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I don't think it would mean the end of music, but I do think it would seriously reduce the level of music in our lives. Live music is great but the simple fact is the reason our lives have a soundtrack (which they do) is because of copyright and mass distribution through centralized channels. If copyright falls apart that era will end. Of course eventually ALL eras end, that's how eras work. I'd just rather not be the generation that ushered in that particular end.

Oop, time to change CDs.

If copyright falls apart that era will end. Of course eventually ALL eras end, that's how eras work. I'd just rather not be the generation that ushered in that particular end.

You mean gangsta rap will die? This is a bad thing?

Maybe disco or punk will make a comeback then. Well, one form of nasty music from anti-American Lefties is enough to kill at a time...

Ah, bless those centralized distribution channels. If only we had a Ministry of Music, sorta like the Cubans, we'd have musical nirvana. Not that this is what you really meant, but the comparison was hard to pass up ;)

Anyway, it might just as easily make a wider variety of music available to us all. Once people realize that they no longer need to convince some A&R scumbag - when he's not busy snorting coke from a hooker's a**, that is ;) - that they're the next Britney or Justin or Eminem in order to make music for people, then they'll be able to bypass the A&R scumbag altogether, which is one less barrier between them and the public. Given that his job is not to filter out artists based on their talent or ability, but rather to filter them out based on what he sees as their profit-making potential, I'm having trouble seeing this as a real loss to the music-listening public.

Yeah, artists will lose the one thing record companies really do provide that's of value - marketing. Instead, they'll just have to sink or swim based on how their music is received, rather than based on whether or not the coke-snorting A&R guy decides that they're profitworthy enough to deserve a million-dollar ad budget.