The Post-bit Atom?

One reason concerts are alive and records are dead is that there’s a new value in things which can’t be uploaded as digital content to the internet. I call this phenomenon “the post-bit atom”. It also explains why the art market is booming. Art and music have become social occasions. An art opening or a concert (or, even better, an art opening with a concert included) is a chance for people who spend all day in front of computer screens to see their fellow human beings and share an intense, loud, colourful, real experience with them.

Art and music are also “distinction machines”: efficient ways for people to sum up complex clusters of values — social, political, aesthetic and ethical — and connect with like-minded souls. None of this is going to become less important any time soon.