Bye-Buy, Music?

Since I upgraded my phone a couple of months ago, I was reminded that my meager collection of digital music only had 2 artists from this millenia.  Both from a decade ago. Embarrassing. I don't want to be one of those fusty old fogies who stops keeping up. Time to preview whoever's hot in my genre of choice (fast-paced, vocals with a range, metal with new twists, that sort of thing.)

So... who were the hot new stars, anyhow? I wasn't even sure how to find out. I got busy with other things, and the 'new music' issue was forgotten. Then last week I was reading an article about plummeting digital music sales. It was informative and well-written (no surprise.  Arstechnica tends to do a nice job).

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/07/nielsen-2014-digital-music-sales-plummet-compared-to-2013s-first-half/

The comments following the article were interesting. They brought up issues of the lack of quality from the various formats.  There were preferences for vinyl.  Some felt that subscription sites were the next logical step.  There seemed to be agreement that the greed of "Big Music" was finally coming home to roost. There was also sentiment expressed that there wasn't much good music these days, countered by others who felt that the Indie scene featured vast amounts of awesome new music.

Each new generation tends to define their own superstars, so I set out to ask a young person why the heck his generation wasn't out there elevating their favorite new artists for me to choose among. Alas, the only young people I could find were scrambling to make a living. There wasn't time for them to explore the Indie jungle. 

The young people I couldn't find were most likely unemployed, therefore unable to cast their monetary vote for their favorite artists.  This seems to be the song they're all singing these days (cue the blues music):

"Got no dough, Joe.
"Can't find a good job, Bob.
"Payin' off my loan, Joan.
"Need a roof for the kid, Sid.
"Can't afford food, Dude,
"That's why I'm not buyin' tunes, you loons."
Aaaaannnnd, that's a wrap.  Looks like it's time to go find me some Indie.