I have a thought about the

ephemerization

of music consumption. It seems uncontroversially true that a person who purchases an artist’s music (either physically or digitally) as opposed to simply streaming it is notably more likely to engage in further

material acts

around this artist, e.g., to buy a ticket and go to a concert or buy a tee shirt. My theory is that the relative likelihood of these material acts is actually way more asymmetrically skewed than people understand—I’m not sure what the test would be to prove or disprove this. My hunch is this: someone who buys my album (either physically or digitally) and listens to it, say,

once

(and doesn’t even really like it that much), is monumentally more likely to engage with the work

in the world

than someone who streams the record many

times and even

really likes the work.

It’s not simply the case that streaming music changes how we

access

music. Rather, it changes the axiological situation comprehensively. Our capacity to value is changed dramatically, and this capacity is what gives our lives texture, is what makes people who they are (and not simply a part of the faceless masses). This is a problem. This massive asymmetry is, I think, going to destroy live music and the possibility of a musical community. Under total emphemerization, only the stan is a reliable consumer.

We stan incessant mediocrity

! But, I have to insist, because of the kind of deindividualization that takes place in becoming a stan, there can be no community of stans. A community is only possible where people can express themselves, critically, negatively, vitally.