Kyle Devine 'Decomposed'

 

My review of Kyle Devine’s book Decomposed has appeared in the latest edition of the Popular Music journal. As I state in the review this is a brilliant book which addresses a subject with which we should all engage. Devine looks at the environmental damage that is caused by our consumption of recorded music. He deals with this issue by dividing his analysis into three periods: the shellac era (1900-1950), which witnessed the industrialization of music; the plastic era (1950-2000) in which the production of vinyl, cassettes and CDs implicated the recording industry with the petrochemical industry; and the era of data (2000 to now) in which the consumption of music has moved online. Importantly, Devine disabuses us of thinking that our consumption has consequently been dematerialised. He calculates, in fact, that the environmental costs are ‘higher than ever before’. Decomposed draws upon a wealth of materials in its analysis, including my own book Vinyl, which he has used to create a thesis beyond anything I had imagined. As I note in my review, some of Devine’s calculations can be questioned, but the importance of his argument cannot be gainsaid. My review can be accessed via this link. Devine’s book is available from MIT Press.