The Mediatization of Music as the Emergence and Transformation of Institutions: A Synthesis

Abstract

The mediatization of music (i.e., the social construction and structuration of music in the media) is theorized as the emergence and transformation of institutions by synthesizing existing research and complementing it with additional theoretical considerations. The focus is on institutions that link production and consumption: concepts of musical works, roles of producers and performers, criteria and systems for the evaluation of music, and modes of performance and reproduction. Those institutions also include ways of music reception and customer relationships. As different musical genres are included in the analysis, general trends (such as personalization and visualization, plebiscitary definitions of musical quality, constructions of authenticity, the juridification of costumer relationships, and the standardization of commodities), as well as alternative paths of mediatization, can be found.