Carlo_M
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Oct 31, 1997
- Messages
- 13,392
And to go even beyond what the Average Joe "can hear" is the more important question:
What does the Average Joe care to hear?
I think the majority of evidence points to the fact that the average person DOESN'T CARE too much about music. We are long gone from the days where people would listen to albums from beginning to end and marvel about the artistry and musicianship on display.
Most people now view music as background noise. Why else are vacuous acts like Boy Bands, Britney, Lohan, et al. dominating the airwaves, while solid acts that aren't so "photogenic" are relegated to small indie labels?
Why else are SACD/DVD-A sales just a minute fraction comparedd to MP3 player sales and downloads/rips?
I don't think it can be argued convincingly that the average joe cares about hi-rez music. Back in the day, when there were few forms of entertainment (mainly movies and music), people cared. But now we have infinitely more types of entertainment: movies, music, video games (took in more revenue than box office sales last year), cell phones, PDAs, computers, laptops, reality television, etc. There's too much entertainment competing for a lessening amount of free time that the average person has. People don't have time to care for everything, so we have to choose what we care for. Unfortunately that has meant a movement away from meaningful music for the masses (as evidenced by what we hear on top40 radio and what acts sell megamillions of records).
What does the Average Joe care to hear?
I think the majority of evidence points to the fact that the average person DOESN'T CARE too much about music. We are long gone from the days where people would listen to albums from beginning to end and marvel about the artistry and musicianship on display.
Most people now view music as background noise. Why else are vacuous acts like Boy Bands, Britney, Lohan, et al. dominating the airwaves, while solid acts that aren't so "photogenic" are relegated to small indie labels?
Why else are SACD/DVD-A sales just a minute fraction comparedd to MP3 player sales and downloads/rips?
I don't think it can be argued convincingly that the average joe cares about hi-rez music. Back in the day, when there were few forms of entertainment (mainly movies and music), people cared. But now we have infinitely more types of entertainment: movies, music, video games (took in more revenue than box office sales last year), cell phones, PDAs, computers, laptops, reality television, etc. There's too much entertainment competing for a lessening amount of free time that the average person has. People don't have time to care for everything, so we have to choose what we care for. Unfortunately that has meant a movement away from meaningful music for the masses (as evidenced by what we hear on top40 radio and what acts sell megamillions of records).