Sounds and silences in the digital city: technological practices and sonic spaces

Abstract

Drawing on recent developments at the intersection of Sound Studies and Science and Technology studies, this paper analyzes the mutual shaping processes between the digital music industry and consumer identities in urban settings, dominated by uncertainty, fear, and increasing individualization. Kun's concept of audiotopia (2015) is used to analyze the private sound spaces generated by musical listening practices mediated by digital technologies. However, while for Kun audiotopias are open spaces where new possibilities can be imagined, we argue that they result in conflicts and contradictions within the framework of digital capitalism. Finally, three paradoxes of these urban audiotopias are identified, related to the systems of surveillance and control of digital consumption, the disarticulation of activisms, and the predesigned supply of identities respectively. The multistability or flexibility of the sociotechnical articulations in which these paradoxes occur allows for the exploration of new paths and the visibility of new alternative urban audiotopias.