Music, Radio and the Public Sphere: The Aesthetics of Democracy PDF
Preview Music, Radio and the Public Sphere: The Aesthetics of Democracy
Music, Radio and the Public Sphere AlsobyCharlesFairchild COMMUNITYRADIOANDPUBLICCULTURE POPIDOLSANDPIRATES Music, Radio and the Public Sphere The Aesthetics of Democracy Charles Fairchild UniversityofSydney,Australia ©CharlesFairchild2012 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2012 978-0-230-39050-8 Allrightsreserved.Noreproduction,copyortransmissionofthis publicationmaybemadewithoutwrittenpermission. Noportionofthispublicationmaybereproduced,copiedortransmitted savewithwrittenpermissionorinaccordancewiththeprovisionsofthe Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988,orunderthetermsofanylicence permittinglimitedcopyingissuedbytheCopyrightLicensingAgency, SaffronHouse,6–10KirbyStreet,LondonEC1N8TS. Anypersonwhodoesanyunauthorizedactinrelationtothispublication maybeliabletocriminalprosecutionandcivilclaimsfordamages. Theauthorhasassertedhisrighttobeidentifiedastheauthorofthiswork inaccordancewiththeCopyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988. Firstpublished2012by PALGRAVEMACMILLAN PalgraveMacmillanintheUKisanimprintofMacmillanPublishersLimited, registeredinEngland,companynumber785998,ofHoundmills,Basingstoke, HampshireRG216XS. PalgraveMacmillanintheUSisadivisionofStMartin’sPressLLC, 175FifthAvenue,NewYork,NY10010. PalgraveMacmillanistheglobalacademicimprintoftheabovecompanies andhascompaniesandrepresentativesthroughouttheworld. Palgrave®andMacmillan®areregisteredtrademarksintheUnitedStates, theUnitedKingdom,Europeandothercountries. ISBN 978-1-349-35128-2 ISBN 978-0-230-39051-5 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780230390515 Thisbookisprintedonpapersuitableforrecyclingandmadefromfully managedandsustainedforestsources.Logging,pulpingandmanufacturing processesareexpectedtoconformtotheenvironmentalregulationsofthe countryoforigin. AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary. AcatalogrecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibraryofCongress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 To Blair Thomson, compatriot and friend This page intentionally left blank Contents Acknowledgements ix Introduction:TheUnknownandtheUnheard 1 Aroadmaptowhatfollows 7 Afewnotesonhowthisbookwasmade 10 Part I EnforcingandEvadingRationalization 1 SocialSolidarityintheLuminiferousEther 17 Speakingthroughmusic:Theaestheticpracticesofradio 21 Thepubliclivesofmusic 30 Thepublicsphereandculturaldemocracy 33 2 CorporateRationality,CommunicativeReason andAestheticExperience 41 Theproblemofthepublicandtheambiguity oftheaesthetic 46 Payola:Theanti-aesthetic 54 Subjectsofperceptionopeningtocommunicativepotential 61 Acivilandpotentiallydemocraticaesthetics 69 Conclusion 74 3 OfCommunitiesandConstituencies:Radio, theMarketandtheState 77 Socialnetworksdefinedbyconstituencyrelationships 78 Thestruggletoexistandsurvive 81 Deregulationandprivatization:Cordoningofftheether 84 Conclusion 100 Part II MakingRadio,MakingMeaning 4 WhatDoesaCivilSocietySoundLike? 105 Socialaestheticsandthevisceralontologyofradio 108 Presumptionsoflistening,practicesofpresenting 112 2SERandFBi:EmergingfromtheshadowofJJJ 112 2XXandArtSoundFM:Musicorpolitics? 120 Howdothesesoundsconveymeaning? 127 vii viii Contents 2SER’s‘TheAttic’:Makingthecaseforrealmusic 128 FBi’spromos:Seekingthedemographic 131 2XX’s‘LunchBox’:Imaginingtheunbrokenpast 134 ArtSound’s‘TheSoundspace’:Community-based robotmuzak 137 Conclusion 140 5 LocalMusicforLocalPeople 142 Theconvivialpresentationofmusicexperiencedlocally 144 ArtSound’s‘ConcertHall’ 144 2XX’s‘Sunset’ 146 FBi’s‘TheBridge:Unsigned’ 147 DIYA&R:Inculcatingmusiciansandpresenters intotheirownmusicscene 149 FBi’s‘Amplified’ 149 2XX’s‘Micfest’ 151 FBi’s‘MusicLessons’ 153 I’mnotreallyamusician,but... 158 FBi’s‘OutoftheBox’ 158 2SER’s‘Jailbreak’ 161 Conclusion 163 6 Mixing:TheRational,theReasoned,theResourceful 165 Can’tIjustplaywhatIwant?Decision-making, orderingandplaylists 166 FBi’s‘WeekendLunch’ 167 ArtSound’s‘SoundsEarly’and‘DiscDrive’ 173 Challengingandchangingeachother 179 2XX’s‘Innerspace’and‘ClassicMatters’ 180 ArtSound’s‘DressCircle’and‘ClassicalMoods’ 183 Acertainlogic,trustandfaith 186 ArtSound’s‘WorldVibe’andFBi’s‘FatPlanet’ 188 2SER’s‘Methodology’andFBi’s‘UtilityFog’ 193 Conclusion 198 Conclusion:TheUnheardandtheUnknown 200 Notes 205 Bibliography 208 Index 223 Acknowledgements The author and publishers wish to thank the following for permission toreproducecopyrightmaterial: Semiotext(e) for p. 210 and p. 32 from Neil Strauss, N. (ed.). Radiotext(e). The Permissions Company for Mark Slouka. ‘Dehumanized: When Math and Science Rule the School.’ Harper’s Magazine, September 2009. International Publishers for p. 238 from Antonio Gramsci Prison Notebooks. Fugazi for the lyric from ‘Cashout’ from the album The Argument (2001). TheSchoolofMediaandCommunicationatRMITUniversityforuse ofsectionsofmyarticle‘TheGrindingGearsofaNeo-liberalState: CommunityRadioandCulturalProduction.’SouthernReview,39(2). I would like to thank the staff and volunteers of 2XX FM in Canberra, ACT, ArtSound FM, Canberra, ACT, 2SER FM, Sydney NSW and FBi Radio,Sydney,NSW.Ihavereceivedanimmenseamountofgoodwill, honestyandcarefromagreatmanypeoplewhoworkedattheseradio stations.IamprofoundlygratefulforthehelpIhavereceived,without which this book would not exist. They have strongly influenced how Ithinkaboutmusicandwhatmightbedonewithit. I would also like to thank the librarians and archivists at the ACT Heritage Library in Phillip, ACT, for their help in finding a significant cacheofdocumentsregardingthehistoryanddevelopmentofcommu- nity radio in the ACT, especially the histories of 2XX and ArtSound. I also received much helpful advice and direction from the staff at the NationalFilmandSoundArchiveandtheNationalLibraryofAustralia. I would also like to thank Professor George McKay whose com- ments and suggestions on the earliest drafts of this work have proved invaluable. I would like to thank the Conservatorium of Music and the ResearchOfficeoftheUniversityofSydney.Bothprovidedtheresearch ix
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