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although its not really quite the same thing as having a population that generally sings and plays music as part of daily life, i would point out that there are more people recording more music and performing in front of others than at any other time in human history. i'm not too thrilled about the aesthetics of most of what gets performed, but that doesn't change that fact that there are currently many more people who play a musical instrument as a hobby, part-time or full-time profession than before recording came along (a lot of which has to do with cheaper instruments, probably).