Re: [microsound] the culture industry

[Damian Stewart <damian@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Kim Cascone wrote:

> q1: has the steady stream of swill coming from the 'culture industry' 
> given people the impression that music is disposable and hence not worth 
> paying for?

Perhaps. Invert the importance of money, though. I don't think people 
have the impression that music is disposable (except for music designed 
to be disposable), but 'not worth paying for' implies that to pay for 
something is the basic determinant of value, upon which other kinds of 
value can be built.

Money has become so much more imaginary in a digital world (especially 
where the population is largely ignorant of how the underlying 
electronic mechanisms works) that it doesn't surprise me that music, 
even more esoteric than money, is the first to show the strain.

> q2: is filesharing a  _symptom_  of the devaluation of cultural 
> artifacts or simply a problem in itself?

Filesharing is a symptom of the weakening of the psychological 
mechanisms necessary to make culture a product you have to pay money 
for. I'm not sure such a thing as a 'cultural artificat' as something 
that you pay money for just because it's culture has any meaning outside 
of the performance arena.

In the language of capitalism, culture is a service, not a product. The 
last hundred years blip of culture as recorded medium is a blip, and 
will end soon.

--
Damian Stewart
+64 27 305 4107

f r e y
live music with machines
http://www.frey.co.nz
http://www.myspace.com/freyed

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