There has always been mediocre, shallow music throughout history. Go back 250 years and there's a plethora of composers that history has forgotten because their music was dull knock-offs of others'. Same goes with focusing on the artist instead of their music, gossip just travels faster now. Hell, there are people today debating Beethoven's sexuality.
As far as valuing the physical recording goes, I think that's irrelevant to appreciating the actual music. Outside of convenience, I personally don't give a crap if it's on cassette or MP3.
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