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Compact Disc

Series: Object Lessons
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( 13 ratings, 1 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Compact Disc explores the fascinating journey of the compact disc as a medium, tracing its rise as the pinnacle of audio technology and its role in signalling the decline of physical media. It delves into how music transformed from analogue sounds to digital code, altering our relationship with media and music itself. Despite predictions of obsolescence, the CD persists as a "zombie medium," still cherished by niche audiences and demonstrating the enduring power of physical form.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$2199
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers interested in arts and culture, music history, media studies, and technology enthusiasts curious about the impact of digital evolution on physical media. Also suitable for those who appreciate cultural philosophy and the nuanced stories behind everyday objects.

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"The compact disc promised to be the perfect medium for recorded sound, but it presaged the end of physical media for good. Its history shows that the materiality of media can never simply be wished away."--

The compact disc promised to be the perfect medium for recorded sound, but it presaged the end of physical media for good. Its history shows that the materiality of media can never simply be wished away.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.

The story of the compact disc is also the story of the end of physical media. It is the story of how the quest for perfection laid the grounds for the death of a great industry. For in the passage from analogue media, like records and tapes, to digital formats, like CDs, something changed in the nature of media and in the relationship we have with music. Music became code, a sequence of 1s and 0s, a flow of pure information. The material structure of the medium itself was always supposed to disappear. But the physical has proved to possess an uncanny knack for returning.

Today the CD is a zombie medium, still popular amongst certain avant-garde record labels and Japanese consumers. Against all the odds, the spectre endures.

Object Lessons is published in partnership with an essay series in The Atlantic.

Series: Object Lessons

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

This elegantly written book offers a concise cultural history of the compact disc, blending engaging anecdotes with philosophical insight. Reviewers praise its thoughtful homage to the format, highlighting its exploration of the quest for technological perfection and the cultural shifts in audio recording. It is celebrated for its clear, incisive critique and the way it rekindles wonder for the technology that revolutionised music consumption.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781501348518

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 19 March 2020

Country: United States

Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 14.0mm

Width: 120.0mm

Height: 164.0mm

Weight: 149g

Pages: 160

About the Author

Robert Barry is Visual Arts Editor at The Quietus and a Faculty Member at the Institute of Contemporary Music Performance, UK. He is the author of The Music of the Future (2017) and co-editor, with Houman Barekat and David Winters, of The Digital Critic: Literary Culture Online (2017).

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