Like the dinosaurs, the amazing non-mammal life that ruled the earth in pre-extinction times the old music of the western tradition - and it remains - has an enormous variation in sound, personnel, structure, instruments. It came in all shapes and sizes from 16 hour opera to 1 minute Webern minimalia.
Modern music is 25% rodents - 4 piece rockbands doing 3 minute songs. But it's efficient and can survive nuclear wars. And it's as smart as the old music.