Notes on commodification and mediaization of religious music

Arc of this course:

from tradition to modernity?

(1) "Traditional" topics: holistic world-view. Concepts of "music" and "religion" are often not emic, hence artificial with respect to belief and practice.

• Recitation of sacred texts
• Chanting devotions
• Production of emotion (trance)
• Relation between religious and aesthetic expressions
• Relation between religious music and cosmology
• Religious discourse about music
• General: Ethnomusicological focus on relation between (etic) music and culture-society (religion, etc.)

(2) Differentiation of systems: art, religion, law, science, etc. within discourse and practice (emic difference)

• In particular: Music system is differentiated from religious system within a "secular" society (meaning: a broader system transcending these subsystems)

• Differentiation: Corresponds to complex industrial society, monetary economy, division of labor, immigrant society (presenting problems of diversity)

New topics arise:

• Religion in the music system (e.g. Christian rock, Christian jazz - in concert)
• Music in the religious system (e.g. Christian rock, jazz - in church)
• General impact of religion on music system
• General impact of music on religious sytem

• Media (technology), commodification (globalization)
  • Technology (concomitant of industrial society) enables media, music media, music mediation, accentuating the differentiation of systems.
  • Media system arises (media/techno-financial and global)
    • media technology
    • media channels
    • media content
    • production process
    • distribution process
    • consumption process
  • Media logic
    • logic may vary depending on application (music, religion, etc.)
    • Media address markets segmented by identity, while simultaneously striving to shape identity
    • profit and power (from perspective of media owners) remain driving forces throughout
  • Formerly, EM investigated relation of "music" and "culture-society"
  • Now, EM contends with 3 systems: "music", "media", and "culture-society".
    • Relation of "music" and "culture-society" ("religion") is mediated, impacted by media system.
    • Media system also affects both "music" and "culture-society" ("religion") directly.
    • Globalization undermines concept of bounded "culture" (each individual belonging to bounded sphere), to be replaced with "identity" (each individual exists at intersection of multiple groups)
    • Thus, "music", "media", and "culture-society" can no longer be (easily) regarded as plural; globalization implies interconnnection (but not homogeneity)
    • EM must examine how relations of power play out; functionalism no longer works

- Driving forces: $, technology, power - Triadic