Thoughts go through my head like speeding bullets without a target.
In a world where information is nearly infinite and accessible by everyone, it's hard to comprehend how the world works, or how the world should work. So many things are available that have never been available before. I think about all the books I have yet to read, all the movies yet to see, music yet to hear, skills left to learn. We have so many choices and because of this, it's hard to choose anything.
Access to technology and information has changed the world so quickly in such a limited amount of time, especially in the world of art. Visual arts were once used to capture images, making portraits of famous individuals and recreating landscapes. Then, photography was invented, which captured these images much more easily and effectively than an artist ever could. Bewildered, they could only create a new world that could not be captured by cameras, leaving to the confusion of modern art.
With the development of better quality cameras at cheaper prices, anyone was able to take up photography. Because everyone can do it, very few could be recognized for doing it, and because of that photography declined.
Music has also fell victim to modern technology, to a certain extent. It used to be that you had to go to a recording studio and pay to be able to make recordings. You had to practice an instrument and develop a high level of skill to even be recognized. Nowadays, a person can record on Garage Band, access many instruments through synthesizers and other electronic music, and layer on multiple records. One person can make an entirely full song from the comfort of his basement. In addition, the creation of games that allow people to make music has made it more available.
In this modern world, everyone has become more equal. But if everyone is equal, then why should anyone be recognized for anything? Anyone can be an artist, making the field more competitive for much less of a reward.
Since my interests lie mainly in music, I want to focus on that for a little while. Although everyone listens to music, it is not nearly as important as it used to be. Radio is steadily dying in favor of programs like Pandora and Last.fm that give people music they want, and Spotify which provides access to hundreds of thousands of albums for free. That plus illegal downloads, nobody really buys music anymore. Now, the destruction of the record industry wasn't a total loss. Musicians used to make very little money off of their songs as it was stolen away by recording deals and high taxes. I'm sure you all know the story with the Beatles.
Main sources of profit must come from performances then, since you can't really sneak your way out of paying for those. Unfortunately, Ticketmaster ruins that to a certain extent. Ticketmaster basically has a monopoly over all ticket sales for major artists. They've made deals with all the big venues so that they can sell tickets only through Ticketmaster, giving them the power to price the tickets however they like. More obscure artists can run away from this, by selling tickets through other services (brownpapertickets.com) but due to their obscurity they're probably not making much money anyway.
Nowadays, I see some pop musicians who try to follow the former glory of rock stardom in the past, but it seems expired and fake. We're living in a new kind of world, where spunky personalities and rock n roll don't do much. One man with a computer making dubstep can raise a crowd much higher than a rockband can, for a cheaper price.
If you look at history, you could see the same sort of thing. Louis XIV created the castles at Versailles, some of the most beautiful castles in the world. Egyptians created the great pyramids, impressive architectural feats that to this day are unable to be created. How were these incredible things created? Well, Louis XIV pretty much made France go broke and the Pharaoh in Egypt used slave labor. The world is probably better off without those things, but you cannot deny the spectacular things accomplished in an imbalanced world.
As the world becomes equal for all, it becomes privileged for none. Is this good? Is this bad? It's hard to tell.
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