Creative Apocalypse

Credit Illustration by Andrew Rae

The Creative Apocalypse That Wasn’t

In the digital economy, it was supposed to be impossible to make money by making art. Instead, creative careers are thriving — but in complicated and unexpected ways.

By STEVEN JOHNSONAUG. 19, 2015

On July 11, 2000, in one of the more unlikely moments in the history of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Orrin Hatch handed the microphone to Metallica’s drummer, Lars Ulrich, to hear his thoughts on art in the age of digital reproduction. Ulrich’s primary concern was a new online service called Napster, which had debuted a little more than a year before. As Ulrich explained in his statement, the band began investigating Napster after unreleased versions of one of their songs began playing on radio stations around the country. They discovered that their entire catalog of music was available there for free....-»

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/23/magazine/the-creative-apocalypse-that-wasnt.html?emc=edit_th_20150823&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=66671639&_r=0