Well, to be honest, I'm not sure what exactly Ted's thesis is. You are certainly correct that new music aficionados have always been the exception, not the rule. My thesis is that the changes Ted points out are driven by technology; culture follows technology in the way conservatives like to argue that "politics is downstream of culture"…
Well, to be honest, I'm not sure what exactly Ted's thesis is. You are certainly correct that new music aficionados have always been the exception, not the rule. My thesis is that the changes Ted points out are driven by technology; culture follows technology in the way conservatives like to argue that "politics is downstream of culture". The "forward looking art form" was certainly not always forward looking, it became that way because new distribution methods arrived that made it more profitable for a new form of gatekeeper to promote new music over old. Now we have another new technology it has produced a new form of gatekeeper that finds it more profitable to promote old music over new. I'm not sure how bad or good this is for the continued production of great new music, but I expect it will lead to very homogenized mass music and "siloing" of different genres. It will probably reduce musics ability to drive culture, but it might lead to greater creativity and diversity on the musical fringes.
Well, to be honest, I'm not sure what exactly Ted's thesis is. You are certainly correct that new music aficionados have always been the exception, not the rule. My thesis is that the changes Ted points out are driven by technology; culture follows technology in the way conservatives like to argue that "politics is downstream of culture". The "forward looking art form" was certainly not always forward looking, it became that way because new distribution methods arrived that made it more profitable for a new form of gatekeeper to promote new music over old. Now we have another new technology it has produced a new form of gatekeeper that finds it more profitable to promote old music over new. I'm not sure how bad or good this is for the continued production of great new music, but I expect it will lead to very homogenized mass music and "siloing" of different genres. It will probably reduce musics ability to drive culture, but it might lead to greater creativity and diversity on the musical fringes.