[p2p-research] Slashdot | The Golden Age of Infinite Music

[Paul D. Fernhout]

From:
"Slashdot | The Golden Age of Infinite Music"
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/09/10/31/215209/The-Golden-Age-of-Infinite-Music
Over at the BBC, music journalist John Harris speculates on what may become 
of the music business now that we have entered the golden age of infinite 
music. "I've just poured the music-related contents of my brain into a book, 
and I would imagine that 30-ish years worth of knowledge about everyone from 
Funkadelic to The Smiths has probably cost me a five-figure sum, a stupid 
amount spent on music publications, and endless embarrassed moments spent 
trying to have a conversation with those arrogant blokes who tend to work in 
record shops. Last weekend, by contrast, I had a long chat about music with 
the 16-year-old son of a friend, and my mind boggled. At virtually no cost, 
in precious little time and with zero embarrassment, he had become an expert 
on all kinds of artists, from English singer-songwriters like Nick Drake and 
John Martyn to such American indie-rock titans as Pavement and Dinosaur Jr. 
Though only a sixth-former, he seemingly knew as much about most of these 
people as any music writer. Like any rock-oriented youth, his appetite for 
music is endless, and so is the opportunity..."

Cited article:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8330633.stm
"Not long ago, if you wanted music, you had to save up your pocket money, 
take a trip to the local record shop and lovingly leaf through its racks. 
Now, it's almost all free, instant and infinite. And our relationship with 
music has changed forever."

--Paul Fernhout
http://www.pdfernhout.net/
http://www.beyondajoblessrecovery.org/