It’s an odd paradigm that we live in right now, where more people than ever are listening to music, yet the value of music has plummeted drastically. This isn’t some attack on file sharing or anything of that sort; this is just a general observation which I’m sure you will agree. For instance, if the year was 1726 and you had an opportunity to hear a live symphony, I can guarantee you that the experience of hearing them would be utter magnificence; like traveling to the edge of the universe and back.

You see, back in those days, hearing a symphony or music at all for that matter was something that was not so common place, it was a rare occasion. So the few times that you did get to hear music it was amazingly wonderful and mesmerizing. You would embrace every moment like it was the last time you would hear music, because who knew how long it would be before your next taste. Now if you compare that experience to some ones experience of music in this day and age, it is a very different picture that is painted.

Almost everything we do whether we realize it or not has music playing during it. Eating, Sporting, Shopping, Elevating, Driving, Walking, Jogging, Talking, Bar Hopping, Computing, iPoding, TVing, Gaming, Blogging, Building, Surfing, Smoking, Drinking, Sleeping, Showering, Dentisting, and the list goes on and on and on. It’s like now a days; you have to make a conscious effort to NOT have music playing, whereas before it was the other way around. Hell, 200 years ago even if you wanted music playing you were probably shit outta luck… unless you were rich.

So here we are in the year 2008, where when it comes to music, we all live like the Kings and Queens of the past and have access to hearing it when ever and where ever we please. What an odd time we live in. With the click of a button I can access 1000’s of hours of tunes and put it on my iPod to go with me everywhere, and that is “normal”. Access to music 24/7, anything and everything is normal… no, not just normal, it’s expected. And what becomes of things that stay the same and we expect all the time? We take them for granted.

And I guess this is just human nature, to take things for granted. To see and hear the things that used to excite us slowly become dull and boring simply because of time and repetition. Sad really, how so few are awe inspired by a sunrise or looking at the stars. It’s a weird irony in that those things which used to make us excited slowly become dull and boring once you get them all the time.

In the end, where does this leave us? Well music isn’t really dead, although people’s level of satisfaction that they receive from listening to music has definitely gone down over the years. So what’s the real new excitement factor in music? What inspires them for more and sucks them in to keep listening? NEW MUSIC. That’s the key. That’s the future. The most quality music, as fast as possible.

But that’s a post for another day.

🙂

Shane Lamotte
shane@livingillusion.com
http://www.livingillusion.com/wordpress/