Who Owns Music? Discussion on Ownership of Music Material and Communities

Each year at Music Current Festival we invite music audiences and the wider public to engage in debates and discussions concerning how music making is affected by technology, social changes and the political environment.

In contemporary media the ubiquity of digital technology is matched by the increasing concentration communications resources in the hands of a trans-national corporate complex. The trend raises profound concerns in many fields, especially concerning the direct ownership of the means of communications. For musicians and audiences, this impinges on the idea of ownership in many ways: ownership of copyright, ownership of means of production and distribution, ownership of music material from the composer’s perspective, (sense of) ownership from the listener’s perspective, or (sense of) ownership by community of listeners.

Here, four composers, academics, researchers and music industry professional share insights into their personal experience of how technology impinges on their ownership of their own material, practice and communities.

The discussion is open and accessible to public participation, and contributions are welcome from the audience. The discussion will be followed immediately by the Festival Launch Event at Project Arts Centre Bar. Attendees are invited to join us for refreshments and the festival reception at 7pm.

This event is hosted in collaboration with the Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland’s archive and resource centre for new music. The discussion is moderated by Jonathan Grimes (CMC Head of Content) and will be recorded for the Contemporary Music Centre’s ‘amplify’ podcast (see cmc.ie/amplify). The event is free to attend, but booking required.