Looking back on the year 2011.

Here we are at the end of the unforgettable year that was 2011, we can all rest well knowing that this indeed has been the year that has changed the course humanity forever. Our ancestors will never forget the terrifying events and shocking truths that have passed this year.

The year started out generally well, the New Year’s celebrations passed and people started to forward to 2011 with high hopes and a fresh outlook on life. No one ever expected the year to turn out as depressingly bad as it did.

Two months into the New Year the music industry collapsed completely. Physical music collections became irrelevant because too many people had been downloading music illegally online. Over the last few years downloading music illegally had been on the rise. It finally hit the tipping point at the beginning of 2011 when statistics showed that more than 89% of people got their music from torrent sites rather than record shops or even iTunes.

Local music stores continued to sell physical CDs along with vinyl at record low prices in a hope to revive the music industry but their efforts were wasted and they failed keep it alive. Naturally prices of physical media such as CDs and DVDs have now gone sky high due to stores having limited stock. I won’t be long until only serious collectors or the wealthy will be able to maintain extensive physical music collections.

The fall of the industry resulted in all of the major record labels being brought out-right by Simon Cowell who rapidly became the richest and most powerful person in the world. Instead of trying to once again rebuild and monetise the music industry, Cowell set about turning what was left of it in to one huge, never-ending game show. What remains of the world’s major artists and songwriters now have to impress a panel of judges on a daily basis by performing hit songs from the past.

The perpetual game show is now broadcast twenty four hours a day on twelve major television networks across the globe and pretty soon watching it will become a mandatory part of our daily routines.

Although it wasn’t all doom and gloom in the music world, underground musicians stood tall and quickly began attempts to revive the now faded music scene. Open minded music fans began to attend free gigs, download free music using the internet and even began making their own music.

People once again started listening to music that was created by honest musicians that had a strong passion for the music that they were creating. No longer did people feel the strain to conform to a certain group lead by an industry image of a particular genre. People were free to listen to what they wanted to based on what they liked rather than what they were told that they should like.

In their own way, the underground musicians seem to have given the world a fresh start with a tiny bit of hope for what the future holds. The dark cloud above our heads seems to be gradually rising to reveal a distant but bright future. What that future involves is a great mystery to all of us but there’s always hope.

Maybe what will happen to us in the next few months won’t feel so bad after all. Remain indoors.