Hope and Wish Image in Music Technology

Know about the book -

Hope and Wish Image in Music Technology is written by David P. Rando and published by Springer. It's available with International Standard Book Number or ISBN identification 3319340158 (ISBN 10) and 9783319340159 (ISBN 13).

This book proposes that new music technologies attract unconscious desires for socialism and collectivity, enabling millions of people living under capitalism to dream of repressed social alternatives. Grounded in the philosophical writings of Ernst Bloch and Walter Benjamin, the book examines file sharing technologies, streaming services, and media players, as well as their historical antecedents, such as the player piano, cassette tape, radio and compact disc, alongside interpretations of fiction, memoir, and albums. Through the concept of wish images—the unconscious hopes and desires for social alternatives that gather around new technologies—the book identifies the repressed pre- and post-capitalist urges that attend our music technologies. While these desires typically remain unconscious and tend to pass away not only unmet but also unrecognized, Hope and Wish Image in Music Technology attempts to bring wishes for social alternatives to the surface at an auspicious moment of technological transition.