[Trombone-l] WBEZ-CHICAGO PLANS TO PHASE OUT MUSIC

[George Carr]

> My fear is that in our acknowledgement of the global economy, global
> society, etc...we are actually becoming more selfish than we've ever
> been.  Public radio can't make it because people aren't willing to be
> exposed to things with which they are unfamiliar.  They would rather
> put on their iPods and enjoy the boundary created between them and the
> rest of us to listen to THEIR music.

I'm not so sure.  Touring pop music is making more and more money
every year, so people are still coming out in large numbers to hear
popular bands.  And the ease of music trading goes a long way to
CREATING social connections in ways that didn't exist before: meeting
people at concerts and filling each others' iPods during intermission
can be way more interesting than listening to corporate radio.  I just
don't get that people are more socially isolated these days, even
after a decade or two of the internet.

And even assuming this is true ... how bad is it?  Sure, there won't
be another Beatles, where big chunks of the populace all love the same
band.  But diversity of opinion and taste has always been a treasured
value ... "don't follow the crowd" and all that.  What kinds of
self-sacrifice or discomfort do you think people are less likely to
perform now than they were ten years ago?

George