As a challenge to myself, I said goodbye to my curated playlist of 428 songs from the past decade. For exactly seven days, I did not listen to Post Malone, Harry Styles, Ariana Grande or any other modern-day artists I normally listen to incessantly. 

Instead, I shuffled Spotify’s “All Out 70s” playlist whenever I felt like listening to music. Throughout the week, I immersed myself in a unique variety of songs I never would have listened to otherwise. 

Like any Spotify era playlist, there are catchy songs that you find yourself singing along to, and there are songs that you automatically skip. As I listened to ‘70s songs, I realized that I was forming opinions on my own of what I liked hearing in this specific genre of disco funk music. 

For example, I found myself being drawn to songs with a stronger emphasis on vocals instead of background instruments. Artists such as Van Morrison, Fleetwood Mac and Elton John perfectly encapsulated this style, as their music tends to be focused on the lyrics with simple guitar or piano chords accompanying them. 

Although it was hard to narrow it down from the seemingly endless playlist, some of my favorite songs from the ‘70s were “Rich Girl” by Daryl Hall and John Oates, “Bennie and the Jets” by Elton John, “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac and “How Deep Is Your Love” by the Bee Gees. 

Immersing myself in ‘70s music for a week proved not to be nearly as difficult as I thought it’d be. Soon enough I found myself adding these songs to my regular playlists. Because of the type of modern songs I enjoy, I was sure that listening to ‘70s artists with vibrant instrumentals would not be “my type” of music. After my one-week experiement, I realized that  “good music” isn’t simply what’s trending on the top charts. It’s the plethora of unique sounds that can be discovered in any time period.