No subject

income of all performing artists was basically limited
by how many people they could entertain at one time. 
Everyone was OK with this situation and thought it
perfectly fair.

Then, starting in the late 19th century we got: audio
recordings, radio, tv, video recordings, etc. 
Suddenly, for a select few, the income from a single
performance could be vastly multiplied.  Note that
these people did _nothing_ to create these inventions.
   Neither do they work harder than they did before
these inventions.  Thus the pre-napster situation was
this:  most performing artists were still poor, but a
few well-marketed fools like <insert random pop star>
could become instant multi-millionaires.

Now, because of the disruptive effect of the internet,
the big music labels are dying.  I suspect the big TV
networks and movie studios will follow.  I expect that
in a few decades, the entertainment industry will look
a lot like it did pre-phonograph.  There probably
won't be huge entertainment conglomerates.  And only
those who truly love performing and have actual talent
will become musicians/actors/whatever.  Incomes from
performing will top out at upper middle income.

Now, if you excuse me, I have to get back to ripping
streams.



-- 
Please avoid sending me Word or PowerPoint attachments.
See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/no-word-attachments.html


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