Music Has No Value! Causes of the Problem and Solutions (1/3)
I invite you to discover ways to restore music to its rightful place and significance.
Does music have no value? Yesterday, I had a lengthy conversation with a certain producer and label owner from L.A. What was it about? Of course, it was about vinyl pressing, but also about 'digital vinyl' and NFTs. During the conversation, the statement was made that 'music today has no value.' Then it was added that 'it's only marketing fuel for technological platforms.' I've been talking about this for some time now. It's one thing to have suspicions, and another to receive confirmation from someone who works daily with Bootsy Collins (ps. did you know Bootsy has his own coffee?).
Why has music lost its value?
In my opinion, there are at least a few reasons that have contributed to music being seen as 'marketing fuel' rather than a product in itself. Let's examine these reasons, and in the next two parts, we'll try to find solutions. Part 2/3 will focus on traditional solutions (WEB2), and 3/3 will be dedicated to solutions involving Blockchain, NFTs, AI, VR/AR.
Battle for attention
Possibly the most serious reason. Before the rise of social media, music had competition from other art forms. In this case, it competes with technologies that capture attention, time, and are designed not to let go of that attention. Of course, music plays an important role on social media because it's important to us and our well-being. However, on social platforms, it's reduced to the role of 'marketing fuel.'
Reduced attention span and quick gratification
This is the result of the uneven battle that music fights against social applications. Over the past 20 years, social media algorithms have learned from us, and they've learned well. They've learned so well that Netflix battles our sleep, Facebook deprives us of privacy and intellectual property, and TikTok scatters our attention. In return, we get golden dopamine shots that are supposed to compensate for all of this, and in the short term, they seem to succeed. We don't watch, listen, or read. We live in constant tension and anticipation, which doesn't allow us to do anything lasting longer than 30 seconds because something might be missed in that time.
Streaming
One of my journalistic heroes,
, writes about this very often! Streaming isn't just about meager rates for artists/bands. It's also a breeding ground for pathologies. From fake artists to absurdly low entry thresholds. 120,000 songs land on Spotify daily. This couldn't be good for anyone: 100,000,000 songs for $ 9.99. It didn't even work out well for Spotify; the company is still incurring losses.Lack of physical products
The music world is dominated by streaming. I don't think that can be avoided. The importance of streaming grows from year to year. Fortunately, the market for physical media is making a comeback and with great force. More on this in the next part, where I will discuss ways to deal with the decline in the value of music. The virtual nature of music has contributed significantly to this.
Excess of music
I mentioned this in relation to streaming. Anyone can upload musical content to the internet today. Any content. If everyone is a creator, who is the audience? Hundreds of millions of songs, and that's only a part of the available content. It's hard to keep up, and this introduces chaos.
Lack of context and history
The lack of physical albums and skipping between different tracks can lead to a lack of context and history related to the music and the artists who perform it. In the pre-streaming days, I listened to artists and albums. Today, I'm a fan of Tidal and listen to playlists.
Rise of singles over albums
The modern consumption model often focuses on individual tracks, which can diminish the importance of albums as artistic wholes. It's a bit strange since the entire history of phonography essentially begins with singles. Is history repeating itself? Or is it a regression?
Race of trends and commercialization
There's talk of the 'TikTokization' and algorithmization of music. Some artists focus on creating songs that can quickly become viral or trendy, which can lead to a loss of authenticity and artistic value. Quality worth its price.
For free
For years, I've observed a shift in the meaning of value. Increasingly, something becomes worthy of our attention (worth our time and engagement) because it's cheap or free. Quality isn't the benchmark of value.
Summary
It's worth emphasizing that these causes don't act separately; they often intersect and support each other. Today, music may lack value, but it still has the potential to convey emotions, inspire, and build communities. However, the challenges of the modern world require the music industry and those within it to adapt strategies in order to deliver value in new and creative ways.
As for coping strategies, we'll discuss them in the next part: 'MUSIC HAS NO VALUE! Causes of the Problem and Solutions.'
Best regards,
Mr. Vinyl