There’s also the interesting possibility that future search engines may be sophisticated enough to actually go through things like old music or even books, and identify what might fit your taste. In that case it won’t take fanaticism; just someone asking their computer “Eh, find me something I haven’t heard before.”
And really, as the number of our archived works grows we kind of need something like that, if we don’t want most of it to become dead weight that no one accesses because no one even knows it’s there.
While I appreciate your erudition, I don’t quite get the meaning of your rant. I was using “canon” as a term of convenience.
The people who consume art are the people who are alive right now, a subset of which has the will and power to influence others as to what they consume (critics, etc.). A simple review on Amazon has the power the influence and makes the writer an influencer to some extent. Books, online content, etc., also have the power to influence.
There is a “canon” when influencers tend to 1) know of the same things and 2) recommend the same things.
Whether there ought to be a “canon” or not, there will always be a pattern of recommendation, although it conceivably be very primitive. In 2114, it could be that the equivalent of Spotify has a “20th Century Jam” channel with a very boiled down selection of pop and rock from the century. And it might even be a channel that few listen to. So that could be your “canon” for 20th century music right there. Few people take interest, and that’s what’s on offer at that level of convenience, unless you want to dig further yourself.
I don’t think that will happen, but it’s one possibility.
One undeniable fact is that the amount of art available for consumption will continue to expand while the number of years in a human lifetime and the bandwidth of the human mind will stay pretty much the same. Since no one can take it all in, it will be interesting to see how influencing changes as time progresses. Even in our own lifetimes, there are bound to be some interesting changes.
My personal theory is that because of the facility of being able to access original recordings and hear music anywhere and everywhere, there will be a greater continuity of culture than we’ve seen in the past. You don’t have to be niche to recognize a song like “In The Mood” by Glenn Miller, and that’s already three quarters of a century ago. My kids will grow up listening to the Beatles and Miles Davis and Robert Johnson. I see kids forming bands today that cite Beatles as an influence. I just don’t see that going away any time soon. Maybe by 2214 or something, but not in just 100 more years.
) to classical music, 60s-70s rock, 70s-80s pop, jazz…