On Thu, Nov 12, 2009 at 2:06 PM, tjpa <t...@tjpa.com> wrote: > It's really that newfangled radio machine that is doing in the music > business. They let you listen to music for free.
It is a lot more than that, Tom. For instance, discretionary spending. Video game and associated hardware sales have surged as music sales on CD have declined and online sales of music have not been enough to make up the difference. It is pop music that drives the bulk of music sales, and that means mostly younger folks. Those in the teen to thirties set have only so much money to spend on entertainment, and with all of their diversionary devices, only so much time to spend as well. They now buy and play a lot of video games, spend a lot more time and money on their cell phones and computers, and accordingly, spend less time and money on music than they used to. Also, the available pop music is not as enticing as it once was. Is anyone going to be listening to the golden oldies of Britney Spears or 50 Cent thirty years from now? No. They are not worth it now and will certainly not be then. The pop music industry, most recently run at the very top by mostly "stupid (old) white men," to borrow from Michael Moore, severely missed the boat a number of years ago when they could have made the necessary adjustments, but it is too late now. The dominance once held by the "biggies" of the recording is gone...and good riddance to them. Idiotic vestiges of the cookie cutter mentality of the music industry, such as "American Idol" are trying to retain some of the lustre and control of that bygone era, but they, too, will fade in due course. Steve ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
