Musicians have already been made obsolete in recording sessions, since even the most individual or characteristic sounds can be sampled and reproduced by synthesizer. The producer has the sounds of her or his favourite musicians replicated on disk, and the MIDI function replaces the coordinating actions of the conductor. The practice of recording music in a studio, rather than in a performance context, is decades old. In the studio the musician does not play to an audience but to a studio microphone. Changing technology creates new aesthetic expectations which in turn generate new artworld conventions.
Live music begins to imitate technologically mediated music.
Yet technologically mediated music also imitates live music. With music cruising the Internet, on the other hand, the audience can be anywhere, they can even become part of the Music Machine if they can figure out how to pay the entry price. Music is no longer something made by musicians. Live musicians are imitating recordings which are imitating live performances. That which is 'live' can be analyzed, reconstituted, and then simulated through a judicious use of the dials.