For those who remember Rare Earth as a rock band, life has come full circle:

Smarthouse Lifestyle Technology Guide reports today that audio speaker costs are “set to rocket” due to rapidly rising prices for Neodymium-based magnets.

Whether rockers- and other music listeners- will pay more to hear their favorite music, or companies will compromise on “low-fi” substitutes remains to be seen…

Either way, we’re all about to learn hard lessons on the many metals and minerals that make our every-day life what it is, and what happens when demand exceeds supply.