Clebrity Night Shot

Music surrounds us everywhere we go, from the meticulously created "soundscapes" in big-city malls to the rhythms we choose to relax us when we're alone. We're all fans of some musical artists, and the artists we choose say a lot about who we are and what styles and ideas we choose to identify with, but for most of us music goes far beyond that.

The Power and Limitations of Music

For years, some psychologists have been using music as a way to help the ill, the disabled, and the emotionally damaged to find illumination and expression, and to help make their life challenges more bearable -- but music holds power even for those of us who already feel healthy and emotionally free. Music can transport us out of a state of worry or stress and take us into a completely different space where we feel joy, peace, hope, and excitement.

Music has obvious power, and plenty of people around the world are quick to capitalize on that impact; for better or worse, the motivation for capital drives and supports many of the artists we know and love. For many hundreds of years in human history, certain people have made their living from their musical talents, but as music's place in culture has evolved away from religious and ceremonial roles, beyond just storytelling, it has become a central feature of pop culture and an economic force to be reckoned with.

At the same time, although the desire to feel and hear music may not change, the range of instruments and new sounds continues to change. Even a hundred years ago, many of the songs performed in the United States had backup consisting of little else than a piano, a guitar, or a violin, but with the rise of synthesizers, recorded beats, and computer-assisted sound refinements, a single artist now has at her disposal hundreds or even thousands of tracks and combinations to help develop her sound.

At the same time as many new artists are limited by the economic forces that control so much of celebrity pop, independent artists now have incredible control over their style, and a range of opportunities to develop their sound even on a tight budget. The result: despite the new constraints on music today, artists can still carve out for themselves unrestrained new sounds that subvert the typical thrust of pop music and create something that feels fresh and different, or even plays off of the top tracks to elaborate on what makes them so catchy.

Where Music is Headed - Online Radio and Beyond

The same technological and economic forces that have created new constraints on musicians' careers are also helping to liberate many musicians, and they are opening up a world of possibilities for listeners to share in the new musical landscapes that these artists are creating. File sharing sites, online music stores that offer samples of the artists' music, and even social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook -- all of these are helping new, overlooked artists get exposure all over the world.

Today more than ever, the music industry is dominated by money and controlled by cultural imperatives, but the same forces that make the music world so challenging today also help us enjoy some of the widest variations and options in music we have ever experienced. Whether we are looking up online radio stations or downloading new songs from our favorite stores, the options are limitless -- and for a moment, moneymaking and art once again go hand in hand.