Some of what we have now (e.g. keyword search through google’s news aggregrator) we have never had before, not in the print media and not in the word of mouth either. This makes me expect to see something new and different come out of it. Note that the same search and database facilities also give unprecedented censorship capabilities to government and the ability to quickly and surely hunt down dissenting opinions. So far this has mainly been used in China, but when you think of the power, it’s going to be very tempting to anyone who gets the opportunity (e.g. employers, religious groups, etc).

I expect we will see some escalating struggle between the natural inclination of crowds to freely discuss matters of concern, and the vested interests wanting to impose some viewpoint that suits their business and political positions. I also expect that the money to be made in journalism will not be money paid by readers looking for informative reporting, but money paid for propaganda and advertising disguised as news (although maybe that shift happened some time ago).

The pattern part worries me a little. I would argue that journalism still needs a bit of structure simply because its content can be used to influence rather than entertain.

The infrastucutre of the modern music industry is screwed. We know that. And we are all causing it by creating Napster, Kazaa and other file sharing sites. We are causing it by demanding that we get the music we want, when we want it, how we want it and usually for little money (iTunes) or no money in exchange (podcasting networks or places like Pandora).

The music industry, such as you could define it, has only been around for a hundred years or so and even then it was for a handful of musicians and composers who were paid to please the king.

Long before the industry there was the music. There was sound and there was the beat, the stuff that stirred souls. People always made music, for themselves, their families, their friends. It’s only recently in human history that anyone thought you could make a living doing it. Then the industry got in the way.

Back in the day you could rely on tastemakers like the pioneers at Stax, Atlantic, Motown, Chess, Arista and a host of other labels to bring the best music to us, because they had the skills and the infrastructure to do it. But then the corporations took over and started lining the wallets of a few honchos. Now, who needs them.

So yeah, we are seeing the destruction of a music industry that was always a house of cards. But we are also seeing a liberation or a re-democratization of music itself. Now that each of us has the tools and the distribution to make and share whatever music we want music is being returned to the people. Ironically, with all this technology, we are going back to the past when anyone who wanted to make music, could make music.

Same thing with journalism. It will continue to be transformed. There will be winners, and losers. Some will generate revenue, other won’t. Remember, no one has a right to make a living. You either provide a service that people willing to pay for, or you don’t.

Originally posted http://thethingis.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/02/its_about_the_m.html