Do you think music will be as popular in 50 years as it is now?

Music is the only universal language. It will never cease to be spoken.

Listen to Live Jazz from the 50s. There is no advertising, commercials, billboards, shiny logos, or BUY NOW buttons. It's a human being, with a mind, interacting with other minds to create something that has never existed.

I would argue that music is popular BECAUSE of technology and if anything will only GAIN popularity. Because of the internet, people can find anything that fits their taste. You like Disco-Polka-Funk-adelic-German-Hip-Hop? BOOM, here you go. Here's 20 albums, and 15 years worth of live recordings.

Contemporary or pop music is a machine that produces cookie-cutter "formula" songs. You hear it with every Country band, every pop band, every song with an "808 4-on-the-floor". They all have the same yelling chorus that refrains on the word "I". They have the same falsetto hook.

EDM-Fruity-Loops-Ableton bullshit will go away to be replaced by the next gimmick that Disney/Sony/RCA will try to sell to your dumbass teenager. But a human being playing an instrument will never ever go away. Computers can only play prerecorded samples at a limited bit rate on a human programmed system.
A person with an instrument and an active mind can recite or improvise music with infinitely more depth, complexity, and emotion.

Other response in this thread "I think in 100 years, musicians will have more fragmented followings and being a musician simply won't be a viable way to make a living in the best of circumstances."

I tend to agree. The idea of "rock-star" isn't a viable goal. However, individuals empowered by technology, can now archive live performances or capture ideas on the fly. They can network directly with their fanbase. You will hear more and more "home-brewed" music as artists start owning production/engineering with Pro-Sumer DAWs.

Here is a really enlightening TEDTalk from Amanda Palmer.
http://www.ted.com/talks/amanda_palmer_the_art_of_asking?language=en

/r/Music Thread