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>>In any event, panelists said the glut of new mediums such as the Internet has created a cultural perception that music has little value. <<

It doesn’t – at least not to me any more. It is a cheap commodity.

I learned to play the bass four years ago. I got a book, took a few months of lessons from a true virtuoso (Randy McClusky here in the Seattle area) and went through the equipment phases. Since I’m almost 50, I compressed everything, including the musical discovery timeline.

I’ve learned that GOOD guitar players and singers are a dime a dozen and it SHOULDN’T pay much because there are plenty who can do it. The problem is that most of the good ones don’t have descent day jobs and live in rat holes. I was appalled when I started trying out for bands and met awesome musicians as old as me that were still living in squalor in two room flats (counting the bathroom) with carpet-sample flooring situated above storefonts in 80 year old buildings. Meanwhile the place is stuffed with amps, cabs, drums and wiring EVERYWHERE. Did I mention the 30 year old fake wood paneling with the obligatory holes.

These guys should have a nice three bedroom house with a garage and 2.5 kids that are going to get them through old age.

All that said, if the record industry suddenly disappeared and we were to be left with only the musicians and small time promoters, maybe we would live in a world where thousands could make a REASONABLE living as musicians, instead of a lucky few making millions (and the loser one hit wonders, which the current industry is directly responsible for, IMO), and the rest having to keep their day jobs.

In this imaginary world, recorded music would be free and musicians would make their money off live performances and endorsements, like sports figures do perhaps. Since recorded music will have no value, people will want live music and will be willing to pay for it, since that is the only way most GOOD musicians will operate.

There’s a great deal more to it than this, but this is the jist.

BTW, I am finding what is REALLY valuable is good SONGS AND ARRANGEMENTS, not musicians.

It amazes me how many solid conservatives all of a sudden sound like ideological Marxists when it comes to this subject. Seriously, read your own post. It's spooky.

And here's another thing to think about... musicians aren't the only ones with a financial interest in music. So, it's fine for them to make a living by playing concerts, but what about the producers, arrangers, studio musicians, graphic artists, promoters, publicists, and retailers who also make a living from recorded music?