Elvis: the King of Rock and Roll. Michael Jackson: the King of Pop. George Strait: the King of Country. It used to be that everyone had their own favorite type of music, their favorite genre, their favorite king. More and more, though, those “different types of music” are starting to morph into one mass genre, so to speak. The open-mindedness of today’s society is allowing people to be more understanding and interested in a wide variety of musical types.

     Today’s music is starting to show more and more influences from different genres of music. Take Luke Bryan and Blake Shelton for example. Both of their new songs, “Boys Round Here” and “That’s My Kinda Night” have hip-hop influences. Comparing these new songs to previous hits definitely shows a different influence on the newer tunes. Although the songs are well liked across the nation, it is showing that the “country” genre that we’ve known for years is starting to slowly fade away, becoming a little more T-Pain and a little less Keith Whitley.

     Today’s generation is a lot more open minded than those who grew up in past generations. People are more apt to listen to different types of music. The nation has become less judgmental as to what music artist have to put out into the music world and, more importantly perhaps, less judgmental about the lifestyle of the artist. From the years of the Beatles to the age of Miley Cyrus, listeners (and parents) have simply become more open and accepting.

     The classics will always be the classics. But the music industry is changing, and artists are learning to widen their horizons and open their options. People are always going to have their favorite type of music, but new inspirations can cause a change in opinion. Artists are learning how to cope with the changes in society by changing their music, which more and more often reflects the changes in the world around us as well.