Commodification and mediaization of religious music

What happens when the sound (music) of religious ritual is turned into a media product, circulating within a media system, and (often) transformed into a commodity?

Conversely: how is mediated music incorporated into religious practices?

Are meanings, effects, functions of religious music thereby transformed? Does the religious system itself change? What is the impact on the music system?

What questions must be answered in order to describe such transformations completely? For instance: what is mediated and what is not mediated? How are media products circulated? What is the difference between various kinds of media (media products, broadcasts, podcasts, etc.)? What is the radius of circulation? Who buys them and how are they used? How are intellectual property rights resolved? Who profits?) Is it possible to participate in a religious ritual mediated via the web? How does such a phenomenon change the concept of ritual, and the role of sound within it? How would you design a research project investigating the commodification and mediaization of religious music?

Please think about these questions for discussion in class, and add other questions that may occur to you as well, below.

Also try to find:

• scholarly articles or web sites discussing this topic
• web sites distributing mediated religious sound

We'll examine and analyze instances of the latter in class, so please try to locate examples, including their links below.

Reading assignment

To ease your burden as we move into the final two weeks of the course, I'm requiring only one article. Please read at least one of the following (your preference); treat the other as optional:

Muslim Devotional, by Regula Qureshi

Sound Engineering in a Tamil Village, by Paul Greene

Scholarly articles or web sites discussing this topic

Find discussions of this topic in jstor, or on the web...

Max Weber and the Sociology of Music, By Alex C. Turley I found an article discussing Max Weber (famous sociological religious theorist) and his theory of the 'Rationalization Process'. Weber discusses the Capitalization of Western Cultures through 'Westernized Music'. Turley discusses Webers' influence on the study of western music (specifically demarcated as 'Religious Music'), as well their effect on cultural nationalism. --Kristen 16:02, 25 March 2006 (MST)

The Audiences' Uses and Gratifications of TV Worship Series Pettersson reviews a survey of people who watch TV worship services and finds that they believe it is less burdensome than going to church, but only in a few cases was it actually functionally replacing the church visit. --Lpauls 09:52, 27 March 2006 (MST)

Accessing Religion Online (I know, not academic...) There are a bunch of statistics here, and brief description of some manifestations and mention of some of the 'issues' of online religion. For example, what is the real meaning of community and can it be achieved online? Does a wealth of online info weaken peoples' loyalties to one particular denomination? How dangerous is misinformation accessed online?--Gloria 17:51, 27 March 2006 (MST)

Electronic Church Terms This is not so much an article, but a list of terms by which broadcasted (be it by TV, radio, or online) religious services are refered too. I thought it was interesting enough to post because it shows just how much effect changing the context of religious rituals has not only on those participating in them, but on the language and culture of the society they exist in as well.

Web sites exemplifying this topic

Locate instances of mediated religious music on the web. Can you find examples of web-mediated religious worship?

Here's one example: WorshipMusic.com. But it's probably more of the case of religious/sacred music to make a buck that's now starting to be used in worship instead of music used in worship that now is starting to make a buck. And just MAYBE this music has been influenced by pop culture.--Lpauls 13:50, 26 March 2006 (MST)

I suppose finding nothing can still be revealing... the All Faith Church Within posts 'services' which consist essentially of online readings and quotes from various world religions and great minds. No music. How often is music simply eliminated in online religious worship? I'd say that's a significant effect of mediaization. Christian Music Radio This is an online radio station that you can listen to for free. A lot of the other things I found had to do with shopping. Does mediaization equal commodification? Or popularization?--Gloria 18:34, 27 March 2006 (MST)

The example I found is WOW worship CDs. This series has been in place since the 90s, and is usually a 2-CD set of the top Christian music hits from a given year. I mean, why purchase several CDs (in many cases you get a CD for a particular song), when you can buy all your favourite songs/artists on one recording? --Stella 20:57, 27 March 2006 (MST)

JCTV I stumbled across this website while looking for something entirely different to post. The website is a promotion tool for an all christian cable channel that plays christian rock videos, movies, games shows, and "issue-driven" talk shows. They also have a link that enables you to watch the station online. Interestingly, the creators make a point in their info link to tell the reader that while other stations care only about getting your money, JCTV wants to better your life... but it's a cable channel so they must want your money a little bit!- --KellyM 21:51, 27 March 2006 (MST)

Research questions pertaining to this topic

What research questions become pertinent? How would you design a research study centered upon commodification and mediaization of religious music?

Mediaization might be considered akin to secularization. An interesting research project could study any controversy that arises along those lines.--Gloria 17:34, 27 March 2006 (MST)