Comparing the music world of 1996 to 2026.
It’s 9pm. Friday night. December 20th, 1996. Cape Town, South Africa. I walk out on stage. The air is thick with smoke from the fog machine and cigarettes, and probably something else too. A bright spotlight is in my face. The light’s hot. The weather’s hot. That middle-of-an-African-summer kinda hot. All I can see beyond the spotlight is a sea of people. The venue is sold out. In fact, it’s probably over capacity.
We’re opening for South Africa’s biggest rock band, Springbok Nude Girls, who’d just signed a major label deal with Sony. But my band ROYD wasn’t far behind them, all thanks to the support of legendary DJ Barney Simon, who hosted the only rock show on national radio. His heavy rotation of our debut single led to it climbing up the national rock chart until it reached No. 1 just a few weeks before. To get there, we beat out Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins. Recalling this makes it feel like a distant dream, but it was in fact, reality. And I was only a teenager. This was truly a dream come true.
The roar of the crowd intensifies with every step I take towards the microphone. I swing my long hair to the side of my face and pretend I’m about to speak into the mic. The crowd quietens. In this silence, without warning, we launch into the heavy opening riff of our No. 1 single “Impression X”. They. Go. Crazy! The dancefloor instantly erupts into a dangerous (yet friendly) pit of hair-windmills, body-slams, and flying flannel shirts. Welcome to life in the ‘90s.
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Fast forward 29 years to December 2025. I get an email from the bassist, my best friend Rob Krammer, who now lives in Austria: “Dude, we should totally do something special next year to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of our debut release”.
After the initial shock of realizing that three decades had somehow flown by, we decided that it would be awesome to get all our recordings re-mastered and re-released as one epic album. We excitedly emailed the drummer, my brother Tony Holroyd, who now lives in Japan. He’s one of those people who doesn’t show his excitement, though, or maybe he just doesn’t get excited, I don’t know. But after he revealed a sliver of enthusiasm, we knew we were onto a great idea!
ROYD was formed in 1995 (out of the remains of a previous band) and broke up in 1999, when I moved to Los Angeles to study at Musicians Institute. In our four years together, we recorded one demo and four EPs. We went to record at Paris Studios once each year. And no, unfortunately it wasn’t in Paris. That was the name of the owner. But he was great, so we didn’t mind the fact that Paris was just down the road.
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Back to December 2025. So I got in touch with my favourite mastering engineer, Tony Lindgren, over at Fascination Street Studios in Sweden, to see if he was up for the job. He was, and his genius has not only revived these dusty old ‘90s recordings, but he’s masterfully brought them up-to-date with the big, loud, modern music industry, without compromising their old-school character though.
You can hear the results for yourself on Spotify, Apple, or any other streaming platform, just search for ROYD - The ‘90s Recordings. Or if you’d like to download the album for free, then head on over to HackMusicTheory.com/Royd.
ROYD • The ‘90s RecordingsCover art hand-drawn in 1996 by Ben Ludik and his ballpoint pen
So coming back to the title of this post. What was life like in a ‘90s grunge band? In other words, how does the music industry of 30 years ago compare to now?
Instead of focusing on all the obvious things, like recording to tape in the studio, or running a newsletter and fan club using snail mail, or selling CDs at shows, or playing in front of people who were actually looking at us (not their phones), instead of all that, I’m going to focus on the feeling that us musicians felt about life in the music industry back in the ‘90s. And what feeling was that? Hope.
You see, the music industry back then was a hopeful place to be, because every year it was getting bigger and better as music continued to become a bigger part of our shared culture. The future was not only hopeful, it was expansive. Opportunities were increasing with every passing year. There was a shared belief that music was a vital part of our daily life.
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If you didn’t live through this era, then watch the movie “Singles” from 1992. It perfectly captures how important music was in our lives back then. And it’s a really good rom-com, too! And if you prefer your movies a bit sillier, then watch “Airheads” from 1994. It’s silly, yes, but it totally embodies that feeling of hope we all had back then. The future was bright.
And music was arguably the biggest shared cultural experience that people bonded over. It was a significant part of people’s lives, and it took up a significant amount of our time. We would spend hours every day listening to music. Recorded music and live music. And the music wasn’t in the background. It was the main event.
ROYD • Paris Studios • 1999Tony Holroyd (drums), Rob Krammer (bass), Ray Harmony (vocals, guitar)
The music industry in 2026 is the opposite. Hardly anyone listens to music as the main event nowadays. Music is almost always a soundtrack to something else: working, studying, driving, walking, exercising, cleaning, cooking, etc.
Yes, people listen to lots of music in 2026. Maybe even more than we did 30 years ago, because everyone has a phone that plays music now. But, music has been relegated to the background. It’s pretty much never the main event, and if it is, it’s usually just a song here or there, not a full album followed by another one, and on and on, which is how we used to listen to music back in the ‘90s.
While music was a bonding experience back then, it’s now an isolating one. There are numerous reasons for this shift, which we don’t need to get into here, but the evidence for this change can be seen on Spotify or Apple or whatever streaming platform you use. Look at the biggest artists in the world, with tens of millions of monthly listeners. Forget about the artists who are no longer with us, like Michael Jackson, just look at the living artists. How many of these massive artists have you never heard of? A lot, right? Another way this can be seen is by looking at the artists playing the arena in your city. How many haven’t you heard of? A lot, again. Right?
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That never happened in the ‘90s. We all knew the big artists in every genre, even if we didn’t listen to that genre. This was largely due to radio being the main source of most people’s music. That level of gatekeeping has an obvious downside, which is actually what the “Airheads” move is about, but the gatekeeping is precisely how the shared culture was created and sustained.
So, despite the frustration that us musicians felt back then from trying to somehow claw our way through the gate, I think it was worth it. Because we now know what happens when the floodgates are opened.
Yes, everyone can release music to the world nowadays, but the price we paid for that privilege is the loss of our shared culture. If you’re a Gen Xer like me, or perhaps you’re a Boomer, what do you think? You’ve experienced both worlds. Was it worth it? Let me know in the comments, I’d love to hear your perspective.
Paris (owner, engineer) waiting for the tape to rewind.
Studios in the ‘90s never had computers, they were reserved for boring office workers!
While there are many other differences between the pre-internet music industry and the industry we’re living in now, the main difference (by far!) is generative-AI. This isn’t so much a difference as a demolition. I’ve said a lot about this topic in other posts, so check those out if you’re interested, but suffice it to say that AI has single-handedly killed the hope for a bright future. Generative-AI is narrowing the future. Every month there are fewer opportunities in the music industry.
And while I’m a proud old-man luddite shouting at the AI clouds, this is not my opinion. It’s a fact. The AI narrative that mainstream media outlets and all the big YouTubers and podcasters are pushing (in a suspiciously co-ordinated fashion) is that everyone loves generative-AI and everyone’s using it.
But, if you do some digging, you’ll quickly hit a very different level of reality, where young people are rebelling against AI because it’s robbing them of a future. To learn more about this rebellion and how it’s developing, I highly recommend subscribing to Brian Merchant’s brilliant subtack Blood in the Machine.
These youngsters pushing back against AI fill me with that ‘90s hope once again, and remind me that it’s worth boycotting generative-AI. It’s not too late. And we owe it to the younger generations.
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I’ve had my time in the spotlight, literally, but if we don’t boycott generative-AI, these young musicians will never get their time in the spotlight. And it’s already happening. All the biggest artists in the world are mostly dead, and if they’re not dead, their band broke up decades ago. The Beatles. Elvis. Michael Jackson. Queen. Frank Sinatra. On and on. Read the legendary Ted Gioia’s recent post on this bizarre phenomenon.
And don’t get me wrong. I love old music by dead people. In fact, my favourite artist of all time died in 1750. But, every Friday I listen to the new releases in search of new gems. The treasure hunt is thrilling! We can’t give up on new music and young musicians, otherwise the music world dies.
ROYD • Live in Cape Town • 1998
And remember to look in your local community too, and please get out there and support the young musicians playing live in your area. They need and deserve your support more than anyone in the entire music industry!
And please make an effort to speak to them face-to-face afterwards and share your appreciation. It will mean the absolute world to them. Most musicians nowadays are struggling with an array of self-doubt and anxiety about the future of the industry, so a kind and supportive word is your most valuable currency. Having said that, though, if you’ve got a few spare bucks, give them a tip or buy their merch, cos unfortunately landlords don’t accept compliments as rent payments.
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And speaking of paying the rent. If you want to help me put money in my landlord’s pocket on the 1st of next month, please consider becoming a paid subscriber (or make a one-off donation), or perhaps buying something on my website.
If you can’t afford to at the moment, though, no problem. You can give Hack Music Theory a 5-star rating in your podcast app, that supports my work too.
And if you’re feeling nostalgic for the ‘90s, check out the new, old ROYD album. Or is that the old, new album? I don’t know, but just search for ROYD - The ‘90s Recordings on whatever streaming platform you use, and enjoy some old-school ‘90s vibes.
Thanks for being here, my friend, you are very much appreciated!
Ray Harmony :)
