I occasionally get random thoughts that I want to remember, and so I write them down and then think about them later. This thought came on New Years Eve, and I sent a text to myself to remember it.

Back in the day (way back in the day), if someone had a great thought and wanted to remember it, they had to chisel it into a stone tablet (think, ten commandments), or in later years learn how to read and write, then use expensive ink and hard to obtain paper like papyrus or something.

Basically, you only wrote something down if it was *really* important, and therefore you felt that the effort and cost to memorialize the thought was justified.

These days – you can text it to yourself while at a concert. Not even a writing utensil is needed.

For music, the barrier to development used to be access to and cost of a recording studio to produce quality music, and then, to get music to the masses, one had to negotiate through a process controlled by music labels and national music stores via CDs, tapes and records.

If the music really inspired others, or if you had a lot of money, the music could be put on a CD, and perhaps distributed to the masses.

To get through these hoops and barriers, musicians had to make extra efforts in doing what they believed in, and would make those sacrifices only if they or people they knew truly believed they had created something special.

Thus, those who made it to the next level, like those in many professions, had to go “all in” to make it.

So now, with the creation and mass publication of music so easy, are we all better of?

As artists? For those that are musicians to their core, and would never have done anything else in their lives, I feel for you. There is just so much competition these days coming at all angles.

But then there are creative types where music creation is a smaller but still important part of their lives, and those people can now find an outlet for their creativity that doesn’t cause major sacrifices in other areas of their lives. This, therefore, allows for more styles and idiosyncrasies to show themselves, a fact that should lead to more overall creativity. But it also leads to more supply. Much more supply.

As fans? One would think so. It is unfortunately increasingly more confusing to negotiate through the over-abundance of material, but at least we all get more supply of music in the genres that personally excite us, however obscure. And that is a good thing. Plus free music is nice.

As business folks? Well, sure. The more content in the market, the more confusion, the more the need to have simpler, better, cleaner and less complicated ways to find new music (as fans), promote your music (as musicians), and purchase music (musicians, fans).

Just something to think about…