Name: Paula C. Harper Explores Sonic Memes, Contagious Tunes, and Viral Musicking
Start: 2025-01-21T16:30:00
Location: University of California, Los Angeles

UCLA's Herb Alpert School of Music is set to host a diverse array of events that delve into the multifaceted world of sound and music. From symposiums on the intersection of sound and societal issues to concerts showcasing the talents of renowned and emerging artists, these events promise to offer enriching insights and unforgettable performances. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with thought-provoking topics such as the impact of sound on social dynamics and the fusion of music and politics.

Exploring Soundscapes and Cultural Narratives at UCLA's Herb Alpert School of Music

UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music

With the rise of TikTok, YouTube, and Spotify, memes and other internet phenomena are becoming more and more audible in our daily lives. In this talk, musicologist Paula Harper briefly historicizes and contextualizes the contagious concept of “virality,” demonstrating how the concept might also be understood as a form of musicality. In Harper’s view, when we create, watch, listen to, circulate, or share “viral” digital internet objects, we participate in a significant site of 21st century musical practice. Digital platforms, in turn, have adapted to facilitate this viral musicality, using music’s positive capacities—aesthetic pleasure, communal participation, social connectivity—to enable corporate profit-making, corral attention, and incentivize acceptance of increasing technocapital enclosure of the internet and everyday life.

Paula C. Harper Explores Sonic Memes, Contagious Tunes, and Viral Musicking

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