UNIT 3: ENTERTAINMENT
My name‿ is Julia. Music‿ accompanies my entire day,│ an(d) what has changed‿ is not the quantity available but my relation to it:│ I own nothing‿ an(d) subscribe to everything.
Streaming has produced‿ a proliferation‿ of‿ availability and‿ a collapse‿ in the economics‿ of being‿ a musician. My brother plays‿ in‿ a ban(d) with thirtythir-dy thousan(d) monthly listeners‿ and‿ earns less from that‿ audience than he did from selling two hundred compac(t) discs‿ in 2009,│ the royalty per stream being so derisory that‿ only volume repays‿ it. Live performance‿ is now│ where the money lies,│ which‿ accounts for the ticket prices│ an(d) for the fac(t) that the atmosphere‿ at‿ a concer(t) frequently surpasses the recording. Attribution has migrated from the song to the event,│ an(d) the musician has become‿ a service provider.
As‿ a listener my sentiments‿ are mixed. Algorithmic playlists‿ are convenient‿ and‿ introduce me to genres‿ I should never‿ otherwise‿ encounter,│ an(d) they also homogenise taste,│ since they supply what‿ I have‿ already approved. If melody has‿ atrophied‿ in the charts,│ and‿ I suspect‿ it has,│ part‿ of the reason lies‿ in designing for the firs(t) ten seconds‿ an(d) curating for the skip button. My father‿ obliged me to learn the piano for six years,│ which‿ I resented│ an(d) now appreciate. Setting nostalgia aside,│ I would prefer‿ a commercial system that remunerates the artis(t) to a free one that does not,│ however sentimental that may sound.