Credit: Photo by Gary Miller

How Will We Listen to Music in 2020?

Austin Convention Center, Wednesday, March 17

Scary to think that only a decade ago we were all lugging CD cases around. Where will we be in another 10 years? “I’ve been traveling for the past six months,” led off moderator Jonas Woost. “What have I missed?” As panelers Alexander Ljung, Ben Perreau, and Steve Savoca opined, the last six months have been dominated by music subscription packages (Rhapsody, Lala, Ljung’s SoundCloud) that allow consumers to stream seemingly endless catalogs managed on distant hard drives. All the panelists spoke to the future entailing much of the same; downloading will die, and streaming packages made accessible for your car, phone, and home will rule. The advent of interactive gaming – Rock Band, Guitar Hero, et al. – has changed the landscape, too, making young consumers seek that which is more interactive than passive. The verdict may be somewhat vague, but Savoca summed it up best: “How will we listen to music in the future? Any way we want to. Vinyl fans will always listen to vinyl. We’ll just have every option come 2020.”

This article appears in March 19 • 2010.

A note to readers: Bold and uncensored, The Austin Chronicle has been Austin’s independent news source for over 40 years, expressing the community’s political and environmental concerns and supporting its active cultural scene. Now more than ever, we need your support to continue supplying Austin with independent, free press. If real news is important to you, please consider making a donation of $5, $10 or whatever you can afford, to help keep our journalism on stands.

SUPPORT US