Certainly, machines make some of music heard today, but musicians are driven to perform, and they thrive in front of an audience. As long as there are people to listen, musicians will be available for performance.

Why pick on 20-somethings? It seems as if people with so-called smart phones pay more attention to their portable toys than to the people around them. Went to an opera last weekend and sat in the balcony with a view over the orchestra section. When the house lights went up for intermission, I looked down on a sea of blue light emanating from little 3" LCDs all over the audience. It struck me that I preferred the rosy, golden hue of audiences 35 years ago, who used those little plastic butane lighters to salute the performers, to the cold, blue indifference of intermission emailers.