An Excellent New Read: "A Brief History Of Why Artists Are No Longer Making A Living..."

I agree that "cultural appropriation" or "cultural theft" are ridiculous concepts.  

I’ll agree with that sentiment. The author of the article put it this way:

"Yes, there have been a handful of futurists – H.G Wells, Aldous Huxley, and given the state of many current governments I would grudgingly include Ayn Rand. Probably the most successful futurists in our lifetime may have been Marshall McLuhan and Stanley Kubrick, but even so, all of these writers and film makers have been only partially successful gazing into the crystal ball. Given that the past is no more fixed than the future I begin this conversation with you."

It’s that last sentence that to me is the operative one here. You could envision it coming to include all kinds of attempts that people often make to ’rewrite’ historical events...including this kind.

While it seems the author only meant to be washing his hands of it, he also seems to be acknowledging that such attempts can be expected.

@jburidan, imo the one exception to your otherwise fine contention is that of Paul Simon’s Graceland album. Not because he merely pasted his voice onto the music of the South African musicians he recorded and called it his (though that is a valid criticism), but because the "songs" he wrote for that album suck!

...if I could find a white boy who could sing like a black man I'd make a million dollars.

That's what Sam Phillips said.  He was the man who created Sun Records and first recorded Elvis.
 So yeah, your statement that cultural appropriation is ridiculous is ridiculous.  Or could it be that you think Pat Boone's versions are better than the originals.

Ivan - a good read, thanks.  Perhaps a bit rosy, but I've been on the periphery of the industry for a long time, stretching back to the late '40's when my father distributed Magnacorder's to recording studios and radio stations (and Les Paul).  He had his own small studio recording both to tape and direct to disk.  In the late '60's - mid '70's after studying and practicing the art for several years, I set up a part-time semi-pro recording enture to do live recordings for groups (acoustic pop, chamber, jazz).  The rapidly shifting landscape was such that I abandoned the idea of going full time into this endeavor, instead returning to my full time job as a marketing/business executive.  While this turned out well, I have always felt the need for music to be an important part of my life.  My best friends were classical musicians, and my youngest son led several garage bands during the '90's.  I still talk to musicians when I attend their concerts.