Configurable No More?

Aram Sinnreich chronicles the importance and weightiness of music in "Configurable Culture." From the inception of "state-mandated diagrams of permitted melodic and harmonic codes...in ancient Egypt" (19) to Confucius's laudation of music as a means of reforming culture, to the suppression of African tribal music during the Civil War in the South, to the insubordination of cabaret music in the midst of Prohibition, countless examples exist to underscore the importance of music (20).

Regardless of the example, it is clear that music presents at once a challenge to authority and an authoritative device, designed to hold individual behaviors in check. Music, then, has been regulated in a variety of ways across cultures and time. Regulation permits control over constituents; something highly valued by the persistent minority of the wealthy and the powerful.

Recent legislative measures have sought to impede musical liberties; particularly with regard to the dissemination and transfer of music. These legislative measure, however, go even further. Acts such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and efforts spearheaded by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) serve industry motives and have attempted to further anti-piracy and "theft" efforts (26).

These legislative measures are grossly inappropriate, however, considering the current contextual elements of the status quo. Our culture has increasingly experienced a shift away from a centralization of musical actors (e.g. select few musical afficionados that become world-renowned) to a musical culture that focuses on the amalgamation of a number of different actors at different phases of the musical configuration. Therefore, outdated legislative intents are no longer applicable to 21st century technological developments and trends. We must adapt our legal system to embody and espouse the principles of a fragmented culture, contingent upon a variety of actors in a variety of manifestations. Otherwise, we will be doomed to remain a culture lost in the past.