Distracted Listening: Theories of Music, Listening, and Capitalism

Catalog description

Do you use music to work and/or to unwind from work? Do you use music to go to sleep and/or to start the day? Do you need music to drown out the noises of the world around you and/or to feel more connected to the world? Do you find that music can distract you from stressful things but also that you are too distracted to listen to the music? Do you find yourself gravitating to certain styles of music to fit certain activities? For many of us, music takes on the role of accompanying us as we work, rest, motivate, distract, move from one place to another, and to feel better. In this seminar, we will ask how music's roles in our lives have been shaped by relatively recent historical processes intensified by capitalism. We will listen to music together and read writings​ by authors who speculated many years ago about what would happen to both music and to our listening habits in a world shaped by commodification, as well as more recent writings by authors who describe what appears to have happened to both music and listening habits with the rise of paid streaming services, the increasing demands of productivity, and to the privatization of resources like healthcare. By listening and reading together, we'll think about not only how music and listening habits have been transformed by capitalist systems but also how our love of music has been used for their continuation. This course requires regular reading and participation in class discussion. There will be regular assignments (writing reflections, listening to music, making playlists) and a final paper. No technical proficiency in music is required.