Reply #11: typical conservative point of view [View All]

Individuality is bad and must be stamped out. Conformism is comforting and therefore good and must be enforced. If you don't go along, something is wrong. It's not the 'fragmentation' that is bad, it's the urge to conform and the fear behind that. As far as music, I don't see this culture as fragmented, I see it as nauseatingly homogenous, as the corporate music overlords take their last dying gasps.

It cracks me up, the way these rich conservative white guys see the world. This is where he gets his info: "If you go to marketing conferences, you realize we really are in the era of the long tail. In any given industry, companies are dividing the marketplace into narrower and more segmented lifestyle niches." This man needs a lobotomy, or someone needs to sell him a clue that that corporate crap isn't reality. And it never ceases to amaze me that what is at root of these complaints about fragmentation is that the underclasses are having their voices and their demographics recognized and marketed to instead of slurping up whatever the overclass of conservative rich white males deems is appropriate, i.e. his social segment is losing control of dictating culture, and they can't stand it.

As far as the musical U.S. history thing, that sounds cool, as long as he's giving an authentic history and not just showcasing the thieves that made millions by aping the authentic artists, many of whom who never made a dime from their recordings. I'm not sure where the Allman brothers fits into American history in a significant way...I'd use Leadbelly instead of Muddy Waters and put a zydeco band in there in place of the Allman Brothers, etc.