Music, Technology and Media in the 21st Century

Dear Colleagues,

The means to create, share, and receive musical experiences have been fundamentally transformed by emerging technologies, media platforms, and social behaviors. In every such transformation in the 20^th and 21^st centuries, systems supporting the production, distribution, and consumption of music have been compelled to respond by adapting to change or collapsing into obsolescence. The Schumpeterian concept of creative destruction is evident in the music industry.

The issue of creativity is particularly important. How music moves from an idea—creation—to the ears of listeners— reception—is where the production structures of music come into play. Additionally, since access to music and musicians is what brings music commerce, community, and culture to life, music production, reception, and commercial consumption have been foci of studies on technology, media, and music.

The realm of musical creativity—the most mysterious and persistently human of musical endeavours—is not impervious to innovative disruption, and emerging tools and practices hint at greater interference. With data analytics and predictive algorithms, do we still require humans to identify the next wave of “hits” and “stars?” Will holographic and VR technologies eliminate the chronological, geographical, or logistical constraints on live performers and performance? Are humans still necessary to provide the spark (and work) of musical creation if AI can do it faster and more effectively engage a socially mediated audience? Further, would AI-powered “curators” prefer AI-created music and predict/drive its cultural diffusion and commercial success?

This Special Issue of Arts—Music, Technology, and Media in the 21st Century--will explore the current iterations and evolutions in music creation, production, and reception as shaped by established, emerging, and newly available technologies and the social and cultural behaviours influenced by their diffusion. We must look beyond explorations of how humans will use the tools and amenities of socio-technical tools and networked media to identify the role of humans in this new world of possibility.

Prof. Dr. David Bruenger
Guest Editor

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• music technology
• social media
• video
• software
• virtual reality
• augmented reality
• data analytics
• meta-data
• curation
• recommendation algorithm
• sampling
• bricolage/mashup