The 2015 Lollapalooza lineup, which was released on Wednesday, is a nice reminder that no one has any idea what is going on in rock music.

This isn’t to hate on it. I promise. The organizers did a fine job, and I could not have done a better one. The lineup is a fine mashup of new and old, established acts and up-and-comers.

It’s just interesting as a lineup because, like seemingly every music festival lineup right now, there doesn’t seem to be any theme other than “these are bands that hopefully people recognize.”

Lollapalooza started out 25 years ago as a gathering for alternative and industrial music with a healthy dose of rap thrown in. It then became the biggest grunge festival in the world … before falling on hard times and eventually being cancelled in the late 90s. A few years later it rose from the dead, and it’s now become a success story now as a festival that gets some of indie music’s biggest acts out annually.

I also have no idea what this festival is about anymore.

I understand that this is no longer a grunge festival. I understand that times change and tastes change and festivals have to pivot to survive. But what is Lollapalooza now? What is the theme? What ties these bands together? Looking at the lineup, it feels like they went down the line of Spotify’s most-played indie artists and grabbed as many as they could.

Paul McCartney isn’t a surprise; he’s rock royalty, a member of the best band ever, and having a nice run of relevance with the tracks he recorded with Kanye West. Metallica is a major band and a welcome nod to the roots of the festival. Florence and the Machine is … popular. Sam Smith is … also popular. Bassnectar is … EDM.

Look at those five acts lined up next to one another, though. Paul McCartney – Metallica – Florence and the Machine – Sam Smith – Bassnectar. What is the connective thread here? What is this festival even about?

The correct answer to that question is: It’s about trying to get a ton of people together to have a good time listening to music. Of course. That’s all Lollapalooza owes anyone, and I know plenty of people who will happily go, and don’t give a hoot that this lineup leaps around genres like James Hetfield will creakily leap around the stage.

But it also shows how disconnected, fractured and specific music is these days. There isn’t one massive independent genre or movement that commands listeners. People can find thousands of bands, instantly, all online, and audiences will continue to splinter smaller and smaller.

A festival can no longer expect to sell out with a lineup that makes thematic sense. They have to pick and grab at the few bands out there that a majority of people recognize, and then pray that the small, devoted audiences of the smaller bands will make the trek. There are no big movements anymore, just tons of tiny ones, and Lollapalooza is doing their best to appeal to all of them. I don’t envy that job.