The impact of digital technology on the musical economy has been profound. The advent of MP3 and the use of the internet as a medium of distribution has brought about a significant transformation in ...the way that music is made, how it is acquired and listened to, and, significantly, how the musical economy itself is able to reproduce itself. This book provides a theoretically grounded account of the implications of digital technology on the musical economy, and develops the concept of the musical network to understand the transformation of this economy over space and through time. In the late 1990s the obscure practice of ‘ripping’ tracks from CDs through the use of compression programs was transformed from the illegal hobby of a few thousand computer ‘geeks’ to a practice available to millions worldwide through the development of peer-to-peer computer networks. This continues to have important implications for the viability of the musical economy. At the same time, the production of music has become more accessible and the role of key gatekeepers in the industry—such as record companies and recording studios—has been undermined. Meanwhile, the increased accessibility of music at reduced cost via the internet has revalorizsed live performance, and in the UK now generates revenues higher than recorded music. The early twenty-first century has provided an extraordinary case study of an industry in flux, and one that throws light on the relationship between culture and economy, between passion and calculation.
Essential reading for anyone interested in artistic research applied to music. This book is the first anthology of writings about the emerging subject of artistic experimentation in music. This ...subject, as part of the cross-disciplinary field of artistic research, cuts across boundaries of the conventional categories of performance practice, music analysis, aesthetics, and music pedagogy. The texts, most of them specially written for this volume, have a common genesis in the explorations of the Orpheus Research Centre in Music (ORCiM) in Ghent, Belgium. The book critically examines experimentation in music of different historical eras. It is essential reading for performers, composers, teachers, and others wanting to inform themselves of the issues and the current debates in the new field of artistic research as applied to music. The publication is accompanied by a CD of music discussed in the text, and by an online resource of video illustrations of specific issues.
