Philosophical Notes: The Future of Music

Ted Gioia has published 12 Predictions for the Future of Music. Gioia is a well-respected music historian and jazz critic, so he observes from a position saturated with the music business. Prediction is a difficult sport, so who knows about the accuracy of these?

Still, some are close to obvious, for example, the notion that the centralized music industry will wield less and less power. That is almost a technological certainty, IMHO, if it hasn’t already happened. About half the predictions are from this idea thread.

A few other predictions caught my attention though. The idea that dead musicians will be resurrected as holograms and perform again seemed oddly unappealing. But I note that many ideas seem unappealing until experienced.

The other one that seems very appealing and likely (to me) is that Spotify, Roon, Tidal, Apple Music and YouTube will lower the cost of trying new music so much that a lot of previously niche music will get a broader hearing. This, in turn, will lead to more innovation in musical styles, or at least the appearance of it. This is a wonderful thing; not that there is anything wrong with the Beatles or Taylor Swift or Beethoven, but there is life beyond the core catalog and I think Jon Leifs or Cecil Taylor could benefit more listeners.