The work seeks to go beyond the tired metaphor of "flows" to describe how music moves in an era commonly understood as globalized. "Circulation" seems to be a term frequently used today, referring to goods as well as people, an idea with a long history, which harks back to Marxist notions about the movement of money, and is still useful in relation to cultural goods. like the music. Drawing on Marx and anthropologists who have studied value and exchange, this work argues that things circulate because they have value, and circulation therefore manifests itself as constant exchanges - of money, goods, etc. - who constantly (re)make life and social relationships. Radio serves as a case study in this work, especially as an important player in the Southern California indie rock scene. Returning to classical theories about audience as a commodity (Dallas Smythe), which remain useful if released from a strictly Marxist framework towards a broader theorization of value, it is argued that Smythe's conception is related to the idea of exchange, and that its insights can be extended and renewed from radio and other mass media to think about the circulation of contemporary digital media.

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Circulation, Value, and Exchange in the Movement of Music

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Abstract:

This paper is an attempt to move beyond the common metaphor of “flows” to describe how music moves in an era commonly thought of as globalized. “Circulation” seems to be a term in frequent usage these days, referring to people as well as goods, an idea has a long history going back to Marxist ideas about the movement of money and is still useful with respect to cultural goods such as music . Drawing on Marx and anthropologists who have studied value and exchange, this paper argues that things circulate because they have value, and circulation therefore manifests as constant exchanges—of time, money, goods, and more—that constantly (re)make social life and relations. Radio serves as a case study in this paper, especially as it plays an important role in the indie rock scene in southern California. Returning to classic theories of the audience as commodities from Dallas Smythe, which are still useful if released from a strict Marxian framework into broader conceptualizations of value, I argue that Smythe's conception is predicated in the idea of exchange, and that Smythe's insights can be extended and updated from radio and other broadcast media to the circulation of digital media today.