Recently there’s been a ton of controversy in the recording industry surrounding the matter of music streaming websites (such as Spotify) versus directly purchasing music (such as iTunes). In an interview with Yahoo! Music, Taylor Swift stated, “[And] I just don't agree with perpetuating the perception that music has no value and should be free." Was Taylor only referring to the commercial value of her own music if she had permitted her latest release to be streamed on Spotify? I don’t know what she really meant, but congrats to her on 1989 selling 1.2 million copies in its first week.
Although it’s great for talented artists to make a living from their work, I believe that music is priceless in several ways.
According to NYU Steinhardt (which offers a Masters of Arts Degree in the subject), music therapy is “the use of music in the treatment of people of all ages who have problems of a mental, physical, and/or emotional nature”.
Music therapists can work with a wide variety of people: those affected by Parkinson’s disease, underweight premature babies, children with autism, elderly affected by dementia, etc. The possibilities seem to be endless.
