Music downloading fueling apathy, Music is taken for granted Options

[*mipadi*]

An interesting article from ArsTechnica outlines a new report that suggests the easy availability of music is causing a general apathy towards music. From the report:

"The accessibility of music has meant that it is taken for granted and does not require a deep emotional commitment once associated with music appreciation," said music psychologist Adrian North.
…
"The degree of accessibility and choice has arguably led to a rather passive attitude towards music heard in everyday life. In short, our relationship to music in everyday life may well be complex and sophisticated, but it is not necessarily characterized by deep emotional investment."

More is available here: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060110-5941.html

What do you think—are consumers more apathetic towards music than they used to be?

[winsome]

if you think about it, what we listen to on a daily basis today doesn't have much musical merit on its own, regardless of how available it is. consumers have every right to take their music for granted; it's just product. the majority of what we listen to is pumped out of the industry by artists under pressure to meet deadlines/expectations; they're not looking to create valuable art. musicians once spent lifetimes composing their finest works, and they actualy composed music themselves. how deep of an emotional attachment can one have to just another album in a series? i know i wont be buying as much new classical music as pop music this year; i have a deeper attachment to Holst than to Hollabackgirl, so i wont have to buy a lot of new classical pieces to replace what i lose interest in. I got tired of Hollaback girl after like the 8th time i heard it, so i had to buy new pop music to replace it. it's not a shift in consumers to apathy, its a shift of the industry to marketing flash over substance. apathy should be expected from consumerism. if we weren't so easily bored with the music we buy, why would we buy any more?