Listening from within a Digital Music Archive

Digital technologies and metadata are increasingly intervening in use and consumption of music. This thesis offers an analysis of the role of metadata in contemporary music streaming practices. The study sees a correlation between archival strategies and the presentation of recorded music, and it exemplifies this by examining the structuration of the digital music archive of the Danish Broadcasting Corporation (DR). Through readings of historical documents, platform interfaces, and database configurations, the study amplifies that digital wrapping can have an impact on how music is experienced. The study addresses formations of metadata in DR’s digital music archive and discusses how these can deepen and change the perception and reception of music releases. This thesis argues that metadata can support many different narratives that are delivered concurrently, and with DR’s digital music archive as a case study it highlights that the history of recorded music is nonlinear and can point in multiple directions.