Part 9/13:
The Streaming Faucet: Endless Consumption
Rick offers a vivid analogy comparing streaming platforms to a water faucet pouring music into a drain. Each artist or album's entire catalog is accessible at any moment, and with over 100,000 new songs added daily in 2023—more than one per second—music consumption has become relentless and overwhelming.
This excess results in a paradox: although more music than ever is available, the individual song's value diminishes. People no longer build personal collections or invest time in understanding artists—music becomes background noise, a passive experience akin to water seamlessly draining away.