The Middle Class’ Struggles AND The Music Industry

Digital Music News raised a controversial debate (sound familiar?) over yet another reason why music industry people are so sad these days. This time, it’s the disappearing middle class. It’s more than just a political stump speech when people talk about the importance of the middle class on the national economy; it’s literally the spine that keeps the whole system intact. You can’t have a country with only rich people and poor people and hold a healthy GDP. 

While it is valid to say the middle class makes up for a large portion of the today’s music buyers and some families might want spend their hard earned money on something other than music, but there are two holes to this logic. 

1) The music industry’s tailspin began WAY before the 2008 recession. Everyone knows the day the mp3 became the hot commodity on the web in the mid 1990s, the music industry would never be the same, and has fundamentally revolutionized how western culture views and respects music. It’s always been a cultural issue, and not a money issue.

2) Let’s say hypothetically, the middle class’s employment woes are directly contributing to them buying less music, music has never been undervalued ever. Most tracks only cost $.99 on iTunes and often less on other digital stores. Even for a struggling family, $.99 is not a setback, no matter how you cut it.