Mass Communication Killed Music

I am in the middle of Bob Dylan, The Essential Interviews and I came to Chapter 15, Bob Dylans Interview with Ron Rosenbaum of Playboy. Before I go on, I must admit I am a fan of Bob Dylans music and the life he has lived. However, when I read the followingpart of the interview I stopped dead in my tracks. It really made me think and led me too, todays blog.

During the interview, Playboy asked Bob, Why do you think the [musical acts of the '60s] did notsurvive?
Bob, replies with a long ramble, and finished with, Mass communication killed it all. Oversimplification.

Why was this so profound to me?

Every day I listen to terrestrial radio, as they call it now, and all I hear is the same song, over and over again. As Dylan would describe it,"The times they were a changing". He would have a small following in parts of New York City, Philadelphia and Boston; however, as communication increased his reach and fame exceeded his expectations. This was due to the nationalpublications that all jumped on the media bandwagon in the 1970s.

So why is this so important?

Bob in his early30s saw that mass communication had killed music because it put an emphasis on individual groups/acts placing them into mainstream America. This was around the same time Shawn Fanning the founder of Napster was born. Now we live in a society where communications runs our lives. Technological advances such as email, instant messaging, VOIP have transformed our daily lives.

Follow the trends?

If history has taught us anything, it is the fact that history repeats itself. In the 70s the news companies emerged and have since established themselves as a permanent fixture in todays society. With the emergence of the Internet, we are still in the infancy phases and it is still anyones ball game.What did thenational media companies do in the 70s? They created a market with mass distribution of news.

So what is next?

A company to emerge that can enable all organizatiosnsand individuals with the ability to distribut their content. However, Mass distribution of content has a three-fold obligation:

1. As Google says, Dont be Evil " make surethe service isin the best interest of the people


2. You can profit from it, but dont be biased


3. It has to be free for users to submit their content

What company will provide these services?

Some currently exist, but where is the company for the small business?