Music Capitalism

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

This course considers the complex and contradictory ways that capitalism has impacted (or failed to impact) music making over the past five centuries. We will investigate the relationship between music and political economy from a range of different vantage points: first, from a historical perspective, examining how the development of the capitalist world system changed how music was thought about, made, circulated, bought and sold, and how historical developments in global economy have impacted subsequent modes of musical life. We will then take a critical perspective, engaging with 20th- and 21st-century critical theory on music and art in capitalist society. Finally, we will engage in a close analysis of some of the major contemporary institutional and infrastructural forces that shape how music is made, consumed, and circulated today (e.g., Spotify and other DSPs, record labels, digital audio software, concert halls, and more).