Mediamorphosis

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The term mediamorphosis is a term coined by Kurt Blaukopf in the sociology of music . Mediamorphosis describes the phenomenon of mutation ( metamorphosis ) in music due to the influence of electronic media on the musical and technical production and distribution process at the latest from the early 20th century.

In addition to the direct consequences for musical communication and musical practice itself, the mediamorphosis also has a strong influence on legal, social and economic aspects, increasingly also on a global level.

Mutation through technical media

With the invention of musical notation, one can speak of a first (written) mediamorphosis of music, the effects of which on musical communication were relatively minor compared to the technically conditioned mediamorphosis. This early form of mediamorphosis is not an essential part of Blaukopf's considerations.

The mutation of music, i.e. H. the massive upheaval of conventional forms of musical communication and musical practice as a whole began rather in the early 20th century with the invention of phonography by Thomas Alva Edison . Achievements of the following years such as microphone , electron tube , magnetic tape , record and stereophony accelerated this process and intensified the consequences. The totality of these and the inventions based on them as well as the consequences of this development characterize the mediamorphosis.

Features and sequelae

Abolition of space and time boundaries

The technical recording and distribution media lead to the abolition of space and time boundaries of musical practice, i. H. Due to transmission media such as records, the place and time of the performance no longer necessarily coincide with the place and time of reception. At the same time, the previously existing compulsion to gather, which was necessary for the reception of music, is removed.

The performance music, in which the space and time of the performance and reception coincide, is supplemented by broadcast music as a new musical category. The term refers to "any musical communication that makes use of an artificial-technical channel [.]"

Loss of aura

Based on Walter Benjamin , the music loses its "auratic uniqueness" through its reproducibility. Coupled with the ubiquitous presence of music, the mediamorphosis leads to a "'banalization' of music."

Materiality and character of the goods

Before the invention of sound recording, music could only take on the character of a commodity in the form of printed notes , but it was essentially to be viewed as a service . Mediamorphosis, on the other hand, enables music to be created as a real object and gives it materiality in the form of sound carriers. The interplay of the newly created product character and materiality lead to a new dimension in the economic usability of music. The possibility of mass production and distribution of sound carriers led to an increase in the importance of the music industry.

Legal consequences

To protect the performance of the composers and performers of music that are not necessarily united in one person, which were copyright and performance protection laws introduced. Collecting societies were founded to ensure that these legal claims are safeguarded .

Increase in musical activity

Through the mediamorphosis, strata of society traditionally alien to music gained access to music and musical instruments. Especially from the 1950s onwards, there was an increase in musical activity, which manifested itself in the formation of countless rock and beat groups. But traditional forms of music such as choirs and music schools also gained popularity, which speaks loudly for an “increase in musical activity overall”.

Concept history and reception

In the term media morphosis, Blaukopf allows the words media and metamorphosis to merge into one and thus describes the mutation of musical communication and musical practice. Building on a basic idea of Max Weber , according to which the sociology of music should analyze the change in musical behavior, Blaukopf also describes the process of change in musical practice through his theory of media morphosis. The term mediamorphosis refers for the first time to the connection between technical development and the resulting change in the musical process itself.

The term mediamorphosis was mainly taken up and further developed by Austrian sociologist Alfred Smudits , Blaukopf's successor at the Institute for Music Sociology at the Vienna University of Music . Smudits continues the term into the digital age around CD, Internet, MP3 etc. and describes this as digital media morphosis . Against the background of the current development of technical media, Smudits examines the issues of protecting copyright and ancillary copyright law, the increasing economization of music (or culture) and the steadily growing musical activity in the amateur field.

Acculturation as a global consequence

The possibility of spreading music across cultural boundaries and the associated increase in interdependencies between cultures make the analysis of a global context and the consideration of the “universal history” of music an aspect of scholarly discussion.

Blaukopf sees the preponderance of western music goods as an "attack by western norms on the musical cultures of other societies". According to Blaukopf, adopting the diatonic tone system , the instruments and the singing voice of Western musical culture without hesitation could, in the worst case, lead to the loss of the numerous non-Western musical or cultural identities. At the same time, however, Blaukopf points out that it is not Western cultures that deal critically with foreign, i.e. Western, influences and that, as a rule, there is no mere adaptation of Western musical culture. Through the global exchange of musical practices, Western culture is also confronted with foreign influences and possibly even enriched by them.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Kurt Blaukopf: Music in the Change of Society. Basics of the sociology of music. 2nd Edition. Darmstadt 1996, p. 188.
  2. ↑ Blaukopf 1996, p. 271.
  3. ↑ Blaukopf 1996, pp. 190f.
  4. ↑ Blaukopf 1996, pp. 190f.
  5. ↑ Blaukopf 1996, pp. 188f.
  6. ^ Alfred Smudits: Mediamorphosen des Kulturschaffens. Braumüller, Vienna 2002, pp. 173–220.
  7. ↑ Blaukopf 1996, pp. 270, 276ff.
  8. ↑ Blaukopf 1996, p. 290.
  9. ↑ Blaukopf. Darmstadt 1996, p. 294.
  10. ↑ Blaukopf 1996, p. 286.

literature