Music is itself a structure, based upon a certain accepted range of tones that are pleasing, or intentionally discordant, to the ear. Even modern popular music obeys certain conventions that are determined by the demands of the marketplace and music executives. Like composers of the past had to please patrons and the public, as do musicians of today. Even things we take for granted, like the length of popular songs are often demanded by questions of radio playtime, the need for a song hook, and the decreased importance of CDs and the increased importance of downloadable singles.

Of course, it is true that modern music has certain innovations that would be unrecognizable to Baroque and Classical composers, like atonal music, music that makes use of Eastern as well as Western instruments and melodies, and even more experimental uses of sounds that defy what most people would call music. However, the...
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