The few times when I heard music in a non-business context was groups of women farm workers in Indian villages singing a folk-song as a group, that provides the rhythm required for the farm work. Those tunes used to float in waves modulated by the hot winds blowing over the crops.

Also, maybe solo singing by shepherd boys and cow-herders, while roaming vast grass lands in hot summer. There were some great singers who wrote fantastic lyrics that go for hours with hardly any instrumental music. I knew they did it for their own pleasure.

I disagree with the characterization that "music stopped mattering". Maybe it stopped mattering so much online or if all you're looking at is mass-market commercialization, but in general? It looks as alive and important as ever from where I sit.

I come from punkrock and buying cheap compilations released by labels like it was the norm back in the days (Get Punk O Rama 2 by Epitaph records now if you’re curious) really made the music lover I am today, spinning them like crazy because that was almost the only music I had access to.

I dreamt so much about unlimited streaming access back then. 30 years later I realize it was a chimera that broke a lot of my will to dig into music and spend time on more rewarding albums. I’m just sick of the non stop novelty.

MP3 era was the best for this. Because a lot of music was then easy to get, and communities on the Internet were great. Streaming is just mass consumption, or I just don’t have the discipline to restrain.

Well, I’m now back to my very own library, supporting bands by buying their stuff on bandcamp or spending time on random old records I slept too much time on.

Some good thoughts undermined by some nonsense thinking e.g.

when someone bought a CD in 1995, the artist earned roughly $2 from that single sale after label splits. Today, to earn that same $2, around 50 people need to stream the entire album front-to-back.

No. To earn that same $2, the guy who played the CD 50 times would today need to stream it... 50 times.