Great post, Andrew. Excellent analysis. I've been thinking about this a lot, too. I would wager the vast amount of "sound" is irrelevant to most people. In fact we're bombarded with so much sound in our lives we've gotten very good at filtering out 98% of it. Most folks feel little to no need to ADD even more sound in to their lives. Even things like Voicemail – the only clear example of recorded audio other than music that I could think of that's been around for a long time is fading. Quickly. Texting is taking over. It's quicker and less of a hassle. That's because sound takes time. It takes concentration. It takes effort to fully comprehend it. You can't "speed read" or skim sound. But, there is a bigger issue, or distinction between sound and music. There is little to no emotional attachment to sound. Whereas music – wow –that socks you right in the gut. So while I love Ljung's quote "Audio is a speed-dial to the emotions" he's stretching the truth there. Had he said music I would have agreed wholeheartedly. Still all that being said, I wish SoundCloud well and all the success in the world. They are an amazing company.