
Decomposed
The Political Ecology of Music
Kyle Devine(Author)
MIT Press
Published on 15. October 2019
Book
Paperback/Softback
328 pages
978-0-262-53778-0 (ISBN)
Description
The hidden material histories of music. Music is seen as the most immaterial of the arts, and recorded music as a progress of dematerialization-an evolution from physical discs to invisible digits. In Decomposed, Kyle Devine offers another perspective. He shows that recorded music has always been a significant exploiter of both natural and human resources, and that its reliance on these resources is more problematic today than ever before. Devine uncovers the hidden history of recorded music-what recordings are made of and what happens to them when they are disposed of. Devine's story focuses on three forms of materiality. Before 1950, 78 rpm records were made of shellac, a bug-based resin. Between 1950 and 2000, formats such as LPs, cassettes, and CDs were all made of petroleum-based plastic. Today, recordings exist as data-based audio files. Devine describes the people who harvest and process these materials, from women and children in the Global South to scientists and industrialists in the Global North. He reminds us that vinyl records are oil products, and that the so-called vinyl revival is part of petrocapitalism. The supposed immateriality of music as data is belied by the energy required to power the internet and the devices required to access music online. We tend to think of the recordings we buy as finished products. Devine offers an essential backstory. He reveals how a range of apparently peripheral people and processes are actually central to what music is, how it works, and why it matters.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United States
Publishing group
MIT Press Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
US School Grade: College Graduate Student and over
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
16 figures; 16 Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 203 mm
Width: 137 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-262-53778-0 (9780262537780)
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Other editions
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E-Book
10/2019
MIT Press
€29.49
Available for download