The Rolling Stones came through a while ago, as did the Eagles , Creedence Clearwater Revival's John Fogerty , and James Brown . Jimmy Page and Robert Plant played updated versions of Led Zeppelin 's music, with some new songs strewn in on occasion. A better explanation, it seems, can be found in the music industry and its structures, and in the way those structures are increasingly becoming inadequate for today's mediascape. The question seems unfair. As new style waves come in, they might still sweep through the mainstream stations, but will only manage to cause some minor ripples amongst the less central channels.
Similar trends exist among music stores, and the music press.
The mainstream might remain in the middle of the musical spectrum, therefore, but it's been narrowed considerably, with more and more music fans moving over to the more specialised channels. With an unlimited number of specialised channels, with fans deciding their musical diet for themselves instead of having radio DJs or music journalists do it for them, and with the continued narrowing of the mainstream as it loses more and more listeners, new waves of musical styles lose their impact almost immediately now. Whether that development is entirely desirable remains a point of debate, of course. It's time for new, smaller, and more mobile players to take over from the multinationals, it seems. Bit 9 References Bruns, Axel.