It's true that the cultural role of music has changed a lot; that's important to bring up. However, I view it more as an evolution rather than a decline. The

It's true that the cultural role of music has changed a lot; that's important to bring up. However, I view it more as an evolution rather than a decline. The same way that paperback books "cheapened" the old experience of reading, or record players "cheapened" the live interactive experience of music. Things just became different, and it resulted in new cultural elements. I think it's the same thing that happens with anything that you make more popular, easier to get, and cheaper. You'll get way more people who only engage with it superficially and maybe even detrimentally, but you'll also reach way more people that will appreciate it as much as ever, and help expand it into something greater.