List of albums that will still be popular 50 years from now...

@bdp24

I think there lies the rub. Musicians will always listen widely to other musicians. But the vast majority of people are not musicians, just as the vast majority are not audiophiles, and thus a seminal and valuable voice like The Band is destined to go by the wayside, as are so many other valuable artists.

Someone earlier brought up the few artists from the 20's, 30's and 40's we still listen to with anything but a sense of nostalgia. I think part of that can be attributed to the recording and sound quality; we've become spoiled by the fidelity of the past 40 years. But the large part is simply the generation who did listen to that music with a passion is by and large no longer around. What's left is second-hand discovery.

I will concede Miles and Coltrane and a few others who not only changed jazz but legitimized it for a widespread audience.  I can see them sticking around for the next half-century.

@ptss 
50's,60's rock may not be popular 50 years from now simply because listeners don't have much life left. Only certain titles/artists will still remain. Note that classical music is also selective in terms of what now musicians perform.

My Son The Folk Singer - Allan Sherman (Hello Mudda, Hello Fadda)

If we use art as an example, rather than the early days of recorded music, I think we can safely assume that many of today's popular artists will be forgotten, and some artists who die in relative obscurity will be resurrected and popularized. 

This might happen in many ways, including the use of their music in films and the recycling of their music by future contemporary artists as homages, leading to the re-exploration of the original. 

I would also assume that this will happen genre by genre, since it's not likely that we will ever return to formats where music can be popular across wide spectrums of society. 

So the questions we should be asking are 1)which pieces will remain or become popular within a genre and 2) what genres will exist 50 years from now?

Interesting, dragunski. I've recently listened to a few Swing and Big Band pieces from the '40s and '50s. I think future generations who compare that music to Rock & Roll may think that the former is much more avant guard and extreme.