This thesis focuses on the development of sociability within digitality, through an examination of three primary relationships: people and music, people and the Web 2.0 and people and each other. Mobile digital devices, such as the iPod, represent the convergence of musical taste and the internet. Both are inherently social, and, while critics have accused mobile digital devices as being socially isolating, the youth in this study have demonstrated an environment in which this technology is used as a means of communication. For these digital youth, such technologies are seen as a gateway to communication and the sharing of experiences. Having grown up fully immersed in digitality, these youth are negotiating new relationships with technology and each other, through the perceived invisibility of the technology. An important aspect of this research is the formation of identity and taste in digitality. Music is an integral facet of identity, a means to relate to others and form judgments on those we meet – but how is this affected by digitality? The internet encourages a loss of genre distinction, and a culture of eclecticism, whereby people can listen to a multitude of genres, often without knowing what exactly they are listening to, and without aligning their identities with specific genres or subgenres. Based on empirical data, it is demonstrated that this fragmentation of taste matches an intensified fragmentation of identity through social networking sites.

In his article 'The Death of the Author', Roland Barthes posits that the intentions and identity of an author are irrelevant to the understanding of an artwork. Yet in his analysis of a text by Balzac, Barthes inadvertently demonstrates that there are basic thematic categories associated with an artist's identity, which are intrinsic to a work's interpretation. This thesis proposes that the author of an artwork functions as a semiotic curator, collating signifiers from within these external categories in order to reflect their understanding of the world. Taking as a case study Nicholas Maw's 1976 score Life Studies - a piece described by the composer as being based on his own life - this experiential understanding of identity and self is explored through the lens of David Hume's bundle theory, where the unified experience of self is created through the collection of a series of perceptions. This thesis hypothesises that there are five key categories of perception that constitute Maw's artistic self in Life Studies: simulacra, narrative, design, agency, and nostalgia. Methodologically, these five areas - or rhizomes - are presented through a tripartite study, in an attempt to combine the three distinct disciplines which the philosopher Gilles Deleuze believed approached a holistic understanding of reality: philosophy, analysis, and - in the accompanying portfolio - composition (creativity).

Submitted by Morgana Silva (morgana_linhares@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-09-19T19:05:45Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 8865881 bytes, checksum: bedfecc97e2e879b95059dbdfd5518d1 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-19T19:05:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 8865881 bytes, checksum: bedfecc97e2e879b95059dbdfd5518d1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2015-06-30 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The aim of this research is to investigate the musical identity of Brazil’s northeastern backlands in Brazilian composer (from Vitória da Conquista – BA) Elomar Figueira Mello’s songbook (CANCIONEIRO). Also, the thesis has the purpose to analyze the modes by which this identity is expressed in the performances made by Elomar itself and by other performers of his music. For achieving this aim, I have built a corpus of five songs picked up from his CANCIONEIRO (that has in full 49 songs). The text develops itself around the analysis of these five songs, from four record sources: 1. the scores published in the collection CANCIONEIRO (2008); 2. the sound recordings of the songs made by the composer himself; 3. the sound recordings of the songs made by other performers; 4. transcriptions, carried out by myself, of the sound recordings made by other performers. Data gathering used sound-documentary research and fieldwork, with direct contacts with the artist, participant observation, personal or virtual contact with admirers and artists related to Elomar’s work. The thesis that results of the research is divided into four chapters, which bring to light eight characteristics of Elomar’s musical and artistic identity. At all, eight characteristics were identified: 1. the sonic-instrumental conception as a means of cultural resistance; 2. Elomar’s personal style in guitaristic execution; 3. employment of “typical” sounds of Brazilian Northeastern Backlands; 4. the relationship with cantoria (a Brazilian backland’s typical form of popular sung poetry); 5. border music; 6. the imaginary constituted around medieval art and literature; 7. the imagination of Elomar regarding the rural exodus due to the drought in the hinterland; 8. the personal option for an independent pathway in Brazilian music business. / O objetivo desta pesquisa é investigar a identidade sonora do sertão nordestino presente nas canções (o CANCIONEIRO) do compositor brasileiro Elomar Figueira Mello, de Vitória da Conquista – BA, e identificar de que maneira essa identidade é expressada por ele próprio enquanto intérprete e por outros intérpretes. Para este objetivo, selecionamos um corpus de cinco canções de seu CANCIONEIRO (cujo total é de 49 canções). O trabalho gira em torno da análise dessas cinco canções, a partir de quatro fontes: 1. as partituras publicadas na coletânea CANCIONEIRO (2008); 2. os registros sonoros das canções feitos pelo próprio compositor; 3. os registros sonoros das canções feitos por outros intérpretes; 4. transcrições, realizadas por mim, dos registros sonoros feitos por outros intérpretes. A coleta de dados utilizou a pesquisa sonoro-documental e o trabalho de campo, com contatos diretos com o artista, observação participante, contato pessoal ou virtual com cúmplices e artistas relacionados ao trabalho de Elomar. A dissertação resultante da pesquisa está dividida em cinco capítulos, que trazem a lume oito características da identidade sonora e artística de Elomar: 1. a concepção sonorainstrumental como forma de resistência cultural; 2. o estilo pessoal de execução violonística; 3. o trabalho sobre as sonoridades “típicas” do Nordeste; 4. a relação com a arte da cantoria; 5. música de fronteira; 6. o imaginário constituído em torno da arte e a literatura medievais; 7. o imaginário com relação ao êxodo rural decorrente da seca no sertão; 8. a opção pelo caminho independente no mercado musical.

In the past few decades people’s attitude towards music consumption has tremendously changed in China. With the constantly rising market and huge potential space, it is necessary to study the consumer behavior and explore factors that decide people’s willingness to pay in music consumption. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to investigate: 1) What factors may influence the Chinese consumer behavior on music and its merchandise; 2) What factors may influence the “willingness to pay” of Chinese consumer in music consumption; 3) The similarities and differences between the consumption of music product and musical merchandise in China. The authors select the qualitative method and set up two focus groups, music product group and music merchandise group, in this study. Finally, they found five dimensions (musical preference & identity, culture of music, musical loyalty & satisfaction, Chinese music consumption, willingness to pay) will interaction with each other and influence Chinese consumer behavior on music product and its merchandise.