Cloud Connectivity and Contemporary Electronic Dance Music Production

Abstract

Remote music collaboration software enables interaction between global communities of musicians across transcultural and transnational spaces, creating globalized networks of connected music producers. Examining practices around contemporary music production in the cloud generates new perspectives on how technological change impacts upon connectivities across the international mediascape. This article analyses the various characteristics of electronic dance music production in the cloud that are engaging international collaborators across global space, tracing how shifts away from traditional studio settings have redefined notions of music production, and how new technologies have impacted on interaction between music producers. In doing so, it makes broader points about how social networking combined with cloud-based music production technologies can lead to new and alternative approaches to music production in international contexts, and how this subsequently impacts on understandings of local music scenes.