The Ethics Surrounding Live
and Recorded Music
A Study by
Mark A. McCormick &
Amanda K. Plummer
This project represents graduate coursework done at the
University of Illinois in Educational Policy Studies.
EPS 409: Ethics & Education
Professor Nicholas C. Burbules
Contents
•Introduction
•Historical Perspectives
•Purposes of Media
•Comparison of Media
•Property Rights & Copyright
•Educational Perspectives
•Summary
•References
Introduction
The purpose of this study is to examine the ethical
issues surrounding the relationships between live and
recorded music. Since the inception of recording
technology, live and recorded music have influenced each
other’s existence and aesthetic purposes in both
professional and educational settings. This study will
examine the roles of each and address issues of community,
property rights and society.
Contents
Overview of Concepts
Overview of Concepts
Copyright
Educational
Live vs.
Recorded
Music
Professional
Contents
Sensory
Experience
Back to Introduction
Historical Perspectives
July 2002 will mark the 125th anniversary of Thomas Edison’s first patent on recording and
playing back a sound to and from a cylinder. The progress of the recording industry over
the years has shown us that since the dawn of the gramophone, technology has
influenced the way people live.
Presently, we’re faced with many challenges that will shape the way we interact with
recorded music. However, history has shown us that people have been adapting
their lives to this technology decades ago.
Click on the picture of Thomas A.
Edison to hear him speak in the oldest
recording still available.
1888, Edison cylinder, full length
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Historical Perspectives
The Edison Survey
“In 1921, Thomas A. Edison Inc. claims to have sent out as many as 20,000
copies of a questionnaire asking Americans in 43 states to list their ‘favorite
tunes.’ Their often laborious answers sometimes ranged far beyond the details
of record issue numbers…
Many took the occasion of the survey to explain how and why they simply
would not have been able to live without their record players and records.”
(Kenney, p.5)
“The survey had been undertaken in part…to test the results of an experiment
designed by a group of psychologists headed by Dr. W. V. Bingham of the
Carnegie Institute of Technology. Bingham’s group believed that music
stimulated human emotions and they wanted Edison records to ‘push the right
emotional buttons.’ 135 of Edison’s records were divided into twelve
categories: Recordings that ‘Stimulate & Enrich the Imagination,’ to those that
brought ‘Peace of Mind,’ ‘Joy,’ ‘Wistfullness,’ ‘Good Fellowship,’ ‘More Energy,’
‘Love,’ ‘Dignity & Grandeur’, ‘Tender Memory’, ‘Devotion’, a ‘Stirring of the
spirits’, and a ‘Stimulation of Childish Fancy”. (Kenney, p. 6)
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Historical Perspectives
Survey Results:
Connecting with Memories & Life Experiences
“Many customers recalled and reaffirmed familial love and family identity by replaying
recording of music that they felt pointed to particular departed family members. Another
female correspondent used the phonograph to help keep her family happy and summed
up her experiences by saying: Our little son, a year old, often during the day points till I
put on a piece for him. Our two little girls love the dance pieces. We love our machine so
much. If we had to part with any piece of furniture in our home, we would give up our
bed before we would part with our Edison.” (Kenney p.11)
“These and other statements like these showed that people recorded music to reconnect
with memories or life experiences. What Claude S. Fischer has written about the
innovation of telephone can be applied to recording: ‘As much as people adapt their lives
to the changed circumstances created by a new technology, they also adapt that
technology to their lives.” (Kenney p. 7)
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Historical Perspectives
Stirring the Emotions or Shattering a Culture?
While some say that the gramophone brought on the “shattering of the Victorian
culture,” the survey responses proved that the Victorian sense of cross-generational
continuity in family, community, ethnicity and nationality was prevalent. “If Edison’s
customers listened alone, they listened together.” (Kenney p.14) In comparing the
effect on society that some say television would later have, the technology in both
cases is reflective of the values already embedded in the culture.
The strong community values in place at the birth of the home phonograph were
also the same values that gathered families around a piano or fireplace. It was a
central place where families could experience an emotion and a connection to
others. While the experience of hearing a recording or using a live instrument for the
purpose of familial bonding may have seemed the same, there is a difference which
plays an important role in the development of technology.
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Historical Perspectives
The Gramophone as an Instrument
In the case of the parlor piano, where the audience and performer roles may
have been blurred because everyone was involved, the source of the live music
could organically change based on the live, spontaneous interaction. However,
just as a musician uses the piano as a tool based on group interaction, a person
could also use the gramophone as a tool to change the musical output based on
the group emotional response. For example, the person operating the
gramophone could act as a DJ, changing the music to match the group’s
response. The subtle difference however, arises with the variety of options. A
musician has a vast array of choices to make while performing and can
implement them at will simply by changing the way the instrument is played. The
gramophone could not be spontaneously changed at will without stopping the
music, nor could subtle musical changes other than volume be made in the
performance.
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Historical Perspectives
Play your piano or Player Piano?
As playback devices gained popularity,
there was a technological device
introduced that shortened the gap
between performance and recording. It
was the player piano. The device was a
real piano fitted with pneumatic pumps
and levers that allowed for the playback of
a recording done on the piano. Using a
paper roll, holes were punched that
allowed air to pass through the paper,
fluctuating the pressure in air and causing
pitches to be played using the mechanical
action of the instrument.
<http://www.pianola.demon.co.uk/>
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Historical Perspectives
Blurring the Lines of Distinction
Moving a step toward live performance, the
pianola was a device set in front of a regular
piano. It had control levers and pedals that
allowed the “player” to adjust tempo and
dynamics in subtle ways that mimicked live
performance. This technology allowed the
user to add musical elements and make an
interpretation of the recording, while the piano
roll took care of playing the correct notes.
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Historical Perspectives
Commentary
These innovations allowed virtuosic music to be instantly performed on a real musical instruments.
However, since one did not need to be a trained musician to operate a player piano, who became
the performer? The person operating the instrument functioned as a battery and an interpreter,
supplying the kinetic energy needed to run the device as well as adjusting the volume and making
interpretive decisions.
Is this live music or is the operator nothing more than a different type of DJ, operating controls and
making decisions? Do the piano hammers coming in contact with the strings constitute live music?
Rather than finding two distinct camps for recorded and live music, the player piano helped to
define a continuum that blends the two areas seamlessly into one another.
Like the record player, the player piano had an effect on culture as well. While the early piano
players needed a live operator, electric devices were invented to generate the air pumps and turn
the rolls. This allowed for someone to let the piano play by itself. While the player piano and record
player are not entirely responsible, the nature of having automatic features in a device normally
used for live music allowed for the degradation of the performing medium. While the record player
or player piano performed, it was ethically inoffensive to talk or carry on with other household
activities while the music being played. Subconsciously and through generational influence, people
have placed less importance on the value of listening to music as a prime activity.
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Historical Perspectives
Back to the Future
Today, the same holds true with the grandson of
the player piano; the Pianodisc, which combines
midi (musical instrument digital interface)
technology with an instrument used for live
performance. “Digital” piano roles can be
recorded and played back instantly using a
floppy disc. This has also allowed for a play list
of songs to be created so that the user simply
pushes a button and hears an exact replica of
the intended performance on a live instrument.
This may in fact be the best example of a hybrid
which combines elements of the recording
technology with the actual medium used in a live
setting. A tradeoff with this technology it that it
has become quite easy to turn on the
performance and go on to other things, giving
the performance a “background music” status. Its perfection in technology has led to a
weakening of its musical purpose as a message through an art form.
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Better than a Real Musician?
In the late 1960s, Wendy Walter Carlos programmed a synthesizer to play
a selection of J.S. Bach’s compositions. The resulting album was entitled
Switched on Bach. The implication was that a machine could play with
more accuracy than a live performer. While this is certainly true, one
must question whether this is truly a better performance. You be the
judge...
Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring:
Performed by the Academy of St. Martin on the Fields
Switched on Bach
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Purposes of Media
The purpose of any art form, at its core, is the communication and
expression of human emotion, values, and culture. As with the development
of any technology, intent can alter the very medium and purpose of that
which it is trying to improve. Ethically and socially, unforeseen intentions and
misuse inevitably arise that previously have not been considered.
In examining live music, there are four purposes or intentions that a
performer may have. Realistically, an artist may have several intentions
functioning simultaneously, but the order in which these intentions are
prioritized tends to define the philosophy of the performer.
Intention 1: Self Expression, Communication
True to the definition of art, self-expression and the desire to
communicate to an audience is the highest of these intentions. Since the
earliest of civilizations, we know that music was used to communicate
and that the fundamental expressive qualities inherent in music appeal to
inherent human qualities.
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Purposes of Media
Intention 2: Wealth, Power, Status
With the development of the recording and music industry in connection with the
market driven economy came the profit seeking nature of some performers to
desire wealth, power, and status.
Intention 3: Preservation of an Art Form
Historically, the invention of the gramophone also filled the purpose of preserving
recordings for for those who could not access the live performance and for future
generations to learn from. Recorded music provides a snapshot of an art form that
may change or cease to exist years later.
Intention 4: Self-Improvement, Self-Esteem
Some musicians may view live performance as a medium through which they can
develop skills related to performing. Performance anxiety affects the way a
performer can communicate to an audience and for this reason, a performer may
choose to record instead of perform live. With each opportunity to perform in a
recording session or in a live setting, the artist can learn something new about the
self.
Recorded or live music can also be used as therapy. Studies have shown that
certain types of music reduce stress.
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Purposes of Media
Commentary
Each of the intentions apply to both the recording and live genres, although some better
than others. While making a recording enables the performer to reach a wider audience,
the live, spontaneous energy generated between the performer and that audience is
sacrificed. Herein lies the greatest difference between recorded and live music.
The core purpose of any art form is the communication and expression of human
emotion, values, and culture. While the evolution of technology plays a role in
developing intentions for some performers, those intentions in turn play a part in
affecting the technology. For example, a performer that accumulates wealth generated
from recordings may in turn have an influence over future uses of that technology.
The same applies to groups that lie between the artist and the consumer. Recording,
publishing, and distribution companies, rooted in the market driven economy, filter and
change the way the audience perceives an artist either through image or accessibility.
These intermediaries can frame or alter the perception of the artist’s intention.
While issues of diversity are increasingly taken into account, the underlying factor in
determining who will get recorded, published, distributed, or presented is revenue.
Who will buy the product and how much are they willing to pay? Issues like these are
generally answered by popular culture.
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Comparison of Media
In this study, it is important to compare the similarities and differences in live and
recorded music. The live musical experience deals with a real time, spontaneous,
aesthetic experience between artist and performer. There is an exchange of energy
that does not occur in recorded media. However, different musicians have different
opinions regarding the similarities and differences in each of the media. Below are
some quotes from different orchestral conductors expressing their feelings.
“I don’t think there is any difference between a live performance and a
recording. A recording has also to be full of spontaneity.”
- Vladimir Ashkenazy
(Badal, 1996: p. 112)
“I think recordings put people in a position where they just lean back and
listen. But that’s something very different from a concert, it is more passive…the media
put too many people in this situation of not being creative…this tremendous
development of technological equipment cuts down the creation, the ability of people to
create themselves.”
- Christoph von Dohnány
(Badal, 1996: p. 68)
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Comparison of Media
The Search for Truth
“I don’t feel that making records is really a true way of making music, because
there’s nobody there to listen to it. It’s a slightly incestuous thing because it’s musicians
making music with musicians, trying to produce something perfect, which is impossible
because we are human, and we do make mistakes, and nothing we do in a performance
is that perfect. The human element is variable, and very often the [live] performance of
a piece is greater than the number of mistakes made in it.”
- Colin Davis
(Badal, 1996: p. 26)
The development of new recording technologies has raised the standard of perfection
in the industry. With many production companies, every attempt is made to end up with
a perfect performance. Giving the public unrealistic expectations and an untrue
performance does a disservice to the live performing arena.
“The danger of a record is that it catches a moment’s expression and
eternalizes it in a way which shouldn’t be. It’s like a photograph which catches a person
in a moment, and if you don’t know that person, then that moment is a false
impression.”
-Antal Dorati
(Badal, 1996: p.45)
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Comparison of Media
A Sensory Experience
In addition to the energy that happens between a live performer and an audience,
there are visual elements that impact the experience. Music is not how it is
performed, but how an audience perceives it to be through all of the senses.
“When you realize that…the visual effects, those which play a role in
projecting your expression cannot be used, then obviously your timing is affected, and
you tend to tighten the spaces between notes.”
-Lorin Maazel
(Badal, 1996: p.18)
In a live performance, body language also has a deep visual impact on the message
and the experience of the musical performance.
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Comparison of Media
The MTV Revolution
Because the visual aspect of live performance was appealing and meaningful along
with the audio sensation, technology gave way to the advent of MTV and the music
video. MTV brought an entirely new genre to the industry as well as new ethical
problems. Some of these questions are addressed in Burnett’s book, The Global
Jukebox: the international music industry.
Burnett quotes Jon Pareles from a New York Times article:
“…in a visual culture like ours, MTV has amplified the importance of image
over sound, which has repercussions in everything from stage shows to who gets a
chance to record.”
He goes on to say…
“MTV favors pretty people…Aging performers, or those whose only
talents are musical rather than visual, tend to hide in their own video clips, if they get
a chance to make them at all.”
(Pareles, 1991 in Burnett, 1996)
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Comparison of Media
Commentary
“Music video has also changed the nature of the live concert situation. Before
music video, artists and fans faced each other primarily in concerts, with the
chance of missed notes or mishaps. Now the image of a performance can be
fabricated with studio perfect sound and every accessory in place. Many
musicians have been willing to sacrifice spontaneity for such security, and in the
belief that audiences want to confirm what they’ve seen on MTV. Many live
concert tours have become visual spectacles, where music might be
prerecorded so that singers can concentrate on dance steps.” (Burnett, 1996:
p. 97)
With MTV redefining popular culture and the demand for a different type of music
recording and live performance, will live performances need special effects to
draw an audience? If the consumers of live music attend concerts for their visual
spectacle, what has happened to the music itself? Has the live concert evolved
to where the music in some performances take a secondary role to the other
sensory experiences? This illustrates another example of how the technology
has changed the original purpose of the art form.
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Educational Perspectives
Property Rights & Copyright
The digital age has brought with it many ethical questions in the music industry.
“Traditionally, music publishers acted as middlemen between composers and record
companies and collected a mechanical royalty on behalf of the composer for every
recording sold and a performance royalty for every time a piece was performed live or
played on the radio.” (Burnett, 1996: p. 85) The advent of the internet has enabled the
artist to bypass the middleman and transact directly with the general population.
Each recording and distribution company is now jockeying for a leading position in the
online community and is struggling with the laws of copyright, property, and ethical
questions surrounding ownership.
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Property Rights & Copyright
What do the copyright laws protect?
Musical Works (printed forms or performances)
•Reproducing the work in any material form
•Publishing the work
•Broadcasting the work
•Causing the work to be transmitted to subscribers by a diffusion service
•Making an adaptation
Sound Recordings (specifically)
•Making a record embodying the recording
•Causing the recording to be heard in public
•Broadcasting the recording
(Biederman, 1992 in Burnett, 1996)
While ethically valid, the challenge lies in enforcing these principles.
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Property Rights & Copyright
The Digital Domain
Information is costly to produce, yet it costs relatively little to transmit. This is extremely
hard for anyone who has devoted resources to the production of information. The
digitization of music and other information has enabled consumers to form a direct link
with the artists, bypassing the middleman. In this case, copyright isn’t just about
intellectual property, but copyright becomes an issue of securing the financial gain from
the property.
The instant the producer sells the information to some consumer, that consumer
becomes a potential competitor of the original producer, paying no more than the cost of
transmission for the commodity. Some would argue that music companies are most
threatened by this act of piracy.
(Burnett, 1996)
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Property Rights & Copyright
Piracy
The inevitable consequence of denying music publishers and record producers any
income from unauthorized private copying is to diminish the level of available funds for
investment in the promising young artists and writers who could become the megastars
of the future. (Burnett 1996)
This problem is not only the result of domestic consumers making illegal copies, but is
also widespread in the international market. “Copyright pirates plunder $2.5 billion a year
from the world’s record industry and one in four albums is now counterfeit. China and
Bulgaria are suspected of being the biggest counterfeiters of compact discs,” said Mike
Edwards, director of operations of the IFPI. (Pirating of Albums, 1995 in Stamm 2000)
However, critics have argued that because of supply and demand models, we would see
the price of recordings go first. “If piracy were having a negative effect on record
companies, they would merely raise the price of the original and suffer no net loss in
product.” (Katz, 1989 in Stamm, 2000)
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Property Rights & Copyright
Piracy
In theory, by stopping piracy, the industry would recover the losses incurred by
those that illegally copy music. However, research has shown that the people who
copy are the ones buying more of the music than people who don’t copy.
Aside from the blatant copying of entire CD’s, web sites like Napster and MP3
offer the sharing of music. With the stance that they’re not breaking any copyright
laws, Napster will continue to be under scrutiny in the court system by the
recording industry.
The development of sharing musical files over the internet has given way to a new
way of thinking about music. Some more radical than others. The Free Music
Philosophy is just one of the radical view s that music should be free.
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Property Rights & Copyright
The Free Music Philosophy
This liberal view states that “music is a creative process. Today when a
musician publishes music, i.e., exposes it to the outside world, only a
privileged set of individuals are able to use the music as they please.
However, the artist has drawn from the creativity of many other musicians
and there is an existential responsibility placed upon them to give this back
unconditionally, so creativity is fostered among people.”
Included in the article is a statement from the Audio Home Recording Act.
“No action may be brought under this title alleging infringement of copyright
based on the noncommercial use by a consumer of such a device or
medium for making digital musical recordings or analog musical recordings.”
The article suggests that music become a form of freeware, where
consumers would honestly pay for what they enjoy and use. In an attempt to
rid the industry of the middlemen that come between the artist and the
consumer, the article includes instructions on setting up your own server to
share music with others.
http://www.eff.org/pub/intellectual_property/free_music.article
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Property Rights & Copyright
The Evolving Solution
On the other side of the coin, lobbying organizations in the music industry have been
active in developing solutions that will impact the future of digital music in a way that
protects the recording industry from becoming extinct.
International Federation of Phonogram and Videogram Producers
International Standard Recording Code
Secure Digital Music Initiative
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Property Rights & Copyright
The Evolving Solution
IFPI
The recording industry has its own international lobby organization, the International
Federation of Phonogram and Videogram Producers, which is active in
intergovernmental debates regarding the protection of the rights of composers,
recording artists and producers.
The primary goal of the IFPI is to encourage governments to adhere to the existing
international copyright conventions which will enable the industry to increase its
earnings for the secondary usage of recorded music such as from songs played on
the radio or television.
www.ifpi.org
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Property Rights & Copyright
The Evolving Solution
Because the largest loss from piracy is incurred in the global market, the IFPI, in a
desperate attempt to gain back their control, decided that affecting the blank tape
market would be a remedy. “In the last decade, the IFPI has lobbied aggressively for a
levy on blank tapes as a partial solution. The industry position is clear: every blank tape
sold, means one less CD or cassette sold.” (Burnett 1996)
Clearly, the root of piracy does not lie in the buying and selling of blank tapes. The fact
that the IFPI would consider trying to gain back their control over the market through
levying blank tapes shows that they’re struggling to find a solution to this problem.
While the blank tape levy is not the answer, the IFPI does have other alternative
solutions.
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Property Rights & Copyright
The Evolving Solution
ISRC
The IFPI has worked to establish the International Standard Recording Code. The ISRC is the
international identification system for sound recordings and music video recordings. Each
ISRC is a unique and permanent identifier for a specific recording which can be permanently
encoded into a product as its digital fingerprint. Encoding the ISRC into each digital
transmission will provide the means to automatically identify recordings for royalty payments.
The IFPI claims that the ISRC system is the key to royalty collection for
recordings in the digital information age.
•ISRC is a unique, reliable, international identification system.
•ISRC provides a unique tool for the purpose of rights administration.
•ISRC is a useful identification tool in the electronic distribution of music.
•ISRC coding is compatible with standards developed in the field of consumer
electronics and is readable by hardware already used in the recording industry.
•ISRC is cost effective - it can be put into operation without requiring special
investment in equipment or technologies.
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Property Rights & Copyright
The Evolving Solution
SDMI
In seeking to create a secure trading environment, whilst at the same time
ensuring that music fans can enjoy the music in as many reasonable ways as
possible, the recording industry has worked with other industries to create the
Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI).
SDMI includes a vast range of companies, both large and small, who come from
consumer electronics, the computer industry and security technology.
They meet regularly to develop specifications for music systems.
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Educational Perspectives
Recorded Music in the
General Music Classroom
Aesthetics and Sensory
Experience
Copyright in the Classroom
Issues of Privacy and
Recording
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Recorded Music in the
General Music Classroom
“School music teaching of recent years has made
extensive use of recorded musical compositions. One of the
advantages of the phonograph is that the teacher can present a
desired selection whenever and as often as she wishes. The
phonograph presents a marvelously faithful reproduction of a
musical performance, and the library of recorded music is so
inclusive that almost any desired composition or type of music is
available.”
(McConathy, et al., 1937, p. 104)
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One best performance?
“Now consider the claim that musical works are abstract entities
because they are not susceptible to definitive performances. Rock
and pop musicians would disagree. Hit songs are often conceived
and produced as unambiguous and meticulously recorded
performances that their originators often duplicate exactly in live
performances.”
- Elliott, 1995, p. 34.
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A Captured Moment
When teachers select and present musical recordings to
children they should present only the best possible recordings
while at the same time helping children understand that a
recording is like a snapshot: many things happen before and after
any single captured moment in time. When you revisit a place it
rarely looks (or sounds) exactly the same as when you took that
original snapshot.
Photo Source:
http://www.npr.org/pro
grams/lnfsound/
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Finding Harmony in the
Classroom
Recorded music is rarely an equal substitute for live music.
However, few music teachers have professional orchestras or
choirs in their classrooms five days a week. Teachers must
decide how much to use recordings, and to what ends.
• What place does recorded music have in the classroom?
• Is recorded music an acceptable substitute for the real thing?
• What is our purpose in teaching music in public schools?
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Aesthetics and Sensory
Experience
Why teach music?
• Aesthetic Experience
• Development of Connoisseurship
• Musicianship
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Educating for Aesthetic
Experience
“Aesthetic experience is involvement with expressive qualities
rather than with symbolic designations… One’s attitude in
aesthetic experience is to regard a thing as an expressive form
rather than a symbol, to expect to get what one gets from an
expressive form rather than a symbol, to be interested in the
thing as an expressive form rather than a symbol…. Finally,
aesthetic experience always comes from involvement in the
qualities of some perceptible material. There is always a
sensuous element in aesthetic experience --- a presentation to
the actual senses.”
- Reimer, 1989, pp. 103-4
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Educating for
Connoisseurship
On selecting recordings for children:
“But let those records sound forth the trashy and worthless
so-called ‘melodies,’ with their accompanying verses of vulgar
slang and coarse innuendo and you set a standard of musical taste
to your children that is as morally dangerous as it is musically
misleading.”
- Francis E. Clark, 1907, quoted in Kenney, 1999, p. 93.
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Conflicting Views on
Connoisseurship
E.D. Hirsch: Cultural Literacy
 MENC: National Standards for Music
Education
 Lisa Delpit: Other People’s Children:
Cultural Conflict in the Classroom
 H. Kliebard: The Struggle for the
American Curriculum 1893 - 1958

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Cultural Literacy
“To thrive, a child needs to learn the traditions of the particular human society
and culture it is born into. Like children everywhere, American children need
traditional information at a very early age.” (p. 31)
Hirsch advocates teaching a specific body of traditional songs including
“America the Beautiful,” “Auld Lang Syne,” and “When the Saints Go
Marching.” In his list of “What Literate Americans Know” Hirsch also
includes the 3 B’s: Bach, Beethoven, and the Beatles.
“When the Saints go marching in”
Sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
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References
National Standards for
Music Education
“6. Content Standard: Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
“Achievement Standard: Students: a. Identify simple music forms when
presented aurally; b. Demonstrate perceptual skills by moving, by answering
questions about, and by describing aural examples of music of various styles
representing diverse cultures…” (p. 15)
Bela Fleck playing jazz banjo “Rocky Road”
“Mama Angeli” performed by members of the BaAka
Pygmy Tribe
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References
Other People’s Children
“The clash between school culture and home culture is actualized in at least two
ways. When a significant difference exists between the students’ culture and the
school’s culture, teachers can easily misread students’ aptitudes, intent, or
abilities as a result of the difference in styles of language use and interactional
patterns. Secondly, when such cultural differences exist, teachers may utilize
styles of instruction and/or discipline that are at odds with community norms.”
(p. 167)
In teaching for connoisseurship, it is possible to perpetuate stereotypes and
overlook the needs of individual students or groups of students in the classroom.
Consider the needs of African American students taught by teachers of other
cultural backgrounds.
“Amazing Grace” not sung in Gospel Style
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References
The Struggle for the
American Curriculum
1) Humanist Curriculum
“There would be no curricular distinction between those students who
were preparing for college and those who were preparing for ‘life.’”
(p. 10)
This is a curriculum based on the study of the seven liberal arts, or the
‘classics.’ Such a curriculum would surely include study of musical
‘great works’ like Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik”
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The Struggle for the
American Curriculum
2) Developmentalist Curriculum
“The natural order of development in the child was the most significant and
scientifically defensible basis for determining what should be taught.” (p. 11)
Presumably musical choices should reflect developmental needs of children.
Consider for example, “Shake My Sillies Out” by Raffi. This song is
developmentally appropriate for children in preschool and primary grades.
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The Struggle for the
American Curriculum
3) Social Efficiency Curriculum
“…the elimination of waste in the curriculum through the application of the
kind of scientific management techniques that presumably had been so
successful in industry.” (p. 20)
Connoisseurship has little place in such a curriculum. Music only has a place
when it furthers an extra-musical goal. Songs like Buffalo Bob’s “Don’t Talk
to Strangers,” whose text has a specific educational message, might fit in such
a curriculum.
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The Struggle for the
American Curriculum
4) Social Meliorist Curriculum
“Civilization … was not achieved by letting cosmic natural forces take their
course, but by the power of intelligent action to change things for the better.”
(pp. 21-22)
A primary aim of this curriculum is to fix all that ails society. Connoisseurship
is not necessarily part of social meliorism. Instead, music is used when it
furthers the common good. One way this might be interpreted is using music to
help students enhance their self esteem. Consider for example, Red Grammer’s
“I Think You’re Wonderful.”
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Educating for Musicianship
“Although music instruction in school is important in the
development of those students who are talented in music, its
primary purpose is to improve the quality of life for all students
by developing their capacities to participate fully in their musical
culture.”
- MENC, 1994, p. 2
“I intend to highlight the importance [the praxial philosophy of
music education] places on music as a particular form of action that
is purposeful and situated and, therefore, revealing of one’s self and
one’s relationship with others in a community.”
- Elliott, 1995, p. 14
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Copyright in the Classroom
Fair Use
 Home Use
 Institutional Use
 Public Use
 Aural and Printed Forms

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Fair Use
The right to copy excerpts for study, criticism, reporting, or educational use
depends upon the nature, amount or substantiality of the excerpt in question.
In general, fair use includes excerpts that are not self-contained units. (A
chapter or song is an example of a self-contained unit.) The excerpt must be
less than 10% of the whole. Further, the copy of an excerpt must not have
impact on the commercial unit or devalue the original. That is, the copy
may not supplant a purchase.
For more information, see US Code, Title 17.
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Home Use
Many of the recorded materials used in the classroom are specifically
licensed for home use. Consider, for example, the warning displayed on
most commercially produced videotapes: “Licensed for private home
exhibition only.” My public school classroom is clearly not my private
home.
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Institutional Use
While it takes special effort to procure permission or license to display
most recordings in institutional settings, some companies have made
special effort to make institutional copies of materials readily available.
Most notable among these is PBS.
http://www.pbs.org
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Public Use
Are institutional and public use the same thing? Even though a classroom
is public in regards to funding and enrollment, it is private in the sense
that it is a discrete and narrowly defined subsection of the general public.
While the classroom is not the same as a private home, few (if any)
financial gains are made by teachers who play recordings for children.
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Aural and Printed Forms
Consider the following dilemma:
The Walt Disney Company. (1993). Disney: The illustrated treasury of songs. Milwaukee,
WI: Hal Leonard Corporation.
“No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission of the Publisher.”
BUT: This book is published by a company that specializes in materials for
educational/institutional use; is marketed to teachers; contains convenient lyric sheets for
many of the songs; retails for $24.95, a price that makes purchasing a copy for each student
prohibitive; and student versions of the book are not readily available (if at all).
SO: Can these songs be taught in the classroom? Presumably only if they are taught aurally,
entirely by rote.
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Copyright in the Classroom
Educational Perspectives
Issues of Privacy and
Recording
Permission to record
 Permission to use recording
 Reasons to record and playback
 Is there a functional difference between
audio and video recording of children?
 Copyright issues regarding recording

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Permission to Record
Teachers should obtain
informed consent from
children and their
parents before recording
children.
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Permission to Use Recording
Closely linked to
the permission to
record is the
permission to use
the recording.
Children and
parents should
know in advance
why the recording
is being made and
how it will be used.
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Reasons to Record and
Playback
Why might a teacher record children in music class?
• So the students may hear their own work.
• For portfolio assessment.
• To document performance.
• For commercial or non-commercial distribution.
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Differences between Audio
and Video Recording
Depending on the reasons students are being recorded, there may be
significant differences between audio and video recording. For example, a
parent who is concerned that the recording may be used for predatory
reasons may object to video recording, but may have fewer concerns about
audio recording. In many cases, audio recordings are more convenient for
music teachers to make and use. However, video recordings are
particularly useful when discussing the visual aspects of performance.
Visual aspects may include playing posture, poise, and stage presence.
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Copyright Issues Regarding
Recording
Print music that is copyrighted often has additional restrictions on
performance and/or recording. Usually purchase of the printed scores
covers the right to perform a work in public. However, it is not safe to
assume that the right to record is also granted. If there is a question, it is
always best to contact the publisher. Remember the Disney Corporation
example? This is a case where public performance and recording are
restricted.
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Summary
In this study, the connection between live and recorded music is examined by
studying its impact on present and past societies. The study has shown that as
recording technology evolves, society changes and people view live music in a new
way. Through these changes, issues regarding the nature of music, aesthetic
satisfaction, property rights, and privacy emerge that challenge the existence and
purpose of the recording industry as well as the live performance arena.
Rather than view live music and recorded music as two separate entities, this study
shows that the two media are set on a continuum. As with other forms of technology,
as it develops over time, the technology challenges how the world is viewed.
Everything that technology touches is woven into a complex web of purpose and use.
The once distinct areas of live and recorded music become more and more
interrelated with each technological advancement. While the two forms of media can
never be completely homogenized, they will forevermore be an influence on each
other and on the way consumers of music use both of the media.
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References
References
Burnett, R. (1996). The global jukebox: The international music industry. New York:
Routledge.
Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School and the Electronic Frontier
Foundation. Signal or Noise? The future of music on the net
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/events/netmusic_brbook.html
Badal, J. (1996). Recording the classics. Ohio: Kent State University Press.
Delpit, L. (1995). Other people’s children: Cultural conflict in the classroom. New York: The
New Press.
Elliott, D.J. (1995). Music matters: A new philosophy of music education. New York: Oxford
University Press.
Feinberg, W. (1998). Common schools/uncommon identities: National unity & cultural
difference. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Hirsch, E.D., jr. (1988). Cultural literacy: What every American needs to know New York:
Random House..
Kenney, W. H. (1999). Recorded music in American life: the phonograph and popular
memory, 1890-1945. New York: Oxford University Press.
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References
McConathy, O., Miessner, W.O., Birge, E.B., & Bray, M.E. (1937). Music in rural
education. Chicago: Silver Burdett Company.
Music Educators National Conference. (1994). The school music program, a new vision:
The K-12 national standards, Pre-K standards, and what they mean to music
educators. Reston, VA: Author.
Postman, N. (1993). Technopoly: The surrender of culture to technology. New York:
Alfred A. Knopf.
Reimer, B. (1989). A philosophy of music education. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall,
Inc.
Stamm, K.B. (2000). Music industry economics: A global demand model for pre-recorded
music. Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press.
The Walt Disney Company. (1993). Disney: The illustrated treasury of songs. Milwaukee,
WI: Hal Leonard Corporation.
http://www.eff.org/pub/ 5/9/01
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Recordings
Amazing Grace: Gospel Gifts. (1998). [CD] Nashville, Tennessee: Sony.
Bach for Dummies. (1996). [CD] New York: EMI Records, Ltd.
Carlos, W. (1967). Switched-on Bach. [33 RPM record] Columbia Records.
Fleck, B. ( 1993). Rocky Road. On Putumayo presents: The best of world music. Volume
2: Instrumental. [CD] Los Angeles, CA: Rhino Records, Inc.
Grammer, R. (1991). Teaching peace. [CD] Brewerton, NY: Red Note Records.
Kisliuk, M. (1998). Seize the Dance! BaAka musical life and the ethnography of
performance. [Book with 2 CDs] New York: Oxford University Press.
Mozart, W.A. (n.d.) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: 1756 - 1791. [CD] U.S.A.: Regency
Music.
Ottley, J. & The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. (1991). Songs from America’s heartland. [CD]
New York: The Decca Record Company Limited/London Records/PolyGram Records,
Inc.
Raffi. (1977). More singable songs. [CD]. Cambridge, MA: Rounder Records.
Smith, R. (“Buffalo Bob”) (1995). Kids are kids songbook. [Book with CD] Warner Bros.
Publications.
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