How Much Does Music Matter?

How Much Does Music Matter?

Austin Convention Center, Thursday 14 The unpredictability of music has been evident throughout generations, mainly due to society's influx and handling. Has this generation really utilized the significance of music? Were we on the right path to discovering its full capabilities, or was 9/11 the key to understanding the catalyst? With the effects of 9/11 still unseen, this panel gave forecast to the role and trends that music might take immediately to progress into the unforeseeable future. Starting with panel members telling the audience where they were and what they were doing on that fatal day, what followed was members of the music industry, at all levels, questioning the importance of their jobs and their approach in handling the divine gift of music. For Bill Nowlin of Rounder Records, 9/11 was a reaffirmation for the independence and message of the music he had been devoted to for over 20 years. For other trendsetters, like Jeff McClusky, 9/11 turned the market upside-down, increasing the difficulty of trying to select "the next big thing." MTV news writer Joe D'Angelo's focus was on the "scar" of 9/11. His belief, with apprehension, was that 9/11 will be key "to raising the bar," filling songs with meaning and substance. And in these songs, the message, the anthem, maybe the fight "we have been looking for -- for years." The final answer falls in the hands of the people's choice. As Mammoth Records President Rob Seidenberg suggests, "Music can be a catalyst for sex, drugs, whatever, but one thing is for sure -- music has that impact."