The Social Construction of Digital Recorded Music : A Preliminary Map

Abstract

Following the advent of digital media, recorded music has been subject to radical changes in recent years – both technologically and economically. Formerly the dominant sound carrier, the CD is experiencing plummeting sales; while a new format, the digital music file, is on the rise. But digital files are easily shared over the Internet; and as the industry struggles to adjust its business models to the new realities of the recorded music market, file sharers are disseminating music across both spatial and legal borders. At the heart of these developments are the technological manifestations which recorded music takes. Using theory from Science and Technology Studies (STS), this thesis proposes that the development of technology must be understood as a result of social processes, and that such processes are in turn affected by the technology itself. Through a literature review and a number of qualitative interviews, parties that are identified as central to shaping its technology are identified; specifically, the recorded music industry, music consumers, legislative and law enforcing government, and media are found to be central groups. Representatives of these groups are approached to express their values and opinions towards the technological artefact of recorded music, both as a product and as a cultural commodity. Particular emphasis is put on these parties’ views on file sharing. Using the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) theorem as a foundation, the thesis reveals that relevant actors express strongly heterogeneous opinions towards the various manifestations of recorded music, and that its technological development is exposed to very disparate social influences. At the same time, the findings discredit the notion that shared values and opinions are easily sorted into well-defined social groups, as they are currently treated in much academic literature. It is also shown that the distribution of power to influence recorded music technology is changing among relevant actors; away from record companies, and towards consumers of music and Internet Service Providers (ISPs).