confined to the urban streets. Local acts are selling from the back of station wagons
and making a clean profit. Even musicians on the street are producing a competent product in their home studios and taking it right to the public. Industry research has shown that the prime buyers of CDs are baby boomers replacing their aging album collections.
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Taboos about women and instruments exist in mythology and in a ritual context, as well as in contemporary performance practices in many cultures throughout the world. As a link with the spirit world, the drum and flute serve as a bridge to a trance state and the supernatural in many societies. The magician or shaman calls upon these instruments to enhance his power. This is usually a male role. Men’s control over flutes and drums and their access to the spirit world suggests a power and dominance in many cultures that reach far beyond the musical-ritual context.
