Passage2 TaylorSwift,theseven-timeGrammywinner,isknownforherarticulatelyrics,sotherewasnothingsurprisingaboutherwritingalongcolumnforTheWallStreetJournalaboutthefutureofthemusicindustry.Yetthere′sreasontodoubttheoptimismofwhatshehadtosay"Thismomentinmusicissoexcitingbecausethecreativeavenuesanartistcanexplorearelimitless,"Swiftwrote."Inthismomentinmusic,steppingoutofyourcomfortzoneisrewarded,andsonicevolutionisnotonlyaccepted...itiscelebrated.Theonlyrealriskisbeingtooafraidtotakeariskatall." That′shardtoreconcilewithNielsen′smid-yearU.S.musicreport,whichshoweda15percentyear-on-yeardropinalbumsalesanda13percentdeclineindigitaltracksales.Thiscouldbethe2013storyalloveragain,inwhichstreamingservicescannibalizetheirgrowthfromdigitaldownloads,whosenumbersdroppedforthefirsttimeeverlastyear,exceptthatevenincludingstreams,albumsalesaredown3.3percentsofarin2014.Streaminghasgrownevenmorethanitdidlastyear,42percentcomparedto32percent,buthasfailedtomakeupforagenerallossofinterestinmusic. Considerthis:in2014todate,Americanspurchased593.6milliondigitaltracksandheard70.3millionvideoandaudiostreamsforasumtotalof663.9million.Inthecomparableperiodof2013,thetotalcameto731.7million. Swift,oneofthefewartistsabletopulloffstadiumtours,believesit′sallaboutquality. "Peoplearestillbuyingalbums,butnowthey′rebuyingjustafewofthem,"shewrote."Theyarebuyingonlytheonesthathitthemlikeanarrowthroughtheheart." In2000,albumsalespeakedat785million.Lastyear,theyweredownto415.3million.Swiftisright,butformanyoftheartistswhosealbumspierceheartslikearrows,it′stoolate.Salesofvinylalbumshaveincreased40.4percentsofarthisyear,accordingtoNielsen,andthetop-sellingonewasguitarheroJackWhite′sLazaretto.Thetop10alsoincludesrecordsbytheagingordead,suchastheBeatlesandBobMarley&theWailers.Moremodernentriesarenotexactlyteensensations,either:theBlackKeys,BeckandtheArcticMonkeys.Noneoftheseartistsispresentonthedigitalsalescharts,includingorexcludingstreams.Thetop-sellingalbumsofarthisyear,byahugemargin,isthesaccharinesoundtracktotheDisneyanimatedhit,"Frozen". When,likeme,you′reover40andyoubelievethemusicindustryhasbeenindeclinesincein1993(theyearNirvanareleasedinUtero),it′seasytocriticizethemusictasteof"thekidsthesedays,"atermeventhe23-yearoldSwiftuses.Myfellowdinosaurswillunderstandiftheycompare1993′stopalbumstoNielsen′s2014list.Butthesekidsdon′tjustliketolistentodifferentmusicthanwedo,theynolongerfindmuchworthhearing. Thewaythemusicindustryworksnowmayhavesomethingtodowiththat.Intheolddays,musiciansshowedtheirworktoindustryexecutives,thewaymostbookauthorsstilldotopublishers(althoughthattradition,too,iseroding).Theexecutivesmademistakesandwerecreditedwithbrilliantfinds.Sometimestheyfollowedthepublictaste,andsometimestheystrovetoshapeit,takingbigfinancialandcareerrisksintheprocess.Thesedays,accordingtoSwift,it′sallaboutthesocialnetworks."Afriendofmine,whoisanactress,toldmethatwhenthecastingforherrecentmoviecamedowntotwoactresses,thecastingdirectorchosetheactresswithmoreTwitterfollowers,"Swiftwrote. "Inthefuture,artistswillgetrecorddealsbecausetheyhavefans--nottheotherwayaround." Thesocialnetworksarefickleandself-consciouslysarcastic(seetherecentpotatosaladphenomenon).Theyarenotaboutarrow-through-the-heartsincerity.That′swhyYouTubemadePsyastar,butitcouldn′thavebeenthemediumforBeatlemania.JustinTimberlakehas32.9millionTwitterfollowers,buthe′snoJackWhite. Inthemusicindustry′sheyday,itproducedalotofschlock.Butitgotgreatmusicouttothemasses,too.Thesedays,itexpectsartiststodotheirownpromotionandforthosewholessgoodatthatthanatmakingmusic,itmaymeannotgettingheard.Forfansitmeanslessgoodmusictostreamanddownload.Well,there′salwaysthewarmandfuzzyworldofvinylnostalgia,Iguess. HowdoesthewriterperceiveSwift′sattitudetowardsthefutureofthemusicindustry
A.She is no doubt over-optimistic about it. B.She is too young to make a reliable judgment. C.She is professional enough to predicate it wisely. D.She doesn' t follow what others have said about it.正确答案A
