OT: The future of music by Gail Zappa
computeruser
from elsewhere.
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gail-zappa/the-future-of-music_b_337202.html
>
> Long ago in a land not so mythical or far away as some would have you
> believe, certain corporate types over the age of 30 were intent on
> "engineering" a 'music scene' in San Francisco. It came to pass of an
> evening (in the vicinity of a stage) that a dispute concerning
> professional practices was resolved when one Bill Graham said to one
> Frank Zappa, "You'll never work this town again". Cut to our current
> climate under corporocratic rule where it is now possible for a
> 'promoter' (no longer an independent/veteran of city hall wars) to
> tell an artist (anywhere in the world) "You'll never work this planet
> again". This is real bad news for non-conforming types. Composers (or
> at least the one I know) are people who dream. They are not your
> target audience for an ambien-enhanced life sponsorship. (Perhaps
> someone should consider a piece on the Future of Sleep - in America at
> least.)
>
> Moving right along: With the advent (and adventures) of the internet
> and coincident technological advances (Yes. You can get waaaay more
> information on the head of a pin presently than the Lord's prayer and
> all the lyrics of Neil Sedaka combined) it is now possible for more
> experimentation at a less expensive rate than having to hire a room
> full of orchestra to hear what it is the guy with the checkbook thinks
> you are doing. That potentially means more job ops even though the guy
> with the checkbook is more imaginary than ever these days. And with
> all those buttons to push and knobs to turn to administrate the
> frequential flow it makes it possible for everyone to be in the
> composing business. Oops! Just when it seemed that it was all good
> news a little flip of the switch makes it very bad - and even a little
> ugly on the side.
>
> And now, just when you thought the news could not be worse, let's have
> a quiet little look at the future of copyrights. Exactly what and why
> are they? Turns out that the concept comes along with the concept of
> Freedom and all the rest of the stuff that is built into the
> Constitution of the United States of America - and other countries.
> This is part of the package designed to promote and protect the
> intrinsic reasons behind the salute to our flag. The idea here is that
> you can march with a beer in your hand but culture (and that is what
> we are talking about) is nothing more or less than the ideas of the
> people in this time in this place - and that is what it takes to make
> a nation. Such traditions as football may be tied to the morale of a
> country but music and all the other arts and sciences are its life
> blood. Find a place without music and you will find a dictatorship.
> Find one with state-sponsored, authorized music and you will find
> fascism.
>
> Some believe the future of music is the future of spectacle - for that
> is what music is starring as these days. We know the show will go on.
> And on and on. Everything will be homogenized and recycled and well-
> lit. But let's address that last bastion of acoustical grandeur - the
> concert hall. (I smell some evolution brewing . . .) No matter how
> many orchestras continue to play the standard war horses, more, not
> less of them, are made up of players whose ears are more - not less -
> attuned to a wider variety of sound, including the music of recent
> generations. And many of these players are in bands of their own. I am
> not suggesting that this is dangerously so - just examining one tiny
> aspect of the evidence that suggests to me that the human race is
> genetically pre-disposed to love and require sound. And what is music
> if not organized sound. Although for many its enjoyment is social, for
> the few, the enjoyment of music - and its construction - is personal.
> Like the man said, "Without Music to decorate it, time is just a bunch
> of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid."
>
> But I digress. As usual. So back to the future and a few predictions:
> Scientists (?) will prove that there is a "music" gene. The question
> will be asked, once it is proven that music changes your mind -
> literally, how? How does that work? And when the answer comes some
> will be surprised to note that, in the case of music, stereo does not
> refer to the number of speakers or ears. Music is exactly like sex in
> the sense that while human orifices are involved in the experience,
> the really fun part happens in the brain - the location of which will
> be found to be co-located in other regions of the body and even off-
> planet. And I hasten to add, when this happens, the deaf and others
> will hear real music and hearing will be redefined. And finally, it
> will be proven that humor IS a real component of music. Get some
> today.
>
>
> Read more at:
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gail-zappa/the-future-of-music_b_337202.html