20th and 21st Century Music On Your Home Audio System

After seeing the Broadway musical, Million Dollar Quartet, my uncle and I were talking about the Johnny Cash music that blared from his home theater equipment. He mentioned that part of the musical explosion of the 20th century came from the new sound recording technologies available. I added that it was also due to the turbulent cultural changes sweeping the nation as it assumed the role of leader of the free world after the Second World War. He agreed, and said that it was akin to the dominance of the Austro-Hungarian Empire of Mozart's time, or the power of England during Elizabeth I's long reign that allowed of Shakespeare's. Whatever was the reason for the rise of these geniuses, we decided, we won't soon hear the same kind of musical explosion for quite some time.
From Hank Williams' early death at 29 in 1953 to Michael Jackson's in 2009 popular music as a genre was invented, along with rap and hip-hop, rock n roll, electronic, and the dozens of other subgenres that came from the blues and folk music. Once Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney go, that's it. The end of an era.
But what about the internet, I asked. "Isn't the Information Revolution going to spawn its own culture of excellence?" "It very well may," he responded, as the Cash switched to Elvis, "although it's hard to imagine that it will continue in the music we listen to on our home audio systems." I began to think and puzzle over what Uncle Jack was getting at. He said, "You see, now that the internet exists, it's easier than ever to record and distribute music, and so there's not as much money in finding the most talented musicians and signing them to a record deal—they can sign themselves and spread the word. " "I dunno Uncle Jack," shouldn't that mean that there's a better chance to hear your music played over any random person's home audio system," I said. To which he replied, "Sure, but the thing is it's harder to make money doing it, and so that makes fewer people want to get really good at it." "Maybe you have a point," I said, "I guess we'll have to wait and see."
And so we must. As in all of the arts there's a bell curve of success. Maybe Uncle Jack is right, maybe the bell curve just got a lot deeper because of the internet. But that doesn't mean that the very best artists and musicians won't eventually be able to climb up and find their way onto our home audio equipment.

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