The reasons are manifold. It is a traditional lack of culture perpetuated even in modern times. Filmstars & now Cricketers, who flaunt their wealth, buy only clothes, cars & jewellery. One legendary actor does have a personal library, but is foolish enough to have it in his basement in a city prone to flooding. None are known to have & use audiophile equipment.
It is paradoxical that people happily accept as reasonable, money spent on travel, drinks & gambling, but consider investing in books or music as a waste of money. If this is the mentality of worldly people, the spiritually inclined are also inadvertently misled by spiritual leaders. Sri Ramakrishna, repeatedly decried the acquiring of even scriptural knowledge through books, claiming only personal experience is valid. Sri Satya Sai Baba, though he founded an University, was commonly making jibes against "bookish knowledge." So everyone conspires to discourage books & music. People who waste money on frivolous pursuits without a second thought, want their music free & grudge buying a ticket to a concert.
The advent of Internet has completely killed the music industry, hitting the livelihood of professional musicians really hard. But as previously noted, in developed countries, people do listen to music on-line, but this is important, if they like it, go out & buy the LP & play it on state-of-art equipment. Here it is considered madness to pay for something available free on-line.
Sometime ago, it was noticed that Nairobi, though a modern big city, had no bookstore. The day is not far off when Indian cities, populated by wealthy Philistines, also may claim this dubious honour.
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