Is music getting sadder?

Kyle Gordon is a Youtuber who makes parody videos of different genres of music - country, eurovision, Irish drinking songs and most recently - a parody of the indie pop genre of the late 2000s and early 2010s. Your Mumford and Sons, Monsters and Men, OneRepublic and the likes. The vibes, the clothing, the videography and the lyrics (especially the lyrics) were accurate to the T. Overall, it was a vibe of millennial optimism - singing about wanting to 'live forever' / 'rock the night away' / 'have the greatest night ever' / 'we are young' / 'we will leave our mark behind' / 'we will make history' and so on.

Which got me thinking - where is all this optimism in current music? It is not like a lot of time has passed since 2011. There are a lot more Gen Z artists in the industry now and more than the quality of music, it is the content of joyfulness in the music that has deteriorated. A lot of current pop music is based on anger, unrequited love, self-love, depression and indifference, more complex topics like the ones explored by Hozier and Chapelle Roan (I know I am probably mixing genres up but hear me out). Even the happier music is sort of muted or just for the vibes like Espresso OR just lack effort (like APT, don't come at me).

The world has gone through a lot over the past decade. Also, millennials and Gen Z are much more informed about what the world is going through than anybody was in the previous decade. Is this macro-awareness about everything that is going on everywhere in this world a reason why we aren't so optimistic anymore and hence make sadder music?

A lot of global pop stems from America, which (according to media and the web), is a hot mess right now and not in a fun way. Is that a factor why American musicians are making songs along more nuanced and sadder lines?

Is the condition of the world (what with the pandemic, multiple wars, political chaos, geopolitical anxieties etc) only to blame global music getting quieter and more inward-turning than louder, open-er and outward-turning? Or is our generation as a whole pre-disposed towards some kind of inherent sadness?

Let me know your thoughts.