The relationship between musical practice and capital (both economic and cultural) is often an uneasy one. Art has been idealized by many as separate from commerce and concerns about how economic interest and commodification stifles creativity and lulls listeners into passivity loom large in scholarly and popular discourse about music. On the other hand, expressive culture such as music commonly serves as a marker of socio-economic class and numerous artists strive to turn their creativity into the basis of their economic survival. And the tensions surrounding the varied perspectives on music and capital commonly play central roles in shaping musical sounds and their meanings.

This course draws on the writing of foundational cultural theorists such as Marx, Adorno, and Bourdieu as well as a number of musicologists, ethnomusicologists, and music-focused sociologists (e.g., Katherine Preston, Stephen Cottrell, and Keith Negus) in order to explore how questions of financial reward, industry, art for art’s sake, patronage, hereditary professionalism, etc. have informed music making and research on musical practices in popular, folk, and art music contexts both past and present. We will also explore new research on social capital in relation to networks of music makers, consumers, and cultural interm ediaries.