Music Sociology in a New Key

Abstract

This article examines how scholarship in the sociology of music has been dominated by an economic framework known as the production/consumption paradigm. It first traces the history of the production/consumption paradigm through its appearance in key texts, showing how it changes as it passes from Theodor W. Adorno and Pierre Bourdieu to the American production of culture perspective. It then presents a thematic overview of the literature and highlights the strengths of established research agendas as well as the blind spots that reveal the need for a more cultural approach. It also considers music as a text, as a resource, as a product, and as performance before proposing an alternative to the production/consumption dichotomy. The article argues that the growing interest in performance presents an opportunity not only to advance the study of music, but also to engage with the core theoretical issues in sociology.

We were never cool: Investigating knowledge production and discourses of cool in the sociology of music

“…In sociology, music is generally regarded as “not just ‘good to think with’, but good for thinking through” (McCormick, 2012, p. 723). However, the discipline has mainly borrowed its conceptual frameworks from other fields (Bennett, 2008; Marshall, 2011), such as popular music studies and cultural studies, in turn creating tensions within sociology about how music ought to be regarded.…”

Scandal and the Work of Art: The Nude in an Aesthetically Inflected Sociology of the Arts

“…Important work in this area includes Griswold (1987;1992) on literature;DeNora (1995;2000), Hanrahan (2000), andMcCormick (2012;2015) on music;andDubin (1992, 1999) on the visual arts. In looking at the interaction of sonic materials and receivers, DeNora (2000) creates a theory of music-in-action that places music centrally in a sociological analysis.…”

“…Alongside Zolberg’s call for attending to art, an impressive, growing – but relatively small – body of sociological work on the arts, which does engage with the work of art, has emerged. Important work in this area includes Griswold (1987, 1992) on literature; DeNora (1995, 2000), Hanrahan (2000), and McCormick (2012, 2015) on music; and Dubin (1992, 1999) on the visual arts. In looking at the interaction of sonic materials and receivers, DeNora (2000) creates a theory of music-in-action that places music centrally in a sociological analysis.…”

Framing performance and fusion: how music venues’ materiality and intermediaries shape music scenes

“…However, this line of research overlooks how music is experienced in everyday life (Benzecry 2011 ; DeNora 2000 ; Small 1998 ) and very rarely examines live music on stage. Indeed, the sociology of music has been influenced by a “production–consumption paradigm” (McCormick 2012 ) and until recently has devoted little attention to performance. As Simon Frith ( 2007 ) states, “live music matters,” not only on an economic level but also as a collective site of meaning-making for audiences and performers alike (Hesmondhalgh 2007 ).…”