Ninakix

“Once virtually every song produced[22] was available at the click of a mouse (via legitimate purchase or more nefarious means), music lost some of the power it had long held as a marker of selfhood. It became just another product that could be downloaded in the privacy of one’s own home, not something that was easily trotted out as a symbol of the buyer’s tastes and beliefs. That didn’t mean music was ever in danger of disappearing from the culture entirely; it just meant that it would no longer be much use to people obsessed with not only finding examples of authentic self-expression but letting every person they came in contact with know that authenticity was integral to their conception of self.”
― Kevin Craft, Grunge, Nerds, and Gastropubs: A Mass Culture Odyssey

“The denudation of authentic self-expression from popular music created the cultural vacuum which foodiesm now occupies. Foodies have become the natural heirs to the counterculture mantle. They proudly wear authenticity and DIY badges even as their interests trend towards the gastronomic rather than the aural. Authenticity in food is now the province of those who self-identify as genuine and who preach the gospel of anti-corporate self-expression.”
― Kevin Craft, Grunge, Nerds, and Gastropubs: A Mass Culture Odyssey

“But the move also erased the physical barriers (the dirty clubs and dingy record stores) that helped draw the lines between authentic music that sought to do more than turn a profit and commercial dross. All music suddenly came from the same space: the vast and mysterious online realm.”
― Kevin Craft, Grunge, Nerds, and Gastropubs: A Mass Culture Odyssey

“There’s another way to understand Fukuyama’s boredom with history’s end: success breeds its own type of sadness. Once a goal is achieved or an adversary vanquished, the victor’s sense of purpose becomes less relevant. The import of future endeavors begins to lack the significance of what has already been achieved. And that’s always a depressing state of affairs.”
― Kevin Craft, Grunge, Nerds, and Gastropubs: A Mass Culture Odyssey