The question is really whether music is merely a tool or an end in itself. We should be equally comfortable with either position, simply recognising that they are different, involving different perspectives and different expectations. But perhaps more importantly, we should recognise that what we have here is two separate interest groups, sharing the same terrain. Simply acknowledging that fact could take a lot of the spurious sturm und drang out of internet exchanges, actually (shock, horror) allowing the debate to move forward. Sadly, when it comes to internet fora, the other thing that’s obvious is that for a significant proportion of the participants, it ain’t the music OR the gear that they tune in for. For them, I suspect that the sturm und drang IS actually the whole point…
