“Course Review”
-The course description says this course will alternate between the history of digital media and the history of American music, looking at where they merge. We will be considering the larger question of what communications technology does not just for you, but to you—what does it mean to adopt a new technology?
-Though we did cover the history of digital media and American music I don’t feel as though the two make much sense being covered in the same course. To me, it felt like a stretch to connect the two topics, especially when they don’t intertwine often in the real world.
-Major Themes:
Claude Shannon explores attention, displacement (music, people, culture), space & time
Enclosure (security) ex: copyright vs Openness (sharing) ex: Wikipedia
Music was meant to be social but is now is consumed individually
Carr’s book addresses the generalization dynamic of music. New structures of authority that will empower everyday people.
Witt’s book covers the topic the medium/message, the function and use of DAW software ex: Garage Band, the invention of MP3 files and their ability to compress music by isolating the parts that people enjoy and deleting the rest to create a smaller digital music file. Witt’s concept worked to restructure people’s attention.
Miller’s book speaks about race being a factor in marketing. Garage Band is a musical software that does this exact thing. They categorize music by race with R&B being code for black-sounding music.
Copyright-ethical/legal responsibility