A new day for music? digital technology in contemporary music-making

The relation between creativity and technology is often considered problematic in discussions of music during the 1980s. This article reviews the emergence of digital sampling, sequencing, and other techniques which collectively redefined concepts and terminologies of music-making in that decade, introducing in effect a new kind of ‘music literacy’. Alongside stylistic changes made possible by use of new technology, the reproductive capabilities of digital music technology also transformed conditions under which earlier forms of music would now circulate, affecting the size, social characteristics and economics of audiences likely to exist for a wide range of established musical styles. Such overall restructuring of music production and distribution, it is argued, amounted to a significant shift of music ‘culture’, understood as interlocking conditions and relations in which music is produced, circulates, and is understood. The implications of specific changes in music production and reception during the period are considered in relation to wider, theoretical arguments about the role played in music culture by technological innovation.