What Does Music Want?
The humanities are going through an existential crisis. This is to be expected because the humanities are primarily concerned with meaning. Music used to have meaning (or more simply relevance) on par with literature and art, but the Internet destroyed it in many ways, and has become somewhat of a depleted natural resource (Jevons Paradox). The arts flourished on the Internet for a while, but have become overgrown with weeds. Perhaps music now wants to be a properly cultivated garden, not a wildflower field. Both are effective environments for creativity, but one ultimately becomes too dominant.
The tipping point for music was in 1999 when two factors changed its direction: overpriced music and peer-to-peer file sharing. Now that tipping point is inverted, waiting for the next pole shift.
Art is as interesting as ever. But music is at "point zero", which Robert Irwin has elegantly expressed. Throw out the studio and start afresh? What does music really want?
Kevin Kelly asked what technology wants, and his idea was the technium. Music once had an ecosystem that worked, and needs its own technium.
The tipping point for music was in 1999 when two factors changed its direction: overpriced music and peer-to-peer file sharing. Now that tipping point is inverted, waiting for the next pole shift.
Art is as interesting as ever. But music is at "point zero", which Robert Irwin has elegantly expressed. Throw out the studio and start afresh? What does music really want?
Kevin Kelly asked what technology wants, and his idea was the technium. Music once had an ecosystem that worked, and needs its own technium.
