The Devaluation of Music

Stopping the author here. Streaming royalties are fine. Labels keeping 80% of those streaming royalties due to exploitative record deals is the problem. Furthermore, playing live gigs and selling merchandise has always been how artists earn their money unless they're one of the superstar artists who are too big for the label to let go.

Streaming services pay more than radio and have better statistics to track how many people actually heard/listened to the song. Streaming services can help promote CD sales or influence merchandise sales.

Furthermore - I'd place a large wager that streaming has lessened piracy. It has made music easier to obtain and listen to on-demand and you don't need to go to some shady site (for those unaware of private trackers, which is most people) to download the album.

#1) Few people ever cared.

>maven class that infuses the culture with informed enthusiasm

To most people, this is a nice way of saying "pretentious asshole who won't shut up that they can name any minor detail about an album".

#2) I can agree with this point. But the value of radio in general has gone down with on-demand/XM, being able to play an iPod in the car, etc. Why do I need a radio station to help me find new music when I can use Spotify's "similar to [___]" feature?

#3) This is a problem with media as a whole. For most places it's about views, clicks, and ad impressions now and that means trendy/viral/pop. Not covering some obscure up-and-coming Jazz artist.

#4) No. That's because of hipsters and music snobs who believe in special copper wiring. This seems to be a case for analog vs digital ; because there are music players that aren't media players. They're just less popular because people would rather have a program that does both.

#5) Look harder. I like the picture of ICP. Staying in the same genre, would you say Aesop Rock is anti-intellectual? The thing is people listen to music for entertainment. Not to think critically about things or have to decode metaphors to understand what is being said.

#6) I didn't follow the point being made.

#7) Citation needed. I've always been huge on music, I avoid concerts at all costs. Also define "serious" concerts. Do you mean classical? Methinks the author has a huge Jazz/Classical bias here.

Closing paragraphs: Define "serious music". I'm thinking you mean Jazz/Classical?

>Complex instrumental music has become marginalized to within an inch of its very existence

That's because most people find it boring. Next you'll be telling me people are reading less!