Chinese Firm Purchases Spanish "Ghost" Airport

It's hard to imagine a developed nation having an abandoned airport capable of handling transcontinental flights. Yet, that's the case with Spain. When the Iberian nation was feeling flush, a rush to build new airports took hold. This phenomenon manifested itself most ambitiously with a grand facility intended to service Madrid. (Anyone who has landed at or departed from the Spanish capital will appreciate the need for more runways and terminals.)

Alas, the newly minted airport at Ciudad Real lived a short commercial life, opening in 2008 and going bust four years later. One could suppose its extremely inconvenient location and the financial disaster of that time led to its demise. Since 2012, the structure has looked as ruined as the background of a dystopian movie set.

According to a BBC report, the billion-dollar airport was sold for 10,000 Euros to a Chinese consortium. The Asian business group will use their new possession to provide entry for Chinese firms and goods.

"Ruin porn," such as the photographic images of the airport, have a certain cachet today. The shambles of Detroit, structures from the former Soviet Union, and buildings in Palermo (skillfully photographed by Letizia Battaglia), are among the settings that have attenuated interest in empires whose grandeur or oomph have passed. The obvious inference from this interest is an unconscious belief that the current world is undergoing an "evolution" for which Detroit, Moscow, or Sicily may be harbingers.

This reflective stance also suggests that the future feels both unknown and a little creepy. That's certainly the case at an abandoned airport whose presence serves as a visual signpost at the intersection of the past, present, and future.

Billboard report: US Users' Music Streaming Doubled From Prior Year

Theverge.com summarized a story originally appearing in billboard.com regarding music streaming in the United States. The gist is that the streaming music current is moving swiftly (no pun intended) stronger. According to theverge.com's story, the volume of streamed music has doubled over the prior year's activity. By any standard, that's a profound amount of interest in musical content. Little wonder, then, that Taylor Swift and other A-list music celebrities want substantial control over their sales and distribution.

Interestingly enough, music videos represented the largest user increase. This phenomenon dovetails with social media marketing's current mantra that videos and still images drive much more traffic than mere alphanumeric tweets, pins, or posts. I can't speak to the reliability of the Nielsen data quoted in theverge.com's article. However, anecdotally, I see plenty of people watching some video clip on their cell phones. God only knows what has them entertained or absorbed. In a YouTube universe, that consideration becomes the territory of analytics, data "scientists," and "innovators" sizing up the relationship between social engagement, content, and gross profit.

Music tends to be a Trojan horse for digital trends. Whether the power in the streaming relationship remains with the consumer is a thorny question. "Free" always sounds good, until you're the one giving your merchandise away, and your counterpart views gratis acquisition as an entitlement.