Is The iPod Generation Destroying Music, or Saving It?

A recent British study declared that the era of downloadable music and portable MP3 players is creating “producing a generation that doesn’t seriously appreciate songs or musical performance.” But hasn’t the real impact of music-on-demand been the newfound ability of consumers to bypass an increasingly marketing-driven music industry which insists on promoting style over substance? “Today, discerning music listeners aren’t at the mercy of a few label bosses, marketing gurus and program directors. If they’re willing to invest even a small amount of effort, they can go online, confer with other fans and have at their fingertips every imaginable artist in every imaginable genre. The result is that, more so than generations past, the current one really is appreciating musical performance.”