Digitalization has significantly transformed and affected musical practices and aesthetics. New means of recording, processing, analysis and reproduction have profoundly changed the ways in which music is composed, produced, performed, disseminated and consumed. Sound synthesis and computational methods of structure generation have opened up new compositional possibilities. In this course, we will examine the development of electronic and computer music and sound art as well as more general shifts in the consumption and production of music. Through specific case studies, we will tackle the following questions: How have digital technologies enabled unprecedented modes of making, using and perceiving music? In what ways has digital mediatization shaped our experiences with musical content and style? How have technological developments influenced and challenged musical aesthetics and ideas of sound? And how do we reconcile the long-established connections between music, performance and liveness in an era when the paradigm of reproduction seems to be omnipresent?

In the first five sessions, we will consider the impact of digital technologies on the composition and production of music. After examining how analog and digital technologies have influenced musical practices, we will look at concrete examples and aesthetic developments in order to understand the influence of digital technologies both on the creative process of music-making and on its aesthetic reflection.

The second half of the course will focus on a number of broader implications of digitalization related to listening and performance practices, as well as music-related genres such as sound art, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality audio.

At the end of the semester, we will extend the scope and consider cultural issues that arise by digital possibilities of sharing, disseminating and consuming music. In particular, we will discuss the intertwining of digitization and commodification.