Popular Music, Technology, and the Changing Media Ecosystem

“Today’s pop music is technologically embedded in an array of different devices, platforms, and media. This wide-ranging book by a new generation of media scholars tracks a fascinating assortment of case studies, and powerfully shows how this digital ecology arises from the interaction of different cultures, technologies, and social groups.”

--Trevor Pinch, Goldwin Smith Professor of Science and Technology Studies, Cornell University, US, author of Analog Days: The Invention and Impact of the Moog Synthesizer


“This is a timely collection that provides much-needed guidance on how we should navigate the vexing thickets of music in a changing media landscape, and clear-headed thought on the ruptures, continuities, and challenges facing contemporary music. The collection will not merely embellish existing debates on music and technological change, but set new agendas running on how we should come to terms with these changes without falling into reductionism, polemic, or panic.”


--Nick Prior, Professor of Cultural Sociology, University of Edinburgh, UK, author of Popular Music, Digital Technology, and Society

This book explores the relationships between popular music, technology, and the changing media ecosystem. More precisely, it looks at infrastructures and practices of music making and consuming primarily in the post-Napster era of digitization – with some chapters looking back on the technological precursors to digital culture – marked by the emergence of digital tools and platforms such as YouTube or Spotify. The first section provides a critical overview of theories addressing popular music and digital technology, while the second section offers an analysis of the relationship between musical cultures, taste, constructions of authenticity, and technology. The third section offers case studies on the materialities of music consumption from outside the western core of popular music production. The final section reflects on music scenes and the uses and discourses of social media.

Emília Barna, PhD is Assistant Professor at Budapest University of Technology and Economics.

Tamas Tofalvy, PhD is Associate Professor at Budapest University of Technology and Economics.