Music, Robots, Lawyers, and You!

3 Credits

The twentieth century saw the creation of physical music media (such as phonographs, long playing records, cassette tapes) that changed the way we listen to, participate in, understand, and engage with music making. Music throughout the world as well as in the Western canon were affected by these advanced cultural and technological changes. Questions around reproduction, how they affect concepts of the voice and body, the hauntological, issues around labor, and the audiovisual litany grew as media changed and adapted. The move to digital media (mp3 files, streaming music, digital music platforms such as Bandcamp, SoundCloud, and YouTube) only enhanced these questions and concerns. This course will examine the current state of music making, in regard to the digital, computational, legal, and ethical. This course will take an interdisciplinary approach to questions around music making and its myriad meanings in a digital age.