Re: [microsound] cassettes: live or memorex

["The pHarmanaut" <pharmanaut@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

This prompts me to think of Adorno and Horkheimer's "culture industry"
chapter from _Dialectic of Enlightenment_ (of course it does!). Broadcasting
an artistic work over commercial radio debases the work: "When thrown in
free, the now debased works of art, together with the rubbish to which the
medium assimilates them, are secretly rejected by the fortunate recipients,
who are supposed to be satisfied by the mere fact that there is so much to
be seen and heard. Everything can be obtained." This is the mechanism by
which "enlightenment" transforms into "mass deception"; art's value is
simply that you're getting something for free--culture becomes the BONUS of
commercial industry--but the transformation of art into the gift of the
commercial destroys the possibility for criticism and respect of the work.

I'm not sure that this equates to brainwashing. I think the point is that
the work of art, as something now secretly rejected, has been devalued as a
vehicle for carrying meaning and critical thought. What I continue to
struggle with from A&H is the continued investment in the art work's use
value. That is, is there a way to put a price on music that leads to the
respect rather than the debasement of the work?

-=trace

> one very interesting point that Tobias made a while back is that (Tobias,
> correct if I muddle this) is that record companies, publishers et al all
try
> to make an artist/track ubiquitous...so everywhere you go you hear a
> particular piece of music...the mall, clothing shop, shoe store,
electronics
> store, MTV, radio, dentists office, gym, etc...so people tend to view
music
> as a free commodity since they are immersed in it constantly in
public...so
> why can't they have the ability/right to control how and when they are
> immersed? if they are using an mp3 player with that same track on it they
> then gain that control...not sure I explained this correctly but maybe
> someone can help me flesh this out...

> I think the brainwashing attempt to market and sell 'product' by creating
a
> 'networked aura' (my term) has helped to spawn this attitude that music is
> free for the taking...the industry commodifies music in such a way as to
> devalue it...

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