Incredible as it may sound, I fear the children of the future will forget the role of music in their lives. I honestly can t remember the last time I talked to a young person who was really interested in a particular band, composer or artist. People seem to spend their free time doing anything but listening to a CD (tape, record, you name it), and the way media promote certain music styles and performers, matched with the inevitable progress of the music

technology itself, doesn t help.

Youth is busy there is no question about it. School is enough to fill any teenager s life with work all day long. The little free time students have is probably spent on part-time jobs or other inescapable activities. But wait, there s the weekend trust me on this, no student will find two hours of time for a record with all the chores, partying and catching up that needs to be done over Saturday and Sunday. If music is listened to, the atmosphere is usually that of a crowded nightclub or a friend s place where plenty of other interesting things occupy a young mind.

So there is television, right? There s MTV and VH1, there are plenty of videos playing throughout the day and night? Yes, but let s consider the quality: one will certainly notice that those companies have to make money, and that is achieved through constant repeating of a hip band or a performer; same videos are being played ten, sometimes fifteen times a day. And even if it wasn t so, there is no sense of choice the viewer doesn t think with his own head, TV does it for him. Sadly enough, the same thing happens with radio stations broadcasts.

Modern technology is allowing us to enjoy music in a number of ways today, but that is not always a good thing. A listener can now choose from a wide selection of artists and titles, and never before has music been so accessible. More and more stores are opened, advertisements inform us of upcoming events and releases, and reviews and other articles in magazines help us decide will I like this band? Should I buy their latest album? There is also online shopping; we can now listen to a particular release, see if we like it and buy it 30% cheaper! So what it the problem here, then? Most people get lost in this they enter a store and stare confused at thousands of CDs. They read a magazine and forget what the article was about. Young people distance themselves from music, seeing it as just another form of entertainment in life something you buy, or don t buy.

All this creates a situation in which music loses its artistic qualities and becomes a source of money for the artist, and an inescapable ritual in the life of a teenager. You buy a CD, you listen to a CD, you dance to a CD, and you forget the CD. Ten years later, your kids have no idea what music was like in your time but hey, maybe that will be the least of the problems when they approach their parents with the question, Mommy, Daddy, what is this thing called music?