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Liveness in the Age of Digitization

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Somatechnics and Popular Music in Digital Contexts

Part of the book series: Pop Music, Culture and Identity ((PMCI))

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Abstract

This chapter elucidates the various ways in which we might imagine new distinctions (or lack thereof) between liveness and mediatization in the post-millennium digital context by applying theoretical perspectives of somatechnics to certain live music listening practices. The chapter argues that there are certain technics which bring forth and produce listening pleasure, functioning with and within the somatic. Namely, there is a focus on: The technics of time and its significance in the production of liveness and authenticity; the somatechnics of dance as it functions to embody music listening; and the somatechnics of vocality as it functions in the live music space as a vibratory technology. Finally, through the use of Derrida’s work on ‘teletechnology,’ the author examines the emergence of camera phone technology in reshaping, recrafting and reimagining new understandings of liveness, presence and actuality in the realm of live concerts and how those new understandings might be wrought with the language of the body and somatechnics.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    From here, I will refer to the ‘live music event’ or ‘live music experience’ as an umbrella term which refers to a range of live music design (the outdoor arena show, the smaller gig, the indoor concert and so forth), unless I differentiate in order to specify a particular point that is dependent on the physical configuration of the live event.

  2. 2.

    It should be noted that some postmodern dance can be performed without any music at all, but this is quite rare.

  3. 3.

    Although when the technique is executed correctly, it should not produce any pain for the vocalist.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Humanities, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia

    Laura Glitsos

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  1. Laura Glitsos
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Glitsos, L. (2019). Liveness in the Age of Digitization. In: Somatechnics and Popular Music in Digital Contexts. Pop Music, Culture and Identity. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18122-2_3

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