I have been a musician for 10 years now, attempting to learn guitar and piano, writing songs, singing constantly, figuring out hundreds of techniques and going from coach to coach to see how I can better improve my voice.

I’m now old enough to be trusted with the task of finding my own songs to sing at different events, competitions and gigs — the main one being singing at Bronco with my sister, where we have to find two hours worth of age-appropriate, high-quality songs to sing.

Since we have started this gig and have started building set list after set list, I’ve quickly come to realize that music has changed since I first started singing.

The first thing we do is look on the top charts. There we find songs marked with “Explicit” written in red beside them or songs that reference things girls our age (16 and 13) shouldn’t be singing about.

We try pull songs from the radio, but it seems as though every song is crafted around being played in a club.

From a musician’s point of view, our generation has lost sight, or should I say hearing, of good music and artists.

We have started accepting the wrong artists: ones that sing for the money, artists that rely on autotune and lip syncing to fix everything, and artists that don’t even begin to think about the message they send out from their music.

As a musician, I notice it more because I have to get on a stage, and the lyrics that I’m singing contain a message that now I, not the original artist, am encouraging. It’s hard to find songs that appeal to all people, yet still hold my personal beliefs.

To all the rising musicians like myself, keep supporting those genuine and heartfelt artists more and more, don’t change to try to “fit in” with the rest of the music industry, brand yourself as someone who writes and sings from the heart. Hardwork pays off more than autotune and lip syncing.

To the people who don’t sing, this still relates to you. Every song you listen to on the radio has a message, even if it’s hidden beneath the loud bass. I hope that now you just listen, think about if your beliefs line up with what the song is saying or if the artist has a reputation of being disrespectful.

Music is a beautiful thing. Let’s keep it that way.