Lawrence Lessig‘s book, Remix, brings up a few very interesting points–particularly those pertaining to John Philip Sousa and his copyright struggles with the new machines that were emerging around his era (circa 1906). I am a little torn between Sousa’s argument–while it is true that fewer and fewer people seem to be able to play “real” instruments (while more and more become proficient at programs like “GarageBand” or as he spoke of, consumers of culture rather than producers), I don’t think that this necessarily means that there are fewer amateurs. As a matter of fact, I think technological developments have created a new kind of amateur. Technology like “auto-tune” has enabled many people who cannot even carry a tune become platinum recording artists (T-Pain, anyone?)

With sound engineering becoming better each day and new programs developing, a single person can create an entire orchestra symphony without ever leaving their couch. Is this a cop-out in some ways? Is it still “respectable” music? Who knows? Something is definitely lost in the fact that only one person made the said symphony–a series of pre-programmed loops with perhaps minor original alterations. It’s a tricky matter that I don’t necessarily have the answer to. However, it is extremely annoying to hear the same bits of music in so many popular songs.