I think that people are too pessimistic about the future of music. Sure, the albums selling the most are largely composed of crap. But does anybody cry about the death of literature when Steven King and Danielle Steele are outselling the classics by exponential ammounts? Pop culture is pop culture, and it always has been, and it always will be. I'd sooner talk about Britney Spears and the Spice Girls and BSB with respect to a global economy and the McDonaldization of the world than I would talk about them as musicians.
Intent is the key, and people who are making music for music's sake are by and large not going to make a lot of money because that's not what sells. Sometimes they do, there are exceptions to every rule, but when music is a commodity in the same way that a big mac is, expect it to be mass produced like one. People talk about how it used to be different. Classic rock fans look back to the 60s and 70s thinking that most people liked "real" music back then. You know what? The Partridge Family, Leif Garret, and the Monkees were thriving in that time, so don't tell me people didn't eat up mass produced pop crap with a spoon back then.
Ok, here's the happy part. There will always be people who love music for music's sake, and who continue to make music, regardless of what trend happens to be raking in the most money for HMV at the current time. So instead of worrying about the future of music, just listen to and play what you like. I'm a jazz fan/player, and I'm not worried about the death of jazz, even though each new Kenny G album outsells Mike Brecker and Pat Metheny's albums by millions. There will always be Kenny G's, but there will also always be John Coltranes, you just have to know where to look.