle to 2031.

Lagniappe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQxq_-dWYsc (in the fine tradition of pastiches combining video with unrelated audio)