I think that it has had some effect, but I also think that a lot more people are making music, there's a lot more music, more labels, a lot of people doing the same styles, You have to wade though a lot of stuff you may not neccesarily into to find what you want.... also it means people go through records in a shop, find nothing they like, and get the impression that there isn't anything good about anymore.... I think the internet had definately killed off a lot of the more interesting side of the music media, all the magazines are playing it safe, so people into more underground stuff don't bother with the magazines anymore....

on the plus side though, the internet makes it easier to communicate with people, work out projects, gigs, find out about stuff you never heard before, and make it generally easier to wade your way through the sheer quantitiy of releases that come out every month...