Assignment 21- Andy

Somewhere, right now, a young musician is struggling to make a living in confused market. In this day and age there are more musicians on the scene than ever before. The "genre" we knew of the past is quickly disappearing, being replaced by innovative artists seeking to make their mark on popular culture and spread their work. Unfortunately, most of us (including myself) lock ourselves into our favorite genres and artists. We rely on the radio and a few other media sources to give us our music. The modern music-consumer does not understand the need to explore the vast market that we are privileged to have access to. One major cause of culture's stagnated music interests is how we view music as a part of lives. While it in nice to listen to your iPod while working out or listening to the radio while driving music's purpose is not to entertain you while doing other tasks. A musician is an artist; they do not create solely to give us something to do. Music is a form of expression, and for many, a way of life. Many musicians that create beautiful, brilliant art have no way to expose the public to their product. That is why we, as educated consumers, must seek out our music. Platforms like Pandora and Spotify have made it much easier to find new material, but it is not enough. Another, not so recent, phenomenon that has helped to expose up-and-coming artists is the music festival, which have become much more popular in the last few years. I'll leave you with a thought. Think about all the music you have ever listened too. Most likely there are many songs that like and enjoy listening to fairly often. Now think about how many thousands of artists are emerging ever year. That means millions of songs that you might like, but will more than likely never hear unless you put in the effort to find it.