system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: Why do musicians always seem to have an "era?"

That is to say, why don't they just keep churning out popular hits for their whole careers, instead of a particular decade. Very few artists transcend this paradigm of music invention. I am writing a paper about this, but have been unable to find much information that directly pertains to this phenomenon.  [serious]
gpt
Popular music has always been tied into youth culture.  Youth culture is ephemeral.  Artists reach their fame and popularity with a specific youth demographic at a specific time, but that demographic doesn't stay young long.  A few bands can cut cross generations, but the up and coming youth demographic  is looking for something new and different.  The cycle begins again.  The older generation then associates the music of their youth with the events and experience of that time, that era.